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Passing the Baton is a training course to get you started reading the Bible with another person. If you’ve ever benefited form 1 to 1 Bible reading, why not get trained to start meeting with someone else? Passing the Baton is good for first-timers and a great refresher for old-timers. I hope to see you there!

Here’s the skinny

Sunday 11th and 18th April

1-3pm

17 Turana Parade North Lambton

Register with Josh: 0431747370

p_reddy_03@hotmail.com

This is the routine we’re settling in to. I arrive at Richard’s place, he offers me a hot drink (I generally decline – cold water is more my thing) and we chat about life and ministry for a bit. Sam Budden then arrives and joins us, the three of us open up to Amos and we get stuck in.

I thought it would be weird reading the Bible with two other guys, but it’s not. It’s hardly any different. We’re relaxed, we enjoy each other’s company, and there are always a few good laughs.

We generally start off trying to remember what we read about last week, what we’ve learnt so far and what we know about the context of Amos. Then we read the next chunk of scripture and try and figure out what it’s saying together.

Here are some gold questions that help us get into the passage:

• What is the structure of this passage?
• What questions do you have about this passage?
• What is this verse saying? What else is it saying? What else is it saying? (no seriously, just keep asking)
• How does this verse relate to the verses either side?
• What do we learn about God/people?
• How do we see these ideas in the New Testament?
• How does this affect us?

Here’s some things I learnt last week.

Amos is preaching to Israel while they are experiencing peace and prosperity. But they have turned away from the true worship of God, their religion is false and hollow, their judgment is imminent and this is their last chance to repent (5:1-27).

The nation even looks forward to the Day of the Lord, not realizing that this is a day of darkness and destruction (5:15). They think they’re fine, but this judgment is inescapable “It will be as though a man fled from a lion only to meet a bear”… their exile is just around the corner.

What a warning to us when everything is going well. I need to make sure I’m right with God if I’m going to sing “Bring on the Day” or “We belong to the day”. I can’t fake it with God and I can’t be complacent about judgment! Thanks Jesus for rescuing me from the coming wrath!

photo credit: ground.zero

I have to admit that I was a bit nervous, sitting there for my first 1:1 catch up with Richard Sweatman my MTS trainer.

See that’s the thing with reading the Bible 1:1 with another guy. You catch up, talk about life, pray together, and it’s good. Really good. But the key time is when you suck it up, open the Bible and read a chunk together that neither of you have looked at. There’s no pre-reading, no prep, just two blokes, a bible, and my nerves.

Foolishly, this week I admitted that I didn’t know much about the minor prophets – so we went to Amos. This is what we read: (Amos 1:1-2)

‘The words of Amos, one of the shepherds of Tekoa – what he saw concerning Israel two years before the earthquake, when Uzziah was king of Judah and Jeroboam son of Jehoash was king of Israel. He said:

“The Lord roars from Zion and thunders from Jerusalem; the pastures of the shepherds dry up and the top of Carmel withers.”’

And the thing was, as we dug into these two verses (with the help of the Bible Dictionary and NIV study Bible notes telling us where to look up the names and places) we met God.

We saw God choose this simple shepherd from Judah to take his message to Israel. We heard God’s voice roaring and thundering from his holy city and mountain towards the mountain of Baal worship in Israel.

This is our God, powerful in judgment over false gods and all nations, the God to be feared and listened to.

And so it began, 1:1 with Sweaters. There was no need to be nervous (at least, not scared of Sweaters. But God on the other hand…). It was just two guys and the Bible, hearing the powerful voice of God.