April 21, 2025 • 17 mins
This episode originally aired on Sep 11, 2023 but we think it's worth taking a second to have a second listen, today! We'll be back next week with a new episode!
Original Show Notes:
Have you ever said (or thought) "I want to read the Bible more but I just don't know where to start?" On this episode we talk with Pastor Heather Mandala about how to get started and how to shift our mindset away from feeling like it's something we "should do" to embracing it as one of the best ways to get to know who Jesus is so we can be more like him. We explore various methods to connect with the Scripture and are reminded that this journey is not about perfection, it's about grace and growth.
NOTES & RESOURCES:
- Looking for a Bible?
- Let us help! Reach out to Pastor Heather at heather@meethope.org.
- Check out a few on this Amazon List: meethope.org/mhpamazon
- YouVersion Bible App (It's FREE!): https://www.youversion.com/
- A few more Bible Resources:
- The Bible Project: https://bibleproject.com/
- The Bible for Normal People: https://thebiblefornormalpeople.com/about-b4np/
- Bible Gateway: https://www.biblegateway.com/
- Small Groups at HOPE: meethope.org/groups
- Contact staff at HOPE for support! meethope.org/staff
Thanks for being a part of the HOPE community as we continue conversations about faith and hope! You can learn more at meethope.org or find us on socials @meethopechurch. Join in for worship on Sundays at meethope.online.church! Have a question? Contact us at podcast@meethope.org.
Enjoy what you heard? Be sure to rate us on Apple Podcasts and click the subscribe button so you don't miss new episodes every Monday!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello Hope Podcast listeners.
We live in a fast-paced worldwhere new material and ideas are
thrown at you 24-7.
Some of you told us this andsaid I want to listen to
everything, but it's hard tocatch up.
Well, we're here to help.
We desire to be a place that isgrateful for and respectful of
your precious time, and so toserve you best, we will every so
often be resharing pastepisodes that we call Second
(00:22):
Listen, because we think theyare worth taking a second to
replay.
Even if you are an every weeklistener, we think having a
second listen to these episodeswill make an impact on your
weekend life, and if you haveheard this one but are behind on
new episodes, now is a greattime to catch up on any others
you have missed.
Thank you, and here we go.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
Welcome to the Meet Hope podcast, where we have
conversations about faith andhope.
Hope is one church made ofpeople living out their faith
through two expressions inperson and online.
We believe a hybrid faithexperience can lead to a growing
influence in our community andour world for the sake of others
.
Welcome to Hope.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
Hi everyone, welcome to the Mean Hope Podcast.
I'm Ashley Black and I'mexcited to be here today with
one of our pastors, pastorHeather Mandela, and we're going
to be doing a new segment onthe podcast.
We're going to be callingMonday School.
So every once in a while, wehad some feedback that people
would love to hear us talk abouthow to do things or learn about
(01:31):
things connected to the churchor faith or ministry or our
faith lives, and so we're goingto be kind of trying this out
every once in a while with someepisodes, and so you're our
first one, of course, and sotoday we're gonna be talking
about reading our Bible.
So, Heather, just so you know,this question came up from a
(01:55):
handful of our listeners who I'dgotten together with and said,
like well, what kind of topicswould you like to have in Monday
school?
And this was a big one, and Iwould say that it's one that I
hear often when I lead a smallgroup.
There's always like one or twopeople that say, like, well, I
want to read my Bible more, butI don't know where to start, and
that feels like a lot ofpressure.
And so I figured, of all of ourpeople here on staff.
(02:19):
You direct small groups and youpoint people in that direction
a lot, and so I thought you'd begood to have a conversation
with.
Speaker 3 (02:26):
Well, thank you.
No, I do love talking aboutthis and I agree it's something
that I hear regularly in mysmall groups and it's something
we're super cognizant of whenwe're working with kids and
families as well, becauseparents don't often don't feel
equipped to teach the Bible.
They're still trying to figureit out for themselves.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
Yeah, no, that's a really great point, because when
you're younger it's like, justfeels like this thing you're
supposed to like learn ormemorize or whatever, and you
don't understand what it meansin like a relational way,
exactly.
