How Do I Read My Bible?

Welcome

a. Hey everyone. Welcome back. So glad you’re here as we start our new series!

b. Series Intro

i. We all have so many questions about our faith that begin with the phrase, “How do I…?”

ii. Questions like, “How do I read my Bible”? “How do I pray”? “How do I make a difference”? “How do I be a good friend”?

iii. The reality is that we do want answers to those questions, but we don’t know where to start. But what if the answers to those questions aren’t as difficult as we think?

iv. For the next several weeks, we're going to look at these questions and what the answers are.

c. Tonight, we’re going to look at the question of how do I read my Bible?

i. I hope that many of us will leave tonight with a deeper and clearer understanding of what the Bible is and a desire to read it more.

ii. Tonight, our big idea is: "The Bible: It’s more than just a Book." We'll talk about why in just a few minutes, but here are a few things you'll find about the Bible if you simply google, “What is the Bible”?

What Is The Bible?

1. The Bible is one of the most controversial books in history.

2. It is the most quoted and most sold book of all time.

3. It is translated in over 600 languages. As of August 2018, the entire Bible is available in 677 languages. That’s great, but today there are still around 2000 languages that don’t have a Bible in their language.

4. The Bible has inspired art, movies, books, music, government, and decisions our country has made.

5. The Bible is a big deal. It's more than just any other book.

iii. What we’ll see tonight is that you don’t have to have a special degree, be a pastor, wait until you’re older, or even be super smart to read the Bible.

1. You can start reading the Bible today.

2. Before we talk about why and how, let's answer some of the what.

What Do You Know About The Bible?

What is one fact you know about the Bible?

b. Here are a few important details to know about the Bible:

i. 66 books. Two parts. OT and NT. Written by about 40 different people but only one author: God.

ii. Its major theme is about God's rescue story of humankind through Jesus, our Savior.

iii. It’s made up of different genres: OT Law, history, poetry, songs, prophecies, Gospels, and letters.

iv. It is the 1st book ever printed—Gutenberg Bible in the 15th century. Since then, billions of copies sold.

v. Even though this book is the most sold and one of the most popular/famous books in the world, it is often misunderstood, and even more so, it is misinterpreted.

The Bible Tells us About God

1. It is God’s self-revelation to the world about who He is. It’s the way God showed Himself to the world.

2. One of the primary reasons God gave us this book is so that we can know who He is. Isn't that great? God wants us to know Him.

3. If you've ever wondered if God still speaks today, the answer is yes. Everyday. Right here in this Word.

The Bible Is God Breathed

2 Timothy 3:16–17 CSB

16 All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, 17 so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

The Bible Is God Breathed

2. This book was inspired by God. It demands we study it carefully and wholeheartedly. This means it is the final authority for our lives.

3. Not just obey a little here or there, but all the time in our lives.

4. Do we get this perfect? No, but we grow each day with this book because it is the very words of God.

The Bible Is Infallible

1. We see this in 2 Timothy, too. The fact that the Bible is inspired by God and breathed by Him means it is perfect.

2. That's a new word for some of you. That means it is incapable of being wrong.

3. I'll say it again; the Bible cannot be wrong. It is right, and it is true.

4. Whether you want to acknowledge it or not, the Bible is right, and it is God's Word. Our world and culture don't really like this, but the reality for Christians is we have to be okay with that. We have got to stop apologizing for what the Bible says and recognize it as truth and right, even in a world that tells us to see it differently.

5. It is perfect. We have to get this right about the Bible.

6. For all of us in the room today, our world and culture will throw thoughts, ideas, beliefs, and lifestyles that will challenge the Bible's trustworthiness. But whether you like it or not, this book is incapable of being wrong. It is perfect. This book is without error or flaw.

7. This Bible is more than just any other book.

The Bible Guides Our Lives

Psalm 119:105 CSB

105 Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light on my path.

The Bible Guides Our Lives

2. Teaches us how to live life and teaches us what truth is.

3. Gives us direction and guidance on who God is, how to be in relationship with Him and others and gives us purpose in who we are.

d. Now that we've talked a little about what the Bible is, let's talk about the why.

