Why should we read the Bible?

• To help you understand God and God’s works
• To help you know how to live and act
• To share stories of human experience and our relationship to God in many different literary forms
  • Songs and poetry
  • Laws
  • History
  • Prophecies
  • Wise sayings
  • Short stories
  • Letters

What is the best way to read the Bible?

Þ    Set aside time for Bible reading every day of the year; make it a habit.

Þ    Try to read the Bible a “book at a time”.  Many books of the Bible can be read in 20 minutes – some in an hour; others require more time.

Þ    Try to understand the writer’s purposes.  Who was the author?  What was the author’s world?  Why did the writer author this book?

Þ    Try to understand who the message was written for.  Who was the intended audience for this message?  What did this book mean to them?  What does it mean to you?

Þ    Keep a notebook as you read.  Jot down words to look up, questions for which to find answers, thoughts that the passage provokes, etc.

Þ    Look up things you don’t understand.  Use a Bible concordance, dictionary, atlas, and commentary to help you.

How can Scripture be used in personal worship?

·        One may read Scripture for the guidance, support, comfort, encouragement, and challenge which the Word of God presents.

·        One may study the Scriptures to understand them in their literary forms and in their historical and cultural contexts in order to hear the Word of God more clearly and to obey more faithfully.

·        One may meditate upon the Word,

o   committing passages of Scripture to memory,

o   recalling and reflecting upon the revelation of God,

o   analyzing and comparing biblical themes, images, and forms,

o   finding touch points and exploring relationships between Scripture and life,

o   entering imaginatively into the world and events portrayed in the Bible to participate in what God does and promises there,

o   wrestling with the challenges and demands of the gospel,

o   offering one’s self afresh for life in response to God.

What is helpful in responding to God’s Word?

It is often helpful to keep a record of one’s insights and personal responses to reading, studying, and meditating upon the Word, or to share them with others. Writing paraphrases, summaries, and brief reflections, making creative responses, and keeping journals are all disciplines which assist in responding to the Word of God in Scripture. It is especially important in personal worship to read widely in Scripture. Using lectionaries and various translations and paraphrases is helpful in seeking to hear the full message of God’s Word.