Speaker 3 (02:56):
Yeah, and I think you know that's the question that
we start with across the boardis the why.
So why do we read the Bible?
Right?
And we read the Bible becausethis is the most direct source
of information that we haveabout who Jesus was.
(03:16):
And if we are supposed to bedisciples right, we're in the
process of being conformed tothe image of Christ.
For the sake of others, then weneed to know what image we're
being conformed into, and one ofthe you know, one of the ways
we learn about who Jesus is andwhat Jesus was like is through
the Bible.
And so so that's the why, thewhy is learning about who Jesus
(03:43):
is.
Speaker 1 (03:43):
No, that's really beautiful, because I feel like
there's a lot of commonmisconceptions about why you
should, and it's like the shouldLike.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
I should read the Bible.
Speaker 1 (03:52):
And it feels very like homework and it's like,
well, why do you think youshould?
Are there any other commonmisconceptions that you hear
about?
Speaker 3 (04:02):
I think what I hear a lot is.
I try, but I just can'tunderstand it.
It's just too confusing and Iget that and I the first
question I usually ask is well,do you know what translation
you're trying to read?
You know, that's one of myfirst questions and there are a
lot of really confusingtranslations out there that I
(04:23):
don't recommend, and they're notnecessarily the most accurate
translations either, and it'sfunny because you'll hear some
churches that are like live anddie King James, you know, and
the thighs and the vowels, andit's not even the most accurate
of the translations that are outthere, but for some reason
they've clung on to thatdesperately.
Some reason they've clung on tothat desperately.
(04:47):
You know, personally I love theNLT, which is the New Living
Translation, and I love the NIV,which is the New International.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
Version and you just find those are the plainest
English to read.
Speaker 3 (04:55):
Yeah, they're the most accessible English wise.
The message is great.
I like to read the message inconjunction with one of those.
I find for me the message is areally great way to think
differently about a verse Imight be stuck on, you know.
So if there's something that'sconfusing or language I don't
understand, I might look at thatthere.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
Yeah, I found sometimes what I like about the
message version is it adds alittle bit more like color to
the picture, yep, but but yeah,that's usually where I start to
that, nlt NIV and I.
I recently saw someone go by onI think it might've been
Instagram someone I follow.
They said you know, we have toremember that the Bible was not
written in English.
(05:36):
You know, and it's been throughmany languages and so being
tied to even one English,translation is not fair to us in
trying to understand who Jesuswas, like you said.
Speaker 3 (05:46):
Exactly no.
And then the second question Iwill ask is well, what are you
trying to read?
And they're like well, I triedto start at the beginning.
No, no wonder.
Let me guess you hit likeDeuteronomy or Leviticus and you
were like peace out people, allthe rules and all the lineage
(06:07):
of everyone.
And there are some amazingstories in the old Testament,
but everything in the oldTestament points to Jesus, and
if we're not reading the oldTestament through the lens of
Jesus, we're doing a disserviceto the Old Testament, and so I
will almost never suggest thatpeople start in the Old
(06:29):
Testament, start in the NewTestament, start in what we call
the Gospels, which are Matthew,mark, luke and John.
Pick one of those.
My favorite is John and Matthew.
They're my two favorites.
Is there a reason why they'reyour favorite?
And Matthew, they're my twofavorites.
Is there a reason why they'reyour favorite?
So, john, was known as thedisciple that Jesus loved, and
(06:50):
this, this relationship, I feellike so clearly comes through in
the gospel of John.
John points to Jesus's loveagain and again, and again, and
all of the stories he recounts,in the things he shares, in the
exchanges between the disciplesand Jesus, and so for me it's
(07:10):
this beautiful look at thetender side of Jesus and the
personal side of Jesus andMatthew.
Matthew is what most of theshow Godspell is based upon, and
you know I started doing theshow Godspell at 16 here at Hope
and it has been a favorite ofmine for my entire adult life,
(07:32):
and, and so I um.
You know there are so manyscriptures that are completely
linked to that show for me Ican't even read them without
singing a song or doingsomething special memory for you
.
