As part of my role with the church, I regularly come into Stanhope school to take an assembly. These assemblies usually contain stories from the Bible, and a chance to reflect on their meaning for today. Every time I open the Bible I’m amazed at just how relevant and insightful it really is! Despite it being a book that was written so long ago, its stories still have a lot to offer us.
This was the theme of my recent assembly – looking at the Bible as a whole. I was encouraging the children to look beyond the stories and the characters and see what the Bible is trying to teach us.
I think that’s an important lesson for life, whether we’d consider ourselves to be “Christians” or not – to read between the lines and think about the meaning behind the mere words we’re reading. It’s important to consider the author, the reasons for writing and the context within which things were written.
Phil Mason
Lay Worker for the West Durham Methodist Circuit
