Understanding the Bible

Speaker: Debra Dambacher

 Memory Verse: Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things from your Word. 
                                                                                                   Psalms 119:18


Today we have Debra Dambacher coming to share with us more about how to understand the basics about the Bible.  Some of her materials and information are based on the book titled 30 Days to Understanding the Bible by Max Anders.  We are so grateful she will be joining us. 

Her talk includes compelling information on the following:

• Why Should I Read the Bible?
• Organization of the Bible - Old and New Testament Overviews
• Connection between the Old and New Testaments
• What comes from the Word of God?

Here are links to the documents she references:

• "Understanding the Bible" Power Point Presentation 
• Understanding the Bible Handout
• ERA Old Testament Table
• ERA New Testament Table
• Chart - Old Testament Prophecies regarding the Messiahand their fulfillment in Jesus

Enjoy!

Faith Shapers

Bible Study Tools

 

“Because the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament are the uniquely inspired revelation of God and the standard of truth in all matters of faith and practice, a portion of each day should be set aside to read, study and meditate on God’s Word.  The Bible is to the spirit what food is to the body.”
From Discipleship Essentials by Greg Ogden

Being grounded in the Bible as the main text according to our lead pastor, Dan, is one of our key focuses of having a life that bears fruit . . . so how do we go about studying the Bible?

I don’t know about you but learning how to dive into my Bible can be daunting and the deeper meanings hard to understand or decode.  Dan addressed this and more a couple weeks ago in his sermon titled, “Life Changing – Grounded” (click HERE to listen).  There is also a four part sermon series titled, “The Source” focused on the reliability of the Bible.  Find it online through these links:  Week #1: Is the Bible Trustworthy?, Week #2: In Defense of Canonicity, Week #3: Is the Bible Useful?, and Week #4: How To Read the Bible.

Reading the Bible gives peace and perspective we cannot gain from anything or anyone else.  The Bible does have a language that over time becomes easier and easier to understand as we become more familiar with it and as we allow the Holy Spirit to work more freely in us.  Studying the Bible is a spiritual discipline that takes practice and diligence to make it part of our daily life.
 
When reading scripture it is so important to read it within the context of when it was written in time and gain some perspective on the cultural times as well to help really grasp the overall meaning.  There are a variety of study tools available in print and online to help get a better understanding of the scriptures so in today’s post we are going to take a look at a few examples of them.

First and foremost before reading the Bible, pray to the Holy Spirit inviting and asking him to guard your time as you read the Bible, calm and quiet your heart, and make your ears and eyes attentive to the truth you will hear.  Be sure to have a journal with you as well to write down questions, common themes, and specific scripture references that jump out to you.  Over time you may start seeing a repetitive pattern emerging and that could be God nudging you to take notice and press in on certain topics.
 
We all connect with God in different ways so not all of these tools will be preferred by everyone.  Try a few and figure out what works best for you.

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training righteousness, so that the servant of God[a] may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.  ~2 Tim 3:16-17

SOAP
This is a simple devotional method called S.O.A.P. which stands for "Scripture, Observation, Application and Prayer". Here’s how it works:

1)    Read the Scripture passage for the day. 

2)    S – Write down the verse or phrase that jumps out to you.
3)    O – Write in your own words the truth God is communicating.
4)    A – Write what your life would look like if you lived this truth.
5)    P – Write out a prayer asking God to help you live this truth.
 

Here is a link to an example SOAP entry and more details - http://www.heartlandchurch.org/wp-content/themes/heartland/d/SOAP.pdf

 

INDUCTIVE BIBLE STUDY
Source:  Discipleship Essentials by Greg Ogden – see pages 42-43 for more details

This is a more extensive study option that uses the scientific method of investigation like a good reporter might use when gathering information to write a story – Who? What? Where? When? How? And Why?  This involves starting with the data in the biblical text and from that drawing conclusions about the meaning and application to our lives.  Click HERE for an outline. 

