Bible Study at St. John's Presbyterian in Houston

You've probably heard the phrase "Bible study" thrown around in church circles. Maybe you've attended a few over the years. Some were good. Some felt like homework you didn't sign up for. Others turned into complaint sessions disguised as prayer requests.

Here's what I want you to know about Bible study at St. John's: we're not trying to check a box or fill a calendar slot. We study Scripture together because we believe something happens when ordinary people sit down with an ancient text and ask honest questions about what it means for their actual lives.

I'm not going to promise that Bible study will solve all your problems or make you feel warm and fuzzy every week. Some weeks you'll leave with more questions than answers. That's okay. Good Bible study doesn't tie everything up with a neat bow. It opens you up to God's Word in ways that keep working on you long after you close the book.

What we offer at St. John's is several different groups meeting at different times in different formats. Each one has its own personality and focus. My job in this article is to describe them honestly so you can figure out where you might fit.

What Bible Study Actually Is (and Isn't)

Before I walk you through our specific groups, let's clear up some confusion.

Bible study isn't a lecture where one person talks and everyone else takes notes. That's a class. Classes have their place, but that's not what we're doing here.

Bible study isn't a therapy group where we share feelings and skip over the actual Scripture. That's group counseling with Bibles as props. Again, nothing wrong with counseling, but it's different from studying the Bible.

Real Bible study involves reading Scripture together, asking what it meant in its original context, wrestling with what it means now, and trying to figure out how it changes the way we live. You need other people for this because you can't see your own blind spots. You need the text itself because feelings and opinions aren't enough to build a life on.

At St. John's, we study the Bible because we believe it's God's Word. Not just inspiring literature or ancient wisdom, though it's certainly both of those things. We believe God speaks through Scripture in ways that confront us, comfort us, correct us, and change us.

That means Bible study can get uncomfortable. You might read something that challenges your assumptions or calls out your behavior. You might hear someone else's interpretation and realize you've been reading a passage through your own cultural lens your whole life. That discomfort is often where growth happens.

Sunday Morning: The Study That Prepares You to Worship

Every Sunday at 9:30 AM, we gather for adult Bible study before worship. This isn't a massive auditorium full of people watching a stage. We're in a room where you can see everyone's face, small enough that your absence gets noticed.

We study the Scripture passages that will be preached during worship an hour later. This gives us time to dig into the context, ask questions, and understand what we're about to hear. When the sermon comes, you're not starting from scratch. You've already engaged the text and thought about what it means.

I've found this approach changes how people experience worship. Instead of passively listening to a sermon, they're actively connecting what they studied with what they're hearing preached. Sometimes they disagree with my interpretation. Good. That means they're thinking.

Parents often appreciate this timing. While adults are in Bible study, children are learning Scripture at their own level in age-appropriate ways. Then everyone comes together for worship at 11:00 AM. Your family is growing in faith together, just at different speeds and in different spaces designed for where each person is.

This matters in Westbury, where families juggle schedules that would make anyone dizzy. You've got kids at Anderson Elementary or Westbury High, maybe another at Westbury Christian School, and you're trying to fit faith formation around soccer practice and music lessons and everything else. Having Bible study right before worship means one trip gets you both.

The Sunday morning group tends to include longtime members who've been studying together for years alongside newcomers who just walked through the door last month. Some people come every single week. Others show up when they can. We don't take attendance or make you feel guilty for missing. We're glad to see you when you're there.

What happens in the room is pretty straightforward. Someone reads the passage out loud. We talk about what's happening in the text. What did the original audience understand that we might miss? What words or phrases stand out? What questions does this raise?

Then we move into harder territory. What does this mean for us? How does this passage challenge or change our thinking? Where do we see this playing out in our lives and our community?

Some people love to talk and will dominate the conversation if you let them. Some people need time to process before they speak. A good Bible study makes room for both types. We're working on that balance, trying to create space where extroverts don't steamroll introverts and where quiet doesn't mean disengaged.

Sunday Afternoon: Going Deeper on Zoom

Our Sunday afternoon Zoom study attracts a different crowd. These are folks who want to go deeper into passages we started discussing in the morning, or people who can't make it to the building on Sunday morning because of work schedules or health limitations.

Meeting on Zoom changes the dynamic. You lose some of the casual conversation that happens before and after an in-person gathering. You can't read body language as easily. But you gain accessibility. People who can't drive anymore or who work Sunday mornings or who are caring for family members at home can still participate.

The beauty of Zoom for a neighborhood like Westbury is that it crosses language barriers in interesting ways. Someone can use the chat to type a question if their English isn't strong enough for spoken conversation. Others can unmute and jump right in. The technology doesn't replace being in person, but it creates space for people who might feel intimidated by in-person groups.

I've watched people in this group slowly become friends over months of studying Scripture together, even though some of them have never stood in the same room. They pray for each other's struggles. They celebrate each other's victories. The screen doesn't prevent genuine relationship when people commit to showing up consistently.

