Community Bible Reading

If we are going to be a community who help one another to treasure Jesus and follow him, we ned to first treasure Jesus and follow him personally. Community Bible Reading is a tool designed to help us do both!

The goals of Community Bible Reading are to:


  • Become more biblically literate as we read through the Bible across time.
  • Enjoy increased intimacy with Jesus as we encounter Him in His Word.
  • Enjoy increased intimacy within our community as we point one another to Jesus through his Word. 


We seek to grow in intimacy with Jesus by using the daily Bible reading schedule and Bible reading method found in the Seeing Jesus Together journals and on our Community Bible Reading Bookmarks. 


Since our goal is growth over time, not completing the Bible in a certain amount of time, we do not recommend that participants to try to "catch up" for days they've missed, but instead join the community in the scheduled reading on the day they begin... or begin again. 

The best way to start participating in Community Bible Reading — simply to nurture your own intimacy with Jesus through the Scriptures — is to:

 

  • Pick up a Seeing Jesus Together journal and a Community Bible Reading bookmark from the Welcome Table in the foyer.
  • Read the introduction of the journal for an explanation of why and how we can read the Scriptures to see and be satisfied in Jesus personally or you can watch the six day seeing Jesus in solitude challenge. 
  • Begin to use the daily Bible reading schedule with the goal of seeing Jesus in the Scriptures as you read God’s Word with our church family.
  • If you need help seeing Jesus as you read God’s Word, take one of our “Seeing Jesus In…” booklets, available on our Welcome Table. These booklets walk passage by passage through each book of the Bible, helping us to see Christ in all of Scripture and Grace for All of Life.

We seek to grow in intimacy with one another by interacting with 1-3 other people daily, texting how the Scriptures impacted us that day and by regularly gathering with that same group to listen to the Scriptures together and to love one another through prayer, confession, and mutual encouragement.


The best way to start participating in Community Bible Reading in order to grow in intimacy with others through the Scriptures is to join a Community Group. In our Community Groups, you will get to know many people who would be glad to do Community Bible Reading with you. Or if you’re unable to attend a Community Group, you can reach out to one of our pastors for help finding someone to do Community Bible Reading with. 
 

Once you’ve found people to do Community Bible Reading with, it will be helpful to: 

 

  • Set expectations regarding how often you will meet (once a week, every other week, or once a month) 
  • Begin texting one another how the Scriptures are impacting you daily and regularly gathering together to mutually encourage one another in your walk with Jesus.
  • Meet in person to pray, to read the Scriptures together, to bear one another's burdens, and to walk in the light together.


We hope this tool will encourage you in your discipling relationships, but please don’t feel limited by it either.  


Depending on where you and those you are walking with towards Jesus need to grow, you may want to follow the pattern of Community Bible Reading outlined above or you may want to use it for your daily encouragement of one another by text and use one of our recommended resources as the basis for your conversations when you gather with one another. 


Remember our goal is simply to grow in our love for Jesus through his Word and to help others do the same, and that can take many different shapes!

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