Welcome to Drayton United Church Church

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Starting the week of September 8 there will be a new theme for bible study with a few time options.

Regular online bible study time, Mondays at 10 am

Additional options:

Mondays at 7 pm, in person at the church

Thursday at 8 am, in person at the church

Materials for week of September 8 and September 15 are available below.

Genesis 12:1-5

12 Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go out from your country, your relatives, and your father’s household to the land that I will show you. 

2 Then I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you, and I will make your name great, so that you will exemplify divine blessing. 

3 I will bless those who bless you, but the one who treats you lightly I must curse, so that all the families of the earth may receive blessing[k] through you.”

4 So Abram left, just as the Lord had told him to do, and Lot went with him. (Now Abram was 75 years old when he departed from Haran.) 

5 And Abram took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, and all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Haran, and they left for the land of Canaan. They entered the land of Canaan.

Theme: Walking through suffering to reach hope.

“We can learn something from Abraham [and Sarah] and the psalmists. They do not get stuck in the past, in their pain. They see a means to push forward. They see a future and hope.”

Courie, Anna Fitch, Walking with God (p. 23)

Thoughts to Ponder:

1. Have you had the experience of leaving one home behind, to make a new home in a different place? If so, what were some of the challenges and some of the blessings?
2. God’s call was so significant, that the names of this couple changed from Abram and Sarai to Abraham and Sarah. What have been some of the crucial turning points in your own life? Did you sense God’s presence before, during and or after?
3. Imagine that you had to relocate to another country- in your 70s! What would you be thinking and feeling? What would you do to prepare?

Genesis 32:9-12, 22-28

Then Jacob prayed, “O God of my father Abraham, God of my father Isaac, O Lord, you said to me, ‘Return to your land and to your relatives and I will make you prosper.’ 10 I am not worthy of all the faithful love you have shown your servant. With only my walking stick I crossed the Jordan, but now I have become two camps.* 11 Rescue me, I pray, from the hand of my brother **Esau, for I am afraid he will come and attack me, as well as the mothers with their children. 12 But you said, ‘I will certainly make you prosper and will make your descendants like the sand on the seashore, too numerous to count.’”

22 During the night Jacob quickly took his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven sons and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. 23 He took them and sent them across the stream along with all his possessions. 24 So Jacob was left alone. Then a man[e] wrestled[f] with him until daybreak.[g] 25 When the man[h] saw that he could not defeat Jacob,[i] he struck[j] the socket of his hip so the socket of Jacob’s hip was dislocated while he wrestled with him.

26 Then the man[k] said, “Let me go, for the dawn is breaking.” “I will not let you go,” Jacob replied, “unless you bless me.” 27 The man asked him, “What is your name?” He answered, “Jacob.” 28 “No longer will your name be Jacob,” the man told him, “but Israel, because you have fought with God and with men and have prevailed.”

(* I have now enough family, servants and animals to divide into two camps.)

(** Esau is Jacob’s older brother whom he tricked out of his inheritance as the first-born son

Theme: Struggling in faith

“…[E]very moment of the journey Jacob was growing and learning about grace, mercy, and patience. Is the better road the shorter one or the longer one?”

Courie, Anna Fitch Walking with God (p. 28).

Thoughts to Ponder:

1. Are you struggling with something? Has it been a struggle for a long time or a short time?
2. What do you think the face of God looks like?
3. Do you think your experiences can help others face their own struggles? If so, how do you share that?

Sheba to Jerusalem 683 miles/ 1100 km (estimate)

1 Kings 10:1-9

Solomon Entertains a Queen of Sheba

10 When the queen of Sheba heard about Solomon, she came to challenge him with difficult questions. 2 She arrived in Jerusalem with a great display of pomp, bringing with her camels carrying spices, a very large quantity of gold, and precious gems. She visited Solomon and discussed with him everything that was on her mind. 3 Solomon answered all her questions; there was no question too complex for the king. 4 When the queen of Sheba saw for herself Solomon’s extensive wisdom, the palace he had built, 5 the food in his banquet hall, his servants and attendants, their robes, his cupbearers, and his burnt offerings which he presented in the Lord’s temple, she was amazed. 6 She said to the king, “The report I heard in my own country about your wise sayings and insight was true! 7 I did not believe these things until I came and saw them with my own eyes. Indeed, I didn’t hear even half the story! Your wisdom and wealth surpass what was reported to me. 8 Your attendants, who stand before you at all times and hear your wise sayings, are truly happy! 9 May the Lord your God be praised because he favored you by placing you on the throne of Israel! Because of the Lord’s eternal love for Israel, he made you king so you could make just and right decisions.”

Theme: Learning, Teaching, Sharing, Building

“Learning from others creates a shared human experience that brings us closer together… Every journey you take builds the Church because it provides you with the opportunity to spread love and wisdom.”

Courie, Anna Fitch Walking with God (p. 43).

Thoughts to Ponder:

1. Who has been your role models and teachers along your way? Bring their names and faces to mind.
2. What do you learn from them?
3. What 'lessons', wisdom, knowledge, skills do you have that help/could help to build the church? How do/could you share these gifts with others?

