Bible Study: Dealing with My Health

This week we were looking at two passages that address health and wholeness.

It's worth taking a moment to think how you are when you get sick. Do all things come to a stop as people pamper you, or do you become like Oscar the Grouch? We all deal with personal illness differently. The other day, a person talking about patient-doctor relationships said that often we wait to talk to a physician because we are afraid of not knowing what is going on. It is fascinating to think that the body we own can be such a confusing thing! Such must have been the case with this man in John's Gospel (scriptures are linked in Tuesday's blog announcement) who had been an invalid for 38 years! That is a long time, but what striks you about this healing? How do you characterize this interchange between the man and Jesus? I am always amazed at how others respond to these miraculous healings. How is this similar to how we experience dramatic healthcare improvements? What are some things about your own health that cause you stress? How can you overcome this anxiety?

For part of an answer to that last question it is worth taking a look at Paul's reminder that "when we are weak, then we are strong." Has there ever been anything in your expereince that finds that statement to be true? How have you seen, or experienced God working in and through you during a time of weakness? How can you trust God in those moments?

Feel free to share your observations/thoughts here as we head into the weekend.

Bible Study: Coping with Crisis

This week's Bible study focuses on dealing with difficult situations (links for the passages are in Tuesdays announcement).

The first story comes from Genesis where future patriarch Joseph finds himself in a rather difficult situation. His employer's wife lusts after him and tries to seduce him causing Joseph to have to struggle with his moral center. Joe has had quite a turnaround in his fortune up to that point, though he is essentially a slave life is better than it might have been for the young man. One wonders if Joe asked himself how God could have put him in this situation and as you take a look at this you may wish to reflect on times when you too have wondered why God "let this happen." though this story focuses on sexual temptation, it is a good time to consider how you are tempted in your own life. What pressures cause you to perhaps compromise your own personal moral center or convictions? How do you resist temptation? How can you sense that God is with you even during these times of your life?

With this in mind we turn to the first chapter of 2 Corinthians where Paul is once again writing words of comfort to people who are troubled. It might be worth taking a moment to think about what expression of caring you found most comforting when you were a child. How did that feel or look like? Where can you receive that same sense of healing and comfort now in your life? Are there pressures in your life right now that are causing you despair? How do you respond to those pressures? Do you find they deepen your sense of God's presence or tend to drive you away from faith? Why do you think that happens? How can you pray for people who are stuggling through times of despair or who are dealing with extra pressures in their life?

Well, those are plenty of questions for reflection and thought.

Join us next week on Wednesday night when we talk about pressures related to our health.

Wednesday Conversation Info: Coping With Crisis

This Wednesday evening, we will gather at Panera on 101A in Nashua for our second Bible Study conversation night. How are you dealing with the pressures of the world right now? World? What about just life on a day-to-day basis? Well we will spend some time building one another up to take on what life throws at us.

If you'd like to check out the passages for this week take a look first at one of the earliest recorded examples of sexual harrasment! (http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%2039&version=65)

Then we will gain some hope from Paul's letter to the church in Corinth (http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20corinthians%201;&version=65;).


See you then!

Bible Study: Making a Living

Extending our conversations that are scheduled for Wednesday nights, Thursday's blog will feature some of our thoughts and questions for reflection here. Scriptures are listed in Wednesday's blog (linked for your convenience). So feel free to share your thoughts here. (A brainstorm yesterday was figuring out a way to do this on-line live....ideas?)

First off some thoughts about the 2 Kings passage that talks about a widow in desperate financial straits. She comes to Elisha hoping for a solution to her debt and the story slowly, and oddly, unfolds. Elisha invites her to think about her most valuable commodity and then finds a way to turn that into a source of income that can help get her back on track. With this in mind, how do you view money and the thigns you own in your life? Does your money hinder or help you to trust God? (Do you trust God more when it seems you have lots of money and less when you have none? Or do you find yourself turning to God only when things are difficult?) Take some time to reflect on what you might be "low on" in your life (oil, money, love, patience, time, energy, work, friends, income, etc.). God uses the widow's limited resources in this story to solve her problem. What resource in your life might God use to provide for you? What is most difficult about trying to start out on your own once you leave for college, or even leave college to live by yourself?

Now on to the second reading which comes from Ephesians 4. Here Paul is writing from prison to a group of Christians that he had worked with earlier. There are obviously somethings going wrong there and Paul is trying to call them back together and get them on the right path. What do you see here that helps point toward creating unity in this group? (How might that help us at BTW?) Are there places in your life that you feel you are yet to live up to your "calling"? How can you work toward developing into the person God is calling you to be?

Deep questions for thought this week. And did anyone not sort of find it amusing that the widow has a gas shortage? Seems a bit funny given recent world events to read this story now, don't you think? Feel free to share what the 2 Kings story might have to say during the "world energy crisis".

Keeping it Together When Life is Falling Apart

Ever felt that you were having a "panic attack"?

Wondering about those piles of dirty laundry and searching for some quarters?

Has the leaky plumbing in your home finally revealed itself by flooding your favorite room?

Did you just get an oil change to discover your car is nearing that "broken beyond repair" mode?

Is your checkbook a disaster?

Is your health a model of what not to do?

Do you find yourself saying, "Surely I am a capable person, but how can I survive on my own?"

Well, starting in August, By the Way will host some conversation times at Panera on 101 A. We will start at 7:30 PM and focus on some things can share about the pressures that we all face.

Each week on Thursdays, we'll share a little about some of our discoveries and we'll post updates to our conversation topic here on the blog each week as a reminder.

Here is the schedule so you can plan a brief moment each week to re-center your life:

Aug. 6: Making a Living

Aug. 13: Coping with Crisis

Aug. 20: Dealing with My Health

Aug. 27: Managing My Finances
Sep. 3: Dealing with Family Issues

Sep. 10: Handling My Emotions

Join us for one, a couple, or all, and bring a friend.