Go Long
Go Old School • Sermon • Submitted
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Outline
Outline
Go Old School:
Scripture Reading
Dive Deep
Go Long
Build Up
Re-Write
Prayer
Pray Your Heart
Air It Out
Take A Walk
Pray the Scriptures
Journal
The What
The What
Let’s first talk about what this Bible Reading method is..
It’s actually a really simple method.
All your are doing is picking up the Bible and reading it.
The How
The How
Sounds simple enough right? Here’s a good way to start. I would pick either the Old or New Testament to start…and start right at the beginning and just read.
The goal of this is not to stop and examine individual verses you find exciting or intriguing or even really confusing....the goal is the read and read long…hence the title of the method
Now you can do this with any Bible at all but for some, its hard not to stop at the verses simply because of the numbers being there. So there are resources to help with that.
They are typically referred to as Readers Bibles. I will put some on the screen for you to see. They are a Bible that typically as the verse numbers removed and sometimes even the chapters.
I have one here and this is actually the method I am using right now in my personal Bible Reading time.
I am somewhere in the middle of Leviticus as I used this method, starting in Genesis and just wanted to read from the beginning.
The Why
The Why
So with the what and the how explained let’s talk about why.
Remember, the intent of this series is to help when you are stuck or bored in your Bible reading by providing different methods of reading to shake some things loose.
But many of you might think “Cody, I don’t want to do what you’re doing. I don’t want to get stuck in the middle of Leviticus.”
So you might say, why would you have me try this method?
Let me give you two words.
Context/Framework
Context/Framework
I think it’s necessary to regularly do this Bible reading method because of these two words. Often times when we only do our first method - dive deep, we can tend to lose context of the verses we are reading, or we get confused as to the point of verses because we don’t have the necessary framework
We Go Long when we read so that we can try to see the Big Picture of things and see the grand story that God is crafting.
I will always recommend the Go Long method for the same reason that we enjoy tv shows, and movies, and fictional books....because we enjoy story.
We love to see how events lead to other things and how one thing can cascade, go or bad, to the rest of the story.
For the same reason, it is necessary for us to understand how events in Scripture lead to other things.
In the Bible there is no isolated events. God is using all things in this life to paint a picture. You can appreciate a painting by getting up close and observing the brush strokes and the details of the colors (that is Dive deep)
but also you need to take a step back and see how the colors compliment each other....see how the detailed brush strokes make the scene of the painting
Example
Example
Let me give you and example that will compliment our first episode - Dive Deep
Romans 8:28
We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.
This is a beautiful verse filled with hope to encourage the believers in Jesus. To this verse we would say yes and amen.
What a great verse to tear apart using the Dive Deep method.
But this is also a verse that can be ripped away from its context and lose its original meaning.
But also using the Dive Deep method, some questions can only be answered with the proper framework or context
Many people read Romans 8:28 and can ask, how can God use the bad things in this life for good?
For instance, if you were to use the Go Long method of reading, and you were reading through the New Testament without stopping on individual verses, you would have read just 10 verses earlier, in the very same thought, that Paul writes about the present sufferings that we are enduring in this life and how the pale in comparison to God’s Glory to be revealed.
You also would have already read through the gospels, narrating the life, death, and resurrection or Jesus. And even more, you would be able to answer a deep question about this verse.
And if you would continue reading, the book right before Romans, gives a verse that uses the gospels narrative as its context, to provide a framework and answer to the dive deep question of Romans 8:28.
The verses are Acts 4:27-28
“For, in fact, in this city both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, assembled together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, to do whatever your hand and your will had predestined to take place.
How can God use bad things to work together for good like said in Romans 8:28?
God used the worst event to bring about the redemption of God’s people.
Wrap Up
Wrap Up
Let me wrap up with this, the Go Long method is an amazing method for providing a great context and framework for what is happening in Scripture.
It is a method that teaches us of the faithfulness of God because it is a method that shows us that God is in control all of the time, and that He is using events in our time, to shape our later time, and a time beyond ours.