Why Should I Read My Bible?

a. Look to the person next to you and tell them, "You should read your Bible."

b. If we recognize that the Bible is, in fact, God's Word and it more than just another book, why do we neglect it?

c. [Interact with the crowd and ask: What are the main reasons people do not regularly read the Bible? Once you have a few different answers move on.]

d. Here are four reasons why I think people don't read the Bible. We'll start with the fourth reason and work our way to the #1 reason.

It is boring.

1. This one is hard to imagine. I’m not trying to step on your toes, but how can you say the Bible is boring? This book has love, hate, war, romance, injustice, miracles, the purpose of life, and so much more. It talks about faith, contains some crazy fighting scenes, and has all kinds of action. How is that boring?

You don’t know where to start.

1. This one is understandable to a degree. A lot of people know this is an important book, but don't know where to start. We'll unpack this later and talk about how to read the Bible. If that is you, I want to help you with that.

You don’t understand it.

1. You simply think it's too confusing, and you can't understand it. I get it, but let's just be clear: there are parts of the Bible that will always be confusing and hard to understand. But MOST of the Bible is easy for us to read and understand. What’s hard is doing what it says!

You’re too busy.

1. Okay, this one is one I’m guilty of sometimes, but I shouldn't be. I make time to play games, check social media, watch TV, but neglect my Bible. I get it. You have school, hard classes, sports, your favorite shows to watch, friend life.

v. The more we learn the importance of God's Word and love this Word, the quicker we will realize those are all just silly excuses.

e. It’s important to know some foundational things about the Bible like what we just talked about, but the next step leads us to why should I read the Bible?

i. [interact with the crowd on asking them, “Why should I read the Bible?” and get responses from them to help lead into this section.]

f. The more I read the Bible, the more I realize how much I need it and how important it is to me.

i. Sure, I'll go through days where I forget to read it or don't make it a priority, but I pick it back up, and it's just feeling of "ahhhhhh” like a sigh of relief, a place of refuge, a sense of peace comes over me.

g. We should read this Bible because God calls us to it. It is His message to us. Your relationship with the Bible is so important because it is important to your relationship with the Lord.

h. The foundation of our lives should be built on God’s Word. It should be part of our DNA.

i. From my personal experience, you can trust this. This Bible, it corrects us, it teaches us the truth, it defines truth, it shows us what is wrong with our lives, it shows us the story of God's love and His relationship with the entire world, and it shows us where we come from and where we're going after this life.

j. The Bible brings us hope, encouragement, and purpose. Those are all things that we so desperately need in this life.

i. There was a time I read the Bible for an hour for 3 months, every day.

ii. It changed me in ways I cant explain.

iii. Made me realize how much I needed him

iv. Made me want to talk about him more

v. Made me a better person

vi. It made me think of others before myself.

vii. It made me ask the question what would jesus do more often.

k. The Bible helps us grow in our relationship with God. How do relationships grow? Communication, conversation, and time spent together. When you read God's Word, you are spending time with God to communicate with Him.

l. So, there are a few reasons why we should read the Bible. The next point will help us on how to read our Bible.

How Should I Read My Bible?

a. I think oftentimes, we want to read the Bible, but we don’t know where to start. If that is you, hear me on this: you are not alone.

b. If you're here and you're like, “I'm already reading my Bible daily,” then let these be gentle reminders for you and encourage you that you are on the right track!

c. I want to give you some really simple and practical steps that you can use to help you read your Bible outside of this room and church.

d. Now that we know about the Bible and why we should read it, we can all agree that if the Bible is this important, we must spend more time with it. We must be reading it outside of Wednesday and Sunday.

e. When it comes to reading the Bible, we must:

Make a choice.

1. Would you choose to get into God's Word? I get it. This is the hardest part.

2. It requires you to be disciplined with it. The easy excuse is just to say that you're too busy or we don't know where to start, but we must choose to read it.

3. We fill our lives with so much: school, homework, sports, friends, social media, gaming, TV, etc. But how much time do you spend to be in God’s Word?

