BIBLE ENGAGEMENT

ENGAGEMENT OUR SPIRITUAL EXERCISE

ANDREW RAMSBOTTOM | SUNZ Children & Families Consultant

Bible engagement is very similar to muscle engagement or what is commonly known as exercise. Even the smallest amount of exercise benefits the body, mind and soul. However, we get the most value from regular (daily), unrushed, structured time. The same is true for Bible engagement.

“Lucy was aged four when I saw her ‘reading’ her Bible, I asked her what she was doing. I’m looking for God on every page,’ she replied. She had just started learning to read, and the combination of letters G-O-D was hugely fascinating to her.”— Terry Clutterham, The Adventure Begins.

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1 Terry Clutterham (1996). The Adventure Begins: Practical Guide to Exploring the Bible with Under-12s, p9. Scripture Union Publishing. (Out of print.) God wants us to get to know him better each day by finding who He really is on every page of His Word. MAKE A START

The Holy Spirit is top of my list of essentials for Bible engagement! Start your Bible time by inviting God to be present with you. A few other things will help you get the most out of your Bible time: • Bible—use a modern translation, not a paraphrase. • Notebook and pen—keep a record of what you discover and make action points. • Support—a Bible guide (hardcopy or online), concordance, commentary, encyclopaedia, a friend or family member, or a faith community group. • A quiet place. • Uninterrupted time. GATHER SOME SUPPORT MATERIAL

Here are a few resources I have found very helpful.

• Bibleproject.com is a brilliant free resource that has excellent introduction videos to every book of the Bible as well as theme-based videos and studies.

• SUNZ Online Shop2 has an extensive range of resources for Bible engagement both for individuals and groups. • SUNZ also has a Bible reading app, Engage3 , aimed at young people

• There are many theologians, Biblical scholars and interpreters that we have access to today. My two favourites are

Walter Brueggemann4—an Old Testament specialist—and N.T. Wright5—a New

Testament specialist. Many of their resources are not free but they are well worth the cost for the value they bring to opening the Bible in a life-changing way.

There are many other good resources available. Choose the ones that will help you to explore the Bible effectively. HAVE A PLAN

Even though the Bible is a very complex book, engaging with it has never been complicated. Below is a suggested simple plan.

• Prepare | Choose a time when you will know you won’t be interrupted for at least 30 minutes. Just like exercise, the benefits are greatly increased if you spend a deliberate length of time doing it. Don’t rush. Find a quiet place. Turn your phone off or put it in flight mode if your Bible is on your phone. • Pray | Start with Prayer. Quieten your heart and ask God to speak to you.

• Listen | Listen to the Bible passage being read. I would not recommend reading

2 https://www.sunz.org.nz/shop/?cat%5B%5D=5 3 https://www.sunz.org.nz/youth/engage-app/ 4 https://www.walterbrueggemann.com/ 5 https://ntwrightpage.com/ just one verse as your engagement with Scripture — there is a place for that but that is another whole article. Listen to another person in the group reading out loud, read out loud to yourself or listen to an audio Bible. You may find this strange, but people have engaged with scripture in this way for thousands of years. Or just read it quietly to yourself.

• Explore | Use any support material you have gathered.

- Look up connected verses using a concordance - Look at a Bible map. - Read the commentary in the Bible reading guide. - Answer a few questions with the group you are with. - Watch a short sermon or explanation of the passage online.

• Discuss and Think | This may be with others or just by yourself.

• Write | Record some thoughts on what you have discovered or learnt about God and yourself. Also write down some action points or a prayer (see next point).

• Pray | There are many ways you could end your time in prayer, but this one's my favourite6 : write down some words or a phrase and then spend some time thinking about them as you doodle around them. I have found this a very visual and creative way to end a time of Bible engagement. God wants us to spend unhurried time with Him in His Word each day. Doing so has benefits for us, the church, our community and God’s Kingdom. So let’s be intentional about making our spiritual exercise a daily routine!