Virtual Church Consulting

We are in a series we are calling “Sword Sharpening” and we are looking at how to make the most out of your time with the Bible. This week we are going to start talking about the storyline of the Bible.

John 1:1-5 (NIV)
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.

I like to refer to the storyline of the Bible as His Story. I love that He invites us into His Story. He is the noun and we are adjectives. In order to live the full and abundant life we are called to, on a broken planet, in a fallen world, we need to be shaped and formed by His Story. We need to know how His Story fits together from beginning to end. If we don’t know how His Story is put together, we really can’t understand the good news, the gospel of Jesus. Without the whole story, sharing the gospel of Christ’s death and resurrection is like coming into a movie theater at the most important moment but not knowing how we got to this place in the story.

You might be able to put together bits and pieces of the story, but you won’t grasp the full significance of what is going on without having some understanding of the backstory. For the purpose of our Sword Sharpening series, we are going to break His Story down into eight sections. We are going to give each section a Kingdom of God heading to help us try and remember the main point of the section.

1) Kingdom Revealed (Genesis 1 – 2)

2) Kingdom Rebellion (Genesis 3 – 11)

3) Kingdom Covenant (Genesis 12 – 50)

4) Kingdom Foreshadowed (Exodus – 2 Kings)

5) Kingdom Coming (1 Chronicles – Malachi)

6) Kingdom Incarnate (Matthew – John)

7) Kingdom Tension (Acts – Revelation 20)

8) Kingdom Consummated (Revelation 21 – 22)

Revelation 21:1-5 (NIV)
1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” 5 He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”

Over the next eight weeks we will dig a little deeper into each section. How amazing it is to be a part of His Story!

Steve Lawes is a Church Consultant and also provides coaching for pastors, churches, ministries and church planters.

We are in a series we are calling “Sword Sharpening” and we are looking at how to make the most out of your time with the Bible. This week we will talk more about how the Bible is written for us but not to us, and the importance of context.

“The Bible was written for us, but not to us.”

John Walton – Old Testament Scholar

The Bible is 100 percent inspired by God, and we can have confidence that every word in the original documents of the Bible is exactly what God wanted it to say. We can be assured that the Bible is completely trustworthy.

The books in the library of the Bible are for all people at all times, but the Bible wasn’t originally written to us. It was written for the original hearers and readers, and it was written in several different languages in a number of literary styles.

To really understand what God was communicating when he inspired the authors of the Bible to write, we need to try and read and hear the words as the original audience would have heard them and in the way the author would have meant them to be understood.

The Bible, the entire library of sixty-six books, reveals the story of God. It tells us who God is and what he has done. It tells us about our salvation and gives us insight into who we are and why we are here. The Bible gives us guidance for life, gives us hope for what lies ahead and most importantly, it tells us who Jesus is.

The Apostle Paul wrote this about the importance of the Bible:

2 Timothy 3:15-17 (NIV)
15 and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Paul was saying in his letter to Timothy that all of the Old Testament (the portion of the Bible they had at that time) is useful for making Timothy (and us) wise and equipping him (and us) for our day-to-day life in Christ.

Today we also include the New Testament writings in what we consider the Holy Scriptures, and we believe all sixty-six books in the library of the Bible can equip us for practical living that honors God.

Interestingly, also in 2 Timothy, Paul gives us all a challenge:

2 Timothy 2:15 (NIV)
15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.

The implication is that some people handle it incorrectly. This is one of the reasons we are working through this sword sharpening series together.

“Never read a Bible Verse”

Greg Koukl – Christian Author

The quote is purposely a little sarcastic, but it is sarcasm with a point. The point is that we should never read a Bible verse in isolation from the context. When it comes to the Bible I like to say, context, context, context.

A Bible verse, out of context, can be misunderstood and misinterpreted and used in all kinds of ways that have nothing to do with the original meaning. For example Jesus says this:

Luke 12:19 (NIV)
19 And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”‘

To take this verse out of context would be to say that this somehow captures Jesus’ philosophy of life. When in context, this verse is part of parable that teaches the exact opposite.

We will be digging into even more this weekend at Keys Vineyard Church so be sure to check it out in-person or online.

Steve Lawes is a Church Consultant and also provides coaching for pastors, churches, ministries and church planters.

We are in a series we are calling “Sword Sharpening” and we are looking at how to make the most out of your time with the Bible. Today we are going to expound on the idea that the Bible is actually a library, not just a book.

Although the Bible often comes in print form as a single bound book, it is actually a collection of sixty-six books printed in one volume, a library of books.

This library of books was written in three different languages (Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek) over a 1,500-year period by a whole bunch of different people from different cultures. It was written by more than forty authors from very different vocations, including shepherds, farmers, tent-makers, fishermen, priests, prophets, kings and even a physician/historian. They had different life experiences and lived in different times with different worldviews and had different personalities which show up in their writing styles.

In this library of books that make up our Bible are books of law, history, poetry, personal letters, and prophecy. This library of sixty-six books is also united by a major theme. From beginning to end, the Bible reveals God’s special purpose which is summarized in the book of Ephesians:

Ephesians 1:9-11 (NIV)
9 And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 10 to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment–to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ. 11 In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will,

The mystery of God’s plan, which is revealed in and is the unifying theme of the Bible, is that Jesus Christ is the savior of all-mankind. Jesus explained how the Old Testament centered on Him:

Luke 24:44 (NIV)
44 He said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.”

With this introduction, Jesus then gives us the key for understanding . . .

Luke 24:45 (NIV)
45 Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures.

What is the key Jesus gives us to understanding the Bible? The fact that its major theme is all pointing to Him:

Luke 24:46-48 (NIV)
46 He told them, “This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things.

We will be digging into all of this as well as looking at a really cool story about Jesus this weekend at Keys Vineyard Church. You will want to be a part either in-person or online.

Steve Lawes is a Church Consultant and also provides coaching for pastors, churches, ministries and church planters.