Bible Study: September 16, 2026

Prayer

As previously announced, tonight will be a little bit different from the regular Wednesday Bible Study we usually have.

It may run shorter. It may run longer.

These Wednesdays are usually the time in which we are able to come together, celebrate a new year of Wednesday Night Bible Study, reconnect, talk about our new theme or biblical book that we will be looking at, and share more about what has been going on over the last few months since we last met.

Naturally, that's not the case this evening.

Tonight, we remember Jane: through Scripture, through stories, through laughter, through tears, and through prayer. So tonight, that's what we're making room for.

If people need to leave for a moment, that’s okay. If people need a minute to gather their thoughts as they speak, that’s okay, too.

The point of this evening is to remember Jane...and to remember where Jane placed her trust. And where we continue to have our hope.

As we begin, let’s begin with a silent moment before God.

Silence.

Prayer

Remembrance

John 11:32–36

When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. He said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” Jesus began to weep. So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!”

Ponder

1.     “See how he loved him.” What a powerfully short phrase. The glory and majesty of God, the creator and ruler of the cosmos, not only loves us, but knows every one of us. He sings praise over us. He quiets us with His love. And He cries over us. He's moved with compassion over us. He remebers us.

What are some of the things you remember that showed you who Jane was? What is one story or biblical passage (or both) that reminds you of Jane? There’s no order here. There’s no pressure. Only as you have the will. But what is something you would like us to remember about Jane? It can be funny (because Jane was funny!), it can be deep, it can be ordinary, or maybe it’s just something you don’t want anyone to forget. The passage you choose ma be connected to your story. Maybe it’s not. Or maybe it calls out to the group tonight to see the connection. There are no wrong answers here.  

Praise

It Is Well with My Soul

When peace like a river attendeth my way,

When sorrows like sea billows roll;

Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,

“It is well, it is well with my soul.”

It is well with my soul,It is well, it is well with my soul.

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,

Let this blest assurance control,

That Christ hath regarded my helpless estate,

And hath shed His own blood for my soul.

My sin—oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!—

My sin, not in part, but the whole,

Is nailed to His cross, and I bear it no more;

Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,

The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;

The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend;

Even so, it is well with my soul.

Hope

Romans 8:38–39

“For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Tonight we may hurt, but we hurt becuase love matters. But The Gospel of John and Paul's Epistle to the Romans tell us something even greater still: death can't separate those who belong to Christ from the love of God. Jane's place where she usually sits among us may be empty, but Christ is not absent. And Christian hope declares that death may be the last battle, but death does not get the last word. Jesus does. The Love of Jesus does.

Purposeful Prayer

Tonight as we close out, our prayer will be simple. “Thank you, God, for Jane because…”

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