Sermon Notes

This week we continue the Summer Sermon Series, ‘How to Read the Bible’ based on the Bible Project series by the same name.

Our Bible is a library of writings that were written, collected, and edited over a thousand years. The Hebrew Scriptures (a.k.a Old Testament) bears witness to the interaction between the ancient nations of Israel and Judah, and their God. The Christian scriptures (a.k.a New Testament) bears witness to the community of those who believed that Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah promised in the Hebrew scriptures and the savior for all people.

This week we are looking at the literary storyline of the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures, the meta-narrative in which our scriptures are set. Many of these scriptures are set in a particular time, and it is helpful to understand where they fit in that grander story.

It is also helpful to remember that this Literary Timeline may or may not coincide with an historical one. Ancient peoples were far less interested in ‘historical accuracy’ than we are in a post-enlightenment world. Today we have certain expectations for historical works that would simply make no sense to an ancient storyteller. The desire of these biblical storytellers is to tell us ‘who we are’ and ‘whose we are;’ to tell great stories of their ancestors and the God that they served; to form and support a unique ‘Hebrew’ identity with a shared history, norms, and viewpoint.

If you would like to explore this topic more (before or after the sermon), please see the following notes:

Intro to the Bible 2- “The Story of the Bible”

• Main Page: https://bibleproject.com/explore/video/the-story-of-the-bible/ 
• Video Links: 
  • Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_CGP-12AE0&list=PLH0Szn1yYNedn4FbBMMtOlGN-BPLQ54IH&index=2 
• Study Guide: https://bibleproject.com/explore/video/the-story-of-the-bible/ 
• Discussion Questions (Adults): 
  • 1. From the Tower of Babel story through the rest of the Old Testament, what specific consequences manifested themselves from choices that individuals and whole groups of people made in defining good and evil on their own terms rather than on God’s? 
  • 2. Why is it so tempting to eat the “forbidden fruit” and define good and evil on our own terms? 
  • 3. Review the context of Exodus 19:13b. Might God be calling all of Israel up the mountain into his presence here? If so, does Israel remain “distant” by choosing to make Moses an intermediary in Exodus 20:18-20? Correspond this thought experiment with Israel’s desire to have a human king like their neighboring nations. Furthermore, how might this “distance” from God inform the apostle Paul’s view of the law? 
  • 4. Why do you suppose it took so many generations for Jesus, the promised messiah, to arrive? 
  • 5. How does God/Jesus’ definition of good, as serving others and practicing self-sacrificial love, ultimately triumph over the evil we often choose for ourselves? Where else can we see evidence of this triumph at work in the world? 
  • 6. In the end, when all wrongs are made right, all evil is eradicated, heaven and earth unite, and humanity rules together with God, will it be because humanity finally chooses God’s definition, or because God overwhelms us with so much goodness that we have little choice in the matter? What are some other possible scenarios? 
• Discussion Questions (Youth):
  • 1. Why is it so tempting to eat the “forbidden fruit” and define good and evil on our own terms? 
  • 2. What are some examples from the Old Testament (Hebrew Scriptures) of consequences for individuals or whole groups who try to define good and evil on their own terms? 
  • 3. Do we do the same thing today?
  • 4. Why do you suppose it took so many generations for Jesus, the promised messiah, to arrive? 
  • 5. How does God/Jesus’ definition of good (serving others and practicing self-sacrificial love) ultimately triumph over the evil we often choose for ourselves? Where else can we see evidence of this triumph at work in the world? 
  • 6. In the end, when all wrongs are made right, all evil is eradicated, heaven and earth unite, and humanity rules together with God, will it be because humanity finally chooses God’s definition, or because God overwhelms us with so much goodness that we have little choice in the matter? What are some other possible scenarios? 

• Extra Study/Credit
  • Bible Project Podcast: https://bibleproject.com/podcast/what-story-bible/ 
  • Bible Timeline (A Cartoonist’s Guide to the Bible) https://cartoonistbible.com/overview/bible-timeline-2/ 
  • AJ’s Bible Timeline Slideshow The Story and Timeline of the Bible.pptx

• Notes from AJ: 
  • It is a big job to sum up the entire story of the Bible in 5 minutes! The attached study guide gives a little more in-depth, and the Podcast talks through how this particular pattern was created (and its benefit over a “Creation, Fall, Redemption” model, which skips over most of the Hebrew Scriptures. 
  • Having gone through the Narrative Lectionary, as well as gleaning years of knowledge and wisdom, some of our folks may have a fairly good idea of the overall story of Scripture. Some, however, may just be getting used to looking at the story at this level.