Yeah, connect with it.
Yeah, exactly.
So for me it's a personal thingwith Matthew, it's, it's,
they're all great.
Um but that's just my ownpersonal preference.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
I mean, one thing I love about when you read each
gospel is you you get to knowlike kind of the personality of
each writer and I love learningabout who they were and and who
they were writing to.
so around this time last year, Ithink, I did a study on the
book of luke and we just gottogether and we read through the
book of luke and one of thefirst things we talked about was
like who luke was and or who webelieve luke was, and who he
(08:17):
was writing to and why he waswriting what he did or why he
shared what he did, and theneven things so fascinating as
like they also believe like lukewrote luke and acts, I think,
and but there's like but thosebooks aren't right next to each
other in the bible and so solike, well, why aren't they and
and talking through?
(08:37):
So that's like another piece ofit is, we don't always, when
you mentioned people think theyshould start at the beginning in
Genesis, like when I learnedthat not the whole Bible is on a
timeline like a direct timeline.
My mind was blown because, as alittle kid, I just assume, like
you read a book start to finishright.
Speaker 3 (08:55):
And so when you kind of learn how it all points, to
each other and pieces anyway,that's a little bit of a side
tangent, but those things areimportant, it's one of the
reasons why I also ask peoplewho they're reading it with,
because it's so important thatwe do this in community because
we bring only one perspective tothe table, and when we are
(09:16):
reading with other Christians,we are hearing different
perspectives, different lifeexperiences.
The Bible is a living word.
It is going to interact withour hearts and our minds and it
can be confusing sometimes, andso we might read something that
is confusing to us and we needsomeone else's perspective to
(09:39):
help us understand it better.
It was also written in adifferent culture and a
different time, with differentlife experiences, or have a
situation where we are indebtedto one particular person the way
that people were indebted inthe past, and so having our debt
(10:01):
forgiven rings differently forus than it does for someone else
.
So it's important for us to bereading in community and to do
what we call looking at thewhole canon of scripture.
I know very big words, right,but basically it just means to
understand where that particularscripture fits in the larger
puzzle.
In the whole story.
Speaker 1 (10:19):
Yeah, yeah, one of my favorite questions I heard
somebody ask once was no matterwhere you are in scripture,
whether you're in the OldTestament or the New Testament,
specifically in the OldTestament, where it can feel
like really old and confusing isthey asked where is Jesus in
this?
Yeah, and so I love that youstarted off by talking about you
know, that part of it is.
Our goal is to learn who thecharacter of Jesus is, so that
(10:42):
we can be more like him.
And so, even if we can look atan Old Testament story and ask
where is it pointing to?
Like, how is this storypointing to Jesus?
That I know, for me it's helpeda lot.
It is.
Speaker 3 (10:54):
It's that old cheesy bracelet everybody wore.
What would Jesus do?
You can't answer that questionfor your own personal life until
you know who he is, and this isthe best place we can find who
he is.
And he is amazing andirresistible and grace filled
(11:15):
and powerful, and there is awhole mystery waiting for us you
know, and that's why it's worthpushing through what might seem
challenging at first, and it'swhy it's worth doing it in
community and growing closer toeach other as we grow closer to
him and figure out what it?
means to look like our savior.
Speaker 1 (11:36):
No, I love that so much because I think, um often
there can be this feeling likeyou just have, it's something
you have to just like memorize,or you have to know it all, and
it's like no one's testing youon knowing it all, it's just.
It's if, just if you have thisdesire to, like you said, be
more like Jesus, yeah.
Speaker 3 (11:54):
And it tells us to write the scripture on our
hearts.
And you know it is importantfor us to have an understanding
of what the scripture says, toknow who he is.
But I promise you it is not.
God is not going to grade youon what translation you memorize
.
That's not what it's about.
It is about understandingcharacter and um, you know, just
(12:16):
like you don't really know amovie star because you've
watched their movies, right, youknow you don't really know
jesus just because you've cometo church and hear us talk about
him.
