The One Year Bible- January 2nd

Welcome to post #1 for 2008. Since I will be out of town on Friday so I am posting this early. I will try to post each week on Friday by noon or so. Sometimes I will post early if I will be out of town for whatever reason. For those of you just beginning this journey you are in for a wonderful experience as there is nothing quite like being in God’s Word each and every day of the year. I welcome back those of you who journeyed with us last year. The format for this study will be the same as last year. I will try to give you some insights on what you have been reading and try to connect the dots the best I can. Then I will give you some things to look for in the upcoming reading for the week or some bits of information that I think is interesting. This format seems to work well and you can always ask questions by commenting on the blog or by sending me an email. Don’t forget to join me on Sunday January 13^th for a kickoff study and to get even more information on how to successfully read the Bible in 2008.

Hopefully you have purchased a Bible that says “The One Year Bible” on it. That is the format that we will be using. You can also find the assigned readings for the day by going to www.oneyearbibleonline.com. There you can find the readings for each day of the year and you can use your own bible.

The One Year Bible arranges the entire text of the Bible into 365 daily readings. Choose from the New International Version (NIV), the King James Version (KJV), the New Living Translation (NLT), or the English Standard Version (ESV). You can purchase these Bibles at a Christian bookseller such as Lighthouse Christian Stores (corner of Spring and Bellflower in Long Beach), a large bookstore such as Boarders or Barnes and Noble, or you can order them on-line at www.christianbook.com or www.amazon.com.

Each day in The One Year Bible you will find a selection from the Old Testament, one from the New Testament, a portion from the Psalms, and a selection from the book of Proverbs. January begins with Genesis, Matthew, Psalm 1, and Proverbs 1. When the year is over you will have read through the entire Bible and through the Psalms twice.

Getting in the Habit
If you are not in the habit of spending time each day in the Word it may be a struggle at first to find time. You will need to experiment and find a time that works for you. For many people, the morning works best, for others it’s after the kids are in bed. Others find that during lunchtime works well. You may want to divide up the reading and do part in the morning and part at night. It will take about 15 minutes to read through the passages for each day. Regardless of the time, you will need to do what works and then do it every day.

Find a Partner
It is always helpful to find someone who is willing to read with you. You can keep each other accountable and bounce questions off of one another as you read. There will also be a weekly on-line study to help keep you on track and to provide a place for questions and comments. Each week (usually Fridays) a new study will be posted at www.bethanylutheran.blogspot.com.

Tips for Comprehension
-Begin your time in prayer and ask God to send His Spirit to guide you as you read.
-Find a place to read that is relatively free of distractions.
-Read the passage aloud and slowly if necessary. The goal is not just to finish, but to understand.
-Make some notes in the Bible and underline key verses. Look back at them later.
-Remember the Bible tells one story. That story is about redemption from Sin by the work of Jesus. Keep that in mind as you read.
-Take your Bible to Church and read along to see what comes before and after.
-Keep a journal about what you read and how it has affected you.
-Memorize key verses.
-Look at a children’s Bible storybook to get a mental image of the stories. This is especially helpful for the Old Testament stories.
-Teach what you have been reading to your children. This will help reinforce the stories for you and introduce them to your children.
-Share what you are reading with coworkers or friends who are not Christians. This can happen especially if you are reading during your lunch hour at work. If they are interested in the Bible point them to 1 John and to Mark.
-Use a daily devotional book (Portals of Prayer, Strength for the Day, etc.) in addition to your reading.
-Look at some Bible maps and get a layout of the land. This is important when talking about events in the Old Testament.
-Don’t worry if you miss a few days. Just double up your readings for a while until you catch up. Don’t try to read it all in one day.
-Some questions to ask as you read: What is the Biblical context of this passage? What is the historical context? Who is speaking and to whom are they speaking? How can I use this information today? Don’t worry if you can’t answer all the questions.

