This week, we will continue our study of the book of James by discussing how to begin to study the Bible. Our goal for this study is not only to walk away with a better understanding of what God is saying to us in the book of James but also to gain confidence to open up any book of the Bible and study it for ourselves.

Show Notes.

This spring, we'll spend time seeking to encounter the Lord through a study of the Book of James. We'll practice some of the principles that we learned last semester (in our What In the Word study) as we seek to know and love God more through continued study of His written Word.

One of my favorite things about the book of James is that it encourages us to put feet to our faith. It talks about what it looks like, practically, when we seek to live a life in the presence of Christ and in line with our faith. Salvation comes through faith alone, but that faith can and should shape the direction of our lives for the better as we seek to live in communion with Jesus and in obedience to His ways.

Show Notes.

When we talk about engaging our strength in Bible study, in applying our own discipline and determination to know and love the Lord, we may be tempted to believe that this whole thing is riding on our own ability. Nothing could be farther from the truth!

What we will see in our time together in Lesson Six is that the Lord does call us to love Him with all our strength, but He also promises to provide the very strength we need. Life in Christ is a life spent learning to balance a reliance upon God's strength and a cooperation with Him to receive that strength.

The Lord does not invite us to a passive reliance on Him but to an active yielding to Him! We are to seek Him with all our might. We are to learn to rely on His might as we do!

Show Notes (includes link to lesson and listening guide).

Engaging our hearts in Bible study involves bringing our whole selves--open and honest--before the Lord. We are invited to come before Him just as we are. But we are also invited to cooperate with the work of the Holy Spirit within our hearts to allow Him to transform us into the ones we were created to be. We were created to reflect the image of God back to a watching world, to walk in wholeness as God restores us, to seek the Lord and find Him!

We cannot drum up a life of God on our own power. We are completely dependent on the Spirit of God to breathe life into us, once at the time of our salvation and daily through His restoration and renewal. Thankfully God is gracious to pour that life abundantly into our hearts and souls.

Show Notes (includes links to lesson and listening guide)

In this lesson we'll talk about engaging our minds in Bible study. My hope and prayer is that these resources and tools--these methods of studying the Bible--would not become distractions but would grow our confidence in our ability to study and understand God's Word. The goal of Bible study is always to better know and more deeply love the God of the Bible.

In the Introduction, we talked about engaging our minds, hearts, souls, and strength as we seek to know and love the Lord more through His written Word. Mark 12:30 encourages us:

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength."

Today, we'll pay more attention to our minds as we read. Remember, though, that your mind is not completely separate from your heart, soul, and strength; instead, each is an aspect of your whole self. We do not disengage our hearts as we use our minds!

Show Notes. (including links to video and written lesson)

In Lesson Three we look at the Bible's setting: the specific places, people groups, and cultures where God worked throughout the story of scripture to draw His people back to Himself. Understanding when and where things happened helps us to understand how and why and what and who--and ultimately, that helps us to understand Who God is, which is our ultimate goal as we approach the Bible.

Even as we consider study methods and resources that will help us to understand the Bible's specific settings, I want to remind us that our ultimate resource when we come to the Bible is the Author of the Bible Himself. Our ultimate guide as we study God's Word is God! When God helps us discover the "answers," we don't just have more answers; we have more of a relationship with Him!

Show Notes.

In Lesson Two of What in the Word: Making Sense of the Bible in our Daily Lives, we will be making sense of the Bible's story. The Bible is first and foremost a story of all that God has done to draw His wayward people back to Himself—to make a way for us to come into His kingdom and enjoy His presence.

It would be impossible for one Bible study lesson to get to the bottom of God's heart, plans, and purposes. My hope for this lesson is to help you to understand the framework of God's plan so that you will be able to more readily recognize how the different stories and characters fit into the larger story.

Show Notes.

In Lesson One of What in the Word: Making Sense of the Bible in our Daily Lives, we discuss the reliability of the Bible--the trustworthiness of the written Word of God. Specifically, we'll consider the canonization of the Bible (how the books of the Bible got into the Bible) and translations of the Bible (how we got these English versions that we hold in our hands).

Whether you are new or experienced in studying the Bible, I'm asking the Lord to use this time to ignite in us a curiosity, hunger, and passion to know His Word and to encounter the Him on these pages. As I've said before, reading and studying God's Word is about more than knowledge. It's about knowing God!

Show Notes (includes listening guide and written lesson)

Have you ever felt like you are wasting your time reading the Bible? If you're honest, do the words sometimes feel dry or foreign? Do you long to know and love the Lord more but struggle to understand how the Bible points to Him? Perhaps you've met Jesus intimately on the pages of His Word before, but you could use some encouragement in your walk with Him.

Join us this season for What in the Word: Making Sense of the Bible in Our Daily Lives. We will consider what it means to read the Bible in a way that adds meaning and significance to our lives in Christ. We will study the Bible's context, reliability, and overarching story as we also explore what it means to seek and encounter the Spirit of God in this ancient but living text.

Show Notes.

If the first few chapters of this letter to the Hebrews were a slow build to define and describe the significance of God's truth, the final two chapters are a rapid-fire plea for application.

At first, it may seem like Hebrews 13 is a list of dos and don'ts, but the author of Hebrews has made it clear that legalism – ceremonies and works to gain the favor of God – has no place in the lives of believers. Instead, the exhortations in this chapter are intended to guide us in our response to the truths that we have learned throughout the letter to the Hebrews. They are practical pictures of loving God and loving others. Under the New Covenant, we have access to God through Jesus Christ. He writes His laws on our hearts and puts the Holy Spirit within us to guide us into all truth (John 16:13). We will respond obediently in love for Him, and His commands will not be burdensome to us (1 John 5:3).

Through the author's final exhortations and reminders, let's allow the Word of God to pierce our souls, discern even the thoughts and intentions of our hearts, and convict us of how the Lord would have us respond to His truth.

Show Notes.