You know we have to dive in alittle bit deeper to to really
figure out who that person is,and so we have to dive in a
little bit deeper and figure outwho jesus is.
But he doesn't want us to do italone.
Yeah, definitely it's alwaysabout being together in
(12:36):
relationships.
Speaker 1 (12:37):
So so far we have you know.
You suggested start by readingthe Gospels, get to know Jesus.
Speaker 3 (12:42):
Yes, you suggested doing it with other people not
doing it by yourself, yeah.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
Small groups, yeah.
And what about?
Are there any other tools thatyou would suggest, like when
someone so I love.
Speaker 3 (12:53):
There's a lot of great devotionals out there.
I mean, you can, you know,throw a stone and hit a thousand
, um.
But one of the things that Ifind really useful and easy, if
you are of the generation thatalways has a phone on you, is
the YouVersion app.
It's great, and they've got aton of plans that you can choose
from that will give youscriptures and devotional
readings that might help youhave a little more insight into
scripture.
(13:13):
That might be more difficult,um, you can do that in groups,
you can do that independentlyand it's always right on your
phone.
You can do it wherever you are,whenever you are, so you don't
have to um to feel like, well,I've got to have the right
lighting and sit down in myperfect chair and have my
journal and blah, blah, blah,blah, blah you know, which which
for some people is reallyhelpful, and with some people
it's just too overwhelming.
There's too many factors that Ihave to have lined up correctly
(13:35):
for me to be able to sit withGod.
And it's like nope, it canliterally just be your phone in
your back pocket.
Speaker 1 (13:39):
Yeah, yeah, that's great that you can.
You know, kind of getting overthat hump of of not believing
that we can encounter Godeverywhere when you can
encounter God everywhere.
Speaker 3 (13:48):
Yes, and podcasts Imagine that you know.
And if you're not sure of one,ask someone that you're in
community with because theyprobably have a great
recommendation.
Speaker 1 (13:55):
Yeah, no that's really great and we'll, we'll,
link all those things in ourshow notes.
So people are looking for theYouVersion Bible app and other
things like that.
We can, we can share it withthem no-transcript.
Speaker 3 (14:11):
Remember or take away from this podcast.
I feel like Nike, just do it.
You know, like just, don't makeit too big, take small chunks.
You know, don't make it likeI'm going to read the whole
Bible in a year.
If you've been doing this along time and you've read
scripture a long time and that'sa goal, that is a fantastic
goal to have.
But if you're just starting, ohmy goodness gracious, try one
(14:32):
chapter in a week.
You know, like just, andsometimes you read that chapter
two or three times in that weekbecause you don't get it all the
first time and there are somelike questions you have that you
want to sit on, and that's okay.
And if you're not sure, reachout to us.
Anybody here on staff at Hopewould love to help point you in
a direction.
Speaker 1 (14:51):
To start, yeah, no, I love that.
I was thinking while you weretalking about you said just do
it, and I was thinking thephrase give it time, um, so it
can be it's, it's not.
It's in some small ways it'sgoing to shape you quickly and
in some big ways it's going toshape you over time, over time,
in in ways that you don't expectto Um, and that can be really
(15:13):
hard to give something time whenwe just want to like jump in
and feel like we're getting itright and like it's like when
you remove that, that I don'tknow expectation to meet this.
Speaker 3 (15:26):
You know specific goal and I admittedly have an
issue with plans.
I love plans, I love havingplans.
Plans make me feel good, theymake me feel secure.
But the reality is, as much asI love plans, I love having
plans.
Plans make me feel good, theymake me feel secure.
But the reality is, as much asI love plans, I'm also okay with
not following them.
And that's kind of where youhave to be with this, like it's
great to say, hey, I'm going tocommit to this, I'm going to
(15:49):
have a plan.
But you know what, if your lifeis anything like my life, it is
upside down, topsy turvy.
Every day is different.
You're never sure what's comingdown the pike, and you've got
to have as much grace as youhave plans.
So it is great to say, hey, I'mgoing to do this, but you've
got to have grace for yourself.
There may be a day or two or aweek where you miss it
completely, and that's okay.
The point is relationship, andrelationship just means you keep
coming back.
