{"id":875077,"date":"2022-09-25T17:20:11","date_gmt":"2022-09-25T21:20:11","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2026-06-23T19:50:12","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T23:50:12","slug":"bible-study-pentecost-19-c-october-16-2022","status":"publish","type":"bible_study","link":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/bible_study\/bible-study-pentecost-19-c-october-16-2022\/","title":{"rendered":"Bible Study: Proper 24 (C) \u2013 2022"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.episcopalchurch.org\/lectionary\/proper-24c\/\">[RCL] Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7; Psalm 66:1-11; 2 Timothy 2:8-15; Luke 17:11-19<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.episcopalchurch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Pr24-2022-Bible-Study-Graphic-1024x536.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-275079\" width=\"512\" height=\"268\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Jeremiah 31:27-34<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The days are surely coming. The phrase itself feels ominous, scary even. As we look around at what fills our current days, chronic stress and fatigue, political divisiveness, social unrest, climate crisis, and ongoing pandemic (just to name a few), thinking about what future days will hold can feel like an exercise in exploring our own nightmares. Yet here in Jeremiah, we hear God confirming that indeed the days are surely coming, although they won\u2019t be filled with the terror and calamities that we fear. Instead, God promises that there will come a day when there are no more sour grapes, and the vineyard of Israel will be lush with fruit that grows from the seeds sowed from God\u2019s promise. We are reminded that while the history of God\u2019s relationship with the chosen of Israel is one of broken covenant, it is also a history of continued invitation and commitment to communion with one another. Grafted into that covenantal relationship, we are also invited into the promise of God. The days are surely coming, and though they may be ripe with the disasters and tragedies of life, so too will they be days when God proclaims: \u201cI will be their God, and they shall be my people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>What are your fears for the future, both immediate and long-term?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>What does God\u2019s promise of a future of redeemed relationship do to those fears?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>How might the belief in a future in which God calls out, \u201cI will be their God, and they shall be my people\u201d affect and influence your present?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Psalm 119:97-104<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">What would it be like to have God\u2019s word, teaching, commandments, and law forever fresh on our minds? Is it even possible? With the constant demands of our work, our families, and our commitments that serve to stretch us too thin, perhaps we are tempted to say that there is simply a lack of possibility and plausibility for our minds to be ever-dwelling on God. The world moves faster than ever, and we are expected to keep up. As we hear the psalmist proclaim a love for God\u2019s law, saying: \u201cAll the day long it is in my mind,\u201d perhaps we silently nod along while we think to ourselves: \u201cI just don\u2019t have the time\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Yet if we allow it to be such, the psalmist extends an offering of a worldview that transcends and defines the constant demands that make up a life. A commitment to God is a lens and a lifestyle through which we are called to engage, and such a commitment has a way of sorting out and prioritizing that which pulls us away from what is right and true. May we ascribe to follow the call of God\u2019s commandment, thus joining the psalmist in joyous proclamation that it is \u201calways with me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>How might mindful dwelling in God\u2019s commandments redefine, reorient, and reorganize your duties and responsibilities in life?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>What might you be called to reassess and reprioritize as part of that mindful dwelling?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">2 Timothy 3:14-4:5<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Patience, but with urgency. Or perhaps it\u2019s more like urgent patience. Either way, the Christian call to proclaim the Gospel as defined in 2 Timothy is a call that necessitates an equal amount of force and grace. Indeed, the letter writer urges a persistent proclamation, one that will \u201cconvince, rebuke, and encourage.\u201d In the same breath, however, the letter\u2019s author instructs that all of this should be done \u201cwith the utmost patience in teaching.\u201d Such is the dual nature of the redemptive story of God through Jesus Christ, a story of abundant grace and radical commitment. The call of discipleship isn\u2019t a call of convenience or one that should be taken up to \u201csuit their own desires,\u201d but rather a holy commission to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ in all times and all places. \u201cCarry out your ministry fully,\u201d we are told\u2014urgently, and with great patience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>How can grace be present in urgency? How is grace present in patience?