Bring Your Sword to Church
The default teaching mode at Grace Place is verse-by-verse through books of the Bible. We change it up from time to time for topical series that are filled with biblical passages because it is valuable to know what the theme of scripture is regarding important subjects. But we always come back to book studies. There is power in spending time dealing with one book of the Bible and soaking up its themes and application. The Word of God, along with the Spirit of God, is what brings transformation in our lives—not just the theories and words of some preacher! Every book of the Bible was put there by God for a reason. Every book of the Bible is first and foremost about God and teaches us something different and unique about who he is.
We’re getting ready to start a new series on the book of Daniel. I’m really excited about this fall adventure. The first six chapters of Daniel contain fascinating stories with relevant application for the culture that we live in today, teaching us how to be faithful in a hostile environment. The last six chapters reveal prophetic visions that God gave Daniel which point forward to Jesus and his saving work for us with incredible detail, strengthening our faith in scripture and the sovereign God who is in control of the history.
I encourage Grace Place regulars to bring your Bibles to church for this series. I’ll be teaching from Today’s New International Version (TNIV), but bring any good translation that is understandable (NIV, NASB, NLT, RSV, NKJV, ESV). The King James is very poetic, but much of the language is archaic since it was translated in 1611. The paraphrases (Message, Living Bible, etc.) are great for personal devotions but not for serious bible study.
I know that it might sound old fashioned to bring a Bible to church, but some traditions are worth preserving or resurrecting. I read an article in The Sunday Oregonian recently about Southlake Church in West Linn, Oregon. Southlake is a 3000 person, suburban mega church. During the course of the article, this line caught my attention:
“Shorts, sundresses, sandals and Hawaiian shirts carry the day, everyone dressed in their informal best like guests at a new neighbor’s barbecue. Some bring coffee or water bottles into the church, but no Bibles are in sight.”
There is nothing in the book that says we must bring the book to worship. But in light of the growing biblical illiteracy in our nation (even in the church), we need to be finding ways to get into the Bible more for ourselves. During our study of Daniel I will not be putting all the texts that are read or refer to on the projection screens, just key verses. It will be valuable for you to be able to check the context in your own Bible, make notes, underline a word, phrase, or verse that strikes you as important, circle a word, draw a line between two words, etc. Studying the Bible that way makes it come alive and stick in your mind and heart more effectively.
The apostle Paul says in Ephesians 6 that the Word of God is every believer’s sword to fight off the enemy. Let’s keep our swords dusted off and ready for action. Bring them to church!
July 13th, 2009 at 10:38 am
[...] Clay Peck also echoed this sentiment here in Oregon: I know that it might sound old fashioned to bring a Bible to church, but some traditions are worth preserving or resurrecting. I read an article in The Sunday Oregonian recently about Southlake Church in West Linn, Oregon. Southlake is a 3000 person, suburban mega church. During the course of the article, this line caught my attention: [...]