This is our story: journeys of faith

Bible stories   have a natural place in worship. We have readings from the bible in our sunday services,  and these are often  'brought to life' by the preacher  in the sermon. By and large, however, the congregation's engagement with the bible is one of meditative listening , not one of  active exploration.

It isn't often that we have the chance to dig deeper into bible studies  as a group activity.  During lent we have been doing just this, together with members of Castle Square URC.

'This is our story:journeys of faith' is the title of the course prepared by  Churches Together in Britain and Ireland. Radio 4 and local radio stations have picked up the theme in their religious broadcasting.

Each week we have look at a story from the Jewish scriptures, and a connected New Testament passage.    For example we read of the Israelites' rescue from  Egypt, crossing the red sea, alongside the account of Jesus' baptism... and the meaning of our baptism.   We looked at Moses' saving the Israelites from an infestation of poisonous snakes by lifting up a  bronze serpent on a pole, and at  the reference in John's gospel to Jesus being 'lifted up' on the cross for our salvation.  We looked at the feeding of the Israelites on manna in the desert alongside the  saying of Jesus 'I am the bread of life', and the meaning of communion for a christian community.

Under the skillful guidance of Gethin and Dan, we we  encouraged to make connections between  central stories of the Jewish faith and  core themes of our Christian faith.  We did so in a way that took account of our personal experiences and the  life and witness of churches of which we are, or have been a part.

A small minority of people made it to every session; the majority dropped in when they could.. sometimes just for one week, and that was fine!

Our congregational traditions put great score on the power of people of faith coming together in the name of the Holy Spirit to ponder the Bible. In discerning Gods word in this way, and doing it together, we can discover 'treasure' which is inspiration for our lives. And  we grow, not only as individuals but as a community.

It isn't something we do very much at St Davids Uniting.  Perhaps we should!  Especially as we begin to explore a bigger vision for our church in this locality, it will be vital that we remain firmly connected with the roots of our faith, and with one another.