the scripture in 2 separate ways. First, I would
read the Bible through chronologically every given
year. This involved reading between 3 to 4
chapters every day. This would be primarily a
devotional exercise. I would begin with prayer -
simply committing myself to Jesus for the given
day. Then I would read the prescribed text slowly,
allowing it to simply wash over me. Then I would
spend some time in prayer, involving repentance,
prayer requests, worship and thanksgiving for what
God had taught me.
The benefit of this approach to scripture is that I
kept getting the "bigger picture." The Bible is so
much more than a series of 66 books. It is one
story, one message, one overarching theme to
which my thinking must conform.
But of course, this approach to the Bible, as
positive and as necessary as it is, is not
sufficient. My second approach, which has been
forced upon me by my work, is to study a given
passage in great detail. This formed the basis of
my sermons. I have developed a discipline of
expositional preaching, allowing the scripture text
to form the basis of my sermons. This involved
paying attention to the grammar of a text, its
context, its main idea and so forth. It also
involved the painstaking work of applying that text
to my life and the life of the congregation.
Now that weekly sermon preparation is not
required of me, it is easy for me to abandon this
second type of more detailed study of the
scripture to slip away. But recently, a wise friend
advised me to keep a very disciplined schedule
during this time in my life. I agreed.
And so, I came to the conclusion that I needed to
prepare sermons, or extensive Bible studies on 2
books I have wanted to preach on for some time.
The first is the book of Revelation. The theme of
this book is that the glory of Jesus and the hope
of his promises is sufficient for any church or any
individual no matter how great the difficulty they
were facing. King Jesus is in control. The
second book I have wanted to preach for some
time is Paul's 2nd letter to the Corinthians. There
the theme is God's all sufficient power revealed
not in human strength, but in human weakness. In
some ways, the themes of these 2 books are
related. Both teach us that our own resources and
strength will never achieve what we want. Only
Christ can do that.
So - for the next several blogs, I will contain my
findings on both of these books. Revelation,
written to 7 churches, and 2 Corinthians written to
one. Revelation is written while John is exiled on
the Island of Patmos. From an external
perspective, it would appear that his effectiveness
is sidelined. And 2 Corinthians is written by Paul,
at a time when he was facing more stress,
criticism and suffering than ever before. Here too,
from an earthly perspective, it would appear that
his effectiveness was - if not sidelined, at least
severely compromised.
Both books are valuable to Christians who wonder
what God is doing in their lives in difficult times.
In the next several days, I will be posting my
daily blogs on my gleanings from these 2 books.
I invite you, if you are following this blog, to read
both books, and prepare to study them with me.
In His Matchless Grace
Pastor John Neufeld
Posted 10th September 2014 by Pastor John
Neufeld
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