Not sure how to get started reading the Bible?

Not sure what the Bible is?

Not sure what the Bible is about?

WE WOULD LOVE TO HELP

Here’s some helpful information about the bible written by Mustard Seed Ministries whom we use as a resource for our children’s and youth ministry.

  • The Bible is God’s word. It contains all that we need to know to be saved and to live in relationship with God in his world. It is not a textbook, but rather the means by which God chooses to reveal himself to us. We should therefore be prepared to listen.

  • The Bible consists of 66 books in two parts – the Old and the New Testaments (promises or covenants). The Old Testament contains 39 books and spans the time of the creation of the world to about 400 years before Jesus was born. The New Testament contains 27 books which cover Jesus’ life, death and resurrection; the growth of the early Church; and God’s promises for the future. Some of these books are historical; others take the form of songs, poems, sayings, letters or prophecy. It is important to understand what genre a certain book is because it changes the way we read it – just as we would read a history book, a poetry book and a novel differently.

  • The Bible was written by more than 30 different people across a period of nearly 2,000 years. Not every writer is known to us by name. There is one author, however, who links them all together: God. He is the one who taught these human writers what to say and who helped the disciples to remember Jesus’ words (John 14:26; 2 Peter 1:20-21). The whole Bible is inspired by the Holy Spirit, who is himself God, and therefore we can trust what it says (2 Timothy 3:16).

  • The Bible is divided into 66 books; each book is divided into chapters; and each chapter into verses. The chapters and verses were not present when the Bible was first written, but were added later to help us find our way around it. The larger numbers are chapter references and the smaller numbers before sentences are verses. References can be written down as, for example, Genesis 1:27-28. This tells us to look up the book of Genesis, chapter 1 and verses 27 to 28. If you are unsure where a certain book in the Bible is simply turn to the contents page at the beginning of your Bible to find a page number and view the order.