Still Learning

Bible Reading Notes

When first coming to Christ we are usually taught the importance of spending time with Him each day in bible study and prayer. This is excellent advice because if we wish to grow as believers then we need to continually feed ourselves through the reading of God’s Word.

However, where do we start when first reading the Bible? Do we just start at the beginning in Genesis or should we start with one of the gospels instead?

How do we develop the habit of regularly reading the scriptures?

Also what about those of us who may have been Christians for several years, but if we are honest are struggling to spend time reading the Bible?

I personally would suggest that using Bible reading notes is a good place to start both for the new believer and the experienced one. There are a vast variety of different ones available both in paper and electronic format to aid us in the study of scripture.

The majority of Bible reading notes that I have used over the years follow a similar format:

A passage from the Bible
Comments from the author on the passage
Closing prayer

Some also have further questions, challenges or thoughts for the reader to consider, in addition to the above.

I know not everyone would necessarily agree with my suggestion of using Bible reading notes but I believe there are a number of benefits from using them.

The Development of a daily habit

The vast majority of Bible reading notes have a reading for every day of the week. Therefore just as following a daily dietary or exercise training plan assists us to develop good daily habits in these areas, then using Bible notes can do the same for us spiritually.

Not needing to decide which passage to read each day

There have been times, when not using notes, that I was unsure which book of the Bible to read next. However, this is not an issue when using notes as the decision has already been made for you. All you need to do is read it!

Introduces us to parts of the Bible that we might not normally read

It can be very easy for us just to gravitate towards our favourite passages of scripture. However, Paul told Timothy “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. “

Someone once said to me that when eating food you cannot just eat cakes only! What this person meant was that a varied diet was important. One of the advantages of using notes is the author may spend some time in a part of the Bible that you would not normally read. This will help enrich and deepen our understanding of the whole Bible and how God has worked throughout time.

Introduces us to wide range of contributors

Many Bible reading notes have a range of different contributions who write for them. This provides an opportunity for us to read writings from people who we might not encounter under normal circumstances. It is a good balance to ensure that we do not only read our favourite authors and their particular theology. This may well challenge our thinking on occasions, but hopefully will also enrich us as we consider passages in perhaps a different light than previously.

Exposes us to good Bible teachers

God has given His church those who have the gift of teaching. Therefore using Bible reading notes, written by those with this gift, enables us to benefit from their ministry and grew in our knowledge of the scriptures.

As mentioned earlier, it is important to read the scriptures daily and feed ourselves spiritually. If you are struggling in this aspect please let me encourage you to consider using Bible reading notes. There are many different types available and you should be able to find something that is suitable for you. Just enter Bible reading notes into your favourite search engine and have a look at the results that appear. I have put a couple of links below to ones I have used myself:

Every Day with Jesus

New Daylight

Feed Yourself Daily

It is Friday night and a man arrives home from work exhausted after a tough week in the workplace. He takes off his shoes and collapses onto the sofa. His wife comes into the lounge to greet him and the following conversation takes place:

Wife: How was work today?

Man: It has been another tough day.

Wife: Would you like to have some food?

Man: No I am fine, I had something to eat on Sunday.

Wife: Yes I know but that was five days ago. You must have something to eat. It is not right just to eat once a week.

Man: But I have only ever eaten on Sundays.

Wife: I know! You need to change that habit. You must eat every day. If you do not you will starve and your health will deteriorate. You will end up dying.

I guess most of us will think the man in this situation was behaving stupidly. I mean who only eats once a week? Imagine only eating on Sundays? None of us would copy this example or recommend it to others.

However I wonder how many of us only feed ourselves spiritually once a week?

Sunday is the day we attend church and read the Bible, pray and sing our songs of worship. But do we bother praying or reading the Bible between Monday and Saturday?

All of us need to spend time with God daily, getting to know Him and having our strength renewed. If we do not do that it is unlikely we will ever grow as Christians.

Put Your Hope in Him

Last weekend the clocks went back one hour as British Summer Time finally ended this year. The days are getting shorter and the nights are growing longer. Today sunset is at 4.40pm and each day this will get earlier until during December we see it reach 3.51pm. I do not like this. In fact I find it makes me quite despondent.

