Have you ever looked out from the top of a tall building or a from a viewpoint and had a wonderful overview of a city or landscape? I lived in Berlin for a while as a student and knew the city from cycling and walking the streets but when I went up the television tower (Germany’s tallest building – 368 metres) it was wonderful to be able to see where different parts of the city sat in relation to each other.
Have you ever (metaphorically) climbed up to a vantage point and looked across the story of the Bible, seeing how it fits together from Genesis to Revelation? That is what we plan to do in our Growth Groups this coming term. We will travel through the Bible (to change the metaphor) in nine sessions (seven this term and two next) with Vaughan Roberts as our tour guide.
The course we will be using is God’s Big Picture which is available online (https://www.godsbigpicture.co.uk/). The materials are available for everyone to access. There is a video to watch together, a passage (or two) from the Bible to read and study questions. If you want to really throw yourself into it, you could buy Vaughan Robert’s book, “God’s Big Picture” to read alongside (at Good Book Company or 10ofthose or elsewhere). Even if you don’t buy the book, to get the most out of the course it would be wonderful if you were able to read the Bible texts before each Growth Group meeting.
As part of our Pop-up Theology menu next term (these metaphors keep coming!), we plan to offer an “Old Testament and the British Museum” guided tour which will complement the Bible overview course. I did this with one of my daughters a few weeks ago and found it fascinating (and thrilling) to see things like a stone relief depicting the siege of Lachish (cf. Micah 1:13 and Isaiah 36:1-2) and a drinking cup used by King Artaxerxes where Nehemiah was cupbearer to the king (see picture below) and much else besides. There are limited places and you will need to book on the St Mary’s website.
If you are not a member of a Growth Group but would like to join a group to do the course, please get in touch with me (ian.miller@stmarysmaidenhead.org) or, better still, your congregation leader.
My hope and prayer is that whether you know your Bible well or whether you have never read the Bible, you will find this course enjoyable, stimulating, informative and faith-strengthening.