Jesus Christ

Growing in Christ - The Scriptures

"He opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures." Luke 24:45

Human history is the story of man's fall through sin and rise through Christ. As John Stonestreet (Colson Center for Christian Worldview) has written introducing the Bible:

"What God gave us was a metanarrative – or a big, overarching Story of history. It’s a grand epic of the all the universe ever was, is and will be, interspersed with specific teachings on the nature of God and how He has chosen to work in the world. In it, God reveals Who He Is, His created purpose, His work in history—specifically through an obscure but enduring tribe of people known as the Israelites—His becoming one of us in Jesus Christ, whose suffering, death, and resurrection has atoned for the sins of the world, and His promise to raise us from the dead and establish a new Heavens and a new Earth.

And he does it through historical narratives, poetry, proverbs, love songs, gospels, and instruction. All of which carry the redemptive story towards it culmination, pointing to the centrality of Jesus Christ, through whom and for whom all things were made, and in whom all things hold together."

Since turning to follow Christ I've read the Scriptures almost daily and found the experience of the early disciples (Luke 24:45) and followers of Christ throughout history to be my experience as well.

In the process of seeking to hear God speak through the Scriptures I've discovered vital practices which have encouraged and benefited me in knowing and following Christ.

I encourage you also to:

Learn to hear God speak to you personally on a day-to-day basis through the Scriptures. Choose a simple personal practice of reading, meditating and responding to God as He speaks to you in the Scriptures.

Learn more of the background and historical context of the Scriptures, providing greater insight into our own times.

Gather with other followers of Christ in small groups in homes and/or in larger public gatherings where the Scriptures are read, discussed and lived.

(If you don't yet have a Bible, click here to start with the New Testament.

Highly valuable also is a good study bible. Many are available on-line. For an introductory sample, please click here.)