4. Some of you don’t know how to read it because you simply haven’t made time for it in your life.

5. If that’s you, one challenge for you is every time you catch your self-opening Netflix, Instagram, Snapchat, etc., you would open your Bible app and read a verse.

6. I'm not telling you to quit all those things or throw them away, but maybe you need to hit pause on them.

7. Choose to remove distractions when you read your Bible.

a. You may need to get alone to do it.

b. You may need to turn your phone off or notifications off.

c. You may need to get away from the TV.

d. You may avoid getting in your bed to read it when you're already so tired and the lights out, so you don't fall asleep.

8. Making a choice includes finding a consistent time and place. Find a good time that works for you within your say. Don’t be afraid to make it part of your daily schedule. If you need to do it before you go to school or you need to do it before dinner or whatever it may be, but make a choice and stick to it.

9. Ask yourself: Am I making time for God’s Word?

10. You want to make choices in reading the Bible that will help set you up for success, and that leads to our next point on how we should read our Bible.

Get a plan.

1. This is huge. A lot of us struggle because we don’t know where to start. We don’t have a plan.

2. Let me tell you what not to do:

a. Flip and dip method. [I explain this from a personal story of when I first got saved I would flip my Bible open to a random page and dip my finger down on a random line, and that would be my Bible reading for the day. Then, the next day I would do the same thing again and never read a full story or anything in context.]

3. We have to read the Bible in context. We can't randomly read through it and expect to make sense of it all. Think about it:

a. You wouldn’t watch a movie by starting in random spots and jumping all over the movie or by reading any other book by only reading it in random spots.

4. You’ve got to make a plan to spend time with your Bible.

5. Now hear me, don't over-complicate this. Start simple. 10-15 minutes a day.

6. If you have a phone, you can use the YouVersion Bible plan and look at hundreds of different devotionals and reading plans.

7. I have a devotional for you here.

8. As you read, there are a few questions to always ask yourself:

a. What does the passage say?

b. What does the passage mean?

c. What should I do about it?

d. How can I remember it?

e. Your leaders are going to give you a tool to help you with this.

9. There is no perfect plan or even a wrong one. The important thing is whatever you do, do it daily.

Don’t give up!

1. Whatever you do, don’t give up! If you miss a day, miss two days, don’t give up.

2. One of the reasons people give up on reading the Bible is because they view it as a chore or a checklist.

a. Then they feel they have gotten behind, and it's just so overwhelming to start it back up.

3. Don’t give up, don’t give up, don’t give up.

4. It’s a place to go page after page and read about how this perfect God loves us.

Conclusion

a. See, the Bible is a big deal. It’s not just any book. It’s the most important book in this world.

i. My challenge to you is don't let the Bible intimidate you.

b. Maybe you're here, and your relationship with the Bible is pretty weak. Maybe you don't have one at all.

i. I would encourage you to choose to get into this book and read this Word. Build your life on the foundation of these pages.

c. If you’re here and don’t know who Christ our Savior is, this book will tell you all about Him and myself of our leaders would love to tell you more about that.

d. If you’re here and you’re doing a good job at reading the Bible, then consider taking it to another level.

e. If you read the Bible for 5 minutes a day, consider moving it to 10 or from 10 to 15. Increase the amount of time you’re reading the Bible and let God’s Word soak into your life.

f. Make it a habit. Some of you need to commit to reading the Bible for 10 minutes for the next seven days. You need to work on making your Bible reading a new habit.

i. Just like the habit of brushing your teeth and putting on deodorant. The more you do it, the more it’ll become a habit.

ii. Be committed to reading God’s Word even when you don’t feel like it!

g. If there is anything I can do to help you better understand the Bible or help get you started, find me or talk to a leader!

h. Before we close, I want to read a passage of Scripture over you that is my prayer for how you would see God’s Word. Read Psalm 119:10-15.

Psalm 119:10–15 CSB

10 I have sought you with all my heart; don’t let me wander from your commands. 11 I have treasured your word in my heart so that I may not sin against you. 12 Lord, may you be blessed; teach me your statutes. 13 With my lips I proclaim all the judgments from your mouth. 14 I rejoice in the way revealed by your decrees as much as in all riches. 15 I will meditate on your precepts and think about your ways.