Trust and Engaging with the Bible: August Coffee and Community
Key Verse for August
“Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and staff they comfort me.” Psalm 23:4, emphasis me.
I find the imagery in the Psalms to be exquisite. For someone who likes to create pictures or stories in their mind, this book of the Bible is filled with opportunity to make scripture come alive in one’s mind. A book of poetry can also feel a little daunting at times for understanding, yet it also feels personal - poems, songs, to God about him and about us. I’ll admit I don’t open up the book of Psalms often, but my husband does and through his practice has encouraged me to look more.
I chose to cover a chapter in Psalms for this month’s coffee and community because I have been spiritually encouraged to offer more “tools” (for lack of better wording) to help women dive into their faith deeper. It is difficult to navigate next steps of faith or sometimes experience the openness and motivation to continue growing. One way we do grow in faith is getting into God’s word. While I do encourage more in-depth study of the word at a relatively regular pace when our seasons allow, I wanted to offer a perhaps simpler way to “get going” again or for the first time in our journey . One way is reading a chapter in Psalm or Proverbs as it correlates to the date. And that’s what I wanted to practice at the gathering. So, on August 23rd, we read Psalm 23. A sometimes well known Psalm, but filled with so much beauty and guidance on who God is for us: our protector, shepherd, host. And it even tells us what that can mean for us when we trust those roles of God.
Conversation was around the imagery we create in our mind about God through this text, the roles of God we most easily conjure up when we think of God, how that makes us interact with Him, and discussing the central message to the Psalm. I encourage you to keep thinking on these things, check out the program below for ideas to engage in this text and sustain the practice beyond.
Download August 2019’s Coffee and Community program here.
I look forward to the group next time on September 27th 9-11 am at Sara’s House. RSVP required for address. We will be introducing a new weekly study we will be using!
Take care ladies and continue the pursuit of your faith,
Sara