On Sunday 8th March we’ll be running a ‘Bible Overview seminar’ after the service in Central, at Synge Street Secondary School. Come along if you’d like to deepen your knowledge of the Bible, understand God’s big story and know more of His heart for you.
The Bible is a big book! Growing up I vaguely knew some of the really famous bits (Adam & Eve, Noah, David & Goliath, Jesus and so on) but had no idea where to find them in the Bible, or how much else was in there. It’s easy to be intimidated by others who quickly flick to the right passage or know if Moses came before or after Paul.
Christians believe that the Bible is God’s Word, meaning God inspired it as it was written down by human hands; but also that it is living and active – we believe that when we read it we hear God speak to us now. But to understand it, there are a few things to keep in mind: while the Bible is for us, it wasn’t originally written to us. Also, the Bible isn’t just history, nor is it a random collection of ancient documents – it is the unfolding story of God’s relationship with human beings and how God restores us to himself through Jesus Christ.
It took me about a decade to learn that it doesn’t take a decade to learn to be comfortable with the Bible. So at this seminar we have two goals:
- We want to better “know our way around” the Bible; to learn about the two testaments, the different genres and authors, and to get a wide view of the Bible timeline – so that we are more comfortable and able to pick it up and hear God speak.
- We want to grow in discernment in not wrongly reading ourselves into the Bible. Instead we want the Bible to dwell in us more deeply, so that we can know God’s heart for us, his convictions and guidance, experiencing a growing desire to read God’s word and hear our Heavenly Father speak to us where we are.
Consider; we’re not actually David facing Goliath, nor are we even “battling our own giants”; because, as we keep reading the Bible, we’ll see that David was just a preview of Jesus, whose victory over death on the cross becomes the victory over sin of everyone who trusts in him. Knowing this by having the complete canon of scripture in our hands, we can have even greater confidence and peace in God; even despite our sin, our weakness and struggles, when life is scary and seems out of control, the Spirit within us will deepen in us a thirst that only the Bible will satisfy.
If you have your own Bible please bring it along. No problem if not, we’ll have Bibles for you to use and keep if you don’t yet have one that’s your own.