What's All the Fuss About the Bible?

WHAT'S ALL THE FUSS ABOUT THE BIBLE? When you arrived tonight and checked in, one of the questions you were asked was: Did you bring your Bible. Maybe you didn’t even think about why we asked that question. You just said “yes” or “no.” But why the fuss about a Bible? For the next 4 weeks, you and I will be looking at this book. We will think together about what’s in this book. We’ll think together about how it got to be written. That is an amazing story. We’ll think about why we believe the Bible is God’s own words. And finally we’ll talk about how to read such a big book. Tonight we’ll make a beginning. I want you to get out your Bible and open it up to the very beginning - even before the first words of the Bible. Look for the Table of Contents. As you look at this, there are many names of what we call books of the Bible. Sometimes this gets confusing. Books inside of a book. That’s part of the wonder of the Bible. It was written by over 40 different people. Parts of it were written in at least 3 different languages. It was written over 1400 years. Do you know of any other book that is like this? Lots of writers, lots of languages, and a long long time. You could feel a little confused by all this. And so tonight I want to look at this book and try to make it a little clearer. The question I want to ask tonight is - how does the Bible hold together? Or, what’s the BIG IDEA in the Bible? And the way I want to begin this is by having you and I think of some of the most famous people in the Bible. I am going to need your help to guess who they are, and I’m going to need volunteers to help us describe them. I need 8 helpers. I want you to read your card nice and loud, and slowly. When you’re done, let’s see who can guess who you are. Now we have these 8 people, who lived in many different places and times. Some lived before Jesus, some at the same time. They have incredible things to tell. But is there something that holds them all together. What if we thought the Bible was just stories about many people with no BIG IDEA behind it. What would that be like? Let’s find out. Volunteers, I want you to read your card at the same time as everyone else who has a card, and you and I will try to listen for what they are saying. (NOISE) Now that wasn’t very helpful. I think we need to dig a little deeper. So let’s think about these important people one by one: A&E: When they sinned, they didn’t believe God when He told them not to eat the fruit. He had mercy on them any way. They learned a hard lesson - that God is to be believed. Noah: When God spoke to him about destroying the earth, what would have happened if Noah thought it was a really crazy idea and that his neighbors and friends would think he was crazy? When he built the ark, he showed that he Believed God Abraham left his home and didn’t even know where God was leading him. God promised him a huge family and all this land, but Abraham didn’t live long enough to see God answer this promise. Abraham is honored in the Bible because of his faith in God. Moses too must have thought: who am I to go before the most powerful ruler in the world, Pharoah, and tell him what to do? Why will he listen to me? Would Moses believe God? King David saw many times of danger. I don’t think you and I can imagine what it feels like for someone to be after you to kill you, but David spent many years hiding in caves away from King Saul. He was frightened, but he also prayed prayers of great trust that God would help him. David believed God. God spoke to the prophet Isaiah and told him things that God would do hundreds of years in the future. Who would believe Isaiah? Would he be laughed at? But Isaiah was a man who believed God in a powerful way. He spoke God’s words and many people believed him. Many years passed. People began to doubt if God would speak again, and then a new man came on the scene. He appeared at the Jordan River, telling people to be watching because the Lord was coming. Did people believe, or were they doubtful? Even after Jesus came, many wondered - who is this man Jesus? Is he really God’s Son. Paul didn’t believe it. He thought Jesus was someone he must not believe. But that all changed. So what is the BIG IDEA through all these events? Can you guess? (Use strip for “Believe God”) Let me read you some of Jesus’ words. He is speaking to people who know the Bible VERY, VERY well. Listen to what he says to them: “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life. It is these that testify about me.” From the very beginning with Adam and Eve, God began to show that He had a plan. His plan became clearer and clearer through Abraham and Moses and David and Isaiah. And by the time John the Baptist came, the time had come. What the whole Bible was pointing towards - God’s own Son come to earth to crush sin. Thank you volunteers. As you come to know more about the Bible, even when you are old and have read it for 50 years, you will never come to the point where you know it all. You will know some things when you are 10, but others when you are 20, and more when you are 30, and more when you are 50, or 60 or 80. But you will never get to the point where you know it all - because God is just too big! But one thing is true. As you read and learn, you can know the BIG IDEA that runs through every book of the Bible. And that will help you understand God’s purpose in giving us this incredible Book.