Reflections: Adult Bible Class at Park Plaza

The Wednesday night adult Bible class I have been teaching this fall at Park Plaza concluded last night. The study and discussion of Paul’s first letters was stimulating. This would be a good time to reflect one more time on the content of the class, thinking about the challenges faced by the Gospel in the first century. Galatians shows the struggle to understand how the Gospel connects to the past and its roots in Judaism and the Old Testament. The Thessalonian correspondence shows the struggle to understand the message of the Gospel with regard to the future, especially the coming of Jesus.

Instead of reflecting on and summarizing the class, I want to reflect on the class itself: the dynamics of the class, members, involvement, attendance, interest, and comments.

    Attendance was consistent and excellent with the chairs filled almost every week, and often the need to set up more chairs.
    The members of the class were involved in the study with excellent comments, penetrating questions, and numerous after class off-line disucssions.
    The size of the class made discussion difficult, but together we overcame that hurdle and the discussion was often lively.
    The class members are encouragers of one another. What a delight to observe the love expressed as we lingered afterward to share various aspects of our lives.
    The class seemed to relish the opportunity to dig a little deeper, but also enjoyed thinking about how the text applies to our lives today.

The class members blessed me by their participation, comments, and encouragement. What a blessing to get to spend time regularly with the greatest people on earth–God’s people.