In
conjunction with the New Hope Presbyterian Church (in North Huntingdon)
Redstone’s North Huntingdon campus is hosting a weekly Bible Study based on the
book The Story. The Story is the story of the Bible, God’s great
love affair with humanity. As the book jacket reads, “Condensed into 31
accessible chapters, The Story sweeps you into the unfolding progression
of Bible characters and events from Genesis to Revelation. Like any good
story, The Story is filled with intrigue, drama, conflict, romance, and
redemption – and this story’s true!” There is a video series that
accompanies the book, featuring one of the author/editors, Randy Frazee.
Participants in the study meet on Wednesday mornings at 10:30 am in the chapel
to discuss a chapter and watch the video related to that chapter. Great
discussion follows!
This
week’s chapter, the second chapter in the series, focused on the story of
Abraham and the birth of a great nation. In his comments on this section,
Frazee writes, “The Bible simply says, ‘So Abram went…’ In Hebrews 11 we are
told, ‘By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as
his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was
going.’ Now there is one thing I know about most senior citizens, holding
in my possession my own AARP card: they don’t like change. (How many
senior citizens does it take to change a lightbulb? ‘Change? Who said
anything about change?’) But this older couple – Abram and Sarai – dug
down deep, got way out beyond their comfort zone, and did what God asked them
to do.”
This
faith story of Abram and Sarai (later to be known as Abraham and Sarah)
provided us with great food for thought. Many of the residents
participating shared that they had a glimpse of this kind of trust through
their experience of moving to Redstone. They shared that they had felt
the hand of God at work in leading them to consider a new home at Redstone, and
that while it took a leap of faith to make the decision and the move, their lives
had been blessed because of the choice.
We
also talked about how God never stops wanting to work through our lives – no
matter how old we are. While God may not bless us with children when
we’re pushing 100 years of age (like Abraham and Sarah!) God does still want to
work through us. Living at Redstone provides opportunities to stay
connected with a faith community and to continue to serve others through
volunteering of our time and talents. What a joy it is to know that
God still wants to work through us at any age!
God
blessed and worked through Abraham and Sarah well into their old age. And
we are grateful that God continues to work in the lives of our residents as
they, too, place their trust in God and say “Yes!” to the journey.
(The
Story is
available at many bookstores and online. It is published by Zondervan
Publishing. If you would like to join the study, stop by the North Huntingdon
campus on Wednesday morning at 10:30. All are welcome.)
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