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Pastor Powell's ColumnSeptember 2008Why We Teach the Bible |
| Every sermon is based on a Bible passage. And not just as a jumping-off
point. No, the sermon is an exposition of that passage to show how its
truth applies to our lives today. The worship service includes other Scripture
readings, and those Bible truths are regularly absorbed into the prayers
we lift to God. We even vet the songs we sing to make sure they faithfully
represent the truth of the Bible. Some are virtually the singing of Bible
texts set to music.
Children’s classes, youth meetings, and small groups for adults all give attention to the study and application of Scripture. Many folks follow our admonitions to read the Scriptures on their own, daily. Bibles are opened in board meetings to seek God’s will in making decisions. Why all this Bible? Isn’t this a little over the top? How can this old book, that has parts as much as 3,500 years old, have anything for us in our modern way of life? Why? Because God speaks to us in the Bible. Jesus referred to Scripture as the Word of God (John 10:35). It is God speaking. He teaches us who He is and who we are. That is never out-of-date. The Bible tells about God’s grace as the way to be rescued from the pervasive corruption that it honestly reveals in us. God’s grace to us in Jesus Christ is at the heart of the Bible’s message. It is our only hope. When God, our Creator, speaks to us, it is the height of folly to ignore His message. The Bible is not the only way God speaks. His voice can be heard in nature and in conscience. But His word to us in the Bible is much clearer and fuller. If we love God and want to get to know Him better, then we will want to listen carefully to His Word to us. The stories, the songs, the promises, the instructions, the letters, the prophecies, the history and the parables of the Bible are rich treasures of divine-human communication. The more we come to it with a listening, open heart, the more God uses it to transform us from the inside out. It’s not the only thing He uses, but it does help us to make sense of everything else that He uses. That’s because the Bible is God’s Word. And that’s why the Bible is at the heart of everything we do at The Fellowship.
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