Encounter with God: October–December 2020

By Katharine McPhail, Paul Oakley, Derek Tidball and 4 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: Sep 23, 2020
• ISBN: 9781785067808

Katharine McPhail

Katharine McPhail and husband Stuart have two grown-up children. Katharine and Stuart feel called to serve in church ministry together. They were both at Hill Cliffe Baptist Church for 10 years until Katharine felt called to train for Baptist ministry. She is currently at Hoole Baptist Church in Chester on placement.

Book preview

Contents

Editorial: Power to Change

The Writers

SU article: Lifepath

Using this Guide

Judges 15,16; Psalm 119 Paul Oakley

Ruth; Psalm 119 Katharine McPhail

1–3 John, Jude; Psalm119 Daniel McGinnis

Genesis 37–50; Psalms 119,120,121 Derek Tidball

Mark 11–13; Psalms 122,123 Fiona Silley

Isaiah 1–4; Psalm 124 Mary Evans

Acts 9–12; Psalms 125,126 Brian Radcliffe

Isaiah 5–12; Psalm 127 Mary Evans

Power to Change

Sally Nelson, editor

What does it mean to have the power to change things? In God’s kingdom, power does not lie in the hands of rulers or army generals, but flows from acts of obedience and grace.

This quarter takes us to the eve of the new year and, at the time of writing, there is great anxiety about global warming and widespread political upheaval. Young people are understandably concerned about the future, and many say how powerless they feel.

Scripture assures us that this earth is precious to God and that, one day, it will be renewed; but we are also reminded of our own responsibilities until that time. I might be just one person among billions, but it still matters that I try to live well. Can any of us really make a difference? Yes: by living in obedience to God, which Jesus summarises as a commitment to loving God and our neighbours. There is no single way in which this is experienced. This quarter we meet Ruth, who showed loyalty and obedience beyond the call of duty; we hear John the apostle challenge us, ‘dear children, love one another’; we wonder at the ‘hinges of history’ in Acts, when Peter and Paul respond to the call of the living God to serve in ways beyond their imaginations. We see Joseph transformed from a wayward boy into an honoured leader; Isaiah speaking the truth to power; and Jesus’ selfless life.

We can change our world by believing and following the call of Christ. In him the weak become strong and the poor become rich. At the college where I teach, a prayer evening revealed God’s challenge to us to believe that we are already made to display his glory. If we want to see change, let us not just wait for God to ‘do something’, but let’s live the life, for the King of kings will certainly come. Hallelujah!

Sally Nelson

Editor

Angela Grigson

Content Project Manager

Writers

Paul Oakley has been involved in local church leadership and in ministerial education in both the UK and Nigeria, though now retired. His most recent posts were as vicar of Totley, Sheffield, and tutor with St Barnabas Theological Centre (now St Hild College).

KATHARINE MCPHAIL is married to Stuart and has two teenage children, Harry and Helena. She and Stuart lead a Baptist church in Cheshire, where Stuart is pastor.

DANIEL MCGINNIS is the Vice Principal of St Hild College and leads the Barnabas Teaching Centre in Sheffield. He is also the Executive Director of the Leeds School of Theology. He loves the book of Acts, and has a passion for seeing today’s church inspired by the earliest church.

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.

FIONA SILLEY lives and ministers on an estate in Northamptonshire, alongside her husband Andrew. Formerly a research psychologist, she is now at home with their young daughter.

MARY EVANS is a former theological lecturer, and is still involved with research supervision and marking. Writing, speaking, church family, friends and Langham Partnership Board responsibilities fill much of the rest of available time.

BRIAN RADCLIFFE is a retired English and drama teacher, and formerly minister of a Baptist church in the north of England. He also enjoys a parallel career as a freelance writer (secondary school assembly scripts and drama skills as cross-curricular teaching tools).

USING THIS GUIDE

Encounter with God is designed for thinking Christians who want to interpret and apply the Bible in a way that is relevant to the problems and issues of today’s world. It is based on the NIV translation of the Bible, but can easily be used with any other version.

Each set of readings begins with an Introduction to the section you are about to study. The Call to Worship section at the start of each note should help you consciously to come into God’s presence before you read the passage. The main Explore section aims to bring out the riches hidden in the text. The Growing in Faith section at the end suggests ways of applying the message to daily living.

The Bible in a Year readings at the foot of the page are for those who want this additional option.

SU article

Lifepath

Only five per cent of today’s children go to church and, although most learn about Jesus at school, they don’t know much about his wonderful message of hope and what that means for their lives.

Scripture Union helps churches to connect with children like these, and invite them to explore the difference Jesus can make to the challenges and adventures of life. One way of doing this is through Lifepath, one-day curriculum-based events exploring the lives of local historical Christians, to which churches can invite their local schools.

