Hopeful Discipleship
by Lisa Coleman
Diehard sports fans are at a disadvantage if their careers necessitate working during major games. It is an interesting practice to record these events and watch at a later date. Does one avoid all news sources to prevent inadvertently stumbling across the final outcome until such time the recording can be viewed? Of course, there is one school of thought that choosing to view the game only if the final score is deemed favorable makes the game all the more enjoyable. One can relax and fully savor every play of the game, even though certain plays may look bad for the team. Knowing the final outcome means complete confidence throughout the game and the snacks are somehow tastier!
From an early age I have, much to my husband’s dismay, read the ending of the book after the first three or four chapters. I explained that I enjoyed the book much better knowing the ending and ‘studying’ the author’s construction of the story. Then, to my great delight, there was a study done from two researchers at the University of California, San Diego that suggests spoilers don’t actually spoil stories. Contrary to popular wisdom, they might even enhance our enjoyment of a story. One of the researchers explained that once you know how the story turns out, you are more comfortable processing the information and can focus on a deeper understanding of the story.
The Bible contains many ‘spoiler alerts’. We know at some point our lives and the world as we know it will end. But Paul reminds us in Acts chapter 25 that we have a hope in God. He was confident even in his imprisonment. We can be confident in our difficulties as well! Our discussion on this chapter is this Sunday. Join us in the Choir Room in person or on Zoom!
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You can download the Bible study materials for this session for your personal use and watch the Zoom video of the in-class session by following the links below:
PowerPoint Slides
PDF File
Video
Follow this link to find other studies in the INpowered Discipleship series.
