Starting this Sunday August 19
th, we are going to
be embarking on an exciting journey as a church.
We are going to beginning a journey towards
getting to know the heart of God as revealed to us in the Old and New Testaments
of the Bible.
We are going to do this by
reading and studying The Story together as a church.
The Story is a new type of Bible published by
Zondervan.
The Story has taken the
actual New International Version text of the Bible and put it into chronological
order.
At certain places you will notice
writing in italics, in these sections the editors have inserted paraphrase
bridges that keep us up on the action but allow us to continue smoothly moving
forward with The Story of the Bible.
What this means is that the The Story reads like a novel!
The Story is broken into 31 chapters and each
chapter takes no longer than 30 minutes to read (I have read several of the
chapters and my average time has been between 20 and 25 minutes).
What this means for you, is that if you can
commit to reading The Story for
30 minutes a week, you can read the
entire narrative of the Bible this year!
This year everyone in the church will be studying the
story. We will be studying The Story from
preschoolers to retirees. Our children’s
ministry will be studying The Story. Our youth ministry will be studying The Story.
Our college aged folks will be studying The Story. Our adults will be studying The Story. As we begin I wanted to give some practical
instruction that I think will help you (and your family) get the most out of
this church-wide study.
Worship
The first way you can engage in the church wide study of The
Story is to come consistently on Sunday mornings to worship.
Each Sunday mornings message will be based on
the chapter you will be reading in The Story.
These messages will help you discover how God’s big story relates to
your story; it is when we begin to zero in on this truth real change begins to
take place in our lives.
Worship is about more than the message. When you begin to talk with people at the
church and see they are studying and grappling with same things you are it
builds unity in our community. It’s a
real powerful thing!
Remember if you do miss a week you can always listen to the
message on our website (
www.chattanoogavineyard.com).
This is a great way to remain current if you
have to travel during the weekend.
Parents
Parents, remember your children will be studying The Story
each week as well.
One way you can
really help them learn God’s big story is to get them to church on Sunday
consistently.
This will help us partner
with you in helping your children get a good understanding of the over arching narrative
of scripture.
Another way that you can naturally begin to be the main
spiritual influence in your home is to read The Story Storybook to your
children on Saturday Nights before you come to church. This way you can be the one to
introduce the Bible story of the week to your children. Then when you come to church on Sunday we are
reinforcing the lesson you’ve already begun to engage them with; they will
think it’s really cool that you read them the story the night before!
Personal Devotions
The chapters are designed so that they can be read in about
30 minutes.
So 5 minutes a day 6 days a
week and you’ve got your chapter read.
Now if you want to go farther than just reading I advise getting a
spiral notebook and answering the devotional questions we will be sending out
every week.
Taking time to reflect upon
what you’ve read will really help you understand more fully what the scripture
is saying and how God’s big story helps your story make sense.
To sign up for our devotionals simply sign-up on your
connection card on Sunday mornings and or you can sign up on the website.
To get the most out of worship and your small groups I would
advise trying to read the text before you come on Sunday Mornings for the
chapter I’ll be preaching on. So this
weekend read chapter 1. Then after
hearing what I’ve shared go back to the text with the devotional questions for
the week and work through them prior to your Growth Group. If you do this you will be growing
spiritually like never before.
Growth Groups
The Bible is meant to be studied in community, with other
people.
When we come together and
discuss what we’ve read and talk about how God is moving in our lives it really
helps us grow spiritually.
We will see
that God gives some pretty amazing insights to the people we go to church with.
We will also discover that God can use the
insights we’ve been having as we grapple with the text of scripture to
encourage our friends as well.
That’s not all, it is as we pray for one another and develop
friendships in our groups that the real life changing power of Christ is
unleashed in our lives. Growth Groups
are another way that The Story can be planted deeply in our lives.
Take the Initiative
Remember no one can learn the Bible for you; to learn and
engage with scripture takes effort on your part.
Don’t sit on the sidelines.
Seize the opportunity that is before
you.
If you will truly engage over the
next 31 weeks by the end of it you will have a great working knowledge of the
entire biblical narrative.
If there is one thing I could give you as your pastor it
would be a clear understanding of the story of the Bible. Why?
Because when hard times come, and they always do, it is the life that is
rooted firmly in the triune God revealed to us in scripture that finds the
strength to stand and thrive. My prayer
for you this year is that you would become firmly rooted in the scriptures
through our study of The Story.