One way of opening Scripture and joining the
conversation in your congregation or
organization is to watch the Book of Faith video
together and engage each other through some of
the
accompanying Bible studies. The video suggests
just a few of the many ways that the Bible
renews, enlivens, and empowers our daily lives.
The Video This video was created for the 2007
churchwide assembly to invite us all to join the
Book of Faith initiative and open up the
Scriptures. The text of the video is comprised
entirely of passages from the Bible. The visual
aspects of the video are designed to suggest
that the Bible lives in us and though us as we
go about our daily lives.
These two
passages are read at the beginning of
the video. Then each subsequent scene is
linked to one phrase from either
Colossians 3 or Psalm
1.
Each phrase in turn gives rise to one or
two other passages from the Bible,
building a picture of ways in which the
Bible enters our hearts, our minds, and
our lives.
The two
guiding passages of the video are from
Colossians 3 and Psalm 1:
Colossians 3:16-17 Let the word of Christ dwell in
you richly; teach and admonish one
another in all wisdom; with
gratitude in your hearts sing
psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs
to God. And whatever you do, in word
or deed, do everything in the name
of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to
God the Father through him.
Read and/or view this Bible study
Psalm
1:1a, 2-3 Happy are they...whose
delight is in the law of the Lord.
They meditate on Gods teaching day
and night. They are like trees
planted by streams of water, bearing
fruit in due season, with leaves
that do not wither.
Read and/or view this Bible study
These
two passages are read at the beginning
of the video. Then each subsequent scene
is linked to one phrase from either
Colossians 3 or Psalm 1. Each phrase in
turn gives rise to one or two other
passages from the Bible, building a
picture of ways in which the Bible
enters our hearts, our minds, and our
lives.
The twelve other passages and
their links with Colossians 3
and Psalm 1 are as follows:
With gratitude in your
hearts sing psalms, hymns,
and spiritual songs to God. No
text was used here, but
rather a sense that music,
gratefully offered
to God, travels with us in our daily lives.
Accompanying Bible Studies To help you think together about how
the Bible works in and through us, we
have gathered together 15 short Bible
studies written by teachers throughout
the church. These studies are intended
to feed rather than to control
the conversation your group will engage
in. The two bible studies which
accompany the guiding passages from
Colossians and Psalms are in both video
and written form. Presiding Bishop Mark
Hanson invites you into the study of
Colossians 3:16-17. Book of Faith
Director Diane Jacobson invites you into
the study of Psalm 1. The remaining
Bible studies are in written form only
and each are accompanied by their own
questions.
Suggested Approaches
and Questions Invite your gathered
group to watch the video
and share responses.
You may wish to consider
these general questions:
How does the Bible
feed your daily
life?
How does the Bible
feed the life of
this community?
How are we renewed,
empowered, and
enlivened by the
Word?
What stands in the
way of our opening
the Bible and
joining the
conversation?
As you engage
each of the
various biblical
passages from
the video, you
might want to
ask the
following
questions:
What is God
saying to us
through this
passage?
What does
this passage
tell us
about God?
How does
this passage
speak to us
as
individuals
and to us as
a community?
What does
this passage
teach us
about our
neighbors
and our
world?
You might
then take some initial time delving into
the two passages from Colossians 3 and
Psalm 1. Both of these passages give
insight from the Bible about our
interaction with the Bible. Watch either
or both of the accompanying videos on
these passages.
After
you
listen
or read
the
short
study on
Colossians
3, you
might
ask the
following
questions:
How
do
we
dwell
in
the
Word?
Is
Scripture
our
first
language
of
faith?
What
would
we
like
to
see
happen
in
our
community
to
help
Scripture
become
our
first
language
of
faith?
After you listen or read the short study on Psalm 1, you might ask the following questions:
How do we "meditate" on the Word together?
In what ways do we take delight in the study of the Bible?
What are we rooted in?
Does studying Gods word together help us to be like trees providing fruit or leaves for others?
Each of the
remaining short Bible studies approaches
the study of the Bible from the
perspective
of one teacher of the church. Each study
contains a number of questions to invite
you into the conversation. You might
talk about which passages stand most at
the center of your faith and which of
the approaches works best for your own
setting. As the Book of Faith initiative
unfolds over the next several years, you
will have opportunities to study the
Bible as new readers of Scripture or as
readers who want to go into books and
passages in greater depth. These initial
studies are designed to help you talk
together about how you hear and
experience the Bible in your own
setting.
Augsburg Fortress is the ministry of publishing within the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
e
accompanying Bible studies. The video suggests
just a few of the many ways that the Bible
renews, enlivens, and empowers our daily lives.
1.
Each phrase in turn gives rise to one or
two other passages from the Bible,
building a picture of ways in which the
Bible enters our hearts, our minds, and
our lives.
These
two passages are read at the beginning
of the video. Then each subsequent scene
is linked to one phrase from either
Colossians 3 or Psalm 1. Each phrase in
turn gives rise to one or two other
passages from the Bible, building a
picture of ways in which the Bible
enters our hearts, our minds, and our
lives.
ntrol
the conversation your group will engage
in. The two bible studies which
accompany the guiding passages from
Colossians and Psalms are in both video
and written form. Presiding Bishop Mark
Hanson invites you into the study of
Colossians 3:16-17. Book of Faith
Director Diane Jacobson invites you into
the study of Psalm 1. The remaining
Bible studies are in written form only
and each are accompanied by their own
questions.
