Proposal for 2018: Proverbs
Dated January 13, 2018
At home church on January 12,2018, we agreed to discuss insights from Proverbs this year. Our study guide is a devotional book by Tim and Kathy Keller, God’s Wisdom for Navigating Life.
This excerpt from Introduction describes our plan:
At the very least, then, we would like to urge you to use this daily devotional together with a group of friends. Here is a suggested way to do this.
Choose one or more friends and agree to use the devotional together, each reading the same reflection individually, in private, on the same day. At the end of each reflection there is a question that helps you think more personally about how the teaching applies to your life.
Write the answer to the question in a journal.
Then write answers to two additional questions about the day’s proverb(s) in your journal, unless your response to the first query has already included them.
Where in your life or the life of someone else have you seen this observation illustrated?
How can you put this observation into practice— in thought, attitude, word, or deed?
After completing your journal entry, pray the prayer at the end of each page. These short prayers are just “on ramps”—suggested ways to begin talking to God personally about what he is teaching you in his Word. Put the prayer in your own words if you wish, and then continue speaking to him about how the particular Scriptural teaching should play out in your life. This should be your daily routine—read, meditate using the journal questions, and pray.
Then meet with your friends who are doing the same daily exercise as often as you can. Share your best insights, discuss them together, encourage one another to apply the insights to your lives, and report to one another on how your efforts are going.
There is an entry in the book for each day of the year. The goal is for all participants to read the same entry on the same day. I plan to start with the entry for January 13th and catch up the earlier entries while staying current. By doing 2 per day, I expect to get fully caught up in about 10 days, before our next Home Church Meeting.
The book arranges the Proverbs by topic — not in the order published in Scripture. This helps understanding what God wants us to know. The schedule for topics and the agenda can be viewed here.