How To Read The Bible
Notes
Transcript
How To Read The Bible
How To Read The Bible
There is book that is written
That has stood the test of time
is relevent today even though it was written thousands of year ago
The stories are insane and captivating
They show us this plan that was in place
this plan would span hundreds and thousands of years.
40 different authors
66 books
written in
The first half the old testament has 39 books
the second half the new testament has 27 books
it would take you 70 hours to read it out loud
it is the number one selling book of all time in the history of books
We are of course talking about the Bible
It is one of the most interesting books in the whole word is the Bible
It is a book of redemption
It is God’s plan to save humanity
It is story after story that on there own are cool and exciting yet put together shows how God worked all things together
It is a book of a father, a son and the spirit that dwells inside of us today.
This book gives us the keys to our freedom, freedom from sin.
This book is incredible but we know all about that stuff I just said, we know it has value or else why would we pick it up and read from it every Sunday at church or here now?
We know it has value.
We know that is important
We know some of the stories, we have grown up in the church and thankfully we accepted Jesus years ago as being asked where you rather go heaven or hell?
I still have yet to meet someone who answer no I don’t want to heaven.
We say yes and that is it
We walk through our faith never being challenged to read, sure we pick up when the pastor’s boring, and we may read a bit more at time at camp where we do devotions.
Yet this book does not be central to our lives.
We think we have enough
We think we know enough
We think that the Bible is old and outdated
Lets be real we get distracted
It just not on our priority list, because if you had a desire to read the Bible, it would be part of your daily routine.
Yep, I know I used the scary word routine.
But routines help you determine what is important in our lives, we put an effort towards thing that are important.
The things that may be important but yet we don’t really want to commit we let it fall through the cracks, we may get it every once in a while but hey nobody wants to be tied down.
Or maybe we are scared of this book
This large book with 66 books
There are 1189 chapters in this book
773,692 words in the Bible
That can be intimidating for a couple of reasons, you have never read a book cover too cover.
let alone a chapter of a book
that is a lot of words and my vocabulary is really small.
But maybe that is not really why we are intimidated:
What if the real reason why we do not pick up this book is that we have no idea how to read it.
Not knowing where to start is a factor, but what if the real reason is we have no idea how too.
I think we spend a lot of time and energy explaining what the Bible is?
Yet we have to look at students from all over the country who graduate high school being part of a youth group to never gracing the doors of a church again.
-Have you ever been given an answer that just did not make sense?
You felt like there was more, but people have told you, an answer that was more to pacify you rather than helping you?
I feel like when we do this, when we get answers to questions that just don’t seem right, or maybe a better word to how we feel is unsatisfied.
Because we can disagree with an answer and be satisfied by it.
We can be okay with an answer that may not lie up with what we think.
But so many times we are given the Jesus, God, Bible answer, or my all time favorite have more faith.
Are these answers wrong, nope, but we use them to skirt questions that are actually hard questions, we use them as a shield instead of saying, I don’t know.
I hope that we do not do this to you.
I think we have some of the best leaders in the Galesburg, and the surrounding areas.
We have the best leaders because they also are not satisfied with surface level answers.
They dive deep and they are okay saying I do not know but I will find out.
Or you know what that is a great question, what do you think?
Or lets find out together.
The Bible is this massive story and it has a lot of parts and you are not going to understand it all, and guess what that is okay.
That does not mean that we throw it on the shelf and not read it though.
We must dive in, and when we do not understand, we read it again, and again.
We text our parents, our breakout leaders, myself, other mentors in your life.
We invite others in, and help us understand what it is we are reading.
How we read the Bible is pretty important.
Did you know that we can read the Bible several different ways?
Know there are many different ways to read the Bible but I just want to hit on a few.
A book to read
A way to live
questions to ask
A wrestling match
A prayer book
I want you to know up front that some ways will work for you and others may not, and that is okay.
This is about how we read the Bible
How we approach it.
A book to read
This one is pretty simple— you just read the Bible
And you don’t stop, yep something are not going to make sense, this is not a checkmark based attempt, but you are honestly trying to understand it but you may not get everything.
That is okay, recall a couple of weeks ago we talked about filling our lives up with good, useful stuff, this falls into that category.
Maybe you are already doing this here is some tips to make it different.
Purchase and Read the Bible in a different translation. ESV/CSB/NIV/NLT/NASB
Find an audio reading plan and listen to it everywhere you go, turn off chumbwoaba and fill yourself up with God’s word
Don’t always read it on your own.
Ask friends to read the Bible with you.
This really helps to keep you accountable.
If you do not own a Bible, please take one of these home!
I can honestly say that I have been convicted this week that I may not be helping you in this area enough.
We of course are plugged in people and our phone is our Bible i get it, but you know where will not see distractions as easily or see that jimbo texted you?
A physical Bible
I know it pretty old school, but there is something about reading the text from the Bible, and making notes and underlining words— there is something special about having a physical Bible with you.
