1 00:00:00,320 --> 00:00:02,320 Do take a seat. We're going to worship again 2 00:00:03,600 --> 00:00:07,400 later on in the service. A special welcome to you for 3 00:00:07,400 --> 00:00:09,560 your new your visiting today is Pentecost Sunday. 4 00:00:09,880 --> 00:00:12,880 And for those of you that don't know what that is, it's when the 5 00:00:12,880 --> 00:00:17,720 Spirit of God was poured out on Jesus disciples for the first 6 00:00:17,720 --> 00:00:20,280 time in power and the church was launched. 7 00:00:20,280 --> 00:00:23,560 So it's like the church's birthday, the church worldwide. 8 00:00:23,720 --> 00:00:28,320 So like we had our 15th birthday last last week, today is like 9 00:00:28,320 --> 00:00:32,680 the global church's birthday. And it also marks the beginning 10 00:00:32,680 --> 00:00:34,720 of our new series, The God Story. 11 00:00:35,000 --> 00:00:38,400 So for those of you that might not know, we're starting a new 12 00:00:38,400 --> 00:00:41,960 series today where we're going to be exploring the Bible, the 13 00:00:41,960 --> 00:00:44,480 God Story. We're going to be looking at it 14 00:00:44,480 --> 00:00:48,440 not as disconnected stories or around a list of random rules, 15 00:00:48,680 --> 00:00:55,160 but one big story, the God Story that we find our part to play in 16 00:00:55,160 --> 00:00:58,240 that we find ourselves within. And we're going to finish this 17 00:00:58,240 --> 00:01:02,440 series at our weekend away. So quick plug, if you haven't 18 00:01:02,440 --> 00:01:05,319 booked for the church weekend away, you need to come. 19 00:01:05,600 --> 00:01:10,080 OK, First weekend in July, Bookings close next weekend. 20 00:01:10,240 --> 00:01:13,240 Well, in theory, if you make a decision the following week, 21 00:01:13,640 --> 00:01:14,880 we're not going to turn you away. 22 00:01:15,000 --> 00:01:17,360 But that's like my little advert break done. 23 00:01:17,720 --> 00:01:20,520 OK. The story of the Bible, the God 24 00:01:20,520 --> 00:01:24,920 story, it begins with creation. It climaxes in Jesus and invites 25 00:01:24,920 --> 00:01:29,080 every single one of us to play our part in all that God is 26 00:01:29,080 --> 00:01:33,080 doing in the world around us. So it's a book. 27 00:01:33,480 --> 00:01:35,480 It's a book. I bought a few visual aids this 28 00:01:35,480 --> 00:01:37,520 morning. It is an all in service. 29 00:01:37,520 --> 00:01:38,880 Well done. If you're here and you're in 30 00:01:38,880 --> 00:01:44,000 primary school, you are bringing it this morning, my star pupils. 31 00:01:44,920 --> 00:01:48,040 So I've got a few books here to help us dig into the Bible a 32 00:01:48,040 --> 00:01:49,760 little bit. And does anyone know what this 33 00:01:49,760 --> 00:01:53,440 is? A photo album? 34 00:01:53,520 --> 00:01:58,760 Why do we have photo albums? Memories to remind us of things, 35 00:01:58,760 --> 00:02:02,040 the things that we have done, seen, taken part in. 36 00:02:03,320 --> 00:02:08,120 This is this is one of our our COVID photo albums. 37 00:02:08,680 --> 00:02:11,400 OK, well, what's this book? Can you see? 38 00:02:12,440 --> 00:02:14,600 It's called The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe? 39 00:02:15,200 --> 00:02:19,320 What sort of book is it? Fiction, A story? 40 00:02:19,320 --> 00:02:21,160 It's a novel. It's a story. 41 00:02:21,160 --> 00:02:23,680 If you haven't read it, it's really worth reading it. 42 00:02:24,000 --> 00:02:27,040 It's a story. What about this one? 43 00:02:27,360 --> 00:02:32,560 The Dodoyne and Dodoyne and the Lot Travel Guide? 44 00:02:32,560 --> 00:02:35,560 It's a, it's a guidebook, tells you all about the different 45 00:02:35,560 --> 00:02:38,800 places that we might have been to or I just looked at the 46 00:02:38,800 --> 00:02:44,200 pictures before we went. So what's this one? 47 00:02:44,520 --> 00:02:48,120 Canoe and kayak? The clue is in the title 48 00:02:48,560 --> 00:02:52,160 handbook. If you're interested in a canoe 49 00:02:52,160 --> 00:02:54,320 and kayak handbook, we have 1 you could borrow. 50 00:02:54,880 --> 00:03:02,800 There you go. This one, a map, the a, a road 51 00:03:02,800 --> 00:03:05,360 map of 2018. It's probably a bit out of date 52 00:03:05,360 --> 00:03:07,480 now of Great Britain and Ireland. 53 00:03:07,480 --> 00:03:09,280 We might use that in the summer. We're planning to go to 54 00:03:09,280 --> 00:03:13,640 Scotland, so that helps you find the way, doesn't it? 55 00:03:13,640 --> 00:03:20,160 The Bible, the map, this one, who uses one of these these 56 00:03:20,160 --> 00:03:23,080 days? I love that. 57 00:03:23,320 --> 00:03:25,400 I bought this when I was at university. 58 00:03:25,440 --> 00:03:28,000 I think that was probably the last time I used it because then 59 00:03:28,080 --> 00:03:30,720 Google was invented, right? A dictionary. 60 00:03:30,720 --> 00:03:34,160 It helps us work out what mean it, what words mean. 61 00:03:34,920 --> 00:03:38,000 I would say how to spell them. It doesn't help a dyslexic 62 00:03:38,000 --> 00:03:41,240 person to spell them because most English words aren't 63 00:03:41,280 --> 00:03:42,640 written as you say them, are they? 64 00:03:42,640 --> 00:03:45,840 So. But helpful to find meanings and 65 00:03:45,840 --> 00:03:50,760 understanding. This one, a recipe book. 66 00:03:50,920 --> 00:03:56,480 A recipe book which I've never used, but I'm sure it has some 67 00:03:56,480 --> 00:04:00,440 lovely tasty recipes in it. And then I bought a few. 68 00:04:00,680 --> 00:04:03,680 My children will tell you. In fact, one of my children sent 69 00:04:03,680 --> 00:04:09,560 me a thing, a meme. Is it called on social media of 70 00:04:10,640 --> 00:04:13,880 someone having a bad day and their family cheered them up by 71 00:04:13,880 --> 00:04:16,720 buying them a new Bible? And they sent me that meme 72 00:04:16,720 --> 00:04:20,519 because, you know, I've got a number of Bibles and then I've 73 00:04:20,519 --> 00:04:22,680 got, so I've bought 4-5 in today. 74 00:04:24,280 --> 00:04:30,200 A Bible is, you could say all of those books in one. 75 00:04:30,760 --> 00:04:33,280 OK, this is quite a serious 1, isn't It's got a black cover. 76 00:04:33,920 --> 00:04:36,040 This one. If you haven't read the Jesus 77 00:04:36,040 --> 00:04:39,680 Storybook Bible, it's absolutely brilliant. 78 00:04:39,920 --> 00:04:44,040 If you want to get to grips with the overarching story of the of 79 00:04:44,040 --> 00:04:48,320 the God story, then this is one of the best books that you can 80 00:04:48,320 --> 00:04:50,840 buy. And if you want to borrow it and 81 00:04:50,840 --> 00:04:52,760 you promise to return it, I'll lend it to you. 82 00:04:54,360 --> 00:04:57,280 I was bought this book for my birthday a few years ago. 83 00:04:57,280 --> 00:05:02,040 The infographic Bible if you like pictures and graphs and 84 00:05:03,320 --> 00:05:07,480 beautifulness, then feel free to have a look at this at the end. 85 00:05:08,800 --> 00:05:13,440 This this was one this was before you had the Bible app and 86 00:05:13,440 --> 00:05:15,680 you're the whole Bible was in your pocket, right. 87 00:05:16,080 --> 00:05:21,840 I had one of these and I got given it in July 1990. 88 00:05:23,000 --> 00:05:26,520 So quite a long time ago, some of you were not born. 89 00:05:26,800 --> 00:05:30,320 And now, like, if you look at it like you need a, for me, I need 90 00:05:30,320 --> 00:05:34,720 a magnifying glass to see it. But this was my pocket Bible 91 00:05:34,720 --> 00:05:38,320 that I had when I was a teenager because I wanted to carry the 92 00:05:38,320 --> 00:05:41,000 Bible around with me. This is my current favorite 93 00:05:41,000 --> 00:05:43,520 because it's my favorite colour. And guess what? 94 00:05:43,640 --> 00:05:45,160 It's the exact opposite of that one. 95 00:05:45,320 --> 00:05:49,160 It's in giant print, OK? There's so many different 96 00:05:49,160 --> 00:05:51,080 Bibles. I feel like I could be a Bible 97 00:05:51,080 --> 00:05:54,000 salesperson, right? For those of you that don't know 98 00:05:54,000 --> 00:05:57,680 me, I love the Bible. I have studied it for years and 99 00:05:57,680 --> 00:05:59,640 years and years. I love it. 100 00:05:59,640 --> 00:06:01,720 It's useful. It's a guidebook. 101 00:06:01,920 --> 00:06:06,240 It's a reminder, like a photograph album of where we 102 00:06:06,240 --> 00:06:09,280 have come from, of the story that we are part of. 103 00:06:09,520 --> 00:06:13,040 It's a dictionary. It explains things that we might 104 00:06:13,040 --> 00:06:14,960 not understand. It's a map. 105 00:06:15,160 --> 00:06:18,680 It's all of the things. It's probably even recipe book. 106 00:06:19,040 --> 00:06:23,240 I mean it talks about making like Raisin cakes and not that I 107 00:06:23,240 --> 00:06:27,080 ever have, but the Bible is just such a great book. 108 00:06:27,080 --> 00:06:30,520 It is not just one book. It is a library. 109 00:06:30,520 --> 00:06:33,960 It is 66 books. It's written by over 40 authors 110 00:06:34,920 --> 00:06:40,840 across about 1500 years in more than one language, so the fact 111 00:06:41,000 --> 00:06:45,440 that it is a unified story that leads to Jesus is utterly mind 112 00:06:45,440 --> 00:06:49,760 blowing because of how these scriptures have been pulled 113 00:06:49,760 --> 00:06:52,920 together. So if you don't have a Bible, 114 00:06:53,480 --> 00:06:55,920 then we want to give, we, I know we say this all the time, but we 115 00:06:55,920 --> 00:06:58,240 want to give you 1. If you who live with people that 116 00:06:58,240 --> 00:07:00,800 don't have Bibles and they would like one, please take one. 117 00:07:01,000 --> 00:07:03,920 If you don't bring your Bible to church on a Sunday, bring it. 118 00:07:04,080 --> 00:07:07,240 There's nothing better than thumbing through the pages, 119 00:07:07,240 --> 00:07:12,000 working out like where we are in the God story, where we're at, 120 00:07:12,000 --> 00:07:15,400 looking at it in your pages and writing on it. 121 00:07:15,680 --> 00:07:17,720 I know that there's some people that don't like writing in books 122 00:07:17,720 --> 00:07:20,800 in our church, but highlighting it like if you look at mine, you 123 00:07:20,800 --> 00:07:22,600 can, I mean, I got this last year. 124 00:07:22,840 --> 00:07:26,040 You can tell books I've read because there's highlighting in 125 00:07:26,040 --> 00:07:28,720 them. So I'm working my way through it 126 00:07:28,720 --> 00:07:31,560 this year. Bring your Bible to church. 