Some things to help you out:

Here are a few websites that I have run across that help me when I am studying the Scriptures:

biblegatway.com - You can search on words or phrases as well as finding texts here.
www.studylight.org - A great site to help you understand some confusing texts.
www.crosswalk.com - Very similar to studylight.org.
www.oneyearbibleonline.com -Forgot The One Year Bible at home or even left it at the office? This site will give you the readings for the day. A great help when you don’t have your Bible with you.
www.oneyearbibleblog.com - Want get some in-depth information for the readings of the day? This is the place. It gives you the readings, some artwork and some commentary specifically on the readings for the day. This is a great site. I almost didn’t want to tell you about it because I get some of my info here.

Vicar Seth’s Thoughts

This week I want to give you some of the vital stats for the books that we are starting. Each time we start a new book I will give you the vital stats to give you a road map of where we are going and to give you some background information that will be helpful in understanding the context and the overall story of the book and how it relates to the rest of Scripture.

The Old Testament starts off in Genesis. Here are the vital stats for the book:

PURPOSE: To record God's creation of the world and his desire to have a people set apart to worship him.
AUTHOR: Moses
TO WHOM WRITTEN: The People Of Israel
SETTING: The region presently known as the Middle East
KEY PEOPLE: Adam, Eve, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebekah, Jacob, Joseph

The New Testament begins with Matthew’s account of the life of Jesus. Here are the vital stats on the book:

PURPOSE: To prove that Jesus is the Messiah, the eternal King
AUTHOR: Matthew (also called Levi)
TO WHOM WRITTEN: Matthew wrote especially to the Jews
SETTING: Matthew was a Jewish tax collector who became one of Jesus' disciples. This Gospel forms the connecting link between Old and New Testaments because of its emphasis on the fulfillment of prophecy.
KEY PEOPLE: Jesus, Mary, Joseph, John the Baptist, the disciples, the religious leaders, Caiaphas, Pliate, Mary Magdalene
KEY PLACES: Bethlehem, Jerusalem, Capernaum, Galilee, Judea
SPECIAL FEATURES: Matthew is filled with Messianic language ("Son of David" is used throughout) and Old Testament references (53 quotes and 76 other references). This Gospel was not written as a chronological account; its purpose was to present the clear evidence that Jesus is the Messiah, the Savior.

Psalms:

PURPOSE: To provide poetry for the expression of praise, worship, and confession to God.
AUTHORS: David wrote 73 psalms, Asaph wrote 12, the sons of Korah wrote nine, Solomon wrote two, Etan and Moses each wrote one, and 51 are anonymous.
DATE WRITTEN: Between the time of Moses (around 1440 BC) and the Babylonian Captivity (586 BC)
SETTING: For the most part, the psalms were not intended to be narrations of historical events. However, they often parallel events in history such as David’s flight from Saul and his sin with Bathsheba.
KEY VERSE: “Let everything that has breath praise the LORD” (150:6)
KEY PERSON: David
KEY PLACE: God’s holy temple

Proverbs:

PURPOSE: To teach people how to attain wisdom and discipline and a prudent life, and how to do what is right and just and fair; to apply divine wisdom to daily life and to provide moral instruction.
AUTHOR: Solomon wrote or at least compiled most of the book with Lemuel and Agur contributing later sections.
DATE WRITTEN: Early in Solomon’s reign as king.
SETTING: This is a book of wise sayings, a textbook for teaching people how to live godly lives through the repetition of wise thoughts.
KEY VERSE: “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.” (1:7)
SPECIAL FEATURES: The book uses varied literary forms: poetry, brief parables, pointed questions, and couplets. Other literary devices used in the book include, antithesis, comparison, and personification.

If at any time you have some questions, concerns or just need a pep talk, feel free to contact me, smoorman@bethanylutheran.org, or (562) 420-7783 x. 13. May God richly bless you as you embark on this journey and remember: “All Scripture is god-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” –2 Timothy 3:16-17