HS Bible Wed

Intro and Review

So, who all remembers what was covered yesterday?

We talked about what the Bible is, so that we might understand that the Bible is a Grand Narrative that fits together to tell one big story.

With that in mind, what do you think it means when I say that the Bible is a “library?”

Why does genre matter when studying Scripture?

Who is the central figure in the Bible?

Play pt 2 of What is the Bible by Bible project.

If the Bible is made up of many books, the next question for exploration is whether these books are telling one continuous story—or if it is telling many unrelated ones.

Hand out note card sets for them to do the sorting game.

Activity (1)

I want you to split into groups and we are going to play a game.

I am handing each of your groups a set of notecards.

On these notecards is a Bible character, literary genre, and significant actions that they did.

People can have multiples of each one (genre and actions) so make sure not to get tripped up by those.

Each person is a significant character in the Biblical narrative.

Sort them out and we will talk about it.

After all the groups are done

What would you say is the most important thing you learned from doing this?

Why would knowing this information help us in reading the Bible?

How do you think you could have found out the answers that you didn’t know?

So knowing now about some Bible characters, lets look at why stories matter.

Why do stories matter?

Let me ask, if I just tell you not to do something, would you really just not do it? Why or why not?

(Only ask if everyone says yes because I am a teacher) Okay, let me reframe, If some random stranger on the street approaches you and says not to do something, would you avoid or would you do the thing anyways?

Now if that person (Or I depending on how they answer) came up to you and said “Hey, don’t do that, my cousin went over there and got killed). Would you be more likely to do the thing, or would you pause and decide not to?

I ask these questions because I wanted you to see why stories can have impact.

When I say stories what do you think?

Most people tend to think about fairy princesses and dragons, but there can be true stories that are designed to help us. (Share George Washington fake cherry tree story).

You see, humans tend to learn a lot from stories, and we are able to find meaning through them.

Stories can answer questions about our purpose, identity, conflicts, and their resolutions.

Why do you think that movies and books can resonate more with people than lists of rules?

See, the Bible is not just a list of rules and moral commands, it is a narrative that teaches us moral things in a narrative form.

The Grand Narrative

Now that we have talked about story, lets discuss the Grand Narrative of Scripture.

In the Grand Narrative there are six major movements of the Biblical themes

Creation

The creation is talked about in Genesis chapters 1 and 2.

The story shared here is how God created all that we see in a perfect order.

God intended to dwell with His creations, as we were made in His image.

During this time, there would have been no sickness, no pain, no hardships, and no separation between God and man.

The Fall

The fall of man refers to when man sinned against God and ruined His perfect world.

Adam and Eve broke the relationship between God and man.

This is the point where death, sickness, pain, and hardships entered the world.

Promise or Covenant

This refers to the time when God began to initiate a restoration for the world.

He calls Abraham to begin fathering His nation: Israel.

Keep in mind, I understand all the political strife in that area. This is referring to the people not the government there in 2025.

God establishes several covenant promises to Abraham and his decedents.

Redemption

This is where Christ steps onto the scene.

He was the messiah that was taught about throughout the Old Testament.

Primarily His story is told throughout the gospels.

Jesus was the fulfillment of those promises that were made in the Old Testament.

The Church

This is the section that we are living in today.

The earliest church histories can be found in Acts and the Epistles (or letters).

This is the era for the church to send people into other nations to proclaim the gospel to all.

Restoration

Restoration is in reference to a time that is to come where God will renew all things.

This is talked about primarily in Revelation, but there are other places where it is discussed.

It is important to realize that this phase has not yet happened, so it would do us well to study it.

But as you can see, the story all is moving towards something.

It is moving towards the restoration of the pre-fall world.

We can see that Jesus was not an interruption to the story—rather He is the fulfillment of the story.

Jesus and the Story

Lets take a look at Luke 24:27.

Read Luke 24:13-35 in the NLT.

We see in v. 27 that Jesus interpreted Scripture to be talking about Himself.

The Old Testament story is incomplete without Christ coming to fulfill it.

Activity (2)

Everyone pull out a sheet of paper and make a timeline of history to the end of time.

Now I want you to place where you think each of these events occurred in history.

So for instance if you think this story of Jesus occurs here (write it on the board) then place a line and write Jesus.

We will use this timeline as a guide going forward in the class to either challenge our initial assumptions of when these events occurred.

It will also serve as a visual of the Grand Narrative of Scripture.

Reflections

Going forward in this course, we must understand that the Bible is not about “being a better person” or “Try harder.” We have to understand that the Bible tells us who God is, and what God has done, and what He will do.

Psalm 115:1 says, “Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!”

Having this in mind tell me, how does seeing the Bible as one story change how we might read it?

What happens when you take Jesus out of the story?

How does the Biblical narrative challenge our modern views of meaning and identity?

Going forward let’s remember:

The Bible tells one unified story

Jesus is central to that story

Understanding the story keeps us from misinterpreting it.

Preview

Tomorrow we are going to be looking at the authority, trustworthiness, and interpretation of the Bible.

Your homework for tonight is to read the story of Sodom and Gomorrah found in Genesis 19:1-29 because it will be important to understand for tomorrow.

PRAY

Father in heaven, I thank you for each student here today. I ask that you prepare them for the information and tasks at hand. Be with us as we study Your words and help us to learn more about You. In your holy name I pray, Amen.