127 00:07:32,200 --> 00:07:35,320 I, I, yes, do it. So it's a library. 128 00:07:35,320 --> 00:07:38,480 It's all these books together. It's also a story. 129 00:07:38,960 --> 00:07:42,240 Every story has a shape. I held up the line, The Witch 130 00:07:42,240 --> 00:07:44,120 and the wardrobe. It's a story. 131 00:07:44,520 --> 00:07:47,160 OK, so that's fictional. I don't think the Bible is 132 00:07:47,160 --> 00:07:49,800 fictional, but it has an overarching story. 133 00:07:49,800 --> 00:07:54,280 Every story has a shape, So let's look at a couple of these. 134 00:07:54,280 --> 00:07:55,640 You're going to have to help me out with these. 135 00:07:55,880 --> 00:07:57,400 I think there might be. OK. 136 00:07:57,400 --> 00:08:01,840 So this is a story. Anyone know the story? 137 00:08:01,920 --> 00:08:03,040 Frozen. Well done. 138 00:08:03,040 --> 00:08:03,680 Well done. Diane. 139 00:08:04,720 --> 00:08:09,520 Who's the hero? Elsa, What's the problem? 140 00:08:11,400 --> 00:08:18,680 It's called OK. Well, OK. 141 00:08:19,360 --> 00:08:23,240 Frozen Heart. Frozen Heart Hands is evil. 142 00:08:23,680 --> 00:08:27,080 Maybe slightly confused. How is it resolved? 143 00:08:30,800 --> 00:08:34,440 Sisterly Love. Love's true Kiss. 144 00:08:34,720 --> 00:08:36,640 I don't. It's a long time since I watched 145 00:08:36,640 --> 00:08:39,000 it. But it has a story, doesn't it? 146 00:08:39,000 --> 00:08:40,320 There's a hero. There's a problem. 147 00:08:40,320 --> 00:08:42,600 There's a resolution. What about the next one? 148 00:08:44,800 --> 00:08:47,360 The Lion King? Who's the hero? 149 00:08:48,760 --> 00:08:50,800 Simba. What's the problem? 150 00:08:51,880 --> 00:08:54,960 Scar and the hyenas have taken over the Pride Land. 151 00:08:55,360 --> 00:08:59,720 How is it resolved? Simba's. 152 00:08:59,920 --> 00:09:02,360 Simba works out his identity, doesn't he? 153 00:09:02,840 --> 00:09:06,800 He realises that he is. He's the king. 154 00:09:08,120 --> 00:09:09,800 Death to Scar, did you say? Oh, yeah. 155 00:09:10,320 --> 00:09:11,200 Yeah. OK. 156 00:09:12,120 --> 00:09:13,280 OK. Next one, This one. 157 00:09:13,280 --> 00:09:17,480 You're going to have to help me out with Star Wars. 158 00:09:17,880 --> 00:09:19,920 Any Mandalorian and Grogu fans in the room? 159 00:09:21,680 --> 00:09:24,880 OK, so who's the hero of Star Wars? 160 00:09:25,920 --> 00:09:28,640 I couldn't answer this question because I've only watched a 161 00:09:28,640 --> 00:09:31,080 couple of Star Wars films and I know there's hundreds, but 162 00:09:31,080 --> 00:09:32,720 there's heroes. Is there? 163 00:09:33,600 --> 00:09:36,640 Is Luke Skywalker one of them? OK, that's the one that I knew 164 00:09:36,640 --> 00:09:40,440 of. Jake knows. 165 00:09:41,440 --> 00:09:45,160 Oh, Nikki's dubbing you in. What's the problem? 166 00:09:49,480 --> 00:09:51,000 I like. That's a really good summary. 167 00:09:51,000 --> 00:09:53,520 The Empire has been taken over by the Galaxy and it's really 168 00:09:53,520 --> 00:09:55,560 bad. OK, that's about my level of 169 00:09:55,560 --> 00:09:58,640 understanding of Star Wars. For those of you that are avid 170 00:09:58,640 --> 00:10:01,320 fans, I'm sorry that I am ruining this for you. 171 00:10:01,320 --> 00:10:07,440 And how is it resolved with lightsabers overpowering the 172 00:10:07,440 --> 00:10:09,800 Empire? OK, I love that. 173 00:10:09,840 --> 00:10:13,600 I need to watch more Star Wars. Sacrifice. 174 00:10:13,600 --> 00:10:15,440 There you go. It's resolved by sacrifice. 175 00:10:16,120 --> 00:10:18,440 Thanks, Russ. That ties nicely into the God 176 00:10:18,440 --> 00:10:20,800 story, doesn't it? Yeah. 177 00:10:21,120 --> 00:10:22,120 OK. Next one. 178 00:10:24,320 --> 00:10:26,000 Oh, that's a bit of a rubbish picture. 179 00:10:28,680 --> 00:10:30,960 Some of you are like what? It's a rubbish picture. 180 00:10:30,960 --> 00:10:32,840 Apologies. High School Musical. 181 00:10:33,640 --> 00:10:36,360 Like High School Musical. There we go. 182 00:10:38,440 --> 00:10:41,560 The hips broke out in song. I'm surprised Russ didn't join 183 00:10:41,560 --> 00:10:43,760 in. I have seen Russ sing along to 184 00:10:43,760 --> 00:10:46,520 High School Musical. OK, so who's the hero? 185 00:10:46,720 --> 00:10:48,560 Let's go with the first film, shall we? 186 00:10:49,200 --> 00:10:51,920 Troy and Gabriella. OK, What's the what's the 187 00:10:51,920 --> 00:10:52,760 problem? The soundtrack. 188 00:10:54,480 --> 00:10:57,000 The soundtrack. Shar, Pei and Ryan. 189 00:10:57,480 --> 00:11:00,480 What is the problem? Also that jealousy. 190 00:11:00,480 --> 00:11:03,280 Yeah, they don't know who they are. 191 00:11:03,400 --> 00:11:05,880 They're struggling with their identity, as you can tell. 192 00:11:05,880 --> 00:11:08,520 As we've gone on, I know more about some of these films than 193 00:11:08,640 --> 00:11:16,360 these stories than others. And how is it resolved singing 194 00:11:17,680 --> 00:11:19,840 something along those lines? They work out who they are. 195 00:11:19,840 --> 00:11:22,640 They become confident in who they're made to be and what they 196 00:11:22,640 --> 00:11:23,400 love. I love it. 197 00:11:23,440 --> 00:11:25,960 OK, OK. I think that's the last one, 198 00:11:26,280 --> 00:11:29,920 that if they all have an overarching, they all have a 199 00:11:29,920 --> 00:11:31,720 story. There's a, there's a hero, 200 00:11:31,720 --> 00:11:33,360 there's a problem, there's a resolution. 201 00:11:33,600 --> 00:11:38,440 And the Bible is the same too. OK, it has, it has an 202 00:11:38,440 --> 00:11:40,760 overarching storyline. So I'm going to need some 203 00:11:40,760 --> 00:11:42,720 volunteers. Can I have 6 volunteers? 204 00:11:44,640 --> 00:11:46,560 You just have to hold up a piece of card. 205 00:11:46,760 --> 00:11:49,000 Brilliant, you go. Brilliant. 206 00:11:49,080 --> 00:11:52,880 A a can you come and stand here? You're holding creation. 207 00:11:52,880 --> 00:11:56,720 Creation happens. This is when God created the 208 00:11:56,720 --> 00:11:58,560 world. Let's pretend that a is God and 209 00:11:58,560 --> 00:12:01,280 she's creating the world. Unfortunately, who's going to be 210 00:12:01,280 --> 00:12:05,440 the fool then? Unfortunately, man decides, I'm 211 00:12:05,440 --> 00:12:07,040 going to go into more of this in a minute. 212 00:12:07,200 --> 00:12:08,720 Man decides to do their own thing. 213 00:12:08,720 --> 00:12:13,320 Humans decide, God says, I'm going to rescue you with a 214 00:12:13,320 --> 00:12:17,320 family called Israel that has its ups and downs. 215 00:12:18,000 --> 00:12:23,400 And and so God sends Jesus the ultimate he is going to rescue 216 00:12:23,400 --> 00:12:26,840 all of us. And he does that through the 217 00:12:26,840 --> 00:12:29,960 church, which we read about in the book of Acts. 218 00:12:30,320 --> 00:12:34,920 And no, should I just hold it? And then we have the new 219 00:12:34,920 --> 00:12:37,960 creation, the climax when Jesus comes again. 220 00:12:38,240 --> 00:12:43,160 So this is the overarching story of the Bible and we're going to 221 00:12:43,160 --> 00:12:45,320 look at it in a bit more detail in a minute. 222 00:12:45,840 --> 00:12:49,440 Well done team. Can you all smile and take a 223 00:12:49,440 --> 00:12:52,720 bow? Is hiding behind a piece of 224 00:12:52,720 --> 00:12:54,120 paper brilliant? Just put the bits of paper on 225 00:12:54,120 --> 00:12:55,080 the floor. That would be amazing. 226 00:12:55,080 --> 00:12:56,800 And you can take your seats. Thank you very much. 227 00:12:58,880 --> 00:13:01,480 The Bible has this overarching story. 228 00:13:01,800 --> 00:13:04,320 And then we're going to look at it in a bit more detail in a 229 00:13:04,320 --> 00:13:06,760 minute. Have you got time to do 230 00:13:06,760 --> 00:13:09,120 announcements? We're going to have some 231 00:13:09,120 --> 00:13:11,920 announcements and a short break and then I will be back. 232 00:13:12,400 --> 00:13:14,160 Pip, don't trip on the bits of paper. 233 00:13:15,840 --> 00:13:18,400 Like technical issues. So the music only came on at the 234 00:13:18,400 --> 00:13:21,960 end. OK, so if while I'm talking you 235 00:13:21,960 --> 00:13:25,360 want to do something with your fingers or hands, we've got a 236 00:13:25,360 --> 00:13:29,520 few activity books. Activity books, activity sheets, 237 00:13:29,520 --> 00:13:33,520 colouring, bookmark making. This isn't just for children. 238 00:13:33,520 --> 00:13:36,400 If you like colouring and you like being busy. 239 00:13:36,800 --> 00:13:40,960 Also over here. Just a quick poll. 240 00:13:40,960 --> 00:13:44,240 Does anybody know all the books of the Bible off by heart? 