Wednesday 17 October 2007

Term kick-off

I caught up with some old friends and a great group of Bible study leaders at St Luke's Miranda last night. Various Garlatos were there (hi Amanda and Ben!), and young Stephen Gibson, the minister (he went to school with me, so he must be young).

It was their regular term bible study kick-off and I led them through an introduction to the studies on early Genesis that I've written (you can download study one for free if you click through on that link).

As well as this once a term kick-off (which is a terrific idea, by the way, and which a number of churches are in the habit of doing), the Bible study leaders also meet weekly for preparation. I can't think of a better way of keeping in touch with leaders and communicating to them how important their work is to the life of the church, while at the same time strengthening both the quality of Bible studies and fellowship in God's word.

If any churches in Sydney want to use a Matthias Media product for their Bible study groups, I am happy to come and meet with leaders to talk about the studies as our mutual timetables allow. You can get into contact with me via the details on the Matthias Media website, or just leave a comment for me on this blog with your details (you can mark your comment 'Do not publish').

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Gedday Gordon,

just had a look at your link to the intro on the Matthais Website and noticed a typo. It's not a big deal but gave me a chuckle.

'the floor and the tower of Babel'.

I'd be very interested to know what material they opted for on the ground level of the Tower?

Scott Tarrant.

Jonathan Hunt said...

Gordon

D'ya know of Petersham Baptist Church?

Gordon Cheng said...

Hey Jonathan,

it's only one of the best Baptist churches in Sydney, if not the world. The three-brained Dave Starling was the pastor there. I've had some slight e-mail contact with the man who's coming next.

Jonathan Hunt said...

That's John Smuts - I have come to know him over the past year or so here in Cheltenham, and he'll be with you soon, so make him welcome!

Anonymous said...

Hi Gordon,

Last week I led a (very) small Bible study group. We've been working our way through the Matthias Media series on Mark. The other guy who turned up was struggling with the study. He's come from a fairly working-class background and likes things direct - he once said that he preferred Paul to Jesus because Paul got straight to the point and didn't waste time with things like Parables.

He found it difficult to grasp where the study was coming from, particularly where the author believed that characters like the blind man were analogies of the disciples. Something that I could grasp (thanks to a semester under Boltie at Moore) was just going straight over his head.

In light of the mission, and Sydney Anglican churches often pushing MM Bible Studies, could this prove a disadvantage in building up new Christians? Are we inadvertantly shutting out non-Uni qualified Christians from loving Bible Study because our study guides are pitched over their heads?

Roger

Gordon Cheng said...

Hi Roger,

hmm, a chance for a free plug—good on you bro! ;-)

Feedback such as yours over the years is exactly why we started producing our new series of Bible studies, the Pathway Bible studies. They are not dumbed down but they are a lot simpler. On the gospels, check this one in particular.

I still think there is a place for the IBS studies you're referring to and I still use them, but not without considerable adaptation in most cases, as they are too long for my purposes.

I find I use them as a practical and simple commentary, and as a way of getting the group to do their own prep. In the actual group I will use them as a jumping off point and select the most important questions to discuss.