My first memory of learning the Bible is when I was a child in Sunday School. My teacher was Mr. Wells and he was passionate about sharing the stories of Jesus with young people. I remember that we would have challenges for memorization and that he would teach us songs. It is because of Mr. Well’s teaching in those early years that I am able to remember the Bible that I know today. He laid a strong foundation for me. Also when I was a little girl my parents would read Bible stories to me. Even as a little girl, I always had a love of the Bible.
When I got to seminary this foundation helped me. I was able to recall the stories I had learned and put some context to them, and finally be encouraged in various ways to teach the Bible. I love the Bible. It is God’s word to us today. It instructs us in our faith and our lives. The hardest part for us is figuring out what God is saying to us through the Bible.
You will hear this from me as your pastor as my most frequent prayer for our charge at all of our meetings is for us to discern God’s will for these churches that have been entrusted to our care.
It is one thing to read a Bible study and really enjoy it, it is another thing to embody the stories we have heard and the lessons we have learned as we share God’s love with others. This Sunday we continue the third week in our “Wesley Challenge” Sermon Series. Our question is: “Did the Bible Live in Me Today?
The first place we have to start with is this question: do we know the Bible? Do we spend time every day reading the Bible? Are we intentional about our faith development?
There are so many great tools to help us grow in our understanding of the Bible. “The Upper Room” is a great tool to read scripture and have a prayer every day. There are also so many other devotional books out there, or you can create your own devotional time.
Just as it takes us some time for us to recognize the voice of a new person in our lives, when we spend serious time studying the Bible, it helps us to recognize the power and presence of God in our lives through the movement of the Holy Spirit.
Today we are called to celebrate the gift of holy discernment. Come this Sunday to hear more and be encouraged on how to decipher God’s will for your life and how God is calling you to reach out to other people.
Prayer: “The Prayer of the Holy Spirit”
“Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created. And You shall renew the face of the earth. O, God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit, did instruct the hearts of the faithful, grant that by the same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever enjoy His consolations, through Christ Our Lord. Amen”
Lectionary for this week: 1 Kings 2:9-12, Psalm 111, Ephesians 5:15-20, John 6:51-55
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