The afternoon group often picks up threads from the morning study and follows them further. Someone will ask a question at 10:00 AM that we don't have time to fully explore, and by 2:00 PM on Zoom, we're digging into it. Or we'll take a detour into related passages that shed light on what we studied earlier.

This group values depth over coverage. We'd rather spend three weeks on one chapter and actually understand it than race through a whole book just to say we finished. That patience with Scripture is rare these days. Everything moves fast, and we're conditioned to want instant understanding. Bible study teaches you that some truths only reveal themselves slowly.

Tuesday Women: Real Talk About Real Faith

Every Tuesday afternoon, a group of women meets on Zoom for what has become one of the most honest conversations happening anywhere in this church. These aren't women pretending their lives are perfect. They're dealing with aging parents, difficult marriages, job stress, health crises, and all the stuff that makes life hard.

They study Christian books, dig into Scripture, and most importantly, they tell the truth about where they're struggling. In a culture that rewards fake perfection, these women have created space for actual honesty.

I think this matters especially in Westbury because women here carry heavy loads. You've got mothers working full-time jobs while managing households, grandmothers raising grandchildren, professional women climbing corporate ladders, and retired teachers still serving as volunteer tutors at Parker Elementary. The Tuesday group gives them permission to stop performing and start being real about what they need.

The group doesn't just study Bible passages in isolation. They read books about faith and life, then discuss them in light of Scripture. Recent books have covered topics like anxiety, grief, marriage, parenting adult children, and finding purpose in retirement. These aren't light topics, and the conversations don't shy away from hard questions.

What strikes me about this group is how they've learned to listen to each other. When someone shares a struggle, the others don't immediately jump in with advice or try to fix the problem. They sit with it. They ask questions. They pray together. Sometimes the most helpful thing someone can say is "that sounds really hard" and nothing more.

Women often tell me they can't find this kind of community anywhere else. Their workplaces reward strength and competence, not vulnerability. Their families need them to have it together. Even some churches create environments where women feel pressure to project confidence they don't always feel. The Tuesday group offers something different: a place where you can admit you're struggling and nobody thinks less of you for it.

This is what Christian community should look like. Not people pretending to be fine while falling apart inside, but people being honest about their struggles while pointing each other back to Scripture and prayer and the grace of God that meets us in our weakness.

Wednesday Men: Intense Study That Respects Your Time

Every other Wednesday at 6:30 PM, men gather for what they accurately call an "intense one hour Bible study." They mean it. This group doesn't waste time. They move through Scripture with focus, ask direct questions, and hold each other accountable.

Men often tell me they want Bible study that respects their intelligence and their schedule. They don't want to spend two hours on surface-level conversation when they've got early morning shifts or family responsibilities waiting at home. The Wednesday group delivers depth without fluff.

They start on time and end on time. That might sound rigid, but it's actually respectful. Men with jobs that start at 5:00 AM appreciate knowing they can participate without sacrificing sleep. Fathers with young kids at home value knowing exactly when they'll be back.

The study itself moves quickly through the text. Someone reads a passage, and immediately the questions start flying. What does this word mean in the original language? How does this connect to what we studied last time? Where else in Scripture do we see this theme? What's God calling us to do with this?

There's something powerful about men from different backgrounds studying Scripture together. You've got guys who grew up in Westbury sitting next to guys who just moved here from other states or countries. Some speak English as a first language, others learned it as adults. What brings them together is wanting to understand what God says and figure out how to live faithfully in response.

Men need other men who will tell them the truth. Not in a harsh or judgmental way, but with the kind of directness that comes from genuine care. When you're dealing with temptation or facing a hard decision or struggling in your marriage or feeling stuck in your career, you need brothers who will speak honestly and pray fervently.

The Wednesday group does this well. They've built trust over time by showing up consistently and being vulnerable about their own struggles. When someone shares a prayer request, the others actually pray about it during the week, not just in that moment. They text each other. They check in. This is discipleship in action.

Children's Bible Study: Growing Faith at Every Age

While adults gather for worship at 11:00 AM on Sunday mornings, children participate in their own Bible study designed for their age and stage. We believe kids need to engage Scripture in ways that make sense for how they learn and understand the world.

Our children's program isn't just babysitting with a Bible story thrown in. We're teaching kids to know Scripture, ask good questions about what it means, and think about how faith shapes their lives even now.

The leaders who work with our children take this seriously. They prepare lessons, create activities that help kids engage the material, and build relationships with these young disciples. Parents tell us their kids actually remember what they learned and bring it up during the week. That's what we're aiming for: Scripture that sticks because it's been taught well.

We also know that kids need consistency. When children see their parents taking Bible study seriously, when they experience their own age-appropriate study, and when the whole family worships together, faith becomes integrated into life instead of compartmentalized into Sunday morning.

Finding Where You Fit

You might be reading this and thinking, "I don't know where I belong." That's okay. Most people feel that way at first.

If you're new to Bible study or feel rusty after years away, Sunday morning is probably your best starting point. It's our most accessible group, and the fact that it connects to the sermon means you're not walking into the middle of something you can't follow.

If you work Sunday mornings or have mobility limitations, the Sunday afternoon Zoom study gives you access without requiring you to be in the building.