Eventually, you just keepcoming back, you just keep
(16:11):
coming back, you keep comingback, keep pressing in, keep
giving it a try.
Speaker 1 (16:14):
Yeah, no, that's really beautiful Just to even
have that mindset of you.
Know, this is just kind ofabout seeing what God has for
you, and I really believe youknow in any little way that we
try to find God, that he meetsus in those moments, and so,
yeah, it's all about just tryingto get to know who Jesus is,
get to know him better and asyou get to know him better, you
(16:35):
are better equipped to answerthe question.
Speaker 3 (16:37):
How should I handle this situation?
You know, if I'm trying to belike Jesus, how should I show
that love right now, in thisreally hard place?
Speaker 1 (16:45):
Cool.
Well, this has been reallygreat, thank you.
I know these conversations arepretty short and we could talk
about this forever and I wouldencourage anybody that is like
if you're connecting to thisconversation, to reach out to
you or somebody else, like yousaid, on staff and and talk more
about their feelings aboutgetting started reading their
Bible and so yeah, that's.
(17:06):
That's pretty much all the timewe have for today, but I would
encourage you to keep listeningto the Meet Hope podcast.
We have a new podcast everyweek and we'll be doing more
episodes like this in the future, where we just try to give you
some insight into some how-tosor some new learnings with your
faith.
But until next time, it wasgreat to have you here and we'll
see you then.
Speaker 2 (17:30):
Thanks for being a part of the Hope community as we
continue our conversationsabout faith and hope.
If you don't already, pleasejoin us for worship on Sundays
or on demand.
You can learn more atmeethopeorg or find us on
socials at Meet Hope Church.
Hello Hope Podcast listeners.
We live in a fast-paced worldwhere new material and ideas are
thrown at you 24-7.
Some of you told us this andsaid I want to listen to
everything, but it's hard tocatch up.
Well, we're here to help.
We desire to be a place that isgrateful for and respectful of
your precious time, and so toserve you best, we will every so
often be resharing pastepisodes that we call Second
(00:22):
Listen, because we think theyare worth taking a second to
replay.
Even if you are an every weeklistener, we think having a
second listen to these episodeswill make an impact on your
weekend life, and if you haveheard this one but are behind on
new episodes, now is a greattime to catch up on any others
you have missed.
Thank you, and here we go.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
Welcome to the Meet Hope podcast, where we have
conversations about faith andhope.
Hope is one church made ofpeople living out their faith
through two expressions inperson and online.
We believe a hybrid faithexperience can lead to a growing
influence in our community andour world for the sake of others
.
Welcome to Hope.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
Hi everyone, welcome to the Mean Hope Podcast.
I'm Ashley Black and I'mexcited to be here today with
one of our pastors, pastorHeather Mandela, and we're going
to be doing a new segment onthe podcast.
We're going to be callingMonday School.
So every once in a while, wehad some feedback that people
would love to hear us talk abouthow to do things or learn about
(01:31):
things connected to the churchor faith or ministry or our
faith lives, and so we're goingto be kind of trying this out
every once in a while with someepisodes, and so you're our
first one, of course, and sotoday we're gonna be talking
about reading our Bible.
So, Heather, just so you know,this question came up from a
(01:55):
handful of our listeners who I'dgotten together with and said,
like well, what kind of topicswould you like to have in Monday
school?
And this was a big one, and Iwould say that it's one that I
hear often when I lead a smallgroup.
There's always like one or twopeople that say, like, well, I
want to read my Bible more, butI don't know where to start, and
that feels like a lot ofpressure.
And so I figured, of all of ourpeople here on staff.
(02:19):
You direct small groups and youpoint people in that direction
a lot, and so I thought you'd begood to have a conversation
with.
Speaker 3 (02:26):
Well, thank you.
No, I do love talking aboutthis and I agree it's something
that I hear regularly in mysmall groups and it's something
we're super cognizant of whenwe're working with kids and
families as well, becauseparents don't often don't feel
equipped to teach the Bible.