241 00:13:47,320 --> 00:13:51,120 OK, half anyone? Can anyone know more than half? 242 00:13:53,520 --> 00:13:57,520 OK, so this is your challenge. OK, so it might be that you want 243 00:13:57,520 --> 00:14:00,560 to take a coloring sheet. You don't need to color it, but 244 00:14:00,560 --> 00:14:02,920 you could have it at home. Or if you've got your Bibles, 245 00:14:03,160 --> 00:14:04,600 you can look at the contents page. 246 00:14:04,760 --> 00:14:08,560 Or if you've got your Bible course book, which we're doing 247 00:14:08,560 --> 00:14:10,760 in small groups. If you're not in a small group, 248 00:14:10,880 --> 00:14:13,200 then do get into a small group. They're going to be, we're going 249 00:14:13,200 --> 00:14:14,800 to be looking at this in our small groups. 250 00:14:15,440 --> 00:14:17,840 But do take If you don't have a book, take one. 251 00:14:18,400 --> 00:14:20,320 They're outside on the information table. 252 00:14:20,680 --> 00:14:23,320 That'll give you a list. Over here is some Jenga blocks 253 00:14:23,320 --> 00:14:25,920 that I have graffitied with the books of the Bible. 254 00:14:26,160 --> 00:14:32,000 So if you want to build a tower in the correct order, then feel 255 00:14:32,000 --> 00:14:33,440 free to do that while I'm talking. 256 00:14:33,440 --> 00:14:35,760 That's absolutely fine if you want to do that. 257 00:14:37,000 --> 00:14:39,600 You might need to take a list with you if you don't know it, 258 00:14:39,680 --> 00:14:43,480 or if you can sing the song in your head or out loud if you 259 00:14:43,480 --> 00:14:46,560 want to. So we've looked at the fact that 260 00:14:46,560 --> 00:14:49,720 the Bible is a library. The Bible is a story. 261 00:14:52,000 --> 00:14:53,920 No, it's not cheating if you don't know it. 262 00:14:58,000 --> 00:15:00,280 Maybe the 1st 1st for you, you can try it. 263 00:15:00,280 --> 00:15:07,280 OK, I've totally lost my train of thought. 264 00:15:07,680 --> 00:15:09,840 The Bible is also so the Bible is a library. 265 00:15:09,840 --> 00:15:12,720 It's a story. It's also the word of God. 266 00:15:13,000 --> 00:15:18,040 Paul who wrote a lot of the New Testament, he once he decided to 267 00:15:18,040 --> 00:15:20,240 follow Jesus, he was an all round legend. 268 00:15:20,560 --> 00:15:23,960 And he was writing to his friend Timothy who was younger than him 269 00:15:23,960 --> 00:15:26,880 and was overseeing the church plant in Ephesus. 270 00:15:26,880 --> 00:15:31,480 And Paul writes to Timothy in Two Timothy 3, Two Timothy 316 271 00:15:31,480 --> 00:15:33,920 to 17. All scripture is inspired by 272 00:15:33,920 --> 00:15:36,400 God. Some translations say Breathed 273 00:15:36,400 --> 00:15:40,960 by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us 274 00:15:40,960 --> 00:15:42,560 realize what is wrong in our lives. 275 00:15:42,960 --> 00:15:45,880 It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is 276 00:15:45,880 --> 00:15:48,720 right. God uses it to prepare and equip 277 00:15:48,720 --> 00:15:50,920 his people to do every good work. 278 00:15:51,200 --> 00:15:55,000 The the words of the Bible are inspired by God. 279 00:15:55,240 --> 00:15:59,160 They're his breath. He used the authors to write 280 00:15:59,160 --> 00:16:01,960 what they wrote. It is alive and active, 281 00:16:01,960 --> 00:16:04,600 Scripture says. And for those of you that know, 282 00:16:04,600 --> 00:16:08,840 just after Jesus rose from the dead, he joined his friends 283 00:16:08,840 --> 00:16:13,000 walking to the town of Emmaus. And they didn't realize that it 284 00:16:13,000 --> 00:16:15,560 was Jesus. And this stranger that they were 285 00:16:15,560 --> 00:16:19,640 walking with started unpacking the scriptures, unpacking what 286 00:16:19,640 --> 00:16:23,080 we call the Old Testament. And when they realized it was 287 00:16:23,200 --> 00:16:26,440 Jesus, they said, did not his words burn within us? 288 00:16:27,000 --> 00:16:29,680 The Word of God is alive and active. 289 00:16:29,680 --> 00:16:33,440 It is important. That's why it's important for us 290 00:16:33,440 --> 00:16:36,560 to read it and to understand it, to apply it. 291 00:16:36,560 --> 00:16:40,720 There's history, there's stories, there's law, there's 292 00:16:40,720 --> 00:16:44,480 wisdom, there's different accounts of occasions. 293 00:16:45,560 --> 00:16:49,840 The reason we need to know it, to read it, to understand it, is 294 00:16:49,840 --> 00:16:54,200 so that we can find our place within this God story. 295 00:16:54,520 --> 00:16:58,480 We can play our part. So we had a brief look at the 296 00:16:58,480 --> 00:17:00,520 overarching narrative of Scripture. 297 00:17:00,840 --> 00:17:03,600 And so I'm going to look at that in a little bit more detail. 298 00:17:03,720 --> 00:17:06,760 So we started with creation in the beginning. 299 00:17:06,760 --> 00:17:13,280 God created the world. Human beings are made to live in 300 00:17:13,280 --> 00:17:18,040 relationship with God, to have our identity in him, to be made 301 00:17:18,040 --> 00:17:20,680 in his image. I'm not going to go off my notes 302 00:17:20,680 --> 00:17:22,800 because I'm also talking on this next week. 303 00:17:22,800 --> 00:17:26,800 So come back next week for the story begins Genesis. 304 00:17:27,359 --> 00:17:32,400 God created and it was good. It was very good and he created 305 00:17:32,400 --> 00:17:35,320 us to live in harmony and relationship. 306 00:17:36,000 --> 00:17:40,560 Unfortunately, human beings chose autonomy over trust. 307 00:17:41,800 --> 00:17:44,760 Adam and Eve, God's first human beings, he created. 308 00:17:45,040 --> 00:17:49,640 God did something that God had expressly told them not to, and 309 00:17:49,640 --> 00:17:53,120 the consequences were and are far reaching. 310 00:17:53,640 --> 00:17:59,440 Autonomy over trust. That is the root of why we find 311 00:17:59,440 --> 00:18:04,440 it so hard to trust people. And Adam and Eve's response to 312 00:18:04,440 --> 00:18:08,440 realizing that they had not trusted God was to hide. 313 00:18:10,520 --> 00:18:15,440 They sin is what the Bible calls when we do things that are not 314 00:18:15,440 --> 00:18:19,080 God's way. And sin fractured everything. 315 00:18:19,080 --> 00:18:21,960 It fractured their relationship with God, their relationship 316 00:18:21,960 --> 00:18:24,960 with each other, their relationship with creation. 317 00:18:26,240 --> 00:18:31,280 Their response was to hide. And and God walked in the garden 318 00:18:31,280 --> 00:18:37,000 and said, where are you? I wonder how many of us hide 319 00:18:37,000 --> 00:18:42,680 from God and each other? Ashamed of who we really are, 320 00:18:42,680 --> 00:18:48,120 Fearful, embarrassed, unsure. And God asks us the same 321 00:18:48,120 --> 00:18:54,800 question, Where are you? Even though God is all knowing 322 00:18:55,320 --> 00:18:57,800 and he knows who we are, He knows where we are, where he 323 00:18:57,800 --> 00:19:02,920 knows where we're hiding, He still gives us the choice. 324 00:19:03,560 --> 00:19:07,760 And he says, where are you? Sin messes everything up. 325 00:19:07,960 --> 00:19:10,800 So we have creation, we have fall, then we have Israel. 326 00:19:11,040 --> 00:19:16,480 God chooses a family, Abraham's family, to bless the nations. 327 00:19:16,640 --> 00:19:20,320 He makes a promise with him, a covenant, a covenant 328 00:19:20,320 --> 00:19:24,280 relationship where he says, if you do this, I will do this, I 329 00:19:24,280 --> 00:19:27,000 will look after you. You will be my people and you 330 00:19:27,000 --> 00:19:29,400 will be a blessing to the whole world. 331 00:19:30,840 --> 00:19:33,720 And in this big chunk in the Old Testament, that's where we read 332 00:19:33,720 --> 00:19:38,280 about the law and the prophets and all of the different judges 333 00:19:38,280 --> 00:19:41,120 and kings. The people of Israel, this 334 00:19:41,120 --> 00:19:46,720 family that God chose, wanted to replace God with a judge and 335 00:19:46,720 --> 00:19:49,640 then a king. They wanted a human being to 336 00:19:49,640 --> 00:19:54,000 lead them because they kind of lost touch with God. 337 00:19:54,240 --> 00:19:56,880 And it says over and over again, if you read any of those books 338 00:19:56,880 --> 00:20:00,280 in the Old Testament, Israel chose to do their own thing. 339 00:20:00,920 --> 00:20:04,440 For another 40 years, Israel chose to ignore God. 340 00:20:05,880 --> 00:20:08,920 How familiar does that sound to life today? 341 00:20:09,920 --> 00:20:15,000 We as a people, as a nation, as a as a world, we choose to 342 00:20:15,040 --> 00:20:20,120 ignore God. But that wasn't where the story 343 00:20:20,120 --> 00:20:23,040 ended. Because God loves us. 344 00:20:23,240 --> 00:20:28,120 God created us as human beings to be in relationship with him. 345 00:20:28,400 --> 00:20:32,720 He made us in his image and so he was never going to just leave 346 00:20:32,720 --> 00:20:34,800 it like that. He sent Jesus. 347 00:20:35,120 --> 00:20:38,720 He himself, the triune God came to earth. 348 00:20:39,440 --> 00:20:43,480 He was no side note, Jesus wasn't a Plan B Jesus actually 349 00:20:43,480 --> 00:20:48,840 is the climax of the story. This the whole of the Bible is 350 00:20:48,840 --> 00:20:53,360 to, to quote the Bible project, a unified story that leads to 351 00:20:53,360 --> 00:20:58,120 Jesus. Jesus comes to do what no one 352 00:20:58,120 --> 00:21:01,360 else can do. He's God, He's perfect, and he's 353 00:21:01,360 --> 00:21:04,360 fully human. He lives, he dies, he rises 354 00:21:04,360 --> 00:21:09,720 again to restore what is broken, and he promises to come again. 355 00:21:09,720 --> 00:21:14,120 You know, the covenant that God made with Abraham back in the 356 00:21:14,120 --> 00:21:17,960 book of Genesis. God used what Abraham would have 357 00:21:17,960 --> 00:21:20,600 understood in his culture and context. 358 00:21:21,520 --> 00:21:24,120 The covenant is called the Souser and vassal treaty. 