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January 3, 2016

The Story of the Essentials Begins

So maybe there was a time in your life as you faced a new year that you said….you know, this is the year I’m going to read all the way through the Bible. I can do it. I’ve heard about others who’ve done it. I can do it. And on January 1, well, maybe a bit later since there was just too much going on on January 1 to begin it….on January 2 you picked up Genesis 1 and plunged in…..and you were going along pretty well until about say mid-March and unless you’re a professional seamstress you really can’t get into all that about making the paraphernalia in the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twined linen and blue and purple and scarlet yards; “you small make them with cherubim skillfully worked into them and the length of each curtain shall be 28 cubits”….and you say…..cherubims, cubits? What’s that got to do with my life?

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And so you got bogged down…...Believe me, been there done that.

I mean, have you ever said any of the following….?

“I’ve tried to read the Bible, but I’ve never made it all the way through.” or “I’ve read bits and pieces of the Bible, but I don’t really know how they all fit together.” Or “I start out strong at the beginning of the year and then I get bogged down, and don’t really see where reading the Bible makes a difference in my day to day life,” or how about this…“”I love the Bible. I just need a little help understanding how it applies to my life today.”

If any of those or other statements you’ve made about God’s word to us apply to you….you’ve come to the right place at the right time in the history of Faith Church.

Today we offer our introduction to “The 100 Essential Stories of the Bible” – a church wide study of God’s word using tools we’ve gathered, and next week we’ll begin.

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So what is it about the Bible that makes this year of study together worthwhile to you….worth a concentrated study together?

As the introduction to our study suggests, “The Bible is the world’s most important book. It has sold more copies than any other volume in history. It is the reference point for both the Jewish and the Christian religions. And it has affected the culture, law, art, morality and behavior of nearly every society on earth. It must be important.

Well, with thanks to some great authors including Ray Stedman of Adventuring Through the Bible, Whitney Kuniholms’ with The Essential Bible Guide, Jim George of The Bare Bones Bible Handbook, and of course, the Bible itself…we’ll get to see how God’s Story is interrelated to our Story and how God’s Story becomes our story for all eternity.

Now I know there’s lots of self-help books and other faith journeys that might not even include God’s Holy Word out there. That’s not what we’re about. We are a unique

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band of people…..those who claim the Bible as God’s Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth as some might say – the B-I-B-L-E. It’s God’s Word to the people when it was first written and recorded and it remains God’s Word to us today.

So again, to start with, the Bible is the world’s most important book…..flat out….that’s the reality. Every year it’s a top seller. THE reference point for both the Jewish and Christian religions.

The Bible is more than just an influential book. It is the historical record of the most important story of all time: God’s interaction with human kind. Although the Bible contains many different styles of writing and introduces us to a wide variety of characters, everything in it combines to tell one main story.

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And you ask what’s that story? Well, I’m glad you asked that question. The main story is this: God created the world, God set up parameters….good boundaries for life together….but like the fallen angels, humans rebelled against God, but God, in God’s grace, initiated a plan to save the world – save each one of us – restore the relationship, and that plan was carried out in that baby born in Bethlehem, in Jesus Christ. And in Christ’s life, death, and resurrection, we can find meaning – a restored relationship with God for all of eternity. It’s that simple. That’s the Big Story that makes sense of the Bible and all of life that you’ll read week in and week out through our Essential 100 stories of the Bible beginning today.

Those suggested readings will appear each week in your bulletin as well as many of you have picked up the cards concerning the E100, the Essential 100. You get seven days to read five passages, five stories, of scripture each week. Then we’ll come together on the following Sunday and it’s my job to then either weave them together or at least concentrate on one of the stories and make sure we learn together how God’s word is still very relevant for our lives today and for all eternity. It would be a great time for you to offer a small group study in your home

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too. Just get a few friends together, have a snack, open the stories and compare notes. Good stuff.

So let’s just get an introductory overview about how to study our Bibles before we begin our week to week examination of so much that God has for us together. But before we do…..Let’s pray.

We start with prayer because it begins with God. The goal in this or any study is to get to know the author….the author of this book. And apply what God has for us in our everyday lives. Relationship with God. Relationship with others.

Ok so the first thing about God’s word to us, the Bible, most of you know, is that it’s really divided into two big parts – what’s called the Old Testament and what’s called the New Testament. “Testament” is a big word for evidence, or witness or testimony.

