Year of Story Bible Study: The Story of Jesus
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8)
In Acts 1:8, Jesus calls His disciples to be witnesses. To be open to the leading of the Holy Spirit, to witness… To tell… To share… the Story of Jesus to the ends of the earth.
Welcome to 2023: The Year of Story. Our focus this year will be on learning and telling the Story of Jesus. A story that many of us have been learning and telling our entire lives. The Gospel Story of Jesus matters, though many of our neighbors here at home and around the world, have not experienced the Good News of Jesus. Those of us who know and live the Story of Jesus have a great opportunity before us to lovingly share the Story of Jesus.
We are the followers of a crucified and risen Lord, and the work we are called to do is always centered in Jesus. And we are centered in Jesus to be sent into the world. The mission of the Northwestern Ohio Synod captures both our call to be centered in the Gospel and our call to be sent into the world. “Sent by the Crucified and Risen Jesus to Make Disciples, Equip Leaders, Strengthen Parishes, and Nurture New Communities for the Renewal of Northwestern Ohio and the World”.
Click here to access our newly released 6-session Bible Study on the Story of Jesus.
Download the study, open (or turn on) your Bible, gather with a group of friends, get outside the four walls of the congregation, to learn and share the Jesus story, to learn and share your story, and to learn and share the story of your community.
But be careful. Be very, very careful, because the Story of Jesus has the power to transform us from who we are, into the people and communities that God longs for us to be.
Reading and Walking
“But we sailed from Philippi after the days of Unleavened Bread, and in five days we joined them in Troas, where we stayed for seven days” (Acts 20:6) In the Book of Acts chapter 20, we read about St. Paul’s travel itinerary, as he concludes his Third Witness trip and...
The Beauty of God’s Creation
“The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it, the world, and those who live in it; for he has founded it on the seas, and established it on the rivers” (Psalm 24:1-2) Early Saturday morning, a few of us hit the trails at Sidecut Metropark in Maumee, Ohio, for a...
A Psalm of Rest
I like the Book of Psalms, and early on in my ministry, I worked to commit a number of psalms to memory. Psalm 131 has long served as a psalm of peace and rest for me. When things become hectic and anxious, I find repeating this psalm calms and quiets my soul. What...
Core Values
“When you search for me, you will find me; if you seek me with all your heart,” (Jeremiah 29:13). I have been thinking these past few weeks about the potential and purpose of core values. In 2019, I attended a conference at Trinity Lutheran Seminary in Columbus, Ohio....