Digital Bible Study
We were missing our regular Bible Study, held at St Petroc's Parish Centre, on Thursday evenings. William said he would be happy to lead us on a bird's eye tour of Matthew's Gospel.
In our first Zoom Meeting we discussed Jesus' baptism, saying that John the Baptist's baptism for the Jews at this time was to let them know that they could not rely on being a descendant of Abraham but that repentance was required for being part of God's Kingdom. Jesus did not need to be baptised as he is the one who brings forgiveness through his death and resurrection.
We also discussed what Jesus meant by saying that his followers are 'salt & light'- Christians are to share the faith with others and sometimes have to make a stand against the culture of the day if it's not in line with God's kingdom.
The 'father' at the start of the Lord's prayer is 'abba' (not to be confused with a pop group!) in Aramaic, which translates as dad or daddy. What a wonderful picture given by Jesus here, when he taught his disciples how to pray.
Our second meeting included a verse we all seemed to latch on to, "So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets." This is a positive slant on the idea of not doing to others what you hope they won't do to you. It creates a positive and challenging mindset.
We discussed the 'narrow gate/way' and William shared his 4 "Rs":
Religion = our attempt to reach God;
Revelation = God revealing to us his way through Jesus;
Rescue = God's method of saving us is faith in Jesus (also know as redemption);
Relationship = the result of our faith.
William also shared a way of explaining what faith means:
Forgetting (or Forsaking)
All things (or All others)
I
Trust
Him (Jesus).
We had a great time.
If you'd like to join our virtual Bible Study please email barbarabrittain212@gmail.com
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