Bible Study- Gospel of Mark (2023): Mark Bible Study Notes

Counseling Services: occasionally a counselor is in order to help tackle things that are beyond us. It’s important to find someone you can get along with, so don’t be afraid to call around. There are some the immediate area, but Samaritan Counseling (Scotia, and many other locations) is conversant in faith-based conversations and several of them have a sliding scale of fees if cost is a concern.

Prayer

Prayer is the Christians central calling and privilege- and it’s not always easy and needs to be learned. There are no wrong ways, but there are better ways. The best way is the way- just do it! in whatever way your life needs- walking, waking, or cooking, alone or with friends. Different seasons of life call for attention and it doesn’t always look the same.

If you need some specific companions:

– Anglican Daily Prayer with the Book of Common Prayer (a liturgical, cycle of praying the daily office with a great interface and app.

– Prayer of Examan, Ignatius Loyola in his Spiritual Exercises describes a posture and method of praying that has benefited many. There are many variations, but the approach is sound and worth our attention.

– Pray as You Go: Jesuit produced daily prayer & listen (even an app!)

– Praying with Family: Teach Us to Pray. Each day has a daily prayer liturgy that is is engaging for kids. It is well paced that allows us to carve a holy moment in our hectic day.

Bible Reading

Learning who God is who we are is central to life. And Scripture is central to that! Less technique and more exploration is in order as we ask questions and learn more about who God is- and who we are in light of that.

Biblegateway.com has loads of reading plans, if that helps you. (though it’s better to read a real book, not on a screen).

Highly Recommend: M’Cheyne’s Reading Plan. And here is a print version: https://static.crossway.org/excerpt/3-esv-mcheyne-reading-plan.4.pdf
This will get you reading the whole of Scripture throughout the year, each day having an selection from the Law, Gospels or Psalms, Prophets and Epistles. If you’ve ever tried to read the Bible straight through and fell asleep in Leviticus (or Exodus), this will be an encouraging way to go.

Lectio Divina– this is basically reading Scripture slowly, attentively. As Eugene Peterson put it: it’s reading for transformation not information. (guide coming…)

Creation Care

A Rosha is an international organization helping Christians to think and live better in relationship to the rest of creation. Their site has great resources.