359 00:21:24,440 --> 00:21:27,560 And they made a promise, and I'm not going to go into the details 360 00:21:27,560 --> 00:21:30,600 because it's a bit gory, but there was some animals that were 361 00:21:30,600 --> 00:21:32,280 killed. There was a promise that was 362 00:21:32,280 --> 00:21:34,600 made. Abraham and the presence of God 363 00:21:34,600 --> 00:21:38,720 in a cloud walk through these dead animals. 364 00:21:39,520 --> 00:21:43,280 And the promise is, is that if we do so, if we break this 365 00:21:43,280 --> 00:21:47,200 agreement, what has happened to these animals will happen to one 366 00:21:47,200 --> 00:21:50,960 of us. And if you know anything of the, 367 00:21:51,120 --> 00:21:54,600 of the Bible, you'll know that the, the, the covenant was 368 00:21:54,600 --> 00:21:58,760 broken, The promise was broken. The people chose to do what they 369 00:21:58,760 --> 00:22:01,800 wanted to do, their relationship with God. 370 00:22:01,800 --> 00:22:05,600 They ignored him. But rather than God killing 371 00:22:05,600 --> 00:22:08,800 humanity and what happening to humanity, what happened to those 372 00:22:08,800 --> 00:22:12,880 animals? God came as himself in Jesus, 373 00:22:13,160 --> 00:22:17,000 and he was sacrificed so that we could have relationship with 374 00:22:17,000 --> 00:22:21,240 him. Israel broke the promise over 375 00:22:21,240 --> 00:22:25,000 and over again, and Jesus came to pay the price for that broken 376 00:22:25,000 --> 00:22:30,960 covenant to make the sacrifice. The whole Bible points to Jesus. 377 00:22:32,520 --> 00:22:36,840 After Jesus rises and ascends to heaven, the story is not over 378 00:22:37,080 --> 00:22:41,920 because then we have the church, a really important part of the 379 00:22:41,920 --> 00:22:45,160 God story. That's us, that's our part. 380 00:22:45,360 --> 00:22:51,560 This is where we play our role, where we play our part, and that 381 00:22:51,560 --> 00:22:54,600 began at Pentecost. If you read the book of Acts, 382 00:22:54,600 --> 00:22:59,600 it's the story of how the church began, the global church began. 383 00:23:00,040 --> 00:23:01,360 In fact, I'm going to read it now. 384 00:23:01,360 --> 00:23:03,760 So if you've got your Bible, find Acts. 385 00:23:03,760 --> 00:23:06,840 It's if you go to the middle and go towards the back a little 386 00:23:06,840 --> 00:23:11,760 bit, it goes Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts. 387 00:23:11,760 --> 00:23:16,240 If you're in the New Testament, unfortunately it's not quite 388 00:23:16,240 --> 00:23:18,520 halfway because there's more Old Testament books and there are 389 00:23:18,520 --> 00:23:21,480 New Testament books. Acts 2, I'm going to read. 390 00:23:22,120 --> 00:23:25,280 On the day of Pentecost, all the believers were meeting together 391 00:23:25,280 --> 00:23:27,800 in one place. Suddenly there was a sound from 392 00:23:27,800 --> 00:23:30,400 heaven, like a roaring of a mighty windstorm. 393 00:23:30,760 --> 00:23:32,880 It filled the house where they were sitting. 394 00:23:33,400 --> 00:23:36,920 Then what looked like flames or tongues of fire appeared and 395 00:23:36,920 --> 00:23:41,360 settled on each of them, and everyone present was filled with 396 00:23:41,360 --> 00:23:44,520 the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages as 397 00:23:44,520 --> 00:23:46,520 the Holy Spirit gave them this ability. 398 00:23:47,240 --> 00:23:50,560 At the time there were devout Jews from all from every nation 399 00:23:50,560 --> 00:23:53,640 living in Jerusalem. When they heard the loud noise, 400 00:23:53,640 --> 00:23:56,560 everyone came running and they were bewildered to hear their 401 00:23:56,560 --> 00:23:59,680 own languages being spoken by the believers. 402 00:24:00,560 --> 00:24:02,520 They were completely amazed. How can this be? 403 00:24:02,520 --> 00:24:04,200 They exclaimed. These people are all from 404 00:24:04,200 --> 00:24:07,440 Galilee, and yet we hear them speaking in our own native 405 00:24:07,440 --> 00:24:10,640 languages. Here we are Parthians, Medes, 406 00:24:10,680 --> 00:24:13,680 Elamites, people from Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, 407 00:24:13,680 --> 00:24:19,720 Pontus and the province of Asia, Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt and 408 00:24:19,720 --> 00:24:23,320 the areas of Libya around Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both 409 00:24:23,320 --> 00:24:26,120 Jews and converts to Judaism, Cretians and Arabs. 410 00:24:26,760 --> 00:24:29,680 And we all hear these people speaking in our own languages 411 00:24:29,680 --> 00:24:31,800 about the wonderful things God has done. 412 00:24:32,440 --> 00:24:34,440 They stood there amazed and perplexed. 413 00:24:34,800 --> 00:24:37,680 What can this mean? They asked each other, but 414 00:24:37,680 --> 00:24:40,720 others in the crowd ridiculed them, saying they're they're 415 00:24:40,720 --> 00:24:44,920 just drunk, that's all. And then Peter stands up and he 416 00:24:44,920 --> 00:24:47,000 says they're not drunk. This is the Holy Spirit. 417 00:24:47,200 --> 00:24:49,600 And he goes on to preach the gospel. 418 00:24:49,760 --> 00:24:53,600 And it says 5000 people joined the church that day, 5000 people 419 00:24:53,600 --> 00:24:58,640 plus probably became believers. The church is so significant. 420 00:24:58,640 --> 00:25:04,200 The same Spirit that inspired Scripture is now here with us to 421 00:25:04,200 --> 00:25:10,640 help us understand Scripture. The Spirit that lives in us to 422 00:25:10,640 --> 00:25:16,440 comfort us, to help us, help us become more like Jesus, is the 423 00:25:16,440 --> 00:25:19,680 same helper. If you look at the Hebrew that 424 00:25:19,680 --> 00:25:24,720 is used to describe Eve, when Eve is created to help Adam. 425 00:25:25,920 --> 00:25:31,400 The Holy Spirit was sent to us to help us become more like 426 00:25:31,400 --> 00:25:34,600 Jesus. And then we have the climax in 427 00:25:34,600 --> 00:25:38,360 the new creation. If you read Revelation it can 428 00:25:38,360 --> 00:25:40,800 twist your head a little bit. Come and talk to me if you want 429 00:25:40,800 --> 00:25:44,520 to know more. The climax is Jesus return. 430 00:25:44,520 --> 00:25:47,320 One day He will come again. He says he will. 431 00:25:47,320 --> 00:25:51,160 And we know that we can trust what God says, and he will make 432 00:25:51,160 --> 00:25:54,800 a new heaven and a new earth. There will be no more sin, no 433 00:25:54,800 --> 00:25:56,840 more sickness, no more death, no more dying. 434 00:25:56,840 --> 00:25:59,320 The old order of things will pass away. 435 00:25:59,440 --> 00:26:02,800 The order of things that we know and understand and live in will 436 00:26:02,800 --> 00:26:05,880 pass away. And His Kingdom will be here in 437 00:26:05,880 --> 00:26:09,560 full. This is the God story that we 438 00:26:09,560 --> 00:26:15,080 find ourselves in, the God story that is contained in the Bible. 439 00:26:15,520 --> 00:26:20,560 It's history, it's present, it's hope for the future, and it's 440 00:26:20,560 --> 00:26:25,520 the story that we can get immersed in, we can live our 441 00:26:25,520 --> 00:26:30,960 lives within. It's the story I've given my 442 00:26:30,960 --> 00:26:34,560 life to that I get excited about, that I try and immerse 443 00:26:34,560 --> 00:26:38,560 myself in every day. And This is why knowing it, 444 00:26:38,560 --> 00:26:41,600 reading it, understanding it is so important. 445 00:26:42,560 --> 00:26:46,280 You know, the ancient practice of reading scriptures is more 446 00:26:46,280 --> 00:26:50,320 important today in a distracted world, I think, than ever 447 00:26:50,320 --> 00:26:54,480 before. And This is why we're doing this 448 00:26:54,480 --> 00:26:58,240 series on the God story. This is why in small groups we 449 00:26:58,240 --> 00:27:00,680 are going through the Bible course. 450 00:27:00,960 --> 00:27:06,120 You know, research is showing that in our culture now, people 451 00:27:06,120 --> 00:27:10,800 are more open to Jesus than ever, well, than in our living 452 00:27:10,800 --> 00:27:14,720 memory, You know, this. Lots of research has been done, 453 00:27:15,520 --> 00:27:18,520 and in similar research that's been done about the openness of 454 00:27:18,520 --> 00:27:21,720 people in our current culture and climate, there's also 455 00:27:21,720 --> 00:27:25,640 research that has been done to say that the people of God feel 456 00:27:25,920 --> 00:27:28,960 less confident about the Bible than ever. 457 00:27:29,880 --> 00:27:32,920 People don't feel confident talking to their friends or 458 00:27:32,920 --> 00:27:35,560 reading it themselves or understanding where they fit. 459 00:27:36,120 --> 00:27:40,480 So that's on us, the church on, on leaders not not teaching it 460 00:27:40,480 --> 00:27:43,280 well enough. So that's why I'm passionate 461 00:27:43,280 --> 00:27:47,000 about this, because I want us to be a community of people that 462 00:27:47,000 --> 00:27:49,440 has total confidence in the Bible. 463 00:27:49,680 --> 00:27:53,400 That is is Bible literate that understands how it all fits 464 00:27:53,400 --> 00:27:54,720 together. You know, we don't have to go 465 00:27:54,720 --> 00:27:56,280 and do a theology degree for this. 466 00:27:56,280 --> 00:27:58,120 We don't have to go and do biblical studies. 467 00:27:58,320 --> 00:28:01,320 We just need to understand how the story fits together. 468 00:28:01,800 --> 00:28:04,400 Because when we're confident in the Bible, when we understand 469 00:28:04,400 --> 00:28:08,280 how it all fits together, it's not just information, it leads 470 00:28:08,280 --> 00:28:11,240 to transformation. And that's what we're about, 471 00:28:11,240 --> 00:28:14,000 right? Becoming more like Jesus. 472 00:28:15,000 --> 00:28:19,200 You know, UK Bible sales have more than doubled since 2019. 