“A different kind of Bible study.”
So read the invitation in the church bulletin. Would it entice anyone? Would it entice staunch Presbyterians? Session had blessed the idea, but the person in the pew would have the final say. We’d done the Alpha series together and liked that kind of format. Could something more personal and in a home setting bring us faith and fellowship?
Earlier I had been searching the church library for something uplifting that might fill in some of the long, northern winter evenings and I noticed a set of DVDs on Christy by Catherine Marshall. The DVDs turned out to be entertaining, insightful and inspiring (and they included a bible study). Could we try it? Why not!
So, the invitation went out to the congregation and about ten ladies and one very brave man decided to give it a try. The format consisted of one episode, a break for coffee and cake, and then discussion time. The next few months we met weekly and I watched as each member was caught up in the story. There was genuine annoyance and disappointment when that day’s episode left them wondering what “the rest of the story” was. They were anxious to return the following week.
We shared experiences in our own lives that mirrored what was contained in the movie and we read scripture that stretched our minds and reinforced our faith. At the end of the series, everyone pronounced it a success.
“What next?” they asked.
Earlier I had purchased Anne of Green Gables, a Canadian favorite. I had all three DVDs with a total of 612 minutes. This would involve eleven weeks of commitment by the group but they were game for it.
After watching the series through again I prepared a Bible study. Our minister helped with appropriate scripture references and we began.
Again, the group got caught up in the ongoing storyline and again, like a Saturday afternoon serial at the theatre, they came back week after week to find out what was going to happen. We all grew closer together as we shared episodes in our own lives that we had struggled through. We searched scripture to find answers to questions. We laughed together and we cried together. We had become “kindred spirits.”
Last week was the final episode and I watched as the group of dear friends looked anxiously at the TV screen, wondering if Anne would eventually find Gilbert and would they live happily ever after?
They didn’t know the rest of the story, but I did.
It reminded me that God knows the whole story of our lives too. I wonder if He sits watching with the same tenderness I did … knowing the storyline and the happy ending.
There is peace in the analogy. He knows our beginnings and our endings. He asks us to have faith because he knows “the rest of the story”.
