Two SXU students, Elizabeth Gomez, and Alyssa Caracheo, have officially started a weekly Bible study for SXU students and staff. It takes place every Wednesday and is on the informal side in terms of its structure and aims to discuss God’s word in a group setting.
Along with Gomez and Caracheo, the sessions could be started with the help of Kateri Golbiw, the director of Campus Ministry here at SXU, and the session’s supervisor, Amy Hart, a graduate assistant for Campus Ministry.
When asked what motivated her to begin the weekly Bible study sessions, Gomez, who is a junior at SXU, stated “I gave my life to Christ late last year and the Holy Spirit has been on fire in me since then. The Lord has provided me with the courage to begin a Bible study group even though I had never joined a Bible study, and things started from there.”
The first two sessions took place on March 15th and 22nd and began with students getting acquainted with each other and eventually led to the examination of the Ten Commandments and the story of Job, with the Ten Commandments being the stipulations that God originally gave to the Israelites and the story of Job following a man who is having his love for and faith in God tested with numerous unfavorable events happening to him.
The scripture being analyzed was projected onto the board and participating students were able to comfortably both ask questions about the scripture and discuss aspects of it that stood out to them.
The session followed a popular Bible studying method, SOAP, which stands for Scripture, Observations, Application, and Prayer.
In terms of the actual structure of the Bible Study, Caracheo, who is a sophomore at SXU, said “As of now, it is only me and Elizabeth who are leading the Bible study and we switch off each week. This means that we each choose what part of scripture we want to go over during our week and we structure our prayers, reflection questions, and overall discussion for the group surrounding the scripture we picked.”
She went on to add “We are starting off in the Old Testament and working our way into the New Testament”.
Both leaders expressed that there is much for students to benefit from joining the weekly sessions including having a welcoming environment to ask questions about the Bible while being provided with adequate resources to supplement their study of the Bible.
When asked about what they hope students taking part in the sessions take away from them, Gomez said “Through these sessions, I hope that everyone’s hearts, minds, and souls will be opened to feel the love that God has in store for us”, while Caracheo commented, “I hope students learn the many teachings the Bible gives us and its overall message.”
The pair plan to keep the Bible study going until the end of this semester and hope to bring it back for the following semesters.
The Bible study sessions are open to all students, staff, and faculty and take place every Wednesday from 3:30 to 4:30 pm in room L-215. For more information about the sessions, you can visit The Den.