Practice: Study (News for the summer!)

“. . .like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation,” I Peter 2:2

A dear friend of mine suffered a devastating stroke when her twin girls were ten days old. To hear her story, listen to my podcast conversation with Kelly. During one night, I stepped into the role of helping feed and thankfully had another person to assist. I didn’t have much experience with newborns at the time and yet when I heard her cry, I came to the rescue with a bottle of milk. At the youngest of ages, the human instinct longs for nourishment which ensures his or her survival.

In Peter’s letter he compares an infant’s longing for milk with a believer’s need for the Word of God through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Because the pure milk of the Word is God’s source of nourishment for His sons and daughters, it is essential to survive and thrive. When a baby is born, he or she has everything needed to become an adult. However, growth doesn’t happen automatically.

Just like a baby is dependent on milk to grow, we are dependent on the Word of God to know Him and become who He created us to be. No one in their right mind would feed a baby once a week and think “that’ll be enough to hold him/her” but instead feedings occur multiple times a day. Believers also need to consistently receive doses of the Word of God to be healthy spiritually.

Studying the Bible is a practice which is necessary to connect with God, grow in Christlikeness, and be available to His purposes. The word study in Merriam-Webster means a “state of contemplation.” At Sacred Story, our prayer is for all of us to carve out sacred space to contemplate the things of God so we can live our stories in light of His Word. To facilitate the practice of studying the Bible, we are inviting you and your girlfriends to enter into a journey through the book of Philippians this summer.

We are excited about the major themes in Philippians like living above circumstances and experiencing the joy of the Lord. Our blog team will post on Tuesdays to guide you and your group through passages of Philippians over twelve weeks, beginning June 4th through August 20th. We will use the inductive Bible study of observation, interpretation, and application in our study which helps to dig deeper and pull out practical application. We will also encourage you in Scripture memory.

Here are ways you can prepare before the launch of the study in a month:

*Read this article by Howard Hendricks on the Inductive Bible Study method for further insight

*Forward this post to a handful of girlfriends (church, work, neighborhood, etc.) and ask them if they’d like to meet to study together. The introduction will begin on June 4th and posts will go through August 27th as all four chapters are studied.

*As friends indicate interest, ask them to sign up to receive the posts via email on the home page under “subscribe via email”

*Read through the book of Philippians over the next month in a couple of versions to get a feel for the book and/or listen through your phone on a Bible app like You Version. Here are two versions: English Standard Version and the New Living Translation.

*Read Brandi’s post about her tumultuous hike which reminded her of the simplicity of devotion to the Word

*Leave a comment below and let us know if you are able to join so we can pray for you and your group

Study on sisters. Your health in the Lord is at stake.

~Laura

 

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