What a great resource this is! When so many Christians are Biblically illiterate, here is a resource that will help to put the Bible at the centre of church life again, and at the heart of our discipleship. Gaining a strategic grasp of the Bible story is an essential foundation for anyone’s spiritual growth, but a major factor in equipping those who preach and teach in our churches, or lead small groups.
The Bible Course will help us do just that.
Skillfully presented by Dr Andrew Ollerton, the 8 week course gives an outline of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation in 8 sections. The accompanying DVDs are contemporary in their appeal, beautifully filmed and interesting to watch. The accompanying workbook is easy to use and attractively produced; it helps in following the DVD presentations (which often cover a lot of ground in a short time), and means participants can prepare beforehand for the session as well as review their learning afterwards.
I particularly appreciated how every part of the Bible is seen to point to Christ. An occasional testimony about the effect the Bible can have on individual lives brought home the power of the Bible to transform people. The practical application of what is being taught ensures that this is not just about information for the mind, but also a challenge to the way we live.
The materials are very reasonably priced (£24.99 for the DVDs and £4.99 for the workbook) which means they are great value and accessible to small churches as well.
I found facilitating a small group of 10 people was straightforward. Each session has two 20 minute DVD sections to watch, followed by discussion after the first part, and personal reflection after the second. So much ground is covered in the talks however that we found it better to spend the discussion time going over the material to make sure we had all taken in the main points. A slight niggle for me was that occasionally the presentation and the workbook did not always tie up.
We did the course weekly which gives time to reflect on what is taught as well as to do the Bible readings in preparation for the next session. It would also work well as a training course over 2 Saturdays, doing the Old Testament one day and the New Testament on another.
I can’t recommend this course highly enough. It will give people a greater confidence in the Bible and probably a greater desire to read and study it as well. I wish I had access to something like this when I was beginning my training for ministry. As it is, I found it a great refresher course and have thoroughly enjoyed doing it myself.
