Our Scriptures are a gift from God! They not only build us up, they also guard our hearts during times of temptation and affliction. They give hope to sinners unto salvation. They help us know how we are designed to live as a family of believers (the Church). And they can show us how to live abundantly within the design in which God designed us - even in this broken world.
But, we do not get the fullest, richest, most satisfying or most helpful results from simply making Bible reading a part of a "to do" list that we have to check off.
A noble goal with sometimes frustrating results
Pastors across the globe make a yearly effort (usually starting in January) to encourage their church family to find and stick to a yearly reading plan.Like New Year's resolutions to exercise more or to eat better, the results of a plan to read the Bible in a year are mixed at best:
- Some of the flock does so well at keeping with the plan that we are tempted into self-righteous judgment of those who have a harder time.
- Others in the church have such a hard time keeping the plan that we fall into self-condemnation.
(Yes, some others do take to the plans very well and maintain humility. Praise God for you in that group. Feel free to stay with your regular reading plan if you wish.)
PASTORAL CONFESSION: I use the "M'Cheyne One Year Reading Plan" through
the ESV Study Bible website. While it has been a great help over the
years, there are times that I do feel like the reading becomes more of a chore than an intimate walk with the Lord. Am I the only one?
A different kind of Bible Reading Plan for the rest of us in 2015
This year, the elders of Warsaw Baptist Church are going to encourage you to join us as we mine the depths of ONE book - The Apostle Paul's letter to the Philippians - for one year.Each month in 2015 we will take a small section of the letter and unpack as much as we can.
Here's the monthly Plan of Action (this will also be listed on the sidebar of the site for easy access --> ).
Once a month (at least):
- Read the entire letter of Philippians
Once a week (at least)
- Write out the section for the month (For January, write out Philippians 1:1-2 with pen and paper each week).
- Read, discuss and pray over the passage with a group of 2 to 5 other Warsaw Baptist Church family members.
To facilitate the discussion: One week You can ask the "Big 4" questions about the text (See "What are the Big Four Questions" on the sidebar --> ); the next week you can ask one another how the text has impacted them that week; the next week you could open up to them about where you are struggling to live out the truth of the Scripture; etc.
- Visit this website to get periodic help or teaching on the passage for the month (printouts of these will be available to those without computer/internet).Everyday
- Read and re-read the passage.
- Read the passage out loud as often as possible
- Begin trying to recite the passage from memory - with the bible nearby to check your results.
- Ask God in prayer to help you better understand the passage.
-Ask God to give you opportunities to speak life into the lives of the lost AND to other Christians with parts of the letter that you've learned.
The Big Win if you co-labor with us through this text is that you will NOT ONLY have mostly memorized the entire letter to the Philippians by Dec. 31, 2015, but also:
The truth of the Gospel and its fruit will be so soaked into your heart that you will not be able to help but meditate on the Word (Joshua 1:8) as it dwells richly in your heart (Colossians 3:16).
This will be a big win for you, for our church and for the people God reaches through you.
