A Lenten Covenant:
Telephone Bible Study

     Background: For several years, I have been engaging in one-on-one Bible study with several other men I have known through church and elsewhere. We study a book of Scripture, typically a chapter at a time, in a telephone appointment that is usually one hour per week. We read the text to one another and discuss what it means and how it applies to our lives and attitudes. This has been an enormously rewarding experience, revealing to each of us a new depth of understanding of God’s word.
     I want to recommend this practice to you today.

     Getting started: Find a Christian study partner and agree on a reliable time to meet by telephone each week during Lent. It can be a lunch-time at work or some other time. Your study partner can be local or, with modern cell-phone technology, across country. Make sure that you and your study partner can reliably set aside the appointed time every week.

     What to study: You and your study partner should agree on the passages of Scripture to study together. High on my list would be one of the Gospels, an epistle of Paul, or any of the general epistles. Old Testament studies can also be fruitful. If you don’t have a particular program in mind, then for each week in Lent, starting with Ash Wednesday, March 9, I list below a passage of Scripture for your meditation and study, along with some discussion questions for “starters.”

     How to study together: Be open to the word and to the prompting of the Spirit, who will lead us into all truth. Read a few verses, and then discuss them thoroughly: what does the Scripture say, what does it mean, how does it affect my attitudes and actions. Then move on. Here are a few Dos and Don’ts that may help:

• Don’t be afraid to consult footnotes or a commentary.
• Don’t be afraid of not finishing; linger over those passages that speak to you deeply.
• Don’t fall into an instructor/pupil relationship unless it is absolutely appropriate; ideally, this mode of Bible study is between peers.
• Don’t become “fixed” on what you want to accomplish in Bible study; let the Spirit speak and teach.
• Don’t feel the need to agree on everything; everyone has a different perspective, and the Spirit has much to teach us about respecting each other’s views.
• Do use the same translation of the Bible; it is sometimes helpful to use multiple translations.
• Do try to stay away from irrelevancies and distracting topics; concentrate on what the word says.
• Do begin and end promptly, as a courtesy to your study partner.
• Do be flexible with your study partner if something comes up.
• Do allow your worldview to be changed by Scripture.

     Persevering: Since I have been doing this now for almost ten years, I can assure you that once you are well started, you will not want to stop. You and your Christian study partner will develop a deeper spiritual relationship, as you share the truths of Scripture and the experiences of your lives.

     I invite you to embark on this journey of Bible study. To have a constant weekly inflow of the word, reinforced by the encouragement and instruction of another believer is an important part of the answer to the struggles of daily life in our world.

 

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A suggested study syllabus for Lent
     Here is a Lenten syllabus with a few questions for thought and discussion:

• Week 1: beginning March 9 — Matthew 6
  • How can we avoid a show of “piety and generosity” today?
  • Should repentance lead to cheerfulness?
  • Why is forgiveness required in order to be forgiven?
  • Which two “masters” are competing for your service?
  • Can God’s provision see us through hard economic times?
• Week 2: beginning March 16 — Romans 5
  • How is peace with God different from the way life was before we knew Him?
  • What is “reconciliation”?
  • Does death still reign?
  • Is there enough grace?
• Week 3: beginning March 23 — John 3
  • What does Jesus mean by “born again”
  • Can others understand what the Spirit is doing?
  • How is the Son of Man to be lifted up?
  • What is John the baptist to Jesus, and what must happen?
• Week 4: beginning March 30 — 1 Peter 2
  • Are we builders or are we bricks?
  • What are the implications of v. 9?
  • What is the purpose of good deeds?
  • From what are we free?
  • What is the meaning of suffering?
• Week 5: beginning April 6 — Isaiah 52:13-53:12
  • Who is the servant?
  • Was he stricken by God?
  • What ultimately becomes of the servant?
  • Is the servant Christ?
• Week 6: beginning April 13 — Romans 8
  • How is living according to the Spirit different from living according to the flesh?
  • What can the mind of man do?
  • What does it mean to be “sons”
  • How can we pray acceptably?
  • How does God arrange all things for His people?
  • What is our hope?
• Week 7: beginning April 20 — Psalm 22
  • Did Jesus quote Ps. 22:1 on the cross? Why?
  • What parallels do you see between Ps. 22 and the Crucifixion?
  • Is the psalm prophetically about Christ?
  • How are you involved in vv. 30-31?

 
Copyright, 2010-2011, by Robert McAnally Adams,
        Curator, Christian Quotation of the Day.
Logo image Copyright 1996 by Shay Barsabe, of “Simple GIFs”, by kind permission.
Send comments to curator@cqod.com.

Last updated: 3/6/11

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