Today my church starts the Community Bible Experience. This eight week Bible reading challenge has the goal of journeying through the whole New Testament in that time frame; endeavoring to grasp the “big picture” of the New Testament through a distinctive approach to reading the Bible.
One of the differences in this reading challenge is the New Testament that is being utilized for the experience. It has no verse markings, no chapter breaks, no margin references. It is laid out like any other book in paragraphs that have continuity and natural breaks dictated by the context. It reads like a novel.
Another distinctive is the book order for this approach to reading the New Testament. It doesn’t start with Matthew! It starts with Luke, then Acts, then the letters of Paul in a somewhat chronological order of his writings. I know that some “purists” will say that we are not reading the “real Bible” because of these differences, but in reality it reflects more closely a first century approach to the early writings of the church (as God led those writers) than anything else we have today (outside of reading the texts in their original languages).
Today’s reading was from the book of Luke concerning the incarnation, the injection of God Himself in bodily form into His needy world. Here is what I took away from my reading today…
God’s Holy Spirit was moving in the days surrounding the birth of Jesus. He spoke directly to John’s father in the temple, He filled John in the womb, He overshadowed Mary, He moved in Simeon’s experience and Anna’s. God was at work in the world when many, I am sure, were thinking that He had forgotten, not only His chosen people, but the rest of the salvation starved world. God was still at work!
And He continues today. I was encouraged that what He was doing then, He continues today. He has not forgotten us. He has not removed His Spirit, His power, His hope, His trustworthy nature nor His great love. He is still at work!
If you would like to join my church in this journey at the beginning of this New Year, go to http://cberesources.com/nt, download the eBook and begin reading with us. There is a reading plan there you can download, along with other materials. Come see how God continues to move in the world that He so loves. Join us and follow me if you would like to see what He is saying to me during my 8 weeks of reading through the New Testament. Blessings.
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