Northumberland

It’s an unusually warm June day, and the ancient walls of Brinkburn Priory’s church echo with the happy hubbub of dozens of year 4 schoolchildren and local church volunteers, all busily engaged in making clay tiles, felt and seed bombs, or doing brass rubbings.

A bell rings – and, for a few seconds, silence falls. From outside, you can hear birds singing, the lazy drone of bees, the trees rippling with the gentle breeze…

Then activities resume. One volunteer dressed as an early pilgrim shares the story of St Aidan – what he believed and how that set the direction for his life. Other volunteers don costumes to act out Bible stories. Later, in another moment of calm, the children are invited to place a stone on a cairn as a gesture of thankfulness, of remembrance, or perhaps prayer. Finally, the day finishes with an uplifting song and, each clutching a complimentary mini edition of Scripture Union’s book Diary of a Disciple: Luke’s Story, the children board buses back to their respective schools.

This is Brinkburn Lifepath, one of several SU Lifepath events that take place annually across the country. All are one day in length but repeat over several days to cater for different groups of children. Brinkburn Lifepath alone welcomes about 600 children from 20 schools over five days and, between them, SU Lifepath events can reach over 2,000 junior school pupils a year.

Each Lifepath uses exciting and creative activities to help junior school pupils discover the ‘life path’ of historic Christians – in the case of Brinkburn, they learn about the Northern Saints and the founders of the Priory – and use this as a springboard to think about their own journey through life.

If some children arrive with expectations that a day themed around ‘religion’ will be tedious, they soon change their minds. Most leave for home with big smiles on their faces – and the feedback we get from them is overwhelmingly positive.

Eight-year-old Amy says, ‘We didn’t realise it would be such fun! I learned that St Aidan built the first school and hospital and that he followed Jesus.’ David, aged 9, says, ‘There were loads of different activities! You had to do a chant and it could be really loud. And the drama was really funny. I didn’t think it would be that fun. We learned loads about St Aidan that we didn’t know before. And that to be a good Christian you need to follow Jesus.’

When we asked the children what one thing we should change about Lifepath Brinkburn, most said ‘Nothing’ (although one bright spark said they’d like it to be on every week!).

Each Lifepath uses exciting and creative activities to help junior school pupils discover the ‘life path’ of historic Christians.

Lifepaths also provide the perfect opportunity for local Christians of all denominations to work together, build friendships with one another and learn how to share their faith with more confidence.

SU’s Geoff Brown, who chairs the team of Brinkburn volunteers, says, ‘When it started in 2011, Scripture Union did most of the logistics and organisation. Now we’re much less hands on. We’ve got about 70 helpers of all ages, teens to grandparents, who pretty much run it, including liaising with schools before and after the event. They tell me how much they enjoy helping the younger generation explore the Christian faith. And there’s a fantastic sense of camaraderie – they really support one another and make any new volunteers feel part of the family.’

‘I love being able to come and be part of it. The team is great and it is good to work together as a group of Christians from different backgrounds.’

National curriculum

Geoff says that most schools really welcome Lifepath. ‘It’s appropriate for pupils of all faiths or none, and it ties into the national curriculum – it involves learning outside of the classroom, and links to many subject areas including RE, history, creative writing and art. It’s also not too demanding on their resources – it fits within one school day and it’s organised for them, so they just have to get the children there.’

Lifepath events can help local Christians build strong, long-term relationships with schools. Geoff says, ‘Before a Lifepath day, a core team of volunteers leads assemblies in participating schools, teaching the children the songs they’ll sing on the day. After Lifepath, all schools are offered a Diary of a Disciple workshop – about quarter of them take that up. Again, the volunteers will run this, with a bit of help from us.

Angela Feather is a community, church and schools’ worker with an SU Local Mission Partner in Northumbria, and volunteers at Lifepath Brinkburn. She says, ‘It’s an amazing event. I love being able to come and be part of it. The team is great and it is good to work together as a group of Christians from different backgrounds. I always feel confident inviting schools to Lifepath, knowing that they will love it, and it has been really helpful in my relationships with the schools. I have had positive comments from all the schools I work with. It is incredibly well organised and the way that everything is well thought through is great.’

Geoff says, ‘Not all Lifepaths are as big as Brinkburn Lifepath – the concept is really scalable. We’ve launched a new one in Ponteland, which takes place in autumn and involves only one school at this stage. So I’d really encourage more churches to try it out and see how it can help them start to journey with children in their area who aren’t part of a church.’

Events

Sadly, the spread of the Covid-19 virus meant we were unable to hold all of our Lifepath events during the summer of 2020. But at the time of going to print, we hope that the Ponteland Lifepath will go ahead this autumn, and that all our Lifepath events will be running again in 2021:

Olney Lifepath – May 2021 for five days

Brinkburn Lifepath – June 2021 for five days

Malvern Lifepath – June 2021 for five days

Malmesbury Lifepath – June 2021 for four days

Ponteland Lifepath –