473 00:28:19,480 --> 00:28:28,640 Physical Bible sales rose from 192,000 to 396,000 last year 474 00:28:28,640 --> 00:28:32,720 alone. You know, in a world where there 475 00:28:32,720 --> 00:28:37,000 is endless content in the palm of our hands, people are 476 00:28:37,000 --> 00:28:39,880 searching for truth, meaning and hope. 477 00:28:40,680 --> 00:28:45,560 Where secularism has sold the lie, sold us a lie and made us 478 00:28:45,560 --> 00:28:50,400 sick, people are now turning to ancient truth to find meaning, 479 00:28:50,400 --> 00:28:54,840 freedom and purpose. So the Bible is not less 480 00:28:54,840 --> 00:28:58,120 relevant. The Bible is more relevant, or 481 00:28:58,160 --> 00:29:00,680 as relevant as it has always been, but people are 482 00:29:00,680 --> 00:29:03,800 rediscovering it. I heard two stories in the last 483 00:29:03,800 --> 00:29:06,000 couple of weeks at which I'm going to share. 484 00:29:06,520 --> 00:29:08,480 Jacob was in the room, Anna was in the room. 485 00:29:09,080 --> 00:29:12,480 Anna, who is a friend of ours, Rust and Pip's eldest daughter. 486 00:29:12,720 --> 00:29:16,360 She was going to Birmingham on the train a couple of weeks ago 487 00:29:16,560 --> 00:29:18,160 after the Vineyard leaders gathering. 488 00:29:18,440 --> 00:29:23,160 And she was sitting on the train, headphones in, and a guy 489 00:29:23,160 --> 00:29:27,160 came and sat opposite her, and he signalled for her to take her 490 00:29:27,160 --> 00:29:31,600 earbuds out. And she doesn't know how or why, 491 00:29:32,000 --> 00:29:34,600 but he started to ask her questions about the Bible. 492 00:29:35,120 --> 00:29:38,800 It turns out he's a scientist. He's looking for truth. 493 00:29:39,200 --> 00:29:41,640 And he just picked up a Bible and started reading it. 494 00:29:42,080 --> 00:29:44,760 And I think the conversation started because she had a 495 00:29:44,760 --> 00:29:46,360 wristband on from the conference. 496 00:29:46,520 --> 00:29:47,920 And he said, oh, where's your wristband from? 497 00:29:47,920 --> 00:29:51,320 So I think she said, oh, I've just been at a conference at my 498 00:29:51,320 --> 00:29:53,520 church. And so he said, oh, can I ask 499 00:29:53,520 --> 00:29:54,880 you some questions about the Bible? 500 00:29:55,680 --> 00:29:58,120 Isn't that amazing? So she got out of her Bible. 501 00:29:58,200 --> 00:30:00,240 They did a little bit of a she taught him a little bit about 502 00:30:00,240 --> 00:30:03,120 the Bible, did a bit of a Bible study, found out he lives in 503 00:30:03,120 --> 00:30:04,720 reading. She Googled some churches. 504 00:30:04,840 --> 00:30:05,800 Oh, I know someone at this church. 505 00:30:05,800 --> 00:30:07,880 You should try this church, which she doesn't know. 506 00:30:08,200 --> 00:30:09,960 But what an incredible conversation. 507 00:30:10,360 --> 00:30:13,360 Jake's, we're going to pray for him at the end because he's 508 00:30:13,720 --> 00:30:16,960 moving back up to Nottingham. But he went in to speak to his 509 00:30:16,960 --> 00:30:19,920 boss to tell him that he was leaving. 510 00:30:20,280 --> 00:30:23,840 They had a work conversation, you can find out the details 511 00:30:23,840 --> 00:30:26,040 afterwards and then it LED on to a whole conversation. 512 00:30:26,040 --> 00:30:28,040 His boss talking about the fact that he'd started reading the 513 00:30:28,040 --> 00:30:30,000 Bible and he probably needed to find a church. 514 00:30:31,040 --> 00:30:35,160 Like mind blowing, right? There are like people in our 515 00:30:35,480 --> 00:30:39,160 people that we are connected to are probably searching more than 516 00:30:39,160 --> 00:30:42,480 you realize. And so for you, I heard someone 517 00:30:42,480 --> 00:30:45,000 say recently, you know, maybe at work, you might have kept your 518 00:30:45,000 --> 00:30:47,680 Bible in your bag or in your desk drawer. 519 00:30:47,840 --> 00:30:50,600 Now's the time to put it on your desk so that people see that 520 00:30:50,600 --> 00:30:54,200 you've got a Bible because they may well ask you the questions. 521 00:30:55,200 --> 00:30:57,280 You know, to do the Bible course if you like. 522 00:30:57,280 --> 00:30:59,640 If you pick it up and you don't manage to make small group, you 523 00:30:59,640 --> 00:31:02,320 can work through it on your own. There's videos online. 524 00:31:02,600 --> 00:31:06,360 You can become more confident in the Bible. 525 00:31:06,840 --> 00:31:08,480 It's worth it. You don't have to. 526 00:31:10,200 --> 00:31:12,960 You don't have to know it all. You don't have to know anything. 527 00:31:13,200 --> 00:31:16,080 If you find the Bible confusing, if you're not quite sure, or 528 00:31:16,080 --> 00:31:18,520 even if you've been in church your whole life and you feel 529 00:31:18,520 --> 00:31:22,160 fairly confident, I guarantee you'll learn something new 530 00:31:23,080 --> 00:31:25,000 because there's so much to learn. 531 00:31:25,480 --> 00:31:27,080 You know, we can trust the Bible. 532 00:31:27,280 --> 00:31:32,240 It's rooted in history. Secular historians will tell you 533 00:31:32,680 --> 00:31:35,920 what a historically rooted book this is. 534 00:31:36,440 --> 00:31:39,720 It's been carefully preserved. You can still see manuscripts in 535 00:31:39,720 --> 00:31:44,840 different places of original writings, and it has stand stood 536 00:31:44,840 --> 00:31:48,680 the test of time. Lives have been transformed 537 00:31:48,680 --> 00:31:52,960 across generations. The Bible can be trusted. 538 00:31:55,280 --> 00:31:58,360 We can also trust it because it asks. 539 00:31:58,560 --> 00:32:02,520 It asks hard questions and it points us to the answer. 540 00:32:03,960 --> 00:32:07,840 We trust it because the Bible has stood up to the hard 541 00:32:07,840 --> 00:32:12,960 questions that has been asked. OK, we before we worship again, 542 00:32:12,960 --> 00:32:15,040 we're going to have a little bit of an interview panel. 543 00:32:16,080 --> 00:32:19,360 So please put your hands together for Betty, Angela and 544 00:32:19,360 --> 00:32:26,820 Graham. Going to channel my inner 545 00:32:28,500 --> 00:32:34,020 Claudia Winkelman. I was going to say like Wogan, 546 00:32:34,100 --> 00:32:39,320 but most of you don't know who he is, probably intimidate. 547 00:32:39,320 --> 00:32:42,880 Don't be intimidated. I thought it would be really 548 00:32:42,880 --> 00:32:47,160 good to hear other people's story, perspective, ideas, not 549 00:32:47,160 --> 00:32:50,520 just mine. So I've got a few questions. 550 00:32:50,520 --> 00:32:55,320 So firstly, brilliant. No, that's fine. 551 00:32:55,600 --> 00:32:58,480 We'll start with you, Angela. How did you first started 552 00:32:58,480 --> 00:33:01,360 reading the Bible and why do you still read it now? 553 00:33:03,880 --> 00:33:09,320 I, I first started, I think when I was little, I had a Bible 554 00:33:09,320 --> 00:33:13,800 stories book that had great hero stories in it. 555 00:33:13,840 --> 00:33:18,440 You know, like Adam and Eve and then Joseph and his amazing 556 00:33:18,440 --> 00:33:22,560 Technicolor Dreamcoat and Noah and all the Bible heroes, Daniel 557 00:33:22,560 --> 00:33:27,680 and King David and whatever. And I remember having that when 558 00:33:27,680 --> 00:33:30,680 I was little and my mom and dad reading it to me, and then a 559 00:33:30,680 --> 00:33:33,920 point where I could read the stories myself, probably just 560 00:33:33,920 --> 00:33:37,680 remembered them. But that, I guess, was my first 561 00:33:38,160 --> 00:33:42,280 kind of encounter with reading the Bible until I was about, I 562 00:33:42,280 --> 00:33:45,800 think, 11, I guess at the point where you would leave in your 563 00:33:45,800 --> 00:33:49,600 kids and go into youth. And I was given a Bible and it 564 00:33:49,600 --> 00:33:53,120 was a King James Version. And show me an 11 year old 565 00:33:53,120 --> 00:33:55,760 that's ever going to read that. So yeah. 566 00:33:56,320 --> 00:33:58,480 Lots of these thousands. Absolutely. 567 00:33:58,480 --> 00:34:02,560 Yeah, OK. And what have have you carried 568 00:34:02,560 --> 00:34:04,160 on reading it throughout your life? 569 00:34:05,640 --> 00:34:07,280 Full disclosure, I'm a bit rubbish. 570 00:34:07,920 --> 00:34:10,120 I'm not disciplined. I'm not one of these people that 571 00:34:10,120 --> 00:34:12,760 gets up at 6:00 every morning, sits for an hour and studies my 572 00:34:12,800 --> 00:34:16,520 Bible. I regularly try to be more 573 00:34:16,520 --> 00:34:24,600 disciplined, but I do, I like to use the Bible app because I just 574 00:34:24,600 --> 00:34:26,960 find it easier. It prompts me on a verse that I 575 00:34:26,960 --> 00:34:32,040 can read, ponder, and then maybe ask God right what you're trying 576 00:34:32,040 --> 00:34:34,400 to say to me and that. So rather than sit and read a 577 00:34:34,400 --> 00:34:37,080 whole chunk, I like to read little bits. 578 00:34:38,040 --> 00:34:43,280 And because I do, I'll prefer to use maybe a study plan. 579 00:34:44,320 --> 00:34:46,520 I find that easier to be more disciplined. 580 00:34:47,280 --> 00:34:50,159 And one thing that I really love in our small group, a few times 581 00:34:50,159 --> 00:34:53,520 we've done the Advent and the Lent Bible plans. 582 00:34:53,520 --> 00:34:57,640 And I find that really great because if other people are 583 00:34:57,640 --> 00:35:00,840 doing it, I tend then to say, all right, I've got to, you 584 00:35:00,840 --> 00:35:01,880 know, I've got a bit to read today. 