Follow Me Week 3
- Heritage Church
- May 19
- 3 min read
TRANSCRIPTION:
Welcome to week 3 of your Follow Me discipleship journey! You are officially half way through Part 2: Starting to follow Jesus! I hope you are learning a lot and growing daily in your walk with the Lord. I encourage you to take some time this week to connect with a friend or mentor and share with them what you have learned so far! Too many times we hesitate to share what we’ve learned for fear of sounding dumb but I promise you - there is no such thing as a dumb question, revelation, or victory when it comes to following Jesus. We want to hear all the things and celebrate all the wins with you! So send that text message. Set up that coffee meet up with your friend or mentor. And start sharing all that the Lord is speaking to you and doing in and through you!
Now, let’s dive into this week's study focus: Chapter 3: How do I read and study my bible?
Reading the Bible can seem overwhelming and daunting. It can be difficult to decide where to even begin reading let alone trying to figure out how to understand it. Then when you throw that word “Study” into the mix , many of us want to just slowly close the book and quietly walk away. Afterall, the Bible is massive! It contains a total of 66 books all written in various styles and from various cultural viewpoints and languages. Many of us haven’t read 66 books total in our lives and here we are asking you to read 66 books in order to know Jesus!
But just as prayer is so much more than just having a “how’s the weather” conversation with God, reading the bible is so much more than reading the newest “must read” recommendation in the center aisle at Barnes and Noble. What do I mean?
The Bible is not just a book. It’s not a dusty collection of ancient stories. It’s not a guide on how to be a good person or a motivational speech on how to live a moral life. The Bible is alive! It breathes. It speaks. It moves through generations with unshakable relevance and unrelenting power.
Now let me take a moment to clarify, when I say the bible is alive, it breathes, and it speaks, I am not saying it is like Woody or Buzz from Toy Story - coming alive and walking around your bedroom each time you leave the house. That would be weird and definitely more than creepy!
When we say that the bible is alive, breathing, and speaking - we are saying that the words you are reading aren’t just a bunch of dried ink on a page written for people who lived centuries ago from which we gain ideas, wisdom, and moral standards. It’s not just a story for us - it’s God speaking to us! That means that when we open up our Bibles we aren’t just reading words, we are being read ourselves. The Bible pierces through the noise and distractions of life and reveals, corrects, convicts, and comforts. It speaks directly to our hardened hearts, our clouded minds, and our weary souls.
Hebrews 4:12 tell us, “For the Word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword…”
So what sets the Bible apart? The Holy Spirit! You see, the same Spirit that inspired its writing all of those years ago is present when we read it. That’s why you can read the Bible over and over again and always discover something timely, fresh, and new jumping off the pages - because God meets us in our current need with His eternal truth!
The Bible doesn’t expire! It doesn’t bend to culture. It doesn’t need updating, but instead it updates us! Every promise still stands. Every word still holds weight. It’s not just a book. It’s the breath of God, speaking to us here and now!
This week we are going to practice some practical ways to read and study your Bible but for now I want to make it clear that we don’t simply read the Bible to learn history - we read it to encounter God! When we read the Bible, meditating on what we are reading, we put ourselves in a place to hear God’s voice - receiving wisdom and being transformed from the inside out! It is power in print! A truth that sets us free, a light that guides our steps, and a sword that equips us for the battles we face.
LINK TO KIDS CHAPTER
LINK TO WEEK TWO
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