If you're a woman looking for honest conversation and deeper community with other women walking through similar life stages, Tuesday afternoon might be what you need.

If you're a man who values focused study and accountability, check out the Wednesday evening group.

And if you're a parent, know that while you're growing in your understanding of Scripture, your children are doing the same at their own level.

What to Expect When You Show Up

Let me paint a realistic picture of what happens when you walk into a Bible study at St. John's.

First, you'll probably feel a little awkward. That's normal. Everyone else already knows each other, and you're the new person. Someone will introduce themselves and try to make you feel welcome, but there's no way around the fact that you're joining something already in progress.

Second, you might not understand everything being discussed, especially if the group is in the middle of a series or studying a difficult passage. Don't let that discourage you. Ask questions. Say "I'm lost, can someone explain that?" People appreciate honesty more than pretending you understand when you don't.

Third, nobody's going to force you to talk. You can listen for weeks before you say anything beyond introducing yourself. But eventually, we'd love to hear your perspective. You bring something to the table that nobody else does, even if you think you don't know much about the Bible.

Fourth, you won't agree with everything everyone says. That's fine. Bible study isn't about reaching unanimous consensus on every interpretation. It's about engaging Scripture together and letting it shape us, even when we see things differently.

Fifth, relationships take time. You're not going to walk into one meeting and suddenly have deep friendships. But if you keep showing up, if you're willing to be honest about your own struggles and listen well to others, something will develop. That's how Christian community works. Slowly. Steadily. Through consistent presence and shared commitment to God's Word.

Why Bible Study Matters (Beyond the Obvious)

You'd expect a pastor to say Bible study is important. Let me tell you why I actually believe it.

Most of us navigate life based on a patchwork of cultural assumptions, family messages, personal experiences, and whatever we absorbed from movies and social media. We rarely stop to ask whether our assumptions are true or helpful or aligned with what God says about reality.

Bible study forces that reckoning. When you sit down with Scripture week after week, you start noticing the gaps between what you believe and what the text actually says. That gap is uncomfortable. It should be. Growth happens in that discomfort.

You also can't study the Bible seriously without confronting your own sin and limitations. The text has a way of exposing the things we prefer to hide from ourselves. Pride. Selfishness. Fear. Lack of trust in God. Misplaced priorities. Scripture holds up a mirror, and sometimes you don't like what you see.

But here's the grace woven through all of it: the same Bible that exposes your sin points you to the Savior who dealt with it on the cross. Every passage that convicts you also reminds you of the gospel. That's why we keep coming back.

Beyond personal transformation, Bible study shapes how we live in community. When you study Scripture with other people, you learn their stories. You hear how God is working in their lives. You discover that the person sitting across from you is fighting battles you knew nothing about. That knowledge changes how you interact on Sunday mornings, how you pray during the week, how you show up when someone needs help.

We're also learning to read the Bible in ways that challenge the individualism of American Christianity. Too often we read Scripture asking, "What does this mean for me?" while ignoring the communal context. Most of the Bible was written to communities, not isolated individuals. Bible study in a group helps us see those corporate dimensions we miss when we only read alone.

Getting Started Is Simple

If you want to try Bible study at St. John's, you don't need to do anything complicated. Just show up.

For Sunday morning, arrive at 10:00 AM and look for signs pointing to the Bible study room. Someone will welcome you and make sure you have a Bible if you need one.

For Sunday afternoon Zoom or Tuesday women's Zoom, contact the church office and we'll send you the link. You don't need fancy technology. If you can check email, you can join a Zoom meeting.

For Wednesday evening men's group, same thing. Reach out and we'll make sure you have the details about when and where they're meeting.

Nobody's going to put you on the spot or make you feel bad for not knowing things. We're just regular people trying to understand God's Word together. Some of us have been doing this for decades. Others just started. We're all still learning.

The Long View

I've been in pastoral ministry long enough to know that Bible study isn't flashy or exciting in the way our culture values those things. You won't post Instagram stories about your profound insights from Tuesday afternoon's discussion. Wednesday night Bible study won't trend on social media.

But here's what happens over time: people who consistently study Scripture together develop roots that go deep. When life gets hard, they don't fall apart because they've built their lives on something solid. When culture shifts and everyone's anxious about the latest crisis, they have a framework for thinking that comes from somewhere beyond the news cycle. When they face decisions about work or family or money or relationships, they have resources to draw on beyond their own limited wisdom.

That's what we're building at St. John's through Bible study. Not a program to fill time on the church calendar, but a community of people who take God's Word seriously enough to let it shape their lives.

The invitation is open. Find a group that fits your schedule and situation. Show up. Bring your questions and your doubts and your struggles. See what happens when ordinary people gather around an extraordinary book and ask God to teach them.

We're not promising easy answers or quick fixes. We're offering something better: a community committed to growing in faith together, one passage at a time, over months and years and decades. That's how disciples are made. Not through spectacular events or emotional highs, but through steady, faithful attention to Scripture in the company of other believers.

That's Bible study at St. John's. Come see for yourself.

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