DIFFERENT BIBLES AND TRANSLATIONS
Reading scripture from different Biblical translations is often helpful in providing additional meaning to certain words and the overall scriptural themes.  Here are some common Bibles and translations referenced around Heartland (not an exhaustive list).

• Life Application Study Bibles – Provides footnotes, character profiles, timelines, history of the times, charts, tables, and maps
• NKJ – New King James
• MSG – The Message
• NIV – New International Version
• NLT – New Living Translation
• NAS – New American Standard
• Online Sources for different Bible Translations - 

               http://www.biblegateway.com/
               http://www.studylight.org/
               http://www.blueletterbible.org/
 

Example using Blue Letter Bible online resource:

• Enter scripture passage reference (e.g. John 3:16) into first “Search” field
• Select the Bible translation you desire from drop down and click “Search”

CONCORDANCES
“A Bible concordance is an alphabetical listings of words and phrases found in the Holy Bible and shows where the terms occur throughout all books of Scripture. With cross-references for verses, concordances make it easy to understand the meaning of terms and the context in which those words are used. Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance is the most widely known and popular and includes Greek and Hebrew dictionaries for a better understanding of the original meaning. “ (Source: Bible Study Tools Online - http://www.biblestudytools.com/concordances/)

Let’s go through an example and do some deeper research using the Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance Online. The scripture verse we will be researching is Ephesians 4:30: “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” The key words we will be looking up are: grieve, sealed and redemption. Our goal is to research all 3 key words of this verse to give the verse a fuller and more accurate meaning.
 
Here is the process:

1. Go to http://www.biblestudytools.com/concordances/strongs-exhaustive-concordance/ 
2. Enter Ephesians 4:30 in the box that says “Search the bible with Strongs”
3. Click the New American Standard Version and hit the Search button
4. Near the top of the next page click box next to “Strongs Numbers”. This will highlight key words in the verse.
5. Click on the word “grieve”. You will see the Greek word for grieve is LUPEO. You will see all the books in the Bible where the word LUPEO is used. You will also see the definition for LUPEO: to make sorrowful, affect with sadness, cause grief, to throw into sorrow, to grieve, offend, to make one uneasy.

Now, follow the above process to research the words “sealed” and “redemption”. Write down all the meanings of each word and you should have a more in depth understanding of this scripture.


COMMENTARIES
“Written by well-known and popular theologians, Bible commentaries aid in the study of Scripture by providing explanation and interpretation of Biblical text. Whether you are just beginning to read Scripture or have been studying the Bible daily, commentaries offer greater understanding with background information on authorship, history, setting, and theme of the Gospel. Verse by verse exposition of the New and Old Testament can be found in commentary written by some of the greatest Christian church leaders including John Calvin, Matthew Henry, Charles Spurgeon, and C.I. Scofield.” (Source: Bible Study Tools online - http://www.biblestudytools.com/commentaries/)

The key to reading these is to make sure you are referencing a reputable commentary whose interpretations are Biblically sound. 
 
Online resources:

• http://www.studylight.org/ - Contains online written commentaries from various theologians that can be accessed by looking up specific scripture passages.

• http://www.biblestudytools.com/commentaries/ - Contains written commentaries from various theologians that can be accessed by looking up specific scripture passages.

• http://www.blueletterbible.org/ - Has both text and audio commentaries, dictionaries, etc.  Matthew Henry’s Commentary is a common one referenced.

      Example:

• Enter scripture passage reference (e.g. John 17:1-5) into first “Search” field
• Select the Bible translation from drop down and click “Search”
• Scripture will appear with various blue squares next to each
• To view commentaries available, click the blue square with an “L” on it to bring up a drop down list of available commentaries. Scroll down to the “Text Commentaries” and select Matthew Henry’s Commentary

In Print

• . . . For Everyone Series by NT Wright - Commentaries on various books in the Bible such as “John for Everyone” or “Matthew for Everyone” . . . available in the Heartland Bookstore (click HERE to access their online store)

Happy studying!!
~Tara G.

