A few weeks ago we held our first ever John Feast. For four days we saturated our souls in John’s Gospel and it was absolutely wonderful.
Over the years we have consistently received lots of positive feedback after our normal Intensives. These four or five-day courses combine Bible study, history, theology and applied spiritual formation and ministry related subjects. One of the most consistent elements of that feedback has been how
good it has been to really invest time in the Bible study component at the start of the day. And the majority of those Intensives have been built on several key sections of John’s Gospel.
So we wondered if we could study the whole of John within a four-day course. We tried it, we called it a John Feast, and that is exactly what it was!
Each day we worked our way through a section of the Gospel using a variety of approaches to keep from methodological monotony. By the end of the week we were all blown away by the wonder of the cross and the revelation of God’s heart for us. Along the way we were continually struck by the
character and gentleness of Jesus – actually noticing some aspects of his character that I don’t remember us spotting, even when we worked through the whole Gospel over three months in the full-time program years ago. Each day we gained so much more, and yet we were always close to other texts already covered in the preceding days.
Bible study may have connotations of tedious boring mental exercise, but this was Bible feasting. We just enjoyed our God more and more as the week progressed. Yes we were tired – but it was a good tired. And yes we did also feast at lunch times, grateful to God for the food we could enjoy together and trusting God to help us stay alert in the early afternoon for what was in store there. The fellowship was special, the anticipation was tangible and we all felt that it had been a real privilege to taste John’s
Gospel in such a rich format.
So, we are planning to run another Feast later in the year. We will probably do a normal Intensive (they are such special times too), and a Feast. The only question is whether we will do John again, or choose to experience another book in this format – Mark, Hebrews, 2 Corinthians? Let us know if you are interested in attending and we will keep you in the loop when dates get confirmed!
I don’t recall when I first did it, but reading the Gospel of John and nothing else five times in a row was recommended many years ago. I didn’t do it when first suggested, probably soon after my conversion in July 2000, but probably 4 or five years later. Since then I have done it two more times, about once every 5 years: next one due in 2020. Maybe the next time in some group. Thanks for the write-up. Blessings.