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In the Old Testament, that first witness or testimony, we’re introduced to the main character in all of creation. That’s God. God creates and what God creates is called good. But it doesn’t take long for good to go wrong. The first humans, Adam and Eve, given free will by a loving God, well they blow it – they miss the mark in their relationship with God – choosing their own way instead of God’s ways. So they become separated from God. And that sets up life’s greatest dilemma: How can sinful men and women be reconciled – brought back – into relationship with a holy God? Well God does it in many ways. And note here first that it’s God doing the “doing.” God sets in motion a plan to bring us back….but time and again humankind rebels against God’s ways. They did it then….we still do it today.

But God wants to be in relationship with you….to be your Lord, even be your friend. God wants to pour out the riches of heaven on your life – as it says in Luke 6 – “good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over.”

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But we must get to know God….it’s hard being a friend to someone a long way off your radar and someone you don’t reach out to isn’t it? And the way we get to know God is through the pages of Scripture, as interpreted to us by the Holy Spirit.

Notice that all important link – the scriptures and the spirit – we can’t separate the two. The Bible without the Spirit leads to dullness, boredom, and dead Christianity. The Spirit without the Bible leads to fanaticism and wildfire. And we need the entire Bible – not just the old, not just the new.

So you say, OK, I’ll give it a shot. But I’ve struggled in the past, you know, so how best do I do this Bible reading, Bible study thing?

I’m glad you asked. Let’s get some pointers.

First when it comes to reading God’s Word, you start just as I started earlier - with prayer. Grab the guide to reading for that day and pray. Pray BEFORE you read, asking God to help you understand what you’ll be

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reading. Then Read. Read the Bible passage for the day, perhaps more than once. Perhaps out loud.

These daily readings really aren’t all that long so I know you can do it. And might I add that it’s important you have a good Bible translation that you can read and understand. If you don’t have a Bible? – head to the back table and pick one up. There are a few copies of the New International Version and of the English Standard Version – two versions I’d highly recommend for good understanding – faithful interpretation.

Then after reading at least once or twice, Reflect on the passage you read. It will be even great if you put your reflections down on paper. Journal your thoughts, your reflections.

Then Apply what God teaches you from God’s word to your life. What does God want you to apply from what you’ve read? Remember the goal is to get to know the author of this great book….to develop a closer relationship with the author and then take next steps with it….so ask God, what do you want me to do with this?

And how do you ask God? Of course, you end with Prayer. Ask God to help you live out his word.

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Pray, Read, Reflect, Apply, Pray again.

Ok. Now let’s add a couple other practical things.

Mr. George suggests taking those first tips I gave and goes even deeper. As you’re in that reading part…..First, Observe. What does the passage actually say? Then Interpret. What does the passage mean? Then again, Apply. What am I going to do about what the passage says and means?

OK, Observe.

As you read the text you’ve chosen, you need to look carefully at what is said, and how it is said. Look for Terms, not just words. (For instance, the word TRUNK could apply to a tree, a car or a storage box. However, when you read, “That tree has a very large trunk,” you know exactly what the word means, which makes it a term.)

Then there’s Structure. If you look at your Bible, you will see that it has units like most other writings called paragraphs. Paragraphs are complete units of thought.

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Look at things in those sections. Maybe just look at one paragraph…..even one word in that moment….the goal shouldn’t be just to read to get to the end of your required reading remember? It’s to read the mind of God…be in relationship with the author.

Then there’s Emphasis. Look at Psalms 119 – on second thought don’t right now. Psalms 119 is huge – there’s a big emphasis there; much like there’s a big emphasis on Romans 9 through 11. What’s the emphasis here, you ask.

Then there’s Repetition. Say I Corinthians 13. You know that as the great love chapter, right? The author uses the word “love” not less than nine times in only 13 verses – I’ll bet that’s his emphasis because he repeats it so often, right?

Then there’s Relationships between ideas. Pay close attention to certain relationships that appear in the text. Like this: In Matthew 25 it says, “Well done good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things.” – in that passage you see cause and effect….faithful over some things…. Now the relationship is building.

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Or Psalm 24 reads a question and answer: “Who is the King of glory?” That’s the first phrase…and then comes the answer, “The Lord strong and mighty.” Both the question and the answer are provided. That happens a lot.

Or how about Comparisons and Contrasts? There are places you’ll read…”You have heard that it was said”……and then something is actually said….but then it goes on to say….”but I say to you.” That’s comparison and contrast you’ll find from Jesus in Matthew 5. Watch for the however words, the “but” words – comparison and contrast jumps out when you see those. You see it a lot in the Proverbs, too.

Now I’ve gotten ahead of myself. Let’s observe that the Bible is Literature. And it has three main types of literature: Discourse – like the letters in the back of the New Testament; then there’s Prose – like Old Testament history and the stories, and there’s Poetry – like the Psalms. When you read pay attention to what kind of

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literature it is your reading because that will help you interpret it.

