Encounter with God: January–March 2021

By Tanya Ferdinandusz, David Smith, Derek Tidball and 3 more

Encounter with God is Scripture Union's daily Bible reading guide designed to lead you to a deeper understanding about what God is saying to you and to his world today. You'll find its thorough and energetic investigation of the whole Bible inspiring and stimulating. And you'll discover that its biblical exposition is complemented by pastoral warmth from a strong field of writers and contributors. As well as daily content, feature articles provide insights into Christian spirituality, tackle contemporary issues, and profile teachers who inspire.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Scripture Union
• Release date: Dec 8, 2020
• ISBN: 9781785068096

Tanya Ferdinandusz

Tanya Ferdinandusz is both a freelance writer and freelance editor, and has been writing Bible reading notes, articles and devotionals for over 25 years. She is a Bible Study leader and the author of Marriage Matters, a book for Christian couples.

Book preview

Contents

Editorial

The Writers

SU article: Diary of a Disciple

Using this Guide

Matthew 3–7; Psalms 128,129,130 David Smith

Exodus 1–15; Psalms 131,132,133,134 Tanya Ferdinandusz

Romans 1–8; Psalms 135,136,137 Nigel Wright

Bible unpacked: Narrative and Scripture Mark Strauss

Exodus 15–27; Psalms 138,139,140 Derek Tidball

John 18–21 Mike Archer

This edition of Encounter with God copyright © Scripture Union 2020

ISSN 1350-5130. All rights reserved.

ISBN 978 1 78506 809 6 (EPUB ebook)

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of Scripture Union.

Scripture Union is a member of the worldwide Scripture Union international community.

Website: https://scriptureunion.global

About Scripture Union

Thank you for buying Encounter with God.

We hope you’ll find it a real blessing as you delve regularly into God’s Word.

Scripture Union – beyond Bible reading guides

By purchasing this Bible reading guide, you are helping to support Scripture Union’s mission to reach the next generation with the good news of Jesus. All profit made from the sales of this resource are used to introduce children and young people to Jesus in a whole range of exciting ways. Thank you for the part you’re already playing in that.

Get further involved

If you’d like to find out more about Scripture Union, or you’d like to get further involved, go to www.su.org.uk/beyondbibleguides

About Scripture Union

Scripture Union is a Christian charity, inviting children and young people to explore the difference Jesus can make to the challenges and adventures of life.

Through a wide range of activities and initiatives, we provide opportunities for young people to explore the Bible, respond to Jesus and grow in faith. Having been established in England over 150 years ago, Scripture Union is now a global movement active in over 120 countries.

We believe every child should have the chance to discover Jesus. And, with an estimated 95% of children in England and Wales not part of a church, we’re working harder than ever to take the good news of Jesus beyond the church in exciting and culturally relevant ways.

Scripture Union, Trinity House, Opal Court, Opal Drive, Fox Milne, Milton Keynes MK15 0DF, UK Tel: [phone] Email: [e-mail] Website: www.scriptureunion.org.uk

Design by The Smithy Creative

Printed by Thomson Press, India

Editorial

What Really Matters?

During the coronavirus pandemic, as country after country was put into some kind of lockdown, it was wonderful to be encouraged by human stories of small things making a big difference.

In Spain, for example, people confined at home produced handmade masks for medical staff who didn’t have protective equipment; half a million people in the UK responded within one day to an appeal to help isolated people; children painted rainbows of hope to put in their windows; and worldwide there were digital prayer and worship materials to help nurture our spiritual lives.

Alongside this was the reversal of things we had always taken for granted. Usually it is good to be with others; now we had to stay apart. And material values were turned upside down. A roll of toilet paper became more important than a diamond ring! Living ‘under’ the virus prompted the key question: What really matters?

Our 2021 readings start in Matthew’s Gospel. We explore the Sermon on the Mount, the manifesto of God’s kingdom, where care for others always triumphs over personal success, and small kindnesses are more significant than acts of might.

Through the stories of Scripture, God calls us to this way of life, culminating in the Easter story. We can be in no doubt what really matters when we read of Jesus’ sacrificial love and allow it to touch and shape our own lives. If we follow Christ, then every day is a day to do what really matters. For the King is surely coming and it matters that we get ready. Let us embrace this amazing creation; care for it and its creatures; live generously; and declare God’s glory.

Sally Nelson

Editor

Angela Grigson

Content Project Manager

ON THE COVER: ‘When we hear a good story, we often relate to it on a personal level.’ Mark Strauss talks about the use of the narrative genre in the Bible (page 85)

Image credit: iStock/anatoliy_gleb

The Writers

DAVID SMITH has been engaged in international ministry in Asia and Africa. He continues writing – his most recent book is Stumbling toward Zion, on the importance of the biblical tradition of lament.

TANYA FERDINANDUSZ is both a freelance writer and freelance editor, and she has been writing Bible-reading notes, articles and devotionals for over 20 years. She is the author of Marriage Matters, a book for Christian couples; Tanya and her husband Roshan have been married for over 25 years, and have two adult sons – Daniel and Joshua.

