Southside
| Leaders: | Jacqueline & John Adams |
| Meets on: | Every 2nd Thursday 7.45 pm |
| Locality | Newlands |
We are a varied group of around 10-12 people, meeting in the Southside but coming from all over the city. As we are all busy people, our group only meets every two or three weeks, but that means that there is less pressure on each of us.
Spring 2008 - The Old Testament
While the Old Testament forms a key part of our understanding of the historical context of Jesus’ ministry and teachings, we often struggle to find the relevance of the original Hebrew Bible to our daily lives. We therefore agreed to spend some time looking at the different types of literature contained in the books of the old testament, ranging from history to biography, laments to love stories, poetry to prophesy and archives to adventure.
We spent the first evening discussing the broad range of the Old Testament, and reviewing the different types of books. We agreed to look at the following books and passages:
- History - Genesis 12 & Genesis 15 - Abram’s call and God’s covenant.
- Law - Deuteronomy 5 & 6 - The Ten Commandments.
- Poetry - Psalm 103
- Wisdom (Riddles?) - Ecclesiastes 5
- Poetry - Lamentations
- Prophesy - Nahum
- Biography - Esther
In discussing these passages, we will ask four main questions:
- What questions does this passage make you ask?
- What did this story say to the people it was originally written for?
- How does the New Testament change our understanding of this passage?
- What does the passage say to us today?
And if you fancy a bit of a puzzle, try the Old Testament Word Search.
Previously on…
In Autumn 2007, we looked at the Kingdom of God.
The “kingdom of God/kingdom of heaven†is a major thread in Jesus’ teachings – with just under 100 references in the gospels. It is also a major theme in the emerging church, where people across the world are rediscovering the implications of Jesus’ teaching for the world around them.
Now maybe we’ve never lost that understanding that Jesus wasn’t just talking about personal salvation but about transforming human society?
In this session we looked at the gospel references to the kingdom in Jesus’ words, and asked ourselves:
• What did this teaching mean to the people Jesus spoke to?
• What does it mean for us today?
To get an idea of what we’re talking about, you may wish to look at the following YouTube clip:
You can also view the notes for our studies on the Kingdom of God.
In the first few months of 2007, we studied the book of Philippians, trying to see how a letter that St Paul wrote while under house arrest in Rome shortly before his death can influence the our attitudes and behaviour today.
In Autumn 2006 we read John Ortberg’s book The Life You’ve Always Wanted. Previously we’ve looked at topics as diverse as peacemaking in the 21st century (long before Norman Kember’s kidnap in Iraq), how writings of a 14th Century monk (Thomas a Kempis) could apply to us today, and even bits of the Bible!
Other activities
As part of our active social conscience, we have been known to get through five bars of Divine chocolate in one meeting.
Unfortunately the group won’t let me post any embarrassing photographs of them munching biscuits.
3 Comments »
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Sheila Riach Said,
September 30, 2005 @ 6:16 pm
This group is worth going to just for the lovely biscuits…………..
Karen Murdarasi Said,
February 1, 2008 @ 3:42 pm
Actually, I think it’s the the biscuits that most people do come for!
(And Pam’s stories from Lasagna Wednesday, of course.)
Albert Khor Said,
March 20, 2008 @ 10:52 am
Hey
You may remember me or you may not! I went to the Christmas party and unfortunately I have not been able to go due to a series of other programmes. Now I will return to Malaysia for the summer and will be back to Glasgow in September with a refreshed mind (and spirit, hopefully). Do continue to shine for God and God bless!
Albert