Preach the Word

The Bible is a book made up of many books. Sixty-six to be exact. Written by 40 (or so) authors over the period of about 1,500 years, the Bible covers not only a wide array of life stories from men and women across the ages and world history, but also speaks to every topic imaginable. The Bible speaks about marriage, friendship, God, man, nature, communication, sexuality, and a whole host of other everyday topics. Many throughout history have praised the Bible as a book containing great wisdom (which it does) or as an entertaining collection of stories (which it is). But 2,000 years ago, a Man walked this earth and made a claim that might, and probably should, jar us; He claimed that this entire book- this whole collection of prophecies, songs, psalms, letters- is all about Him. Beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself Luke 24:27, English Standard Version You search the scriptures because you

Coming to the Scriptures can be a daunting task for many. We know that the Scriptures are words of life that teach us, correct us, rebuke us, and train us in righteousness (2 Timothy 3:16). They also are a comfort and guide to us, helping us to avoid evil and walk in the paths of life (see Psalm 119). However, many come to the Scriptures with fear and lack of assurance that they will indeed “hear from God” during their time of reading. So how can we approach the task of reading Scripture in such a way that we can walk away from our time confident that we have understood what God would have us understand? It is my desire in this short article to help you begin to get a deeper understanding of how to read the Bible well. Our starting place in reading the Bible well is understanding that the Bible is not merely a collection of stories or human wisdom- it is the very Word of God Himself, breathed out by Him and written by the hands of His beloved servants (1 Timothy 3:16, 2 Peter 1:2

Imagine being with the disciples after the death and burial of Jesus. They had spent three years coming to know and love this Man. He had taught them, laughed with them, cried with them- He had done life with them. Not only this, but they had given up everything for Him. They had left behind their trades, families, and the lifestyles they had known to follow the One who they believed to be the long-awaited Messiah. But then He died. Understandably, after the death of Jesus, the disciples began to doubt the Man they had once believed so fiercely. Now, we know that the disciples’ story has a happy ending- perhaps not to the world’s standards; after all, almost all of them were martyred. However, that which mattered most to them, that which caused them to break out in singing and thanksgiving even after being persecuted on many occasions, was that Jesus rose again. He did not stay in the grave- He defeated death once and for all, securing eternal life for all who believe in Him and