Bible Study Fellowship

I got into the “Life of Moses” BSF class!   I am so jazzed!  The class was full and leftovers (like me) packed into several pews hoping the wait-list would not mean waiting too long.  I finished the eight year course a few years ago, “graduated”, and was therefore (rightfully) at the bottom of the list, along with others I’ve known and loved from previous classes.  (We’re all eagerly anticipating the new, upcoming class next year:  Revelation!)  The newbies were squeezed in to other existing groups, but the leaders needed to find and train another facilitator.  One lady, an experienced leader – bless her! — had planned to move out-of-state (but her house didn’t sell in our down market) decided to return and voila – we had an answer to prayer!

The new group is packed with graduates, though no one ever really graduates from studying the Bible.  And BSF will allow you to continue the course until you pass through the pearly gates, if you so desire.  Some do.  We call them “lifers”.  And they shine!  What’s so exciting about studying the Bible?  Scripture is new every morning and God meets each of us right where we need Him to instruct, correct, guide, comfort, discipline, realign, reassure, repeat…  I could go on and on, but you get the idea.  The experts don’t call it Living Word without a good reason.  The Bible is God-breathed and life-altering. 

One of the things I love about BSF – and the thing I need – is accountability.  I like having homework each day.  I like having questions that challenge me and make me dig and think.  I love the discussion groups during which I have the privilege of hearing a dozen other points-of-view about the same Scriptures I’ve been studying all week. (We are all encouraged to pray before we study the Word of God so that we are relying on the Holy Spirit to illumine whatever He knows we need to see.)  I always come away from the group with new insights.  Add to that blessing a lecture follows that covers what we just discussed, and then, on the way out the door, we receive rich notes with historical details to cover the lesson.  It’s a four-pronged teaching method.

Attendees can breeze through in 20-30 minutes a day or dig deeper and spend as long as they want (or time allows) to look up all the Scriptures at the end of the lesson that are connected to what we’re studying.  They even have seminars (30 minute presentations) on things like “Bible Navigation” for those who have never read the Bible and are not sure what it is and what it’s all about. 

What tickles me is the class was started by one woman back in the 60s …  in Berkeley, California, no less.  God has a sense of humor.  Hey, People, if you want to become a real radical — follow Jesus!