They're still trying to figureit out for themselves.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
Yeah, no, that's a really great point, because when
you're younger it's like, justfeels like this thing you're
supposed to like learn ormemorize or whatever, and you
don't understand what it meansin like a relational way,
exactly.
Speaker 3 (02:56):
Yeah, and I think you know that's the question that
we start with across the boardis the why.
So why do we read the Bible?
Right?
And we read the Bible becausethis is the most direct source
of information that we haveabout who Jesus was.
(03:16):
And if we are supposed to bedisciples right, we're in the
process of being conformed tothe image of Christ.
For the sake of others, then weneed to know what image we're
being conformed into, and one ofthe you know, one of the ways
we learn about who Jesus is andwhat Jesus was like is through
the Bible.
And so so that's the why, thewhy is learning about who Jesus
(03:43):
is.
Speaker 1 (03:43):
No, that's really beautiful, because I feel like
there's a lot of commonmisconceptions about why you
should, and it's like the shouldLike.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
I should read the Bible.
Speaker 1 (03:52):
And it feels very like homework and it's like,
well, why do you think youshould?
Are there any other commonmisconceptions that you hear
about?
Speaker 3 (04:02):
I think what I hear a lot is.
I try, but I just can'tunderstand it.
It's just too confusing and Iget that and I the first
question I usually ask is well,do you know what translation
you're trying to read?
You know, that's one of myfirst questions and there are a
lot of really confusingtranslations out there that I
(04:23):
don't recommend, and they're notnecessarily the most accurate
translations either, and it'sfunny because you'll hear some
churches that are like live anddie King James, you know, and
the thighs and the vowels, andit's not even the most accurate
of the translations that are outthere, but for some reason
they've clung on to thatdesperately.
Some reason they've clung on tothat desperately.
(04:47):
You know, personally I love theNLT, which is the New Living
Translation, and I love the NIV,which is the New International.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
Version and you just find those are the plainest
English to read.
Speaker 3 (04:55):
Yeah, they're the most accessible English wise.
The message is great.
I like to read the message inconjunction with one of those.
I find for me the message is areally great way to think
differently about a verse Imight be stuck on, you know.
So if there's something that'sconfusing or language I don't
understand, I might look at thatthere.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
Yeah, I found sometimes what I like about the
message version is it adds alittle bit more like color to
the picture, yep, but but yeah,that's usually where I start to
that, nlt NIV and I.
I recently saw someone go by onI think it might've been
Instagram someone I follow.
They said you know, we have toremember that the Bible was not
written in English.
(05:36):
You know, and it's been throughmany languages and so being
tied to even one English,translation is not fair to us in
trying to understand who Jesuswas, like you said.
Speaker 3 (05:46):
Exactly no.
And then the second question Iwill ask is well, what are you
trying to read?
And they're like well, I triedto start at the beginning.
No, no wonder.
Let me guess you hit likeDeuteronomy or Leviticus and you
were like peace out people, allthe rules and all the lineage
(06:07):
of everyone.
And there are some amazingstories in the old Testament,
but everything in the oldTestament points to Jesus, and
if we're not reading the oldTestament through the lens of
Jesus, we're doing a disserviceto the Old Testament, and so I
will almost never suggest thatpeople start in the Old
(06:29):
Testament, start in the NewTestament, start in what we call
the Gospels, which are Matthew,mark, luke and John.
Pick one of those.
My favorite is John and Matthew.
They're my two favorites.
Is there a reason why they'reyour favorite?
And Matthew, they're my twofavorites.
Is there a reason why they'reyour favorite?
So, john, was known as thedisciple that Jesus loved, and
(06:50):
this, this relationship, I feellike so clearly comes through in
the gospel of John.
John points to Jesus's loveagain and again, and again, and
all of the stories he recounts,in the things he shares, in the
exchanges between the disciplesand Jesus, and so for me it's
(07:10):
this beautiful look at thetender side of Jesus and the
personal side of Jesus andMatthew.
Matthew is what most of theshow Godspell is based upon, and
you know I started doing theshow Godspell at 16 here at Hope
and it has been a favorite ofmine for my entire adult life,
(07:32):
and, and so I um.