Home Helpers

I'm predominantly right-brained, which means that I'm generally not in my right mind.  Creativity often comes at the cost of being organized and having my time properly managed.  After missing several "Crazy Sock Days" and Thanksgiving "Friendship Snacks" in a row at my kids' preschool, I realized this was becoming a problem.  I was just so forgetful!
When I become desperate, I force myself into organization mode, and this is what I've done to attack our family's scheduling woes.
First, our super-sized Scrabble Magnet Board (because papers get out of control so quickly):

To make it, we used nail glue to affix three 3x4' magnetic metal panels (from Home Depot) to a large piece of plywood, then mod-podged pages from a large-print dictionary on top, and framed it with trim.  To keep papers in place, we used a glue gun to attach Scrabble pieces to round black magnets.  Finally, I don't lose all those schedules from soccer to Suzuki to school!

I try to get super organized when school begins, and do crazy stuff like this:

 Yep, those are all freezer meals that I throw into the crockpot or oven on busy days.

 This is my "ideal" schedule.  It never happens this way.  But having a framework to guide me, posted on the fridge, at least makes me feel more productive and less frazzled:

My favorite and most utilized project is our Weekly White Board:

This thing has saved forgetful-me more times than I can recall.  On Sundays, I go over our iCalendar (where we sync all our family's activities) and write it here, on our white board.  It's not usually this sparse (the photo was taken right after I first made it) and holds everything from things I don't want to forget, to our daily meal plan, to our schedule.  It's not fool-proof (meaning, Wendy-proof, because sometimes I still forget to look at it!) but it sure gives me peace of mind to write things out by hand at the start of our week.

What sorts of things do you do to keep your family's schedule on schedule?  Post a comment, or contact Katrina so that we can all be blessed and inspired by your Home Helpers ideas!

-Wendy

Knowledge Seekers

Welcome back ladies!  We are so excited to be together again. Every Wednesday we will have a post titled, "Knowledge Seekers" where we will post information about what we discuss on Wednesdays during our meeting time.

Today, we are kicking off with an overview of our year and where we feel God wants us to focus.  We are taking a brief look at the: heart of a woman and how God created it in his image to be relational at the core.  Excerpts from the book, Captivating by John and Sharon Eldredge will be referenced.

In Ephesians 1:17-19 we see Paul is praying and speaking to the Christians in Ephesus.

"I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit[a] of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. . .

We also see in these two verses the emphasis on the heart:

• Jer 29:13 - You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. 
• Prov 4:23 - Above all else guard your heart for it is the wellspring of all life.

In Gensis 1:27 we see that both man and woman were created in God's image.  Through further study we can see that a woman's heart is a reflection of God's heart and was created to be in an intimate relationship with God on a shared adventure.  God created us for relationship and "He waits to be wanted" (A.W. Tozer).

Our focus for this year is for lives to be transformed by strengthening our ultimate relationship with Christ as we journey together as women and incorporate the following into our everyday lives. 

• Utilize the BIBLE as our main text through an in depth study of the Gospel of John

• Study JESUS as the main discipler and apply his character to our roles as women

• Develop and build towards a consistent PRAYER life

• Practice and increase our ability to HEAR and ACT upon what God is saying to us

 We look forward to seeing you and walking together.

Click HERE to view and print the materials reviewed during our meeting.

Welcome Back!!!

We are gearing up to kickoff our year this Wednesday, September 12th, 2012. 

Our focus for this year is for lives to be transformed by strengthening our ultimate relationship with Christ as we journey together as women and incorporate the following into our everyday lives. 

• Utilize the BIBLE as our main text through an in depth study of the Gospel of John

• Study JESUS as the main discipler and apply his character to our roles as women

• Develop and build towards a consistent PRAYER life

• Practice and increase our ability to HEAR and ACT upon what God is saying to us

 We look forward to sharing life and walking together on this journey.
 

Mothers Together Summer Event Schedule

We had a great year at Mothers Together and are breaking for the summer.  However, we will have a few summer events to gather together so please check them out and come join us.

Click HERE to see the full list of summer events planned.

See you again in the Fall and have a very blessed summer!!!

Ephesians 3: 16-19
I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge - that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.