How the Bible Came to Be

“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”

If I didn’t know otherwise I might think that these words came from the mouth of Jesus, in one of the Gospels. After all, he does say, “I am the light of the world” (John 8:12 & 9:5) and “You are the light of the world” (Matthew 5:14).  But no, this passage is toward the middle of the longest Psalm in the Bible – Psalm 119:105. Knowing this reminds me that some of the images, passages and stories we find in the New Testament have their roots in the more ancient Hebrew Scriptures, or Old Testament.

What’s it like when the deep and rich words of the Bible are a lamp to our feet, showing us where we are now, and a light to our path, guiding us where we need to go? That’s part of what we’ll be discovering this year as we focus in 2019 on What the Bible Really Says About…  We’re starting that focus with two weeks on the Bible itself, how it came to be, what’s in it, and ideas for ways to read it.

The words and images of the Bible are all around us in pictures, music, plays, articles and so much more. Perhaps in some ways it’s the other way around—when the Bible was conceived and written, the words and images were taken from things, people and stories around them. From the beginning the Bible was a living, breathing, life-giving book.

In countless ways over the years the Bible has been misused to shame, exclude and destroy lives. As we move through the Bible this year, we’re going to claim and reclaim God’s story of life and new life within it. My hope is that it becomes a breathing and restoring book for you—truly, a book of life.

This Sunday, January 13, we’ll be giving you a small worship guide with topics and Scripture readings for the Sundays of this year. See you in worship!

Blessings, Sharon