Weekly Bible Study Guide
Episcopal Church's Bible study
For many years, St. Stephen’s has published a weekly Bible study guide used by people all over the world to guide study, conversation, and prayer. After thought and conversation, we have decided to pause the publication of this study beginning in the winter of 2024 so that we can intentionally review the resource and consider what shape it should take in the future. We know that this is a valuable and cherished Bible study for many each week.
For the final two weeks of the current covenant period at St. Stephen's Church--and for the season beyond, as we assess the guide we have been providing--we are glad to share the Episcopal Church’s Bible study, offered weekly and written by Episcopal seminarians around the country.
Thank you for your enthusiasm and support for the Weekly Bible Study. We will be in touch with all those on this subscription list when we have further updates.
Previous Weekly Guides
Fall Covenant Period (2023)
Preparing for Sunday, October 8: Proper 22, Year A
Preparing for Sunday, October 15: Proper 23, Year A
Preparing for Sunday, October 22: Proper 24, Year A
Preparing for Sunday, October 29: Proper 25, Year A
Preparing for Sunday, November 5: All Saints' Sunday, Year A
Preparing for Sunday, November 12: Proper 27, Year A
Preparing for Sunday, November 19: Proper 28, Year A
Preparing for Sunday, November 26: The Last Sunday after Pentecost, Year A
Preparing for Sunday, December 3: The First Sunday of Advent, Year B
Preparing for Sunday, December 10: The Second Sunday of Advent, Year B
Spring Covenant Period (2023)
Preparing for Sunday, April 9: Easter Day, Year A | The Gospel: John 20:1-18
Preparing for Sunday, April 16: Easter II, Year A | The Gospel: John 20:19-31
Preparing for Sunday, April 23: Easter III, Year A | The Gospel: Luke 24:13-35
Preparing for Sunday, April 30: Easter IV, Year A | The Gospel: John 10:1-10
Preparing for Sunday, May 7: Easter V, Year A | The Gospel: John 14:1-14
Preparing for Sunday, May 14: Easter VI, Year A | The Gospel: John 14:15-21
Preparing for Sunday, May 21: Easter VII, Year A | The Gospel: John 17:1-11
Preparing for Sunday, May 28: The Day of Pentecost | The Lesson: Acts 2:1-21
1. From the “Background” section above, “there is nothing like pondering the end to bring you more fully aware and awake in the present.”
Here at the beginning of the new church year, Christians are being invited to ponder the end of all things. How does this focus on the end affect you in the present? How would you live your life differently if you knew the end was coming very soon, but it was impossible to know exactly when?
Although we know on some level that all human life is brief, it sometimes seems that we forget our mortality. How would your life change if you were more mindful of your mortality?
2. Although we usually think of the “apocalypse” as a future event, another way to ponder the whole idea of apocalypse is to understand that it is referring to a present reality. That is, apocalyptic visions are “unveilings” or “revelations” of the deepest reality that dwells eternally beneath surface appearances. Below the surface of things, even permeating all things, there is an eternal Life that occasionally breaks through and gives rise in this world to beauty, art, poetry, sacrificial love.
This deeper life is where our true life is hidden with Christ in God, as St. Paul said. And when we pray, “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven,” we are praying that this deeper, eternal life might become a more present, tangible reality in this temporal world.
How might such an understanding affect the way you pray and the way you live?
3. In previous years on the first Sunday of Advent, Emmaus Groups have considered some of the following timeless questions as a way of becoming more spiritually alert and attentive. These might be worth considering again:
a. When in your life have you felt most “alive,” most engaged, most “present”? Some say in answer to this question that it is when they are with someone they love very much, perhaps someone they have missed for a period of time and have eagerly anticipated their reunion. But even the most passionate and joyful relationships can become dull. When Jesus says we should “keep awake,” perhaps he is suggesting that we stay present and alive, especially in our relationships with each other. What might you do in order to become more present in your own life in this way?
b. One way of understanding this lesson is to see it as an invitation to deeper faith and relationship with God. The point is not the end of the world and when that might happen; the point is to examine how we are living now, before the end (our end) comes. What do you know about living a life of such deep trust in God that you no longer need to worry about the end?
c. An ancient way of praying is to lie down on the floor, close your eyes, and imagine yourself in your own grave. From this perspective, what is now most important to you? After a time of prayer such as this, what changes might you make in your daily life?
d. So much of our lives can lapse into unconscious routines. One way of dealing with busyness and information overload is to compartmentalize our lives and develop routines that allow us to meet our obligations without having to think or reflect on what we are doing. In this sense, we can go through some days as if we are sleepwalking. What changes would we have to make, if we were to heed Jesus’ urgent plea to “stay awake”?
4. The Gospel lesson depicts people going about the usual routines of life, “eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, working in fields, grinding meal,” when one person is “taken” and another is “left.”
You know how one person can be “taken” by a sunset or a piece of music or an act of kindness, while another person seeing or hearing the very same thing can be “left” unmoved.
What makes the difference? Why is one person moved to tears or “taken” by revelations of God in everyday life, while another person who experiences the very same thing is “left” only with a sense of life as mundane, unremarkable, or even dull?
When have you been “taken”? When have you been “left”?