Answering questions

How do we help people engage with the Bible? How do people learn best? When in Acts 2 it describes them as being devoted to the apostles teaching what did that look like?

How do we engage with the Bible today? Surely it is about asking questions of it every time we come to it. Questions like what surprises me? What don't I understand? What does it teach me about God? What does it teach me about man and/or myself? How does this fit into the teaching of the whole Bible? How should this effect me?

If that's how we approach the Bible surely we need to build in some way to do this in our Bible teaching. Its how home groups work, but how about on a Sunday? God's word needs to be taught but should we allow/encourage such questions as part of our meeting together to encourage and build one another up in our faith? Could we break into groups over coffee and a biscuit or donut or fruit (for the health conscious) to talk about what the Bible says and how it applies to us?

Certainly the emphasis in the New Testament is not just on listening to God's word but on working it through, on putting it into practice in our lives outside the doors. How best should we wrestle with this and how can the church best help those with questions about the Bible do exactly that?