NIGEL WRIGHT is a Baptist minister, Principal Emeritus of Spurgeon’s College, London and former President of the Baptist Union of Great Britain.

DEREK TIDBALL was formerly principal of London Bible College. In retirement, he continues to preach, write, supervise research and teach in theological colleges around the world.

MIKE ARCHER is vicar of Highfield Church, Southampton. He is married to Sarah and they have two children, Mims and Sam.

MARK STRAUSS is university professor of New Testament at Bethel Seminary. He is author or co-author of 16 books, including Four Portraits, One Jesus, How to read the Bible in Changing Times and Mark, in the Zondervan Exegetical Commentary.

SU Article

DIARY OF A DISCIPLE

Few children today go to church, and decreasing numbers of them read books. So how do we introduce this generation to the treasures of the Bible?

Psalm 119:103 says, ‘How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!’ As a reader of Encounter with God, you know the lived truth of these words and just how vital reading the Bible is if we are to grow in our faith and develop spiritual maturity.

But how many children have ever read a Bible? Just 5% of them attend church on a regular basis1 and fewer than 1 in 3 of them read for pleasure.2 If they even know what a Bible is, it’s highly unlikely that they will ever have opened one up to discover the spiritual riches contained within its pages.

Yet the younger generation are desperate to find meaning and purpose, and a solid foundation on which to build their lives. We know that the answers they seek are contained in the Bible’s timeless wisdom.

So how do we get the Bible into their hands and Jesus’ wonderful message of hope into their hearts?

One response to that challenge is the Diary of a Disciple series, a quirky and accessible retelling of Luke’s Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles. Its illustrative style and contemporary language are persuading a new generation to read God’s Word – each volume covers every chapter and every verse of the Bible book.

‘It’s exciting!’

Ten-year-old Joe from Haverfordwest was an early recipient of a copy of Diary of a Disciple: Luke’s Story. He has reading difficulties and so he loved the book’s pictorial style. He says, ‘The book is about the Bible, just shortened up for younger people to read it. It’s a really good book.’

1 Peter Brierley, UK Church Statistics 2,2010–2020, Tonbridge: ADBC Publishers,2014

2 National Literacy Trust, Children and young people’s reading in 2017/18, 2019

Joe loved Diary of a Disciple so much that he wanted all his classmates to be able to enjoy it, too. Friends and relatives helped him to set up an online crowdfunding page to raise the funds needed.

He met his target in just three hours! And donors were so generous that Joe was able to buy copies of Diary of a Disciple: Luke’s Story not just for his class, but for all 70 pupils at his junior school, and for the pupils of another local school as well!

Joe’s classmates love their new books. James, nine, says, ‘It’s the first book I’ve ever been given – I always wanted a Bible!’ Ten-year-old Joanna comments, ‘I didn’t know the stories before – just looking through the pages is really exciting!’ Her classmate Ellie is full of praise for Joe, saying, ‘Joe did a good decision to buy these books for us because now it makes the Bible seem more fun.’

Many of the children have started reading their copies of Diary of a Disciple: Luke’s Story at home and talking about what they’ve learned when they come to school.

Joe says, ‘My dream is that, every time someone moves up to Class 4, they get a copy of Diary of a Disciple. So I want to raise more money for that in the future.’

‘I didn’t know the stories before – just looking through the pages is really exciting!’

School workshops

Scripture Union has also developed two workshops based on the two volumes of Diary of a Disciple to help open up the Bible to children in a school setting.

Mary Butt, a mission practitioner based in Oldham, has so far held 31 workshops for 931 children aged between nine and eleven. She says, ‘SU presented the idea at a conference. I invited them to hold a Diary of a Disciple: Luke’s Story workshop at a local school, then began running workshops myself. When, a few months later, I told a group of local schools’ leaders about them, I was inundated with requests to run Diary of a Disciple workshops at their schools too.

‘The workshop starts with a game. The children guess how many copies of famous books (such as the Harry Potter series) have been sold, and whether the number of Bibles ever printed is higher or lower. The reactions are priceless – one Muslim lad jumped up and said, 6 billion? Whoa! How many copies of the Qur’an have been sold? (I told him his homework was to go and find out!)

‘Next, I give three very brief story outlines and ask the children to guess whether they are from a film or the Bible. In fact, they’re all biblical, but obscure. For example, Man gets into an argument with a donkey and loses! is of course the story of Balaam and his ass, but very few children guess correctly!

‘After some Bible-based breakout activities, we regroup to read the last chapter of Diary of a Disciple: Luke’s Story. It concludes by saying that this isn’t the end of the story, just the beginning! I explain to the children that the end of the workshop isn’t the end of the story of Jesus, which Christians believe continues through us as we carry on his work, loving God and sharing his love with others. Then I give each of them a mini Diary of a Disciple book to take home so they can continue the adventure of discovering Jesus. Finally, I ask them to close their eyes and imagine for a few minutes how different their community would be if everyone followed his example.

‘I held one workshop at a predominantly Muslim school, and the RE co-ordinator said a few months later that the children were still talking about it.’

‘Schools have been overwhelmingly positive. I held one workshop at a predominantly Muslim school, and the RE co-ordinator