“Nothing has a greater impact on spiritual growth than reflection on Scripture. If churches could do only one thing to help people at all levels of spiritual maturity grow in their relationship with Christ, their choice is clear. They would inspire, encourage, and equip their people to read the Bible – specifically, to reflect on Scripture for meaning in their lives. Bible engagement is the single most spiritually catalytic activity a person can engage in.”
-Greg Hawkins and Cally Parkinson – landmark study: 250,000 people in 1000 churches-
Find the Intersection Bible Study Method
We pass through them multiple times every day. It’s a place where pathways or roads converge. Transportation arteries that may lead to divergent destinations all come together at intersections.
What if we imagined our Bibles kind of like this? If we divided our Bibles into four sections, we could imagine them all coming together at an intersection. At the point where they converge or intersect, there is the truth. Not just any truth, but Holy Spirit-inspired, character-shaping truth.
Suppose we divided our Bibles into:
The Gospels
New Testament
Old Testament
The Psalms
Now suppose we placed each of these categories on a course to intersect with each other. In other words, what if in our bible study, we read a selection of verses from each of the above categories and took special note of where the main ideas of these verses “intersected”?
That is how we read the Bible at Sandy Hook UMC. Each Sunday, we distribute the assigned reading for the following week. We encourage everyone to share their “intersections” with others through the week. And then on Sunday, our worship service and sermons are inspired by the four passages that we all read throughout the week. It is power to gather together for worship and sense the Holy Spirit bring all these passages to life that you have been dwelling on all week.
As we all read the Bible this way, the Holy Spirit changes us from the inside-out. We are being transformed to become more and more like Jesus as we study the Bible together and see how the Bible as a whole is applied to our lives.