Let us reason together

This evening Shirley and I will be at a study in the home of one of our members. On this evening we will be looking further into the book of Ezekiel and how that impacts our daily life with Christ. We also take plenty of time to share our lives together and pray for one another and the needs in the church. 

On Tuesdays, Scott has reading the gospel of Mark with a mother and daughter in order to get to know Jesus. Tuesday afternoons Scott is usually off to a 91 year-old woman who says that she “inherited” him from his previous care for her boyfriend before the boyfriend passed away last year. They talk about the differences between what she experiences in the Catholic Church and what they read together in the Bible.

On Wednesday evenings Scott and Shirley go over to colleagues Ruud and Karla’s house where the Bible study for the week progresses online with the rest of the congregation. The most recent lessons have come from the letters to the Corinthians, showing us practical lessons that we can learn from the struggles of the church in Corinth. We are thankful for the hybrid nature of this study (in-person and online) so that more members can take part, since our membership is spread out in the area. 

On Thursday morning Scott and Ruud meet with another man to read in Acts and examine what the first christians looked like. It is important to see how the Bible shows us so many things that are practical for our daily lives today. The first Christians struggled with many of the same situations as we do today. Do we look like they do in our faith? 

Every Friday Shirley is online with the ladies of the congregation. They have more recently also decided to get together in person at least once every six weeks so that they can encourage one another that way as well. In December they plan a ladies time away. For some of our ladies this is the only time to truly get away and be encouraged ij Christian faith. 

These times of study are exciting and encouraging. On Sunday mornings one of the best moments is our coffee time together when we all stand around - cup of coffee or tea in hand - and tak about spiritual things and our lives in Christ. The topics that came up in the week, the things mentioned that day in the sermon, the challenges we have faced in the week can all be shared. Then we see how the word of God is not an intellectual pursuit, but a daily, practical necessity and beauty. 

The manifold wisdom of God

We have been blessed in our lives to travel quite a lot and see all sorts of different places. In the US we have lived in the Midwest, in the West “and even in Southern California,” he said with a wink in his eye. In Europe we have had the opportunity to travel all over most of western Europe and much of Eastern Europe. But we have realized that there is an amazing variety of beauty and information wherever we are. Look in your backyard (or on your terrace or balcony) and pay attention to what you can see, hear and smell even there.

In all of this variety, God wants to share with us His will, His word and His beauty. I have seen God’s beauty and truth in deserts, in coastal waters, in forests of pine trees or oak, in the rolling plains and the Grand Canyon. In each place there is something else to see, something else to learn.

In the same way, the various people we have in our lives are all opportunities to learn about God’s grace, love and patience – with us and others. This is how our weeks and months pass, in a variety of conversations, studies and activities – just like yours.

With the congregation in Maastricht we are working through a study of ‘The Mighty Deeds of God’ and how we proclaim them. On most Wednesday’s we are reading in Acts to discover and be encouraged by the way the church belongs to the Lord. This ties into a mentoring study that Scott is working on with a brother in the north of the country.

At least three times a month we meet with members from Belgium and the Netherlands to sing together and learn new songs. In March we are organizing a Song Workshop for the 4th time – a day to learn new songs for all the congregations, encourage one another in the beauty of singing together for the Lord. We are also recording these songs so that members can learn and teach them to others.

But each day also brings us back to our time together, what we have been reading in the Word, what God has been teaching us in our daily struggles. And we try to be aware of what we can learn and share. This is no different than the many ways that God has been working in your lives as well.

Would you like to share with us what you have been learning and experiencing? We would love to hear from you and share together, encouraging one another. Drop us an email, leave a message here on the blog, connect with us on facebook. The world is much smaller today than ever before.