585 00:35:01,880 --> 00:35:03,200 I wonder what's going to happen next. 586 00:35:03,600 --> 00:35:08,360 And I especially love the fact that God speaks to all of us in 587 00:35:08,360 --> 00:35:11,640 a different way when we do that. I've noticed that when we write 588 00:35:11,640 --> 00:35:15,040 our notes, you know, after we've read it and listened to the bit 589 00:35:15,040 --> 00:35:18,880 for the day, often what someone else says, Oh yeah, God said 590 00:35:18,880 --> 00:35:21,520 this to me or I felt this, I think, Oh yeah, I hadn't, I 591 00:35:21,520 --> 00:35:23,760 hadn't seen it like that. I'd seen it in a different way. 592 00:35:23,760 --> 00:35:25,880 So I find that really encouraging. 593 00:35:26,080 --> 00:35:27,200 That's brilliant. Thank you. 594 00:35:27,240 --> 00:35:28,960 Angela. Betty, how about you? 595 00:35:29,000 --> 00:35:30,920 How did you first start reading the Bible? 596 00:35:31,320 --> 00:35:34,280 And do you? Why do you still do it? 597 00:35:34,920 --> 00:35:40,960 Well, I, I grew up in church, so a lot of my first kind of 598 00:35:40,960 --> 00:35:43,880 experience of the Bible was through kid church and like kind 599 00:35:43,880 --> 00:35:47,880 of Sunday school stuff and like learning those stories and 600 00:35:47,880 --> 00:35:51,200 having them read to me. And yeah, so I think that's kind 601 00:35:51,200 --> 00:35:53,240 of like where I was first introduced to it. 602 00:35:53,760 --> 00:35:56,720 And then I think I was bought a Bible. 603 00:35:57,240 --> 00:36:00,440 Well, I kind of demanded that I was bought like a like an adult 604 00:36:00,440 --> 00:36:06,160 Bible at like 9, which then meant little 9 year old Betty 605 00:36:06,160 --> 00:36:09,760 tried to read the entire Bible and didn't get very far past the 606 00:36:09,760 --> 00:36:16,360 first bit of Genesis. So yeah, Fast forward and then I 607 00:36:16,960 --> 00:36:21,680 think probably about three years ago, I think I just started God 608 00:36:21,680 --> 00:36:25,560 was like, yeah, let's let we need to do this. 609 00:36:25,880 --> 00:36:31,120 So I kind of started being more intentional with Bible time and 610 00:36:31,160 --> 00:36:35,280 like specifically in the last year I've tried to tried because 611 00:36:35,800 --> 00:36:37,960 I found it tricky, but try to read a bit every day. 612 00:36:38,720 --> 00:36:41,520 But yeah. And what about you? 613 00:36:41,520 --> 00:36:44,120 When did you first start reading the Bible and why do you still 614 00:36:44,160 --> 00:36:48,400 read it? OK, so yeah, again, we grew up 615 00:36:48,400 --> 00:36:50,560 in, I grew up in the church, my family of Christians, and we 616 00:36:50,560 --> 00:36:53,280 went to Sunday school on a Sunday morning. 617 00:36:54,000 --> 00:36:58,120 So once a week at least I'll be exposed to the Bible. 618 00:36:58,640 --> 00:37:02,520 I'd say the first time consistently reading the Bible 619 00:37:02,520 --> 00:37:05,480 is when, when we were little, I suppose from the age of eight, 620 00:37:05,480 --> 00:37:09,080 we went on summer camps. And on summer camps they would 621 00:37:09,080 --> 00:37:12,040 have a Bible study period each day where you'd have small 622 00:37:12,040 --> 00:37:16,760 groups. And on each of those camps you'd 623 00:37:16,880 --> 00:37:19,960 spend every day just reading a little bit of the Bible and 624 00:37:19,960 --> 00:37:22,160 talking about it. It might connect to evening 625 00:37:22,160 --> 00:37:24,560 talks and things, but generally that was the sort of first 626 00:37:24,560 --> 00:37:27,440 exposure of reading it consistently for a week, 627 00:37:28,160 --> 00:37:29,680 although those actually were two weeks. 628 00:37:29,680 --> 00:37:34,080 So two weeks I was successful at consistently reading the Bible 629 00:37:34,520 --> 00:37:36,640 every day. So that was my first sort of 630 00:37:36,640 --> 00:37:39,040 exposure of sort of picking it up and reading it. 631 00:37:39,320 --> 00:37:41,120 Following those. They encourage you to like 632 00:37:41,440 --> 00:37:47,080 little booklets that gave you a Bible reading every day and they 633 00:37:47,080 --> 00:37:49,840 would work through the year and mum used to buy us those and 634 00:37:49,840 --> 00:37:53,680 give us those to read. My success rate is fairly hit 635 00:37:53,680 --> 00:37:56,400 and miss. Anyone that knows me, I am the 636 00:37:56,400 --> 00:37:58,720 most scatterbrained approach to life. 637 00:37:59,160 --> 00:38:02,200 Libs will give me a job. I will do the first thing on the 638 00:38:02,200 --> 00:38:05,560 job and then the next 5 things get totally forgotten. 639 00:38:06,240 --> 00:38:10,280 So when reading the Bible is at the top of my list, I pick it up 640 00:38:10,640 --> 00:38:13,000 and I'm good. As soon as something else pops 641 00:38:13,000 --> 00:38:15,120 into my brain then it drops down. 642 00:38:15,120 --> 00:38:17,680 So I have to keep working at keeping the Bible going to the 643 00:38:17,680 --> 00:38:22,920 top of the list because the way I function is it drops. 644 00:38:23,360 --> 00:38:27,880 So it's a real struggle for me just because of the way I'm not 645 00:38:27,880 --> 00:38:30,760 diagnosed ADHD, but I wouldn't be surprised if I was because I 646 00:38:30,760 --> 00:38:34,760 do fire all over the place when it comes to jobs and tasks. 647 00:38:35,160 --> 00:38:40,000 So yeah, from, from consistently when I'm in a place of 648 00:38:40,000 --> 00:38:42,280 structure, my Bible reading is good. 649 00:38:42,880 --> 00:38:46,720 When I'm left to my own devices, it goes up and down. 650 00:38:47,280 --> 00:38:51,680 And so the invention of the Bible app, like Andrew was 651 00:38:51,680 --> 00:38:55,720 saying, was really good. And at times when I'm struggling 652 00:38:55,720 --> 00:39:00,360 with something, there's often little devotional series that 653 00:39:00,360 --> 00:39:05,880 can look at grief, stress, anxiety, and I tend to gravitate 654 00:39:05,880 --> 00:39:10,200 towards one of those. And then I can really read 655 00:39:10,200 --> 00:39:13,720 passages that can really speak into how I'm feeling. 656 00:39:13,960 --> 00:39:17,840 And then God can just feed into to where I'm at and help me 657 00:39:17,840 --> 00:39:20,040 through those stages. So that becomes really helpful 658 00:39:20,040 --> 00:39:23,560 as well. I've just, I constantly try to 659 00:39:23,560 --> 00:39:27,760 be better. But definitely I'm better 660 00:39:27,760 --> 00:39:31,880 probably when I need God more than when I'm sort of floating 661 00:39:31,880 --> 00:39:33,800 along busy, if that makes sense. Yeah. 662 00:39:34,280 --> 00:39:36,000 That's great. So you've mentioned the Bible 663 00:39:36,000 --> 00:39:38,480 app and some Bible reading notes when you were little, Angela 664 00:39:38,480 --> 00:39:40,960 mentioned the Bible app. Betty, do you find, do you have 665 00:39:40,960 --> 00:39:44,840 anything that helps you structure what you read or do 666 00:39:44,840 --> 00:39:47,280 you just start in Genesis and you're just plowing your way 667 00:39:47,280 --> 00:39:51,040 through? Well, like Angela was saying 668 00:39:51,040 --> 00:39:53,680 that she's like the structure of Bible plan. 669 00:39:54,080 --> 00:39:56,960 I'm the complete opposite. Like if we're in a group and 670 00:39:56,960 --> 00:39:59,920 we're doing a Bible plan, you bet I'll do the first two days 671 00:40:00,080 --> 00:40:03,920 and then like that's it. All bets are off really. 672 00:40:04,160 --> 00:40:07,520 So I think I've still got one from about two years ago that 673 00:40:07,520 --> 00:40:09,840 I'm on a group of people and I probably do need to finish that 674 00:40:09,840 --> 00:40:15,600 one, but I use a variety of things. 675 00:40:15,600 --> 00:40:18,600 So I'm very much a mix and matcher, like a bit of a picker 676 00:40:18,600 --> 00:40:21,920 mix approach to how I want to read the Bible. 677 00:40:23,200 --> 00:40:25,720 I think I used to just like flick open a page and be like 678 00:40:25,720 --> 00:40:29,800 Lord Jesus speak to me, which was I mean, God can so speak to 679 00:40:29,800 --> 00:40:32,960 you through that. But I also think there's 680 00:40:32,960 --> 00:40:35,920 something so-called about the intentionality of like, I'm 681 00:40:35,920 --> 00:40:37,920 going to read a bit of New Testament today. 682 00:40:37,920 --> 00:40:40,360 I'm going to read a bit of Old Testament today because I think 683 00:40:40,360 --> 00:40:44,440 otherwise 12 year old me just like was there just reading the 684 00:40:44,440 --> 00:40:49,120 instructions of the Tabernacle, which you know, not every 12 685 00:40:49,120 --> 00:40:54,000 year old wants to read, but so I I have a devotional that I 686 00:40:54,000 --> 00:40:57,560 really try to read every morning, which is called Jesus 687 00:40:57,560 --> 00:41:01,440 calling really love it. It's devotional where kind of 688 00:41:01,440 --> 00:41:05,800 has a creative written piece as if Jesus was speaking to you 689 00:41:06,320 --> 00:41:08,600 based on like two or three verses of the Bible. 690 00:41:09,000 --> 00:41:12,800 So that's how I get like my daily like little injection of 691 00:41:12,800 --> 00:41:17,480 the Bible there and then I use a variety of other I've like to 692 00:41:17,480 --> 00:41:22,120 study you Bible books and plans, and I use a lot of stuff from 693 00:41:22,480 --> 00:41:26,280 there is something more is a cool brand that has a lot of 694 00:41:26,280 --> 00:41:30,080 good resources for Bible stuff. Use the Bible project. 695 00:41:30,080 --> 00:41:34,600 If I'm ever stuck on something, I also just talk to someone. 696 00:41:34,600 --> 00:41:38,960 If I'm stuck on something like there's nothing worse than just 697 00:41:38,960 --> 00:41:41,760 reading it and going, Oh, that doesn't sit right with me. 698 00:41:41,800 --> 00:41:45,880 And then like just letting it chill, like go and talk to 699 00:41:45,880 --> 00:41:49,360 someone who maybe is a bit more ahead of you in the race, that 700 00:41:49,360 --> 00:41:53,000 step ahead, who looks like they might have read it and be like, 701 00:41:53,480 --> 00:41:56,120 oh, what's this about? It's not quite sitting right 702 00:41:56,120 --> 00:41:58,960 with me. Because I find when I've gone to 703 00:41:58,960 --> 00:42:02,320 chat to someone about that, suddenly I'm aware of different 704 00:42:02,320 --> 00:42:05,000 bits of context that I was not aware of before. 