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>When have you experienced grace through either urgency or patience?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>How might you be called to pass that grace on through proclamation?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Luke 18:1-8<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jesus tells a story of a widow and a judge, and in so doing, speaks to the situation and circumstance of Luke\u2019s community, a post-Easter people awaiting the second coming and therefore negotiating in real-time what it meant to be followers of Christ. And not just followers of Christ, but followers of Christ living in a moment after Christ\u2019s resurrection but before the Parousia. The widow\u2019s insistence on communication ultimately leads to her receipt of justice, regardless of the judge\u2019s personal disregard, and serves as an example of the power of continued relationship. Luke\u2019s Jesus promises that if a judge with no interest in justice will grant it due to unrelenting petition, imagine what our almighty and gracious God can do for those who \u201cpray always\u201d and oblige themselves \u201cnot to lose heart.\u201d Fast-forward 2,000+ years and we too find ourselves in Luke\u2019s community: a post-Easter and pre-Parousia people. How do we exist in that reality? Luke\u2019s Jesus says to look no further than the widow and her willingness to take the continual risk of communicative relationship. Following her lead, we can answer the question, \u201cWhen the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?\u201d with a resounding, \u201cYes!\u201d as we present those who took up the holy challenge to \u201cpray always and not to lose heart.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Have you ever felt that God answered a prayer? What was that like?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Have you ever felt that God didn\u2019t answer a prayer? How?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>What does a commitment to prayer look like to you?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-file\"><a id=\"wp-block-file--media-8ee3b5a0-b2d2-432c-979b-7928c3aac481\" href=\"https:\/\/www.episcopalchurch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Bible-Study-Proper-24C-English.docx\">Word \u2013 Proper 24 (C) Bible Study<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.episcopalchurch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Bible-Study-Proper-24C-English.docx\" class=\"wp-block-file__button wp-element-button\" download aria-describedby=\"wp-block-file--media-8ee3b5a0-b2d2-432c-979b-7928c3aac481\">Download<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-file\"><a id=\"wp-block-file--media-b18170c8-1389-4e34-a124-1f389b7ec773\" href=\"https:\/\/www.episcopalchurch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Bible-Study-Proper-24C-English.pdf\">PDF \u2013 Proper 24 (C) Bible Study<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.episcopalchurch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Bible-Study-Proper-24C-English.pdf\" class=\"wp-block-file__button wp-element-button\" download aria-describedby=\"wp-block-file--media-b18170c8-1389-4e34-a124-1f389b7ec773\">Download<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[RCL] Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7; Psalm 66:1-11; 2 Timothy 2:8-15; Luke 17:11-19 Jeremiah 31:27-34 The days are surely coming. The phrase itself feels ominous, scary even. As we look around at what fills our current days, chronic stress and fatigue, political divisiveness, social unrest, climate crisis, and ongoing pandemic (just to name a few), thinking about&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":201221,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_tec_requires_first_save":true,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_tribe_blocks_recurrence_rules":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_description":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_exclusions":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[23,52,33,3],"tags":[357],"class_list":["post-875077","bible_study","type-bible_study","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bible-studies","category-sermons-that-work","category-the-season-after-pentecost","category-worship-and-prayer-menu","tag-proper-24c"],"acf":[],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":23,"label":"Bible Studies"},{"value":52,"label":"Sermons That Work"},{"value":33,"label":"The Season After Pentecost"},{"value":3,"label":"worship_and_prayer_menu"}],"post_tag":[{"value":357,"label":"Proper 24C"}]},"featured_image_src_large":false,"author_info":[],"comment_info":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bible_study\/875077","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bible_study"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/bible_study"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bible_study\/875077\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":952256,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bible_study\/875077\/revisions\/952256"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=875077"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=875077"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=875077"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}