During 2009 the English congregation at our church is going to read through the Bible together. This Bible Blog is the central place for information about the Bible reading program as well as discussions about the passages that we are reading each week. But first, why are we doing this?
Why should we read through the entire Bible?
In case it is not obvious, there are many good reasons to read through the entire Bible repeatedly. Here are a few of them:
- It is uniquely inspired by God! (2 Tim. 3:16)
- It is eternal (Isa. 40:8)
- It is alive and powerful (Heb. 4:12)
- It shows us how to be Jesus’ disciples (Jn. 8:31)
- It trains us to be righteous (2 Tim. 3:16)
- It equips us to serve God (2 Tim. 3:17)
- It nourishes our souls (Deut. 8:3; Mat. 4:4)
- It makes us wise (2 Tim. 3:15; Ps. 119:98-99)
- It guards us against sin (Ps. 119:9-11)
- It is our weapon in spiritual warfare (Eph. 6:17)
- It provide direction in life (Ps. 119:105)
For additional thoughts on why you should read the Bible, listen to my sermon from 12-14-08.
Why read through the Bible together?
There are many benefits to reading through the Bible together following the same reading schedule. Among them:
- It’s easy to get discouraged or feel like giving up when reading on your own. This way we can encourage each other to keep reading
- Since we all will be reading the same passages each week, we can share about what we are reading throughout the week. We can share in fellowship meetings, small groups, on blogs and whenever we happen to meet up with another “reader.”
- Those with a more thorough knowledge of the Bible can help those who are struggling to understand difficult passages
- By the end of 2009, our church will have grown deeper spiritually as a result of feeding our souls with God’s word.
How will it work?
Each week I will write a short article introducing the sections of Scripture we will be reading for that week. It won’t be a commentary or a detailed explanation, but a simple introduction to help set the context for your reading. Then everyone is encourages to add comments to that article about the reading for that week. You can post questions, insights or applications related to the passages we are reading. This discussion can be a great help to us as we endeavor to grow in our understanding of and obedience to God’s word, but the key to making it work is that you need to post your comments.
If you have your own blog and would rather write a longer article there, just link to the the Bible Blog article of the week and the pingback should appear in the comment area. If it doesn’t, you can post a short comment with a link.
How do I get started?
We will use a Bible reading schedule that has us read from both the Old Testament and the New Testament each day. Pick up a Bible reading schedule at church or download it from the CFC Bible Blog home page. Then start reading! I suggest that you subscribe to the articles and comments from the Bible blog using your feed reader or by email so that you will know when there is something new. Then start adding comments to share your thought so that others can benefit. Note that if you are not a member of CFC you are free to join with us in reading and discussing the Bible.