One of my great joys in life is leading a weekly, hour-long Bible Discussion at the nursing home where I volunteer. It’s not exactly Standing Room Only, but we have a core group of around seven long-term-care residents who attend each week, along with those who join us when they feel up to it. We also welcome the occasional rehab patient who’ll be heading home in a few days or weeks; I’d like to expand this outreach, since it’s one of those limited-time opportunities, so that’s something to work on in the future.
But in the meantime, I’m glad to point out that there are two common denominators in this truly diverse group of people: All believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and most have never studied the Bible.
Might you be interested in leading such a group?
There's no right or wrong way to do it, I suppose, beyond being faithful to the word of God. I’m still refining our format, having taken on this assignment only a few months ago. But what seems to be working well is varying each week’s content to include:
This week, for example, the agenda included:
We based this last point largely on a short Ray Comfort essay underscoring the need for looking beyond the surface facts of any situation. (This brilliant little essay appears, along with scores of other wonderful commentaries, in The Evidence Bible mentioned at the bottom of this link. What a terrific tool this book is!)
Does this sound like something you’d be interested in doing at your local nursing home? If so, why not give it some thought, and approach the facility’s Activities Director with your proposal? If there’s already a Bible Discussion underway, you could offer to help out with it, maybe by arriving early to gather attendees and staying late to bring them back to their rooms. And during each session, you could stand by with your Bible and a concordance to help the leader address any questions that come up.
It still takes me some hours to put together each week’s line-up. But even if I never manage to reduce this preparation time, it’ll be worth it; there’s nothing more rewarding than sharing the word of God with fellow believers who are eager to learn more about where we came from, what we’re doing here and where we’re going. I hope you’ll give it some thought today!
But in the meantime, I’m glad to point out that there are two common denominators in this truly diverse group of people: All believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and most have never studied the Bible.
Might you be interested in leading such a group?
There's no right or wrong way to do it, I suppose, beyond being faithful to the word of God. I’m still refining our format, having taken on this assignment only a few months ago. But what seems to be working well is varying each week’s content to include:
- An essay or two on a particular topic of interest to the group, especially to address a question that a member recently raised
- An introduction to the Bible passages we’ll be taking a look at today
- Reading of those passages
- Commentary on the key points of this study
- Open discussion about what we’ve just read or about any other biblical or spiritual issue of interest to one or more attendees
- A closing prayer featuring a gospel summary
This week, for example, the agenda included:
- Talking about Jesus’ predictions of persecution of the saints, and how that is currently playing out in nations from Turkey and Saudi Arabia to Laos
- Touching on the upcoming 70th anniversary of Israel’s re-establishment as a state on May 14th, the groundbreaking events scheduled for that day, and the uncanny accuracy of the Bible’s predictions about what has transpired in Israel since 1948
- A discussion of our culture’s “days of Noah” indifference to the things of God, just as Jesus predicted in Matthew 25, and reading of an essay addressing one aspect of this phenomenon
- Delving into the life of Abraham as we work our way through Genesis, starting with an introduction from the late Dr. Henrietta C. Mears’ 1953 book What the Bible Is All About (an excellent resource, recommended by my friend Tess)
- Reading selected passages from Genesis 12-22, including of course the offering of Isaac
- Considering the issue of whether God sanctions the killing of women and children
We based this last point largely on a short Ray Comfort essay underscoring the need for looking beyond the surface facts of any situation. (This brilliant little essay appears, along with scores of other wonderful commentaries, in The Evidence Bible mentioned at the bottom of this link. What a terrific tool this book is!)
Does this sound like something you’d be interested in doing at your local nursing home? If so, why not give it some thought, and approach the facility’s Activities Director with your proposal? If there’s already a Bible Discussion underway, you could offer to help out with it, maybe by arriving early to gather attendees and staying late to bring them back to their rooms. And during each session, you could stand by with your Bible and a concordance to help the leader address any questions that come up.
It still takes me some hours to put together each week’s line-up. But even if I never manage to reduce this preparation time, it’ll be worth it; there’s nothing more rewarding than sharing the word of God with fellow believers who are eager to learn more about where we came from, what we’re doing here and where we’re going. I hope you’ll give it some thought today!
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