Leap Over a Wall Reading Group - Update #1

Thanks for your willingness to go on this adventure of learning about life with God through the biblical story of David!

What to do next?  Just read the book, underlining or highlighting interesting words/phrases/sentences as you go.  Our first benchmark is to read up through CHAPTER 5 by November 2.  That gives us a little more than a week to get through the first 57 pages.  

We'll plan our first PUB CHAT on an evening sometime during the week of November 2-5 (I'll be sending a separate email about this early next week).  If you have a suggestion of a local pub that has a seating layout that could accommodate a larger group, feel free to speak up!

Finding Time To Read.

Some of us already have a place for reading in our schedule, while others of us can't imagine how we're going to do this in the middle of our non-stop busy lives.  Especially for those of you with young children, it's not going to be easy (honestly, for me it's 10x easier to find time to read now when my kids are in high school/college than when they were infants/toddlers!).  To find more opportunities to read, consider these ideas:

• take the book with you to work and read it during breaks or while waiting on your commuter transportation
• substitute an hour of book reading for a regular TV show you watch
• read your bible story (this book) after you read stories to your kids at bedtime. 

Above all, give yourself a break if you feel like you're falling behind in the reading...some weeks are just tough (like this upcoming week, when the world series begins and Halloween preparations are being made!).

What You'll Find in the First 5 Chapters.

• Chapter 1: Stories - David & Jesus.  Peterson talks about the power of story...we each have a human story, and the Bible connects us to God's story through human stories like David's.  Pay attention to what he says about the link between David's story and Jesus' story.  What are your favorite stories?  What stories to you read to/tell your kids?
• Chapter 2: Names - David & Samuel.  Peterson makes a point that David is just an ordinary person.  He tells a story of a friend of an ordinary man named Chet who had an extraordinary impact on his life.  Might God be interested in our ordinary lives?
• Chapter 3: Work - David & Saul.  Looking at the lives of Saul & David, Peterson makes an astounding claium on page 27: "the spiritual life begins - really begins - when we get a job and go to work."  In what ways does your work/job/vocation give you the opportunity to show your character or your faithfulness to God?
• Chapter 4: Imagination - David & Goliath.  Yup, we're already at this epic bible story.  Peterson makes a case that the stories we sometimes think of as merely "children's" stories are really some of the greatest stories of all.  What do you think?  What lessons are there in the story of David & Goliath, for your kids...and for you?
• Chapter 5: Friendship - David and Jonathan.  Peterson, looking at David and Jonathan's friendship, says on page 53 "Friendship is a much underestimated aspect of spirituality."  How did Jonathan help David live his life well?  How can men encourage each other in living faithful lives?

Truth is, we don't walk alone.  God is with us on this journey, and we're in this together. 

Together in God's Story,

Pastor Kurt

Week	Leap Over a Wall book chapters	Scripture Reading
Week 1: September 28	Ch. 1	1 Samuel 1:1-2:10
Week 2: October 5		1 Samuel 2:11-7:17
Week 3: October 12		1 Samuel 8-15
Week 4: October 19	Chs. 2-4	1 Samuel 16-17
Week 5: October 26	Ch. 5	1 Samuel 18-20
Week 6: November 2	Chs. 6-10	1 Samuel 21-30
Week 7: November 9	Chs. 11-12	1 Samuel 31 - 2 Samuel 4
Week 8: November 16	Chs. 13-14	2 Samuel 5-6
Week 9: November 23	Ch. 15	2 Samuel 7
Week 10: November 30	Chs. 16-17	2 Samuel 8-12
Week 11: December 7	Ch. 18	2 Samuel 13-21
Week 12: December 14	Chs. 19-20	2 Samuel 22-24