See Through the Scriptures
This is a big weekend we have coming up at Lord of Life. This weekend there will be ONE worship at 9:15am on Sunday. No 8:30am worship! No 10am worship! Just ONE worship at 9:15am! We will worship our ONE Lord as ONE church! Really looking forward to this time together with you.
As many of you already know, I will be teaching a Bible Study this Fall called See Through the Scriptures by Crossways. I felt led to teach this class for many reasons. The major reason I was compelled to teach this class is my firm belief we need to be a church that is in the Word of God. When you go to our church website and look at what we believe, the very first statement in that section is “we believe the Scriptures, both Old and New Testaments are the inspired Word of God without error in the original writings, the complete revelation of God’s will for the salvation of men, and the divine and final authority for all Christian faith and life.
That is nice we have this statement written on our website, but do we truly believe this? And do we live it?
Al-Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt has an enrollment of 21,000 students. Maybe what is so fascinating about this school is every applicant seeking admission must be able to recite the Muslim Koran from memory. It is about 2/3 the length of the Old Testament and takes three days to recite it.
What a contrast this is to so many Christians who have enough trouble reading the Bible let alone memorize it. If we are to take serious the call to follow Jesus, it is important we be students of the Word. It is a task that is never complete. Jesus will always be the teacher. We will always be the students.
The goal for the See Through the Scriptures Bible Study is to get us back to the basics of the Word. There are many “book” studies available to teach you what the Bible says. But they are no substitute for the Word itself. Some might say the Bible is too difficult to understand. That is why this study is so necessary. Rather than relying on someone else to open and interpret the pages of Scriptures for us. Crossways enables us to open the pages ourselves and gives us understanding. The goal is to root us deeper in the Word that our faith is not based on a few shallow cliches and slogans.
Crossways is designed with the belief we need to read our Bibles. It is designed with the belief we can understand the message of the Scripture with training. And that we will then in turn be able to explain that message to others. To do so we need to know the story line, the themes that are woven through the story line, and how all this points to Jesus and is brought to culmination through him.
In the words of Dr. Harry Wendt, the author of the course, “We pray that See Through the Scriptures will whet many people’s appetites to become biblical bloodhounds – people who will saturate themselves in the Scriptures and ask constantly “What does this mean? What is it saying to me and God’s people?”
I hope you will consider joining me on this journey. The classes will start on September 15 and 16 and will be offered at three different times in three different locations. 6:30pm in the youth room in the lower level of the church. 6:45am at Papa G’s restaurant in Elburn. And 9:30am in the large conference room in the church offices upstairs. We already have a large number of people signed up, but there is plenty of room for more. Cost for the materials will be $20. That will cover you student guide and work book along with other teaching aides that will be used for the course.
If you are interested in participating. Let me know. You can simply reply to this email or call me at the church office 630-513-5325 ext 39. Thanks for you time and your prayerful consideration of participating.
Have a great week.