I would encourage you to start bringing one, because just so we are on the same page— this is where we will dive into every single week.
We will start here, before going to other sources or other information we will go here first and see what God has to say first.
So bring your Bible, We may do prizes and stuff but to be honest, I don’t want to beg you to bring your Bible, I just want you to do it because you cant get enough of it.
Number 2
2. A way to live
In
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
Jesus says I am “the way”
This comes on the heels of Thomas asking him a questions.
Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?”
You see Thomas wanted this road map— he wanted to know the path.
It may be important to back up to the start of chapter 14
“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going.” Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
So what is Jesus responding with here?
Jesus is saying more than just I am the way to the afterlife.
We must go through Jesus to get to the father.
This makes sense, we can live with that.
But what if Jesus was saying just a bit more.
Thomas wanted this road map on how to get to the house that Jesus is building but that is not the answer that he got.
We look at this passage and say— see we just have to put our hope and faith in Jesus.
Yes, but we are on the other side of the cross, what that means to us now, is not what Jesus was getting at here.
He was saying I am the way— I am the example to follow.
You see this way was compared to the law.
Old Testament law— there are rules and regulations.
In the Hebrew Bible and to Jewish people today they see the terms The Law and The Way as synonyms.
The Jewish people would see this and see what Jesus says and see it as another way to heaven.
That the Old Testament Law and the Way were just the same thing— follow this and you will keep on the right path.
Here is the issue with look at the law and the way like that:
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.
Jesus did not come to tear down the Law but he came to fulfill it.
Jesus came to fulfill this way of life.
So back at :
Jesus is saying that I am the way personified- I am the way of the incarnation.
I am the way interpreted
Jesus is saying that he is the way in action.
If you want to know what is looks like to live this out— look at me, I am the way.
This is why the early christians were called followers of the way.
They were committed to living out Jesus’ way together.
It was this radical claim that the way of Jesus was the best possible way to live.
This is the Gospel or the good news— it is not that Jesus is the way to heaven, yes he is but there is more to it:
The good news was both about the coming of the kingdom and the character of the kingdom.
Lots of people will look at the LAW- The Old testament law and see it as a burden— but the way is an invitation.
How we read the Bible matters.
Reading the Bible with this lens of the way helps us see that God is not going to zap us for screwing up instead God is interested in inviting us in to the fullest and most beautiful life— one that follows the way.
#3
3. Questions to ask
I love asking questions.
For a number of reasons.
One it helps me understand the whole story.
I do not like rushing to conclusions, I want to get the whole picture.
I want to understand who people are and I can’t do that if I am talking about myself.
I like to make others think, I hate just giving out answers, I think the best way for us to work through struggles, questions we have, and doubts is to seek out the answer, and not be given it on a silver plater.
You know who else liked asking questions?
Jesus- loved asking questions.
In the Gospel’s: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John: Jesus is always asking questions.
Another way we can read the Bible besides, as a book and as the way to live, is by asking questions.
Ask questions of the Bible.
By asking questions of scripture this does not mean that you don’t believe in the Bible, I know sometimes we are told how dare we question the Bible.
The Bible has been around for thousands of years and it can handle your questions- I promise- If it couldn’t it would have already been disproven.
Of course when you interrogate a passage of Scripture you have to go and find the answers which is a lot of fun and you want to talk about growing your faith this is a way to do it.
Asking questions of the Bible is okay, as long as you are willing to answer them or at least pull someone in with you.
I have been reading in 2 Timothy and if I were to read to you this passage
Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.
2 Timothy 2:
What are some questions we may ask?
Who is speaking?
What is Paul enduring?
Who are the elect?
May sounds like they why lose it?
Can those who are elect not obtain salvation?
This is just an example.
Questions cause us to be vulnerable with the text and it does take humility and a spirit of inquizitiveness.
We of course want our youth group to be a place where you can ask questions.
You can be open and honest.
We are not here to ridicule you or pass judgement, this is a safe space for questions.
You may think they are off the wall, but there is nothing you can say that will surprise God.
This is why we are having you guys ask questions for our up coming series, we want to answer your questions.
If you have not submitted a questions, do it!
Let me just give you a sample of some we have gotten.
Can my friend be gay and love Jesus?
Why is there so much disunity in the church and how do we fix it?
How do you find your purpose in life?
These are great questions, and we have more that I am so excited to jump into on Feb 23rd!
Okay that is another how to read the Bible
There are so many ways to read the Bible.
Yet the main point I hope that you walk away with is just doing it will make a difference.
You may be asking where do I start:
The Gospels are always great, if you have never read the Bible before, Mark is great because it is short and if you accomplish reading a book of the Bible you will be more eager to go to the next one.
At the end of the day let Jesus be your guide.
You may notice us doing some new things in the upcoming months, roll with it, if you don’t like it tell me or your leaders.
The Bible is vast and there is some much to learn and so much that we can apply to our lives.
Read the Bible matter and so does how we read it.
Let’s pray