Summer School

There is an end of term feeling about the congregation these days. The choir is off for the summer, (we had a party last week), Sunday School is on holiday for the summer, and on Wednesday, we had our last Bible Study until September.
But, just like in school, for those who need to improve their grades, or want to get a jump on the next term, there's always summer school.  Here's Linda to tell you how.

Something Old/Something New

by Linda Cliff

Many of us desire to read the Bible from cover to cover.  If you are like me you may have had many starts but very few finishes.  By happen-chance or with the Holy Spirit's guidance I discovered The Bible Project.    This is an organization that creates videos to help explain the Bible.  Their goal is to develop a short video, usually of 6-8 minutes, for each book of the Bible, and for the themes of the Bible.  The videos are animated and give the watcher an overview of each book and how it was crafted by the writers to deliver God’s message of redemption.

The creators of this project believe that the Bible has been crafted with a message that starts with Genesis and ends with Revelation and that each book builds on the story that God wants us to understand.

Now for the read the scripture plan.  The plan takes you through the entire Bible in one year.  The scriptures are divided up into sixteen chapters and organized in a semi-chronological order.  One Psalm is listed each day for you to slowly pray through, making its words your own.  By the end you’ll have prayed through the book of Psalms 2.5 times.   Sound familiar? I have tried to use these plans in the past and have become bogged down in the genealogies, census information etc. of the early books and have found it difficult to continue.  This is where The Bible Project enhances the reader’s journey through the scripture.  There is a video which introduces each book your are reading and explains the structure of the book and how it fits in God’s plan for the Bible.  As well as the videos for each book there are the theme videos which cover such topics as Atonement, Holiness, and The Law.  Now when I start a book I am aware of how the book fits in the overall plan of the Bible and I find that I tend to read more than was allotted for the day. 

The web site for the project has posters that can be downloaded about each book and the themes covered.  I do believe that I will be able to read the Bible from cover to cover with the help of this reading plan and I am finding that the multimedia approach is helping me to understand what I am reading so I can remember what I have read. 

Even if you are not interested in a reading plan, I encourage you to visit the web site.  You will be glad you did!