Ryan Northup’s Bible study group is coming back to Andrews Hall after Spring Break. The first meeting will be in person on Thursday, March 18th in the Andrews Hall Lobby.
The group is called The Human Condition and God’s Nature. Unlike many other Bible groups, Northup’s club focuses on the Old Testament.
Northup said he wanted to find a book of the Old Testament because many other groups focus on the New Testament. He wanted to find a book that other people would enjoy talking about and wouldn’t be too hard to understand.
“Psalm is a really good book that has a lot of emotions and perspective in it so I thought it would be really good to make a Bible study out of it.” said Northup.
Northup said he created the group last September of 2020. He wanted to show people that even though they fall short of God’s standard, He is always going to be faithful to them. He wanted his Bible study to be a comfortable place for people who struggle with their faith and have doubts.
Northup starts his Bible group meetings with an icebreaker. He comes up with a different question that is usually tied to the passage they are reading. Then, each member will read a few verses from that chapter of the Psalm. If there is time, Northup will take prayer requests at the end.
He said leading the Bible group made him think about how he wanted to teach the Bible to others. Also, it made him think about how he could look at a passage and see how it could teach other people and not just himself.
“I think it [the Bible study] has made me and the other members of my group think about how we can worship God through everything that we do, and it has helped us appreciate who God is a lot more,” Northup said.
To create his Bible group, Northup talked to Sierra Traub who designs the posters for every Bible study. She also promotes the Bible studies on the SAU Spiritual Life Instagram page.
Usually he had 3 to 4 members at each meeting before he went on Zoom. Then, attendance decreased. He thought that the reason for the decrease in attendance was because of the change in Covid protocol. They started out in person but ended on Zoom. He felt it was difficult for people to want to go because they were tired from all the Zoom meetings or, if it was in person, they were tired of wearing their masks everywhere.
Northup thought that going to a Bible study would help people’s feelings about Covid. He said he covered Psalm 91 last semester and the chapter was about God’s protection. It mentioned God protecting people in the midst of sickness or pandemic.
“Because you’ve made the Lord my refuge, the Most High, your place of residence—no evil will happen to you; no disease will come close to your tent.” –Psalm 91:9
Common English Bible
Currently Northup and other Spiritual Life team members are greeting at Call of worship. Be sure to reach out if you are interested.
By: Sarah Williams
