New Facebook Bible Reading Group

Bible-PsalmsSince it fits well within BJS’ goal of improving laity reading the Book of Concord as well as the Bible, I found this published on facebook today and wanted to call it to the attention of our readers.

This is a group that started today. Head on over to the group: Rightly Divided: Daily Bible Meditation on facebook and join in the reading/discussion!

 

Here’s the invite to join posted by Pastors Wolfmueller and Flamme:

Pastor Brian Flamme and I are cooking up a group for daily Bible meditation. Starting this Sunday we will suggest three chapters of the Bible to read, and provide a few notes to encourage hearing, reading, marking, learning, and inwardly digesting the text. It is an open group, so jump in and join the conversation.

And the intro in the group:

In the Daily Bible Meditation Group you will find encouragement, insight, teaching, and conversation about the Scriptures. Three chapters are assigned each day: one Psalm, one Old Testament, and one New Testament. (Saturday is our catch-up day with no readings assigned.) You will find introductory comments and insights on each reading. Conversation, comments, links, and questions are greatly encouraged. Welcome!

For an example of what the format will be, here’s the reading for Matthew 1:

Matthew 1
READ

  • The time for the fulfillment of the long awaited Messiah has come. The promise given to Abraham and David would now be accomplished through the incarnation and birth of Jesus who saves his people from their sins.
  • 25 Verses, 2:38 Minutes

MARK

  • Verses 1-17 contain the genealogy of Jesus while versus 18-25 describe Joseph’s concerns with taking Mary as his wife and what the Lord revealed to him in a dream.
  • See how gentiles like Rahab and Ruth are included in the genealogy.
  • The name “Jesus” teaches us about the child that Mary carries in her womb. In the same way, the names ascribed to the Messiah in the Old Testament prophesies teach us specifically about the Messiah’s person and work (Is. 7:14).

LEARN

  • As long, intimidating, and unfamiliar as the genealogy may seem, it is teaching us of the course of salvation history. It both serves to identify Jesus as the legitimate heir of both Abraham and David and it points us back to the gospel promises in the Old Testament.
  • There is no mystery as to why the Son of God became incarnate. He had to save his people from their sins. The entire gospel of Matthew is framed from the perspective of God’s faithfulness to his promises in past and his salvific work in the present and future.
  • Read the 2nd Article of the Apostle’s Creed and Luther’s explanation in the Small Catechism.

MEDITATE

  • This text proves that the Lord was faithful to his promises in the past. What does this mean for our hope today?
  • If Jesus is both born of a woman and conceived by the Holy Spirit, what kind of person is he? How does the name “Immanuel” teach us about the two natures of Christ?
  • Remember: “She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins” (1:21).

COMFORT

  • In what manner does the Messiah, the Christ, come to be with us? Was he born to rule and judge us according to our works? No. “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons” (Gal. 4:4-5). The only reason we are heirs of heaven is because of Jesus’s suffering, death, and resurrection which saved us from our sins.

Thoughts? Comments? Questions? Post below.

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