Then there’s Atmosphere. What’s that? Atmosphere is understanding why the author had a particular reason or burden for writing that particular passage, chapter or book. What’s going on in and around this passage? Be sure to notice the mood or the tone or the urgency of the writing.

Here’s where my newspaper days pay off for me, and I hope for you. A good reporter will ask the five “W’s” Who, What, Where, When, Why, and the H – How.

Who are the people in the passage? What is happening in the passage? Where is the story taking place? What time of day, of year, in history is this written? Why was this particular passage written? How did it affect the people who first heard it and how does it affect me today?

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Then asking those questions – Who, What, Where, When, Why, How will help you with the next idea – the idea of Interpretation. Are you still with me? I know, this is, more teaching today than a sermon, but sometimes teaching is a good thing – especially at the beginning of a new study together and a new year. I know you can do it because I know you want to grow together – like our church’s vision statement says.

OK, Interpretation. Interpretation is all about discovering the meaning of a passage, the author’s main thought or idea. Answering the questions that pop up during observation will help in the process of interpretation.

I gave you the W’s and the H right? Here are then the five “C’s” will help here. What are those? Context. Cross-reference. Culture. Conclusion. Consultation.

Context – you can answer 75 percent of your questions by just reading and rereading the text. Maybe you need to look to the chapter or verses before the area you’re concentrating on or the verses just after to help here.

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Then there’s culture. The Bible was written long ago, so when we interpret we need to understand it from the writer’s cultural context. It goes back to my “H” question. How did it affect the first readers and how does it affect me today in my culture?

Then there’s Cross-references. Let scripture help you interpret scripture. Let other passages of the Bible shed light on what you’re looking at now. But remember the tree trunk? Be careful not to assume that the same word or phrase in two different passages always means the same thing.

And finally consultation. I encourage you to get a hold of books called commentaries, which are written by folks who have made it their life’s work to be studying God’s word. Those can help you interpret scripture. If you don’t have access to a commentary and you’ve got a question about a particular passage, check with me. I’ve invested a bit of money over the years on commentaries and maybe together we can learn a bit about what you’re studying.

Then there’s conclusion. What’s this saying to me? What’s the main point? Is there more than one point to be made? Which leads me to the last point…..(praise God, I heard someone say)…

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Ok so we looked at Observation and Interpretation. How about Application as we end?

Application is - why we study the Bible? What’s the sense of reading this if we have no intention of letting it sink in….even change me?

I don’t know about you but my life is always evolving. What I read in my Bible as a young boy growing up in East Liverpool speaks differently to me as a slightly more mature guy here in Cambridge. It’s wonderful how the same passage speaks to you in different ways at different stages of your life.

What do we have as our overall goals again? Know God better and of course then become obedient to apply God’s word in our lives.

We want to be obedient to God and to grow more like Jesus Christ. After we have observed a passage and interpreted it for understanding it to the best of our ability, we absolutely must then apply its truth to our own life – today. That’s why as we look at these 100 Essential stories of the Bible over the next say 20 weeks

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we’re going to be especially looking at Application. How does the story of Noah and the flood affect my life today? What about Joseph and his relationship with his brothers; David the shepherd boy verses David the king? Those four versions of the Christmas story and the stories of Jesus – how can they speak to me today and how do they intertwine – or do they?

We’ll want to ask these kind of questions of every passage of Scripture we’ll study.

How does the truth revealed here affect my relationship with God?

How does this truth affect my relationship with others?

How does this truth affect me?

And how about this one? How does this truth affect my response to the enemy of God – the one that would like nothing better than to get me not to read God’s word, to obey God’s word….to stop reading God’s word – the evil one - Satan?

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The application step isn’t really ended by just answering the questions, of course. The keys once again are developing a relationship with God that transforms us to the point we desire to put into practice what God teaches us in our study together.

Now I know that at every given moment maybe you can’t be consciously applying everything you’re learning in your Bible reading and study, (you got to pay attention to the road signs, the traffic and speed limits around here) but you can consciously applying Something. And when you work on applying a truth to your life, God will bless your efforts – trust me on this. God will bless your efforts…….conforming you into the image of Jesus Christ – Jesus Christ who loves you so much he came to live, die and be resurrected for you and for me and our eternal futures.

So – lot’s there, huh? I know you can do it. Pray, Read, Reflect. Apply, and keep on praying. Are you ready to read the top 100 stories of God’s word – seeking out better understanding – and asking how what we learn from those stories applies to my life today? I pray you are.

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Begin this week with the passages listed in your bulletin or in the cards you can pick up in the back. Even look to our facebook pages and emails for help.

God bless us all as we dig in to the treasures of God’s word.