Help! I want to read the Bible

Welcome

Gathering prayer

Come: all you in need of hope.

Come: all you who seek faith.

Come: all you who long for peace.

Come: all you in need of comfort.

Come: all you who seek reassurance.

Come: all you who long for love.

Come, dwell in the house of Lord.

Amen.

601 Morning has broken

Prayers of Hope and Confession

Faith the size of a mustard seed brings us here,

sown through the witness of saints and apostles

and people of faith met along the way.

Lord, make yourself known to us through our worship.

Hope the size of a mustard seed brings us here,

made known through the voices of the prophets

and those who refuse to accept despair.

Lord, make yourself known to us through Scripture.

Love the size of a mustard seed brings us here,

shown through those who cared for and nurtured us

and constantly prayed for us.

Make yourself known to us, Jesus Christ our Saviour.

For those times when we have heard what we have wanted to

hear and shut our ears to your voice:

forgive us and help us.

For those times when we have followed our own desires

and not followed your way:

forgive us and help us.

For those times when we have turned to false prophets

and turned away from the truth:

forgive us and help us.

Amen.

In the knowledge that we are forgiven let’s join in saying the Lord’s Prayer

The Lord’s Prayer

Bible Sunday – the Bible Societies – the story of Rahel o Fon

In her teens a preacher – only about 20 and the Bible societies in America decided to invite her to go over there

She went and toured round

A blacksmith and wagon maker heard her … and fell for her and followed her … and married her  Edward Davies – died … she went back -

Opening a Closed Book

2 Timothy 3:14-17

Great to read the Bible

A Hy-Spirit Song

Activities for over 3’s

A time of quiet with Psalm 19

Say together Psalm 19.7-10 in two contrasting translations. Invite the older members of the congregation to start with a line from the Authorised (King James) Version, and the younger members respond with the same line, now from The Message (in bold type). Alternatively, let people decide for themselves which version they would prefer to read.

The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul.

The revelation of God is whole and pulls our lives together.

The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.

The signposts of God are clear and point out the right road.

The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart.

The life-maps of God are right, showing the way to joy.

The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.

The directions of God are plain and easy on the eyes.

The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring for ever.

God's reputation is twenty-four-carat gold, with a lifetime guarantee.

The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.

The decisions of God are accurate down to the nth degree.

More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold.

God's Word is better than a diamond, better than a diamond set between emeralds.

Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.

You'll like it better than strawberries in spring, better than red, ripe strawberries.

In the beginning was the Word

And the Word was with God,

And the Word was God

And the Word became flesh

And lived among us

And we have seen his glory,

The glory as of the Father’s only Son,

Full of grace and truth.

Lord, Jesus Christ,

In you we see the Word of God

in all its glory, in all its grace, in all its truth.

Help us to see the Scriptures through your eyes

And discover in them

The Word of God for us

Now and in all that lies ahead.

Songs of prayer and worship

The best book to read?

The best book to read is the Bible

The best book to read is the Bible

If you read it every day it will help you on your way

The best book to read is the Bible

It must be about 55 years ago since I first sang that chorus on the beach at Criccieth.  It’s where we had our family holidays and I was a regular at the CSSM beach mission.  This year we found ourselves walking along the front at Criccieth on the last day of the beach mission.  We got talking with the leaders who told us they had come to Criccieth for a couple of weeks each summer for nearly 40 years helping to lead a holiday club on the beach there that’s been going strong from long before I started to go as a youngster!  So, what do you think?

Conversation with one or two people around you – introduce yourselves – maybe chat with someone you have not chatted with before -

What makes the Bible a good read? 

What are the best bits of the Bible for you? 

Do you have any tips about how to get the best out of the Bible?

We shared three thoughts

1. Janet shared the way she has started getting emails everyday with a Bible reading for the day - when she does her emails in the morning she begins with that one. You can find out more about that kind of system at wordlive.org
2. Martin recalled a series preached at Highbury a while back called An Idiot's Guide to the Old Testament and said how it important it is to ask what kind of writing any particular part of the Bible is, who it was written by and who the audience was - it's important to get a feel for the context of any passage of the Bible so that you don't jump to the wrong conclusions.
3. Kate suggested it can be really helpful to look at different translations of the Bible.

And as for my thoughts?

Actually I still go with that chorus I first sang about 55 years ago …

The best book to read is the Bible

The best book to read is the Bible

If you read it every day it will help you on your way

The best book to read is the Bible

But I have to say, I have a problem with the Bible too.

There are wonderful passages of inspiration and comfort, wonderful passages of challenge that map out how to live life to the full: they don’t just offer a way for us to behave, but a way of looking at the world that makes sense of its problems.  They offer a framework for family life, for society as a whole.  They are wonderful.

And then there are passages that are hateful, that are divisive, that can be used to justify all manner of horrible things … and they have been.  It’s the kind of book that when I am confronted with it I want to say Help – I don’t get that!

For me, it’s a book that we need help with.  All of us. Without exception.  That’s what we do when we come here.  Sharing with each other, learning from each other.

We did Monday at the Literature Festival and happened on whatever was going and as you do we bumped into a number of people we knew.  One asked whether we were going to see Jonathan Sacks, the former Chief Rabbi of the Orthodox Jewish community.  We hadn’t even properly read the brochure and I didn’t know he was speaking.  We looked him up to find he was speaking at 11-00 0n Sunday morning.

