House to Home: 40 Days of Lent: How to Host a Bible Study

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Prayers are taken from Evangelical Lutheran Worship (c) 2006, ELCA. Published by Augsburg Fortress. (#22745)

Lent is a great time to begin a Bible Study group. Gathering together to read the word of God, to talk and pray about it, and to enjoy the company of others is vital to our growth as Christians. But it can also be really fun, too!

Invite some people. Gather together friends, family, people from St. John’s, people who don’t go to church, people from work… the combinations are endless. You could even start your Bible Study as an online group. You just need at least one person in addition to yourself.
Choose a regular time to meet. For Lent 2010, you’ll need to meet five times to complete the Bible Studies in this series.
Choose a location that’s comfortable. Bible Studies don’t have to happen at church. Meet in a coffee shop or in someone’s home. Meet at the library, or in a conference room at work. Just make your meeting location convenient and comfortable for everyone you invite.
Start and end with prayer. Not only are you gathered to listen to and study the Word of God, but you can also support each other in your prayerful conversations with God. Prayer doesn’t have to be perfect or eloquent or rehearsed. Just pray together praising God for your blessings and humbly asking for your needs.
Laugh. Cry. And question together. Faith is a journey best shared. Discuss some general ground rules about confidentiality for your group before you begin so that everyone is on the same page and feels comfortable sharing.
Keep going! There’s no reason you can’t keep going after Lent is over. You can go it on your own or dip into the hundreds of other Bible study options available.

If you need help choosing materials, contact Angela Nickerson, Director of Discipleship (angela@stjohnslc.org).

Psalm 84

1 How lovely is your dwelling place, O LORD Almighty!

2 My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the LORD; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.

3 Even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may have her young - a place near your altar, O LORD Almighty, my King and my God.

4 Blessed are those who dwell in your house; they are ever praising you.

5 Blessed are those whose strength is in you, who have set their hearts on pilgrimage.

6 As they pass through the Valley of Baca, they make it a place of springs; the autumn rains also cover it with pools.

7 They go from strength to strength, till each appears before God in Zion.

8 Hear my prayer, O LORD God Almighty; listen to me, O God of Jacob.

9 Look upon our shield, O God; look with favor on your anointed one.

10 Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked.

11 For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless.

12 O LORD Almighty, blessed is the one who trusts in you.

(The scripture quotations contained herein are from the NRSV Bible (c) 1989, by the Div. of Christian Ed. of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA. Used by permission. All rights reserved.)

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