705 00:42:05,200 --> 00:42:07,960 And suddenly it all starts to click and I'm like, OK, I get 706 00:42:07,960 --> 00:42:10,240 it. So I think those are the things 707 00:42:10,240 --> 00:42:12,360 I can't appease really. I love it. 708 00:42:12,360 --> 00:42:14,800 And my next question was going to be when you don't understand 709 00:42:14,800 --> 00:42:17,680 something, what, what do you do? So you don't know? 710 00:42:17,680 --> 00:42:19,600 I love that. So Angela, what? 711 00:42:19,600 --> 00:42:21,400 Like if you if you read something and you don't 712 00:42:21,400 --> 00:42:24,160 understand it or like find it hard, like what? 713 00:42:24,240 --> 00:42:28,480 What would you do with that? I'd come and ask you now. 714 00:42:28,480 --> 00:42:32,400 I think I one of the things I love about the Bible. 715 00:42:32,800 --> 00:42:35,200 I'm not plugging the Bible up. It's amazing. 716 00:42:35,200 --> 00:42:36,800 And if you don't have it, it's free. 717 00:42:37,040 --> 00:42:39,080 It's got the whole Bible on. It's got all these plans that 718 00:42:39,080 --> 00:42:42,000 these guys are talking about. It's worth having on your phone 719 00:42:42,480 --> 00:42:44,200 because most of us don't have little pocket. 720 00:42:44,200 --> 00:42:46,400 But Bibles, do we? But you can get the Bible up. 721 00:42:46,400 --> 00:42:48,640 There you go. Yeah, I think you can. 722 00:42:48,640 --> 00:42:52,640 You can choose different translations of the Bible as 723 00:42:52,640 --> 00:42:55,440 well. So I tend to stick to the same 724 00:42:55,440 --> 00:42:58,320 one all the time. But sometimes I might flip to 725 00:42:58,320 --> 00:43:00,720 like, the message is quite good for putting it in a bit of a 726 00:43:00,720 --> 00:43:04,280 kind of different way, and that helps. 727 00:43:04,280 --> 00:43:07,360 Or like Betty says, I would, you know, maybe chat to somebody 728 00:43:07,360 --> 00:43:07,960 else. Yeah. 729 00:43:08,440 --> 00:43:09,720 Brilliant. What about you, Graham? 730 00:43:13,480 --> 00:43:15,920 Because you have loads of books if I do want to look something 731 00:43:15,920 --> 00:43:17,720 up. So I'd probably pick up anything 732 00:43:17,720 --> 00:43:19,920 in the New Testament, lots of Tom Wright's books. 733 00:43:19,920 --> 00:43:24,040 So Tom Wright's the theologian who's really clever and well 734 00:43:24,040 --> 00:43:28,520 read and can often put things in a way that I can understand. 735 00:43:28,520 --> 00:43:31,560 So if I'm struggling with something that I can just pick 736 00:43:31,560 --> 00:43:35,600 up one of those and find that passage and then read what Tom 737 00:43:35,600 --> 00:43:39,320 has written about it because he, yeah, he's really smart. 738 00:43:39,320 --> 00:43:44,280 I can ask clips as well. I, I sometimes do use Google, 739 00:43:44,880 --> 00:43:46,320 but then I need to think where am I? 740 00:43:46,440 --> 00:43:50,360 Where is the source? So I look for names that I 741 00:43:50,360 --> 00:43:55,800 recognize of credible people like CS Lewis or Tom Wright or 742 00:43:56,240 --> 00:44:00,080 so I can make sure that the facts that I'm reading are 743 00:44:00,080 --> 00:44:03,920 sounded in good theology. Because, you know, the Internet, 744 00:44:04,320 --> 00:44:07,320 anyone can put stuff up. It's an open source environment, 745 00:44:07,560 --> 00:44:10,720 so you have to be a bit careful about just pulling random 746 00:44:11,720 --> 00:44:15,880 websites up and reading because it might not necessarily be 747 00:44:16,200 --> 00:44:21,080 particularly well grounded. So yeah, that's often what I do. 748 00:44:21,840 --> 00:44:26,600 I think like on that note, with the invention of AI, love it or 749 00:44:26,600 --> 00:44:31,000 hate it, like you could ask it a question and it could tell you 750 00:44:31,000 --> 00:44:33,640 anything from anywhere. So if you if you know people, if 751 00:44:33,640 --> 00:44:37,920 you like, if you've heard of people like NT Wright or CS 752 00:44:37,920 --> 00:44:42,160 Lewis or Scott McKnight, different theologians that you 753 00:44:42,160 --> 00:44:46,160 think or you've heard us quote, I'm just trying to work out. 754 00:44:46,760 --> 00:44:50,720 You could always ask chat, chat TPT, for example, what does Tom 755 00:44:50,720 --> 00:44:54,560 Wright say about this verse or this chapter? 756 00:44:55,280 --> 00:44:59,720 And then you know that hopefully I don't understand all about AI, 757 00:44:59,720 --> 00:45:02,400 but you would hope that it's drawing from sources that are 758 00:45:02,400 --> 00:45:06,720 credible and that we trust as being orthodox Christianity. 759 00:45:07,040 --> 00:45:10,640 So that's a really good shout. And what do you do when you find 760 00:45:10,640 --> 00:45:12,440 bits hard in the Bible that you read? 761 00:45:12,440 --> 00:45:15,640 You understand it, but you think, oh, that's not very nice, 762 00:45:15,640 --> 00:45:17,840 or I don't like that, or that's really challenging. 763 00:45:18,720 --> 00:45:20,640 I'm asking and ask all three of you that question. 764 00:45:21,480 --> 00:45:26,920 Yeah, that is, that is kind of hard and usually just pray about 765 00:45:26,920 --> 00:45:30,120 it. Or talk to you. 766 00:45:33,200 --> 00:45:37,400 Yeah, I'm second that. Yeah, definitely pray about it 767 00:45:37,400 --> 00:45:44,360 and just sit with Jesus about it because there's like the Bible 768 00:45:44,360 --> 00:45:48,600 is written for us to look at it now, but it was also written for 769 00:45:48,600 --> 00:45:51,200 a specific context and a specific audience of the time. 770 00:45:51,640 --> 00:45:55,800 And so I find sometimes diving into that context is really 771 00:45:55,800 --> 00:46:00,200 helpful. I'm not very good at trying to 772 00:46:00,200 --> 00:46:02,600 find the sort, the correct sources of the context. 773 00:46:02,600 --> 00:46:07,640 So I ask people, people who have studied that context and know 774 00:46:07,680 --> 00:46:14,880 that context. I also find just in times of 775 00:46:14,880 --> 00:46:17,400 usually just when you meditate on it and you just ask the Holy 776 00:46:17,400 --> 00:46:18,560 Spirit to speak to you through it. 777 00:46:19,000 --> 00:46:22,160 Like he reveals different things through different sources to 778 00:46:22,160 --> 00:46:24,560 you. Like, I was reading Leviticus 779 00:46:24,640 --> 00:46:29,040 and like some bits of Leviticus and was like, these are just 780 00:46:29,040 --> 00:46:31,440 like rules and rules and instructions and like, what's 781 00:46:31,440 --> 00:46:34,120 going on? And then like, my Bible plan was 782 00:46:34,120 --> 00:46:37,200 like, but isn't that so cool? Because it shows that God cares 783 00:46:37,200 --> 00:46:39,040 about even the tiniest details in your life? 784 00:46:39,640 --> 00:46:42,040 Like, and I was like, oh, right, OK. 785 00:46:42,120 --> 00:46:44,920 And it kind of gives you a fresh perspective for like, a new lens 786 00:46:44,920 --> 00:46:48,600 to look at it through. But yeah, would really encourage 787 00:46:48,600 --> 00:46:53,720 just to talk to people. Like the Bible was meant to be. 788 00:46:54,240 --> 00:46:58,360 It was created to be like read in community and disgusting 789 00:46:58,360 --> 00:47:01,560 community, and so we have a community. 790 00:47:01,600 --> 00:47:03,920 Let's do it kind of would be what I'd say. 791 00:47:04,360 --> 00:47:08,320 And like I also, I misinterpreted the question a 792 00:47:08,320 --> 00:47:10,520 little bit when you said what's hard, because then I also was 793 00:47:10,520 --> 00:47:14,280 just like, I find reading my Bible consistently really hard. 794 00:47:15,040 --> 00:47:18,120 But something I saw the other a few months back was like the 795 00:47:18,120 --> 00:47:23,000 Bible was like having dinner. It's like you're not going to it 796 00:47:23,000 --> 00:47:25,800 nourishes you, fills you up. You're not going to remember 797 00:47:25,800 --> 00:47:29,000 every meal you've ever had, but the Bible still nourishes you. 798 00:47:29,640 --> 00:47:31,800 So that's a great. Picture I was like, when I heard 799 00:47:31,800 --> 00:47:33,440 that, I was like, yes, OK, I get it now. 800 00:47:34,800 --> 00:47:36,560 So I think I keep going back to that a lot. 801 00:47:36,920 --> 00:47:41,040 If you read a bit and you're like, oh, move on, that's OK 802 00:47:41,160 --> 00:47:43,640 because it's nourished to you even if you don't feel it. 803 00:47:43,640 --> 00:47:46,320 Brilliant. Do you want to add anything? 804 00:47:48,040 --> 00:47:51,520 I think the bit that helps me is I tend to think if I, if I hit 805 00:47:51,520 --> 00:47:54,880 something that I really struggle with and I don't understand, I 806 00:47:54,880 --> 00:47:58,440 have to, I think I go back to the overarching story. 807 00:47:59,240 --> 00:48:01,960 So knowing that actually all things are pointing to Jesus. 808 00:48:02,360 --> 00:48:04,360 And yes, there are bits in the Bible that I don't really 809 00:48:04,360 --> 00:48:06,520 understand, especially around some of the Old Testament stuff. 