Five Ways to Get into the Bible Daily

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 Bible Study I

God calls us to come to him daily for our needs because he wants us to come to him daily.

So, where do you start? Here are five ways to get into the Bible daily.

1 // Group Life: Be better prepared for the weekend as you study the weekend’s passage in the daily Group Life study produced by Five Oaks volunteers with gifts and passions for writing and teaching the Bible. It’s one of the ways we listen to God together in our church community. Downloads are here. Or pick it up at the Small Groups table in the commons.

2 // Read (or listen) through the Bible. Most Bible apps have a listening feature and reading plans. There are plans that focus on key texts and plans that take you through every text in a variety of ways. I highly recommend the free YouVersion app. Check out the dozens of reading plans at BibleGateway.

3 // Practice “praying the hours.” Jews and early Christians prayed at set times of the day. You can read about it here and here. Useful and popular guides for praying the hours have been published by Phyllis Tickle and they contain an enormous amount of Scripture. For an online version of Tickle’s guide, go here. A helpful iPhone version can be found here. You’ll get more out of reading if you understand the framework of the Bible, so take the Story of God seminar or prepare for a lifetime of reading by working through the 40-day guide I wrote and that serves as the basis for the Story of God seminar.

4 // Read and reflect on the Psalms and Proverbs daily. The Psalms are the prayer book of the Jews and the church. The Proverbs contain daily wisdom from God. If you read one Psalm and on Proverb per day, you complete the Psalms approximately twice a year and the Proverbs twelve times per year.

5 // Use a devotional that has a good dose of Bible readings. Just don’t replace Bible reading with devotionals.

What would you add to this list?

Monday Memo

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Hi Five Oakers,

 Relax mate... take it easy...

I have a few things I want share with you today:

// FOR [  ] Campaign commitments are still coming in. We’ll soon announce and celebrate. Thank you all for joining in with God’s mission for Five Oaks.

// Great turnout for the congregational meeting. Very good discussion over some by-law changes. Elections and budget approval. Good time of worship beforehand, and some great snacks. Yeah, a congregational meeting isn’t the most exciting thing to do a Sunday afternoon, but it’s important. Thanks for making it a priority!

// Here’s a comment we received from the card we send first-time guests:

  • Greater in-depth messages than a few years ago.  Much appreciated!  Despite note in bulletin, music is louder than heavy construction equipment at times.  No problem with choice of music.

// Here’s a selection from your comments, observations and questions from the weekend Communication Cards.

  • Perfect timing for the rest message – I’m looking forward to practicing what I’ve learned next week while on vacation!
  • How Great Thou Art, thank you!
  • Love Libby’s voice and all the back-up vocals. Very interesting drums and acoustics – well done folks! I so appreciate your worship sets. Libby, loved How Great Thou Art. [Amen! Libby and her team did a great job of leading us in worship!]
  • Awesome sermon! God bless!
  • Loved new perspective on Sabbath! Sound was a little off in last set in back right.
  • Great message, Henry! So valuable to spend time on all three of the areas of eat, lust, and rest. How do we, as Christians, frame our rest? I know we are free of the laws that govern Jews, but what are our parameters? P.s. it’s freezing in here. I know, I say this a lot. Yes I wear layers. Folks around me have their coats on, zoiks! [Pretty complex question. Here’s a sermon by Rick Warren that you might find helpful: “God’s Word to Workahaolics.”
  • Where are the outlines? Haven’t they been a part of the bulletin lately? Thanks for the reminder that God wants us to rest in Him, no matter what! And God is bigger than any coach. Would love you to give that message to Woodbury girls’ basketball! [Outlines are on the tables partially blocking the aisles inside the worship center.]

Thanks for all your comments.

Blessings,

Pastor Henry