Judah to Bethlehem 30 miles/48 kilometers

Ruth 1:14-19

Naomi said, “Look, your sister-in-law is returning to her people and to her god. Follow your sister-in-law back home!” 16 But Ruth replied,

“Stop urging me to abandon you! For wherever you go, I will go. Wherever you live, I will live. Your people will become my people, and your God will become my God. 17 Wherever you die, I will die—and there I will be buried. May the Lord punish me severely if I do not keep my promise![s] Only death will be able to separate me from you!”

18 When Naomi realized that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped trying to dissuade her. 19 So the two of them journeyed together until they arrived in Bethlehem.

Theme: Moving from crisis towards resilience - together

“Ruth’s story tells us that hope is alive, that when bad things happen, we can decide how we respond- with anger, fear, negativity, or with love and compassion- like Ruth. Bitterness is easy. And while love is hard, it heals and restores and paves pathways of hope.”

Courie, Anna Fitch Walking with God (p. 50).

Thoughts to Ponder:

1. How do you react to personal crisis? Is your tendency to ask for help, or to push others away?
2. Has a crisis experience ever led you to a ‘crossroads’ experience- a need to make a significant choice?
3. Has the care offered to you by someone else ever left you “speechless”, as Naomi was when Ruth refused to leave her side?

Syria to Samaria 280 miles/ 450 km

2 Kings 5:1-14 (selected verses)

Elisha Heals a Syrian General

5 Now Naaman, the commander of the king of Syria’s army, had a skin disease. 2 Raiding parties went out from Syria and took captive from the land of Israel a young girl, who became a servant to Naaman’s wife. 3 She told her mistress, “If only my master were in the presence of the prophet who is in Samaria! Then he would cure him of his skin disease.”

4 Naaman went and told his master what the girl from the land of Israel had said…

9 So Naaman came with his horses and chariots and stood in the doorway of Elisha’s house. 10 Elisha sent out a messenger who told him, “Go and wash seven times in the Jordan; your skin will be restored and you will be healed.” 11 Naaman went away angry. He said, “Look, I thought for sure he would come out, stand there, invoke the name of the Lord his God, wave his hand over the area, and cure the skin disease. 12 The rivers of Damascus, the Abana and Pharpar, are better than any of the waters of Israel! Could I not wash in them and be healed?” So he turned around and went away angry.

13 His servants approached and said to him, “O master, if the prophet had told you to do some difficult task, you would have been willing to do it. It seems you should be happy that he simply said, ‘Wash and you will be healed.’ 14 So he went down and dipped in the Jordan seven times, as the prophet had instructed. His skin became as smooth as a young child’s and he was healed.

Theme: Finding peace in the midst of trouble

“We need to remember that our God is not a magician. God is a God of love, mercy, grace, and presence in the worst parts of our life and the Giver of wholeness when things will never be whole again. And all God wants in return is our faith and trust.”

Courie, Anna Fitch Walking with God (p. 62).

Thoughts to Ponder:

1. Have you ever had times when you prayed that God would ‘just wave a wand and fix things?’
2. Have there been benefits, blessings, learnings in those times?
3. When trouble comes, do you find peace knowing that God is with you, or do you struggle to find God when things are hardest?

Nazareth to Ein Karim- 89 miles/ 144 km

Luke 1: 39-49

39 A short time later Mary hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea. 40 She went into Zechariah's home, where she greeted Elizabeth. 41 When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, her baby moved within her. The Holy Spirit came upon Elizabeth. 42 Then in a loud voice she said to Mary: God has blessed you more than any other woman! He has also blessed the child you will have. 43 Why should the mother of my Lord come to me? 44 As soon as I heard your greeting, my baby became happy and moved within me. 45 The Lord has blessed you because you believed that he will keep his promise.

Mary's Song of Praise

46 Mary said:

With all my heart I praise the Lord, 47 and I am glad because of God my Savior. 48 God cares for me, his humble servant. From now on, all people will say God has blessed me. 49 God All-Powerful has done great things for me, and his name is holy. 50 He always shows mercy to everyone who worships him. 51 The Lord has used his powerful arm

to scatter those who are proud. 52 God drags strong rulers from their thrones and puts humble people in places of power. 53 God gives the hungry good things to eat, and sends the rich away with nothing. 54 God helps his servant Israel and is always merciful to his people. 55 The Lord made this promise to our ancestors, to Abraham and his family forever

56 Mary stayed with Elizabeth about three months. Then she went back home.

Theme: Walking Together is a Blessing

“The relationship between these two women- one very old, one very young, both carrying miracle babies, is extraordinary. There are no barriers, no formality and no awkwardness between them. They feel completely free to be themselves, to proclaim their abundant joy and praise without self-consciousness or restraint- such is the blessing of their bond, rooted in family, and faith and motherhood.” (Rev. Cathy Duggan)

Thoughts to Ponder:

1. Who are my companions along the way- those with whom I am most able to be myself, who I can trust with my secrets, with whom I can laugh and cry?
2. Is the church a place that nurtures friendships and intimacy between its members and adherents? Could we do better, and if so, how?