To make things worse this year we also have the covid restrictions too. The rule of six currently applies to the whole of England. Many places in our country have entered tiers two and three, which prohibits the mixing of households meeting indoors. Unless the government change their mind then most of us will not be able to celebrate Christmas with our families this year.

When will these restrictions be lifted? When will things return to normal again? There does not appear to be any easy answers to these question. My understanding from listening to the government scientists is that the restrictions could last until March. That does not bear thinking about.

It is going to be a tough long winter and I am not particularly looking forward to it! One can almost lose hope when thinking about the next few months. What is the motivation for keeping on going? Can I just hibernate and wake up in April next year thinking this has just been a bad dream?

Deep down in me though there is something telling me not to give up. There is the idea of persevering and hanging in there.

I pick up my Bible and read the first verse of Paul’s first letter to Timothy:

“Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God our Saviour and of Christ Jesus our hope, “

I read that Christ Jesus is our hope. My spirit starts to rise. There is still hope. Life is still worth living. I stop looking at myself and my circumstances and instead I put my hope in Christ. I realise that my hope is found in a person, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Are you dejected?

Are you despondent?

Have you had enough?

Do you want to experience real life?

Do you want a living and true hope?

If so then put your hope in Him!

Returning to Church

Last Sunday I attended my first service at our church for seven months! The last time I had physically been to one of our services was on Sunday 16^th March, which was our last gathering prior to lockdown. I have been attending our virtual services but it was great to be finally returning to church at last

My church reopened again in July. However we have been subject to certain restrictions for our services: numbers are limited to 30 attendees, face masks must be worn at all times, no singing is permitted and no drinks are served after the service. Additionally, if we want to attend a service we must book a place via our church office beforehand and understandably priority is given to those who do not have internet access.

We are currently running what our website describes as hybrid worship services. Basically this means that the service takes place in the church itself and it is streamed via Zoom and Facebook live. The services are also recorded and uploaded to our website. Those that actually attend the service watch parts of it on a large screen as some elements of the service are still online. All music is pre-recorded and as previously mentioned no singing is allowed.

When I first read about the restrictions that we had to follow, I decided that I would rather continue to worship virtually than actually attend a service. I did not want to sit in a service wearing a face mask and I certainly could not imagine not being allowed to sing. In fact I decided that not singing in church was a “red line” issue for me!

However, over the last month I had been thinking about possibly returning to church for a service. After pondering this I decided to apply for a place for last Sunday. One of the things that persuaded me was that it was a communion service, and I personally have found those services harder to engage with virtually. So I applied a few days beforehand and was allocated a place.

I found myself getting quite excited about the prospect of returning to church and set off eagerly on Sunday morning. Upon arriving at church I had to tick my name on the list of people signed up to attend. I was then given some hand gel to put on my hands. There were about thirty chairs set out in pairs in the service area, with good social distancing between them. I had a quick chat with someone and just before the service started our vicar went over the rules, including reminding us not to sing. Although we could hum to ourselves.

The service started and after opening prayers we watched the first song. Unfortunately, it was a song that I really liked and I suddenly realised that I was singing along to it, but quietly though! I decided to revert to humming instead. I think I got away with that!

The service continued as usual with prayers, a sermon and another song. As we came to communion our vicar reminded us how this would operate. We only took the bread and not the wine. Before we took the bread someone came round and gave us each hand gel to wash our hands. And after we had taken the bread we again were given hand gel to wash our hands. This is the first time I have taken communion for seven months and it was really good to be able to participate again. The service finished with a song and then we had to leave.

Although the service was the same as the other communion services I have attended virtually, it felt so different actually being at church. I really enjoyed the service and found that I was able to engage in it and focus on God much better than when I am at home watching it on the laptop. Of course I would rather not wear a face mask and would prefer to be allowed to sing, but I did not feel my enjoyment of the service was diminished in anyway.

Going forward I certainly want to go back again and will probably look at attending the communion service again, numbers permitting.

