How and why do you read the bible?  AND why are so many people intimidated by it? We’ll bust some myths.  Plus, chat about why reading the Bible is essential and why you can trust it. 🙏  Join us for an eye-opening discussion! 🌟 #HarmonyChristianChurch #Bible101.  IT’S EASY TO GIVE at Harmony, text any amount to (859) 459-0316  to get started (or give online @ my.harmonychurch.cc/give ).

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Trail Head 5 – Fire 101

Learn the heart of Jesus in the Word of God – a light unto your Path

Trail 8:  How to read the bible and why 

OPENING ILLUSTRATION:

I can remember the day the bible came alive for me.  I had gone on a mission trip in Arizona.  We were in the painted desert – this beautiful and barren landscape with piles of dried dirt in rainbow colors stretching as far as you could see with huge valleys worn into them from the rains.  We sat on top of one of these and my youth pastor led us in worship.  At the end, my pastor opened his bible and read to us the last few chapters of Job…  As I listened my mind opened to the word of God.  I started to hear it not just as a book that was boring, but as a letter documenting God’s love and interaction in the world.  

I literally went home and started reading the bible.  I highlighted every word for 2 chapters in Job and then realized if I highlight everything it’s just as bad as not highlighting anything 🙂

Here’s the deal

this wasn’t my first time reading the bible

So, What changed?

I changed how I saw the bible – it was no longer a boring instruction manual – it was a love letter written from God

Three Big “Whys”

b

Why One: Why are SO many people intimidated by the bible? 

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1.  MISCONCEPTION: It’s a huge book

TRUTH: It’s a collection of 66 books (27 in the New Testament & 39 in the Old Testament)

1. MISCONCEPTION:  It’s hard to understand

TRUTH:  You need to get a translation that’s easier to read, try the NLT or the Message version

1. MISCONCEPTION:  I started at the beginning and got bored

TRUTH: Starting at the beginning is the wrong place because the bible is a collection of books – starting with the New Testament, towards the end of the Bible is the best place to start.  It’s also ok to jump around from book to book.

ILLUSTRATION:

How many of you find it super easy to navigate through Lexington?  it’s funny because Jenni and I have a terrible time – I’m learning, but at first, we had to use Google Maps for everything.

Reading the bible is a little like this, the more you become familiar with the lay of the land, the easier it becomes to navigate.  but you have to actually get out there and get into it..

Why Two: Why do people need to read the bible?

Maybe you’re asking yourself this question – let’s be honest, you’ve gone this long without reading it, why start now?

There are TONS of reasons to read, but here are just a few:

1. It gets you out of ruts (Kingdom of God thinking is not the thinking of this world)
2. So many people want God to speak to them and ignore what He’s already spoken…

I would even go so far as to say this is one of the primary ways God speaks to people is through His word.  You are missing out on the Holy Spirit using God’s word to challenge, grow, and encourage you.

3. You don’t know what you’ve actually committed to as a Christian if you don’t know the word of God…

Can you imagine buying a car or a house and not knowing the terms of the agreement?  It’s crazy to me how many people come to “get saved” but never decide to go further with Jesus than that.  He’s waiting for you to go deeper!

Why Three:  Why can I trust the bible?

Illustration:

when I first came to Christ I remember this guy telling me, “You know you can’t really trust that because there are so many people who just wrote it and made it their own and there are so many different versions…”

I went home and was like, “What do I say to that…”  There wasn’t the internet back them to ask questions and try to find the answers.  So, I did what any naive person would do.  I read the forward to the bible – all the small text. Have you ever read that in a physical bible?  

• I found out that the bible is translated from Hebrew, Greek & Aramaic
• I found out that some translations have hundreds of scholars who worked on the translation
• I found out scholars used the best manuscripts available

I found out the Bible is a legit historical book – not just some made-up religious manuscript to manipulate people with.

ILLUSTRATION:

There is a great book on this called The Case for Christ.  It was written by an investigative journalist from the Chicago Tribune.  His wife became a Christian and he was trying to prove it false.  He ended up becoming a Christian himself. (Lee Strobel)

As a matter of fact, let me explain some of what makes the Bible spectacular among ancient historical documents:

Two SIGNIFICANT arguments that anchor the bible as a reliable historical document. 

1. Textual Variants are Low 

-The New Testament has a relatively large number of surviving Greek manuscripts, over 5,800.  There is a variation of about 1-2% between all these documents.

-The majority of textual variations in the New Testament are minor, such as differences in spelling, word order, and phrasing that do not significantly alter the meaning of the text.

2. Time between the writing of the document and the existing manuscripts we have

• New Testament:
  • Written 50 AD (Paul’s Epistles) to as late as 100 AD (the Gospel of John).
  • Earliest Manuscripts: 2nd century AD, with some fragments like P52 from around 125-175 AD.
  • Time Gap: The time gap between the writing of the New Testament and the earliest surviving manuscripts is relatively short, typically within a century or so. This is considered quite remarkable for ancient texts.

[keep NEW TESTAMENT UP – compare these to it]

• Homer’s “Iliad”:
  • Time of Writing: 8th century BC.
  • Earliest Manuscripts: 10th century AD.
  • Time Gap: over a millennium
• Plato’s Works:
  • Time of Writing: 4th century BC.
  • Earliest Manuscripts: 9th century AD (some fragments earlier)
  • Time Gap: over a millennium

Get Practical

Where to start: don’t read the OT till you’ve read the entire NT

– start with John and the book of Romans

Use a bible reading plan

-be careful on Devotions and plans – they oftentimes are great places to start – but they keep you in the shallow end.  

Be a Bible Reading PRO

Pray – take time to invite God to speak to you, He was around and inspired everything you are reading

Read – don’t read too large of chunks of scripture, keep it to about a chapter to start, take your time, if your mind strays, go back to prayer and start again.

Observe – what is sticking out to you?  What questions do you have?  if you had to teach this to someone else, what would you say?  Write down your observations, and journal them to God.

CLOSING ILLUSTRATION:

You know, we called this Trail Head “Fire 101”  because the scripture says :

Psalm 119:105

Your word is a lamp for my feet,

    a light on my path.

I can’t prove without a doubt that the bible is the word of God, but I can tell you from my own experience, it has transformed me into a different person – it has been a light for my path and my feet.  when I first started reading it, literally, every day, whatever I read was what God used in my day-to-day conversations.  People would bring something up and I’d be like, “I was just reading about that…” God wants to speak into your life, are you listening?