One of my favorite parts in my job is watching students go through Confirmation. The Church of the Resurrection offers a Confirmation course for current 8th-12th grade students. In Confirmation, students have the opportunity to explore their faith by asking questions, they get opportunities to serve their community, and they journey alongside adult mentors to participate in small group discussion. At the end of Confirmation, they are invited to make a public commitment to Christ and become a full member of our church community. In addition to all that, they dig deep into reading the Bible!
Many of our Confirmation students grew up in the church. They remember reading the Bible in Sunday School--the stories about Adam and Eve, Jonah and the whale, Jesus walking on water, and so many others. Some of our Confirmation students are new to the church and are hearing some of these stories for the first time. The powerful thing about Confirmation is that students open up their Bibles together while sitting in a circle, they read a Bible passage, and then reflect on it together. They ask the question, How is this useful for teaching, for showing mistakes, for correcting, and for training character? (like 1 Timothy 1:16 talks about).
It is always powerful to learn from students the perspectives and insight they are bringing into reading Scripture. When I listen to our Confirmation students reflect on the Bible, I feel like Im learning just as much as them as I hear how the Holy Spirit is nudging them in their reading. Im constantly saying, Ive never heard that perspective, or, you view that in a really unique way. Sitting with students and reading the Bible together reminds me that even though Ive been through seminary, sometimes I need to have the posture of an 8th grader when reading the Bible! Reading the Bible together allows us to hear the passages more fully and recognize how the Holy Spirit is working in each others lives.
I encourage you today to open your Bible. Turn to one of those stories you know well. While reading it ask yourself, How is this passage useful for teaching, for showing mistakes, for correcting, and for training character for me today? Maybe take the posture of an 8th grade Confirmation student the next time you read the Bible and ask, How would a student read this passage? There is no limit to what the Holy Spirit can reveal to us, and there is always the opportunity for the Bible to change our hearts. May the Holy Spirit guide you in your reading, and may the Bible's words encourage you today.
Original post:
The Bible's spiritual purpose - Downtown - Church of the Resurrection
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