We finish two books this week - Genesis and Matthew! Well done!
Now we head onwards continuing the story of Israel in Exodus in the Old Testament and completing our readings in Romans in the New which we started in January. Also we will be doing some chapters from Psalms as well.
January
27 Genesis 48 Matt 24 Genesis 49
28 Genesis 50 Matt 25 Exodus 1
29 Exodus 2 Matt 26 Exodus 3
30 Exodus 4 Matt 27 Exodus 5
31 Exodus 6 Matt 28 Exodus 7
February
1 Exodus 8 Romans 5 Exodus 9 Psalm 1
2 Exodus 10 Romans 6 Exodus 11
Karen had a good idea. I hope to read Jesus words in Bible study too. Jennifer
ReplyDeleteWe have been studying Matthew at Sawyer Memorial Congregational Church and finished reading chapter 28 today...discussion will continue next week. We compared the resurrection stories in the Gospels, and discovered some differences! We are finding it interesting to read those versions, and we discovered that our history of Easter is mostly from John. Concerning verse 19 and 20, are we doing what Jesus commanded us to do? How are our churches following the Great Commission? from SMCC Bible Study
ReplyDeleteWe are supposed to go and spread the word to all nations ... to everyone ... to me that means spreading the word here at home to people who don't yet know HIM is just as much a mission field as spreading the word in far flung lands ... since we are all equally important ... all mission fields are equal in importance ... to answer the question about how our churches are following the Great Commission, I say: we are maintaining local places to worship, we have warming centers, we have hymn sings, we have locals who travel to central America and are headed back to Africa this summer, we have this blog which according to the behind the scenes statistics has already been viewed by people in the US, Germany, the UK, and Canada, we have Bible Studies (and when we talk about them - others hear). I remember something John Sprague said once that goes something like this. If 1 person taught one person about Christ, and then those 2 each go out and reach 1 person, and then those 4 go out and reach one person, and so on and so on ... we follow the Great Commission by reaching one person at a time ... Personally, I see a great deal of activity in this local group of 7 churches.
DeleteI love that the gospels are different (the synoptic ones being Matthew,Mark and Luke). John's a whole different ball game, the odd ball so to speak in a good way. I was in a Gospel of John book study for credit for my undergraduate work at Evangel University and the professor (who was once Jimmy Swaggert's pastor in Louisianna by the by) sat me up on the desk and washed my feet in front of the whole class to illustrate Jesus' washing the disciple's feet. It would be a great understatement to say that I was very embarrassed but what a way to learn the bible.
ReplyDeleteOften people question why the four Gospels differ as if there were no agreement. Three were written by men who personally KNEW Jesus in the flesh. Luke (as he says) went DIRECTLY to eye witnesses for his information. In all of life no two people see and respond to the same thing exactly the same. For example: At a cross road with someone at each corner witnessing the same accident, each reports differently from his or her perspective. Add to that their own personal interests. A young mother, for instance, might immediately note the children in the back seat and not pay any attention to the make and model of the car while on the other corner the man who is an insurance adjuster focuses on the wider scene. On another corner stands a personal friend of the driver involved in the accident, and so has an entirely different focus. Each sees the same thing from different points of the compass and from different personal experiences. In a court of law each would report similar but differing perspectives. So it is with the Gospels. If you, like Luke the beloved physician, were to write the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, what do you think your perspective might be?
DeleteI too love the different perspectives of the four gospels as they give us a much more rounded picture of Jesus. I think we all have a tendency to latch on to certain teachings of Jesus and his ways which resonate naturally with us and push to the back of our minds the parts that challenge us too much. With having four gospels it is much more difficult for us to mold Jesus to the way we would like him to be rather than how he is.
DeleteIf I had the opportunity to write about Jesus I would love to write more about the missing parts of his life, his childhood and adolescence, what happened to his father Joseph and how did all these influence his later ministry. Also how and when did he find out that he had a very special call on his life and relationship to his heavenly Father?