So I did what you do and stood in the book tent and browsed through the book he had recently published.  Called Not In God’s Name he explores from a Jewish perspective the bits of the Hebrew Scriptures we think of as the Old Testament that prompt people to do hateful violent things and claim they are doing it in God’s name.  I read one chapter on that theme and one thing really struck me.  Jonathan Sacks suggested that the text of the Bible from a Jewish point of view always needs to be interpreted … and all of us need help in interpreting it.

I think that’s a very interesting observation.

On Sunday evenings we have been reading through Luke’s Gospel.  One of the things that I think is very interesting is that you can see that’s exactly the approach Jesus takes to the Bible.  In fact in Luke’s Gospel there are three moments at the beginning, in the middle and at the end of the Gospel when you see Jesus helps people by coming by coming alongside people and helping them to see the challenge and the promise there is in his Bible which was of course the Hebrew Scriptrures, our Old Testament.

At the very beginning we see him going to the Synagogue on a weekly basis and he reads a text from Isaiah 61 and then he sits down to interpret that text – he explains it, he uses stories drawn from elsewhere in the Hebrew Scriptures and he helps people see the grace of God at work and the challenge in the text.

Then at the end of the Gospel on Resurrection day he talks through with the two on the Road to Emmaus and later the other disciples in the Upper Room how they should read the Law, the Prophets and the Writings, the whole of the Hebrew Scriptures and see them as building up towards the point at which they find their fulfilment in his life and teaching and in his death and resurrection.

And in the middle comes this wonderful conversation with an expert in the first part of the Hebrew Scriptures, the Law.

Notice how dynamic this is.

It’s a conversation Jesus has and Jesus is prepared to suggest that there is something that goes to the very heart of the Hebrew Scriptures.   Look it up in the church Bibles …

Luke 10:25-37

Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus. ‘Teacher,’ he said, ‘what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ He said to him, ‘What is written in the law? What do you read there?’ He answered, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbour as yourself.’ And he said to him, ‘You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live.’

 But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, ‘And who is my neighbour?’ Jesus replied, ‘A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan while travelling came near him; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, “Take care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.” Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbour to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?’ He said, ‘The one who showed him mercy.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Go and do likewise.’

Jesus is not content simply to go with all that is written in the Law.  He wants to know what you read there.  What the nub of the matter, the heart of the Law is.

He accepts this classic Jewish summary – Love God and Love your neighbour.

He then tells the story that has to be my favourite bit of the Bible – the parable of the Good Samaritan.

Rich with all sorts of meaning.

But I just want to hold on to one thing.

If like me you sometimes find yourselves saying, Help!  I don’t get that!  I don’t understand that!  Then you are in good company.  We all need help.

My first source of help is Jesus – I think he offers us a good measure.  Let’s make sure that what we read in the Scripture focuses on Love for  God and love for neighbour.  This is what it boils down to.  If we think a text is drawing us away from that we need to say, Help!

Next source of help – is simply sharing with each other.  It’s what we are here to do Sunday by Sunday.  Let’s regard this coming together as our opportunity to share help.  Have a conversation – help each other.

[I really enjoyed going out to join Cooler – I am going to come along to join in breakfast – and get that conversation going a bit with some of the older young people.  Encourage them to come -  maybe it’s a space we can develop further.]

And third I want to share with you something I have found helpful over the last 55 years.

The International Bible Reading Association – Bible reading notes.  These are ones I have found helpful.  They raise questions, they get people to share that have different perspectives.  They get you asking questions and entering into conversation with the Bible.  I am going to use these notes again this coming year – and I invite you to join me.

Leaflets to share – a reading plan to whet your appetite.

Fresh from the word – plug.

Over 50 international writers give global perspectives on carefully selected passages from the Bible.  They continue the 130-years-old IBRA tradition of touching the lives of millions of people around the world through the transformational  power of God.

writers include:

student worker in New Delhi, India,

Samuel G Ngaihte

 on Jesus’ priorities: option for the poor

Poet, preacher and storyteller from the Iona Community

Jan Sutch Pickard

on feasting with God.

Samoan leclturer in Practical Theology

Alesano Fosi Pala’amo

On Jesus ins action: healing

Methodist preacher and founder of

faithandworship.com, South Wales

John Birch

On listening to Jesus’ teaching

Order at church

£9-00 for a year’s Bible notes or £7-20 for Kindle, ePub and PDF files.

www.ibraglobal.org

Foreword by the Rev Dr Kate Coleman, Baptist minister, founder and director of Next Leadership:

“Reading the Bible can be the most inspiring, or indeed, the most bewildering of experiences, depending on the companions one encounters along the way.  Fresh from the Word provides a necessary daily reminder that individuals and communities can be both transformed and transforming agents of and for God.”

That pilgrim church that did so much to shape the way our Congregational churches function, met for worship and preaching at one point on a Sunday and then in the later afternoon they met again – with opportunity for the whole fellowship to share their insights.

Get the conversation going.

230 We limit not the truth of God

Prayers of Concern

HTC 252 Powerful in making us

Words of Blessing