Okay, I’m all excited because it looks like we’ll be restarting our parish weekly Bible Study sessions soon, probably in early August. After well over a year without being able to get together, it will be a joy to meet once again and study God's Word together. Throughout the pandemic, I've tried, not always successfully, to keep our participants at least somewhat involved.
Using Zoom was ruled out simply because we have so many people, nearly 100 at last count. And to be honest, I really don't care for video meetings. Even in my business days I never really liked conference calls. Always preferred face-to-face meetings, where things actually got accomplished. But fortunately (for me at least) I'm retired from all that so it makes little difference.
As part of my ongoing effort to keep folks thinking about things Biblical, I've been writing a series of Study Guides. I actually started these 15 years ago when we first began our parish Bible Study. But since the pandemic hit us, I've been writing them at a record-setting pace...at least for me. The latest is Study Guide #46 and addresses the book of the minor prophet Haggai. We know absolutely nothing personal about this prophet other than what he tells us in his brief, two-chapter prophecy, a series of messages he proclaimed to the Jewish remnant in Jerusalem during the months of August through December 520 B.C.
But Haggai's message was a message of hope, perhaps just the kind of message we need today, a message in which God reminds the faithful:
"I am with you...My spirit remains in your midst. Do not fear!"
Yes, indeed, God is Emmanuel -- God with us.
If you actually want to read this latest Bible Study Guide, simply go to the "Documents" page of our Bible Study website, and scroll down to Study Guide #46. Or you can go directly to the PDF file here: Study Guide #46 - Haggai
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