More Bible Stories

 It's always exciting to start a new book in the Congregation Bible Study, where we analyze a faith-strengthening publication.  We just finished the exciting and impactful account found in the Bible book of Acts of the Apostles in the publication “Bearing Thorough Witness” About God’s Kingdom.  It reminded us that these men and women of the first century C.E. weren’t super beings.  Jehovah wanted us to see that they were just like us, trying to serve him to be truly happy.  Excellent book.

Now we are starting the book Lessons You Can Learn From the Bible.  It is a revised edition of sorts of a childhood classic, My Book of Bible Stories.  In the first study of the book, the brother conducting did an excellent job of introducing a new book, but also preparing us as we analyze it.  As stated in the letter of the Governing Body, the book has been designed to tell these wonderful stories in a way that a child can, not only understand, but also learn from.  But it also helps older ones that want to know a general idea of the stories found in the Bible.  AND it also helps even those who are familiar with Bible accounts.  It helps them to be able to explain certain lessons and truths in a simple and clear way.  A sister commented on how this will help her to remind her of the order of events and stories, as it can be a bit confusing as to what happened when.  So the brother conducting encouraged us to thoroughly study the information every week and offer comments, even if the answers are obvious.

So what was one thing I took away from the first lesson? In the letter from the GB, it asked parents to help their children appreciate the huge variety of what is found in Creation.  But that is a lesson for all of us as well.  To stop and smell the roses.  To take in and appreciate the variety that Jehovah has created.  He did not need to make so many species of flowers, but he did.  He did not need to make so many pleasing instrumental sounds, but he did.  A brother commented that the account shows how Jehovah trained his son to be his master worker. That shows us that we too need to train others, be it duties in the congregation or in the preaching work.  And another comment showed how Jehovah is always working and how we too need to be productive in all we do, but especially when working for Jehovah.

It seemed kinda tough for the brother conducting.  Not that he is not capable.  He is very capable and he did great.  But whenever there are question and answer sessions with no set question for each paragraph, the comments can sometimes go all over the place.  And there were a couple commenters that were getting ahead of themselves.  But the brother skillfully brought back the line of thought to where he was and asked great questions that kept the brothers engaged.  One loving elderly sister, pobrecita, was so excited that she reread one of the paragraphs.  But she read each sentence and each point so emphatically!  Great little moments.

Another great meeting overall, and much to medicate over so that we can apply lessons and benefit from it.