If you have not gone back to your church yet I would strongly encourage you to consider doing so. I realise that some people may have legitimate health concerns, which may mean that it is wiser to attend virtual services. However, if you are able to attend please seriously pray and think about it. Virtual services have been important over the last few months and no doubt will be going forward. But they are not the same as attending a service. I certainly enjoyed returning to church. Why not give it a go?

Are You Keeping in Fellowship With Your Fellow Believers?

During these difficult and unusual times that we are currently living through, it is important that we still keep in fellowship with our fellow believers.

We may not be able to worship in the usual way, but it is imperative that we use the opportunities that we have to meet together. Of course watching a church service on our laptop is not the same as actually attending one. However, for many of us the virtual church service is the only option available.

The following taken from a book called “The Lord’s Supper” hopefully will encourage us to continue to keep in fellowship with our brothers and sisters in Christ.

He was a good man but, like many another good man, he had been tripped up. Something had happened in the church that had upset him, and so he stayed away. He was denying “the fellowship of the Holy Spirit”. He was absenting himself from the worship and from the Lord’s Table. The pastor went to see him, and after they had talked over the issues involved, as they were sitting by an open fire, the pastor took the tongs from the hearth and separated the flaming coals and spread around the outer circumference of the open grate. In a few moments the flame died down, and in another few minutes the coals lost their brightness and grew ashen and dull. The pastor looked at his member and said, “Do you understand?” The man had grace and wisdom enough to say, “Yes, pastor, I understand”.

Then he took the tongs again and, taking the coals from the outer edge of the grate, he drew them all together; and you know what happened. They had not been together many moments before they began to glow once more. Then they came up in flames and the dire was strong. Again the pastor looked at his erring member and said, “Do you understand?” Do you? Let nothing divide you in your fellowship with your fellow-believer, because you will both be the losers. Not only will you both be the losers, but so will the integrity of the church: the flame will go down, and the fires of revival will depart.

The Lord’s Supper by E.F. Kevan pages 66-67

Thanking God for all our fellow Christians

“We always thank God for all of you and continually mention you in our prayers.” (1 Thessalonians 1:2)

Paul starts his first letter to the Thessalonians by thanking God for all the members of the church in that city. I think the Thessalonians would have felt quite humble to hear that Paul valued them all this highly.

I wonder if we thank God for all our fellow believers that we worship with each week? Are we more likely to moan to God about the ones who we find it difficult to get along with than to thank Him for them? It is easy to thank God for the ones that we get along with but notice that Paul gave thanks for them all.

The Greek word used in verse 2 for all “pas” can also mean “every” or “whole”. So we can learn from Paul’s example here and thank God for everyone in church and yes that includes the difficult ones too!

If we do this then maybe it would help us to be more united as the body of Christ. Thanking God for all our fellow believers shows that we appreciate and value them. It will mean that we are less likely to criticise them. Imagine a church where there was no criticism but only thankfulness. That would be a wonderful place to worship and a place where Christ’s love radiates out for all to see.

Behold Christ and Be Conformed

Do you desire to be conformed to become more like Christ? If so the following quote from Charles Spurgeon encourages us to behold Christ and be conformed:

“Well,” say some, “we have proceeded so far, what next shall we do? We know we have an interest in him, but we are still sensible of manifold deficiencies. Next then, let me entreat you to study Christ’s character. This poor Bible is become an almost obsolete book, even with some Christians. There are so many magazines, periodicals, and such like ephemeral productions, that we are in danger of neglecting to search the Scriptures. Christian, wouldst thou know thy Master? Look at him. There is a wondrous power about the character of Christ, for the more you regard it the more you will be conformed to it. I view myself in the glass, I go away, and forget what I was. I behold Christ, and I become like Christ.

The above quote is taken from the Old Guys website.

Do it all for the Glory of God

In his first letter to the church in Corinth the apostle Paul said the following words: “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”

Whatever and all are big words! They seem to cover everything. Surely there must be some areas that they do not cover?

I spend my day at work looking at boring spreadsheets. It can be very difficult to motivate myself sometimes.