Bible Reading

I am a hypocrite. Right smack dab in the middle of preaching a sermon series on taking time to find God and rEFUEL in small things, I have started a LARGE Bible reading plan. I am reading through the Bible with The Journey church out of St. Louis and they are providing some excellent teaching videos and position papers along the way (like when we read Matthew 5 SOTM, they provide a paper on divorce and remarriage). All of this is very well done. You can look at it right here.

As we start the Story of God Part 1 tomorrow night, I want you to see these writings from the reading plan. Notice that the name of the class is not The Story of Me; it is God's story that we get to be a part of. Check this out from The Journey:
How do I read the Bible?
The Bible is not primarily a moral guidebook. The Bible, simply stated, is the greatest story ever told because it is God’s own story. Two guiding principles will help you as you endeavor to read God’s word:
1. The Bible is not primarily about you.
If the Bible is about us it becomes a
crushing burden, a set of moral
principles that we must, but cannot,
follow. Rightly understood, The Bible
is not a book of virtues; it is the story
of how God is redeeming his people
and all of creation through Jesus
Christ. The Bible is not primarily
about us. The Bible is all about Jesus.
2. The Bible is not about our search for
God. It is a story about God’s search
for us. This story has four basic
chapters: Creation, Fall, Redemption,
Restoration.

This is how we are going to divide up our study at The Bridge -- into these four segments. The first of these segments begins tomorrow night as we look at creation and the nature of God.

More on the four from the Journey's base writings:
Creation
The story does not begin with a God in hiding. God initiates the story by creating all that exists, including his prized creation – human beings – whom he pursued in relationship. What God created in the beginning was not just good, but perfect, whole, complete, lacking in nothing. He designed the Earth as an ideal environment for his creation to flourish.
Fall
Unfortunately, the first human beings ultimately chose to meet their needs apart from their perfect Creator. Moment by moment, we face the disastrous consequences of our rebellion. Created to enjoy God in loving dependence on him, human beings now face God’s wrath.
Created to relate with God in healthy community, we now hide from him. Once connected intimately to the power source for life, we now face certain death in our fallen world.
Redemption
The longest chapter in the story of God is redemption—about how God began redeeming and restoring his prized creatures. This story includes ancient covenants, the 10 Commandments, David & Goliath, and much more. But it culminates in the character of Jesus. Jesus, God himself,
demonstrated how God would rather experience the death we deserved than let go of his people. The redemption chapter is the climax of the story—God’s relentless pursuit of his people at the expense of his own life.
Restoration
This chapter is still being written, though the previous chapter plays the spoiler and tells us how it all works out. The final chapter is basically this: what God has set in motion through the incarnation, crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus and through the gift of the Holy Spirit, will finally, one great day, be fully realized.