Encounter: Mission Possible - 730 Challenge: Living God's Story from Genesis to Revelation begins tomorrow, Saturday - January 13th! Go to your Bible Study Together app and begin with our Reading Plan "Eden Church Mission Possible." It will show Day 001: Genesis 1:1-2:4. Remember you can choose which version you would like in the upper left hand corner. I find the NLT version to be more conducive for reading the Bible like the grand story it is. If you're not into the digital device version, grab the hard copy of your reading plan and you'll find all the details you need.
I still remember the first time I found the "pano" setting on my iPhone camera. Jack and I were in Italy touring the quaint city of San Gimignano. It has a skyline of medieval towers you can climb up which give you a 180 degree view of the surrounding countryside. When we finally stepped onto the top of one of the highest towers open to the public, I remembered someone telling me to try taking some panoramic photos that capture a whole scenic view of Tuscany.
The instructions say to “move iPhone continuously when taking a Panorama." It took a few tries before I captured the memory just right and I now have many amazing landscape images I hope to turn into pieces of art for our home.
Looking back I can see how much we would have missed if we had only remained at street level. Although a closer look has its own advantages we would have only seen bits and pieces of the town and not the whole picture.
In a similar way, when we read the Bible and only get “bits and pieces” we are missing the whole panoramic view of history and how things are connected to one another. This causes our faith to have some holes in it that we don’t understand, because how do you understand a message if you start anywhere but the beginning.
Theologian and author, Gordon Fee, in his book How to Read the Bible Book by Book, writes, [The Bible] does not purport to be just one more story of humankind’s search for God. No, this is God’s story, the account of his search for us, a story , a story essentially told in four chapters: Creation, Fall, Redemption, Consummation.
This Sunday I’ll be giving a pano of God’s story and then digging into the first chapter of Genesis to experience Mission #1, Beginnings. This truly is the Beginnings of a Great adventure together experiencing The EPIC journey one day at a time.
Don't forget to share the 730 Challenge with a friend or family member and invite them to come along as we begin Bible Study Together!
Free gift this Sunday! Blueprints of the Bible, which are 1 page overview of each of the 10 books you will experience in the next few months. It will help you get that "pano" view of the Bible!
On Mission #1 with you,
Pastor T
Reflect: Click the ?Questions button below your reading and answer the questions to prepare for your Sunday Study Group, Life Group or Triad. Now watch the video that is at the end of today's reading under the ?Questions button. Journal about what you learn.
Spiritual Practice: Find a place inside (cause it's freezing;) and spend some time admiring creation. What is catching your attention today? Journal about what you see and ask God to speak to you through creation. Don't forget to journal a word, a sentence or more so you can begin to remember what you are encountering. Find someone today to tell what you admire most about God's creation
Gather: Discuss in your small group the answers to your questions, what you learned from the video that made an impression and what your experience was with your spiritual practice.
P.S. Remember the video I mentioned from Tim Keller. Take a listen!
Other Resources for study: the book, Why Trust the Bible by Amy Orr-Ewing and How to Read the Bible Book by Book.
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