Trilogy
One of the culminations of the summer was the inductive Bible study conference "Trilogy" which took place just before the start of the new academic year. Fifteen participants spent seven hours a day studying the book of Revelation for a week. Although this book is often neglected because it can be difficult to understand, it contains a lot of very practical information about what it means to be God's people in the world today.
Instead of listening to sermons or messages on the passages we studied Revelation, using the manuscript method, which means that each participant spent time studying the text individually by seeking the main themes, repetitions and contrasts, and metaphors and literary links. After this we met to discuss our findings in small groups and as a large group, where everyone had the opportunity to share their views and what the text spoke to them. We looked at historical records and learned a lot about the time in which the first Christians lived. In this way we were able to understand what this message meant for the first readers. We learned a lot about the apocalyptic genre and made many important links between this book and the prophetic books of the Old Testament that used the same imagery.
Everyone went home with a new understanding of the depth of Christ's love for us, and with a renewed call to be faithful disciples of Jesus to the end - not compromising our faith or testimony in the midst of the corruption in the world. Although this is a huge task, we serve a God who is greater still! "I am Alpha and Omega," says the Lord God, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty." (Rev. 1: 8)
