Be Real Together:
Take a few minutes to catch up, tell stories, and laugh together. Trust and friendship take time to build. If you’re launching a new DNA, one person should tell their story — what do we need to know about you? Next week, have another person in your DNA share their story.
Read Together:
2 Timothy 3:14-17
14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and firmly believed. You know those who taught you, 15 and you know that from infancy you have known the sacred Scriptures, which are able to give you wisdom for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, 17 so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
Grow Together: Observe and Apply
With Fall rhythms kicking into gear, it’s easy to get consumed by school schedules, work projects, even recommitting to that gym membership! But what about our souls? How can we tend to what matters most?
One of the most transformative practices Christians can maintain is a healthy rhythm of reading Scripture. God’s Word is a gift, one we should never take for granted! Without it, we lack the wisdom and knowledge we need and greatly benefit from if we endeavor to grow stronger in our relationship with God.
Let’s take a look at a few observations from the passage we read above in 2 Timothy:
1. The Bible’s Ability
The Bible, the Word of God, is able to give us wisdom for salvation through faith
in Jesus. It gives both wisdom in our ability to come to know Jesus AND wisdom in knowing the implications of our salvation. For a lot of people, the hangup is that the Bible doesn’t speak to everything we wish it would. We wish it would be more explicit in it’s approach. Scripture doesn’t tell us everything, but it does tell us everything we need to know about the most important things. There’s a lot of great resources that launch from the Bible to help unpack concepts for us, but the only complete source we have is the Bible.
Where have you seen this be true in your life as you’ve read the Bible?
2. The Bible’s Originality
Consider the Bible’s origin. 2 Timothy 3:16 says, “All Scripture is inspired by God” or, as some translations say, “is God breathed.” This is a reminder to us of creation. God creates man from the dust - he bends down into the dust and breathes into humanity. The Bible is not just inspiring, it’s inspired.
Both Old Testament and New Testament writings have been preserved and followed since their inception, and despite history’s attempts to snuff them out, they have endured the test of time. How? Because God inspired them, and what God sets into motion always accomplishes what it intends to.
“Every generation gives rise to those who really believe they will put the last nails in the coffin that will bury the Bible – yet it never, never works. The Bible outlives and outworks and out-influences all of its critics. It is an anvil that has worn out many, many hammers.” —David Guzik (Pastor, Commentator)
How does this strike you, that God breathed / inspired the Old Testament and New Testament writings?
3. The Bible’s Practicality
Paul says that God’s word is profitable (or useful) to those who desire to follow Jesus. Not just some of it, all of it. Why? Because it reveals how messed up we are, and how desperately we need God to step in to make us complete.
“The Word of God is like a straight edge, which shows up our own crookedness. We can’t really tell how crooked our thinking is until we line it up with the straight edge of Scripture.” —Elizabeth Elliot (Author, Speaker, Missionary)
How have you found the Bible useful in your life?
4. The Bible’s Improbability
God didn’t have to go to this extent to inspire these authors at all. He didn’t have to reveal himself through his son Jesus. When God first created man and woman, he made himself completely available, and even gave them the freedom to chose him by offering a variable (the fruit in the garden). They rebelled, demonstrating our propensity to say, “You’re not enough.” God could have cut us out and yet, he didn’t. Instead, he came and pursued a conversation with rebels. The Gospel is evidence that God is more committed to you than you are to him.
“You Christians look after a document containing enough dynamite to blow all civilisation to pieces, turn the world upside down and bring peace to a battle-torn planet. But you treat it as though it is nothing more than a piece of literature.” —Mahatma Gandhi
We have more access in 2022 than anyone ever has and yet, we’ve never been more indifferent, unappreciative, and unmotivated to read the Bible. Your favorite faith-based podcast can’t replace reading it. Even snippets from Sunday mornings simply cannot expose you to the whole of Scripture. We need to be strengthened by the knowledge and wisdom of God which is revealed robustly in the book we too often take for granted.
Is it a struggle for you to read the Bible? What practical step could you take this week to begin reading it consistently?
Pray Together:
Thank you, Lord, for the gift of your Word. You didn’t have to go to the lengths you did to inspire the authors to write this and to get it in our hands, but you did. You are so good to us. Help us to faithfully engage the Scriptures. To not give up when it gets hard. To stay hungry and keep consuming your Word.
In Jesus’ name we pray, AMEN.