Women's Bible Study - September 6th, 2023

In one paragraph

This was the opening session of a new women's Bible study at JH Women's Bible Study, led by Deborah Buckingham. Deborah introduced the theme of being rooted in Christ as the answer to the anxiety and fear that mark our current moment. The message centered on the resurrection of Jesus as the foundation that makes that kind of rootedness possible. Deborah started by naming what she had been hearing...

Read together

1. Matthew 7 Building your life on the rock; when storms come you will not collapse
2. Jeremiah 17 Blessed if you trust in the Lord; like a tree planted along a riverbank whose roots reach deep into the water
3. Psalm 22 David wrote a thousand years before Jesus that Messiah's hands and feet would be pierced through
4. Isaiah 53 Messiah will be rejected and killed, sacrificed for his people, silent before accusers, buried with the rich
5. 1 Corinthians 15 Over 500 brothers and sisters saw Jesus after the resurrection
6. 2 Peter 1:16 Peter wrote that he was not making up clever stories; he saw Jesus with his own eyes
7. Lamentations 3:25 The Lord is good to those who hope in him, to the one who seeks him
8. 1 Corinthians 15:57 Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ
9. 1 Corinthians 15 Stand firm, let nothing move you, your labor is not in vain
10. 1 Corinthians 15 If our hope in Christ is only for this life we should be pitied; Christ was raised first and all who belong to him

Talk about it

1. Deborah described being 'rooted' as where we go for answers, what we depend on for happiness and security, and the narrative we allow into our thinking. Where do you find yourself most often going for answers when stress hits, and how has that shaped you?
2. Deborah shared the image from Jeremiah 17 of a tree planted along a riverbank whose roots reach deep into the water, not bothered by heat or drought. What does that kind of stability look like in a practical, everyday way for you right now?
3. Deborah talked about the resurrection as the event that changes everything, saying that if Jesus really rose from the dead, we can have confidence in all of His promises, including peace that transcends understanding. Has there been a moment in your own life when that confidence held you, or a moment when it felt hard to reach?
4. Perpetua and Polycarp both refused even the smallest compromise, a pinch of incense, because of what they had experienced of Christ. Deborah said they got a glimpse of glory and knew nothing on earth could compare. What do you think it would take for your own faith to reach that level of certainty?
5. Deborah closed with three takeaways: there is no such thing as impossible with God, God is moving even when it does not make sense, and we get a fairy tale ending. Which of those three feels most relevant to where you are right now, and why?