810 00:48:06,840 --> 00:48:10,640 How does this really work? How can you know on one hand 811 00:48:10,640 --> 00:48:13,400 you, you read 1 bit and you think, oh, that seems really 812 00:48:13,400 --> 00:48:17,160 harsh. But I have to have, I have a 813 00:48:17,160 --> 00:48:20,720 confidence and faith in the overarching story that there is 814 00:48:20,720 --> 00:48:23,760 redemption and there is his Kingdom is yet to come. 815 00:48:24,560 --> 00:48:28,600 And I think I can, I have to remind myself sometimes we sit 816 00:48:28,760 --> 00:48:32,160 in that place of not understanding everything and 817 00:48:32,160 --> 00:48:36,280 that if God was understandable fully, he wouldn't be much for 818 00:48:36,280 --> 00:48:38,400 God, would he? It's like if my little brain 819 00:48:38,400 --> 00:48:41,400 could wrap its head around creation in its entirety and how 820 00:48:41,400 --> 00:48:45,680 God has weaved this incredible story from creation through to 821 00:48:45,680 --> 00:48:50,960 Jesus and to what's to come, then actually that's, you know, 822 00:48:51,440 --> 00:48:53,040 a bit crazy, isn't it? That my poor little brain can 823 00:48:53,040 --> 00:48:56,040 understand that. And if I can sit in, so I sit in 824 00:48:56,040 --> 00:48:59,320 a space sometime of actually I'm OK, I don't get it. 825 00:48:59,840 --> 00:49:03,960 And sometimes I just have to say, I don't know or that is 826 00:49:03,960 --> 00:49:10,560 really harsh, but I know God has got it, that I know all that I 827 00:49:10,560 --> 00:49:14,000 have read and I've understood and how God has spoken to me 828 00:49:14,000 --> 00:49:16,440 personally through the Bible, through prayer, through 829 00:49:16,440 --> 00:49:20,000 prophecy, actually he's a true and living God. 830 00:49:20,680 --> 00:49:24,440 And actually that overcomes some of the uncertainty, the 831 00:49:24,440 --> 00:49:27,880 ambiguity and the the not knowing. 832 00:49:27,880 --> 00:49:30,440 Sometimes there's this, this desire in the world. 833 00:49:30,440 --> 00:49:32,440 We have to have answers all the time. 834 00:49:32,920 --> 00:49:37,800 We have to know clarity, full clarity. 835 00:49:37,800 --> 00:49:40,880 And science is always saying there's always an answer, but 836 00:49:40,920 --> 00:49:45,040 actually, I'm not sure there is in this lifetime. 837 00:49:45,440 --> 00:49:49,000 I'm sure when we when we get to meet God and, and his Kingdom is 838 00:49:49,000 --> 00:49:50,880 fully here, then all will be revealed. 839 00:49:50,880 --> 00:49:53,400 And, and he can answer all those questions that I've had if I 840 00:49:53,400 --> 00:49:56,160 remember them by then, but I might not care because God's 841 00:49:56,160 --> 00:49:59,400 come and he's, you know, we'll be living in an unbroken world 842 00:49:59,400 --> 00:50:00,960 and actually all of that will be irrelevant. 843 00:50:01,720 --> 00:50:10,320 But in the space of loss and grief, there is no answer. 844 00:50:10,320 --> 00:50:15,560 Sometimes to pain there is there is no reconciling that, but 845 00:50:15,560 --> 00:50:20,160 being able to sit in that space healthily is really important. 846 00:50:20,160 --> 00:50:24,240 So I do look to answers in context, etcetera. 847 00:50:24,240 --> 00:50:27,640 It's really helpful to try and understand some of it. 848 00:50:27,640 --> 00:50:30,800 And that can be really, really helpful when looking at the Old 849 00:50:30,800 --> 00:50:34,320 Testament and and how Jesus has come and and putting those 850 00:50:34,320 --> 00:50:35,960 pieces together in the overarching story. 851 00:50:36,080 --> 00:50:42,240 But there are still times where there are no answers and 852 00:50:42,240 --> 00:50:44,120 actually be able to sit comfortably in. 853 00:50:44,120 --> 00:50:47,600 That is really helpful for me anyway, thank you. 854 00:50:48,480 --> 00:50:51,280 That's cool. I think you've all answered that 855 00:50:51,280 --> 00:50:55,040 question in both ways in that I think the reality is, is that 856 00:50:55,400 --> 00:50:57,880 reading the Bible is hard sometimes, isn't it, just 857 00:50:57,880 --> 00:51:02,280 because of carving out space? It is a discipline, you know, 858 00:51:02,320 --> 00:51:04,920 sometimes you like. What was the point in that? 859 00:51:06,040 --> 00:51:08,920 But it's worth pushing on and trying to do it. 860 00:51:08,960 --> 00:51:14,600 And, but also when it is hard, it's OK to read the Bible and be 861 00:51:14,600 --> 00:51:17,240 like, oh, I don't understand this bit or this bit doesn't sit 862 00:51:17,240 --> 00:51:19,520 right. Rather than throwing it all out 863 00:51:19,520 --> 00:51:23,440 and going, well, this bit's hard there for all of it's rubbish. 864 00:51:23,800 --> 00:51:25,560 It's like, no, no, no, this bit's hard. 865 00:51:25,560 --> 00:51:28,760 But that's OK. We can sit with that and we can 866 00:51:28,760 --> 00:51:33,080 still have faith and we can still think it's important, even 867 00:51:33,080 --> 00:51:35,200 if we don't always fully understand it. 868 00:51:35,200 --> 00:51:38,160 So I think you've all answered it beautifully. 869 00:51:39,640 --> 00:51:43,960 Any this wasn't on my list sorry, but any top tips to 870 00:51:43,960 --> 00:51:47,560 encourage us all to or something that you have found helpful that 871 00:51:47,560 --> 00:51:50,600 you would be like that? If you're going to do one thing, 872 00:51:50,600 --> 00:51:57,840 do this. I think if he's like, if you've 873 00:51:57,920 --> 00:52:01,680 never really picked up the Bible before or you're like, oh, why 874 00:52:01,680 --> 00:52:04,000 do I even start? My encouragement would be with 875 00:52:04,000 --> 00:52:09,720 the Gospels to start with looking the life of Jesus and 876 00:52:09,720 --> 00:52:13,960 the story of Jesus and then applying that to sometimes how 877 00:52:13,960 --> 00:52:16,400 you look at the Old Testament of like. 878 00:52:16,400 --> 00:52:18,720 We look at it through the perspective of what Jesus has 879 00:52:18,720 --> 00:52:23,520 done for us now and what that means for us now as the church 880 00:52:23,680 --> 00:52:27,680 and who that means like God is and has always been. 881 00:52:28,720 --> 00:52:30,160 But that would be my encouragement. 882 00:52:30,160 --> 00:52:31,640 If you're like, where on earth do I start? 883 00:52:31,800 --> 00:52:35,840 It's a big book. 66 books. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John 884 00:52:36,000 --> 00:52:38,560 would be my advice. Thank you. 885 00:52:39,840 --> 00:52:46,120 Angela, do you have anything? The only thing I was, yeah, I 886 00:52:46,120 --> 00:52:50,920 think I, well, I know I definitely benefit from when I 887 00:52:50,920 --> 00:52:54,280 do carve out time to read my Bible because it also makes me 888 00:52:54,480 --> 00:52:57,120 carve out time to sit with Jesus in what I've read. 889 00:52:58,640 --> 00:53:02,000 But I'm also very aware that there are seasons in life when 890 00:53:02,000 --> 00:53:05,960 that's not always so easy. And I'm thinking back to when, 891 00:53:05,960 --> 00:53:09,120 like, my kids were little and life was like a bit crazy and 892 00:53:09,120 --> 00:53:13,520 never seemed enough time. And I one of my favorite Bible 893 00:53:13,520 --> 00:53:19,600 stories is in First Kings, I think chapter 19, when Elijah is 894 00:53:19,680 --> 00:53:23,400 absolutely at the end of himself and God basically tells them to 895 00:53:23,400 --> 00:53:28,280 have a snack and take a nap. And I just cling to that. 896 00:53:28,280 --> 00:53:31,920 And I just think like when times when you've have the best 897 00:53:31,920 --> 00:53:36,160 intentions, but you just don't always get there, God's in you 898 00:53:36,160 --> 00:53:40,040 with, in that with you. And I think God knows my, he 899 00:53:40,040 --> 00:53:43,400 knows my physical and spiritual needs, but he also knows my 900 00:53:43,920 --> 00:53:48,480 human limitations. And he meets me where I'm at. 901 00:53:48,480 --> 00:53:52,920 So, so long as I'm striving and I'm always walking towards him, 902 00:53:53,200 --> 00:53:58,320 I think that's OK, I'm enough. Yes, yeah. 903 00:53:58,360 --> 00:53:59,840 Brilliant. So good. 904 00:54:00,160 --> 00:54:01,880 Thank you, Angela. How'd you say? 905 00:54:02,400 --> 00:54:06,840 Do you think that's achievable? So when you set a goal, don't 906 00:54:06,840 --> 00:54:09,880 set I'm going if you're not a big reader and you're not 907 00:54:10,040 --> 00:54:12,920 brilliantly disciplined, don't set out on 1st of January and 908 00:54:12,920 --> 00:54:14,800 say I'm going to read the Bible every day and then get through 909 00:54:14,800 --> 00:54:17,360 the whole lot in a year. That might be, it might be for 910 00:54:17,360 --> 00:54:21,600 one of you, but it also might be if I could just read a couple of 911 00:54:21,600 --> 00:54:28,600 verses a day as a target or you know, if you're with little 912 00:54:28,600 --> 00:54:31,640 kids, it could be, well, let's pick up a kids Bible and read 913 00:54:31,800 --> 00:54:34,200 the kids stories. So you've got that overarching 914 00:54:34,760 --> 00:54:38,800 story feeding into your family and things like that. 915 00:54:38,800 --> 00:54:42,880 So just making it achievable so that it doesn't become a guilt 916 00:54:42,880 --> 00:54:45,640 thing. We want to do this because we 917 00:54:45,640 --> 00:54:50,160 want to be in relationship with Jesus, not out of guilt or out 918 00:54:50,160 --> 00:54:54,840 of fear or, you know, so if we can do things that are 919 00:54:54,840 --> 00:54:58,440 achievable for us in our season, whatever that looks like, 920 00:54:58,880 --> 00:55:04,640 whatever time you can carve out, then that's I'd say just pick 921 00:55:04,640 --> 00:55:07,040 your goals wisely. Brilliant. 922 00:55:07,400 --> 00:55:10,320 Thank you very much. OK, Hopefully that was useful. 923 00:55:10,320 --> 00:55:14,000 Interesting. We're going to, why don't you 924 00:55:14,000 --> 00:55:15,520 give these 3A big round of applause. 925 00:55:16,640 --> 00:55:20,960 Thank you. We're going to worship a little 926 00:55:20,960 --> 00:55:22,760 bit more and then we're going to pray. 927 00:55:22,760 --> 00:55:26,520 So as the worship team come up, I will just move some furniture.