You know there are so manyscriptures that are completely
linked to that show for me Ican't even read them without
singing a song or doingsomething special memory for you
.
Yeah, connect with it.
Yeah, exactly.
So for me it's a personal thingwith Matthew, it's, it's,
they're all great.
Um but that's just my ownpersonal preference.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
I mean, one thing I love about when you read each
gospel is you you get to knowlike kind of the personality of
each writer and I love learningabout who they were and and who
they were writing to.
so around this time last year, Ithink, I did a study on the
book of luke and we just gottogether and we read through the
book of luke and one of thefirst things we talked about was
like who luke was and or who webelieve luke was, and who he
(08:17):
was writing to and why he waswriting what he did or why he
shared what he did, and theneven things so fascinating as
like they also believe like lukewrote luke and acts, I think,
and but there's like but thosebooks aren't right next to each
other in the bible and so solike, well, why aren't they and
and talking through?
(08:37):
So that's like another piece ofit is, we don't always, when
you mentioned people think theyshould start at the beginning in
Genesis, like when I learnedthat not the whole Bible is on a
timeline like a direct timeline.
My mind was blown because, as alittle kid, I just assume, like
you read a book start to finishright.
Speaker 3 (08:55):
And so when you kind of learn how it all points, to
each other and pieces anyway,that's a little bit of a side
tangent, but those things areimportant, it's one of the
reasons why I also ask peoplewho they're reading it with,
because it's so important thatwe do this in community because
we bring only one perspective tothe table, and when we are
(09:16):
reading with other Christians,we are hearing different
perspectives, different lifeexperiences.
The Bible is a living word.
It is going to interact withour hearts and our minds and it
can be confusing sometimes, andso we might read something that
is confusing to us and we needsomeone else's perspective to
(09:39):
help us understand it better.
It was also written in adifferent culture and a
different time, with differentlife experiences, or have a
situation where we are indebtedto one particular person the way
that people were indebted inthe past, and so having our debt
(10:01):
forgiven rings differently forus than it does for someone else
.
So it's important for us to bereading in community and to do
what we call looking at thewhole canon of scripture.
I know very big words, right,but basically it just means to
understand where that particularscripture fits in the larger
puzzle.
In the whole story.
Speaker 1 (10:19):
Yeah, yeah, one of my favorite questions I heard
somebody ask once was no matterwhere you are in scripture,
whether you're in the OldTestament or the New Testament,
specifically in the OldTestament, where it can feel
like really old and confusing isthey asked where is Jesus in
this?
Yeah, and so I love that youstarted off by talking about you
know, that part of it is.
Our goal is to learn who thecharacter of Jesus is, so that
(10:42):
we can be more like him.
And so, even if we can look atan Old Testament story and ask
where is it pointing to?
Like, how is this storypointing to Jesus?
That I know, for me it's helpeda lot.
It is.
Speaker 3 (10:54):
It's that old cheesy bracelet everybody wore.
What would Jesus do?
You can't answer that questionfor your own personal life until
you know who he is, and this isthe best place we can find who
he is.
And he is amazing andirresistible and grace filled
(11:15):
and powerful, and there is awhole mystery waiting for us you
know, and that's why it's worthpushing through what might seem
challenging at first, and it'swhy it's worth doing it in
community and growing closer toeach other as we grow closer to
him and figure out what it?
means to look like our savior.
Speaker 1 (11:36):
No, I love that so much because I think, um often
there can be this feeling likeyou just have, it's something
you have to just like memorize,or you have to know it all, and
it's like no one's testing youon knowing it all, it's just.
It's if, just if you have thisdesire to, like you said, be
more like Jesus, yeah.
Speaker 3 (11:54):
And it tells us to write the scripture on our
hearts.
And you know it is importantfor us to have an understanding
of what the scripture says, toknow who he is.
But I promise you it is not.
God is not going to grade youon what translation you memorize
.
That's not what it's about.
It is about understandingcharacter and um, you know, just
(12:16):
like you don't really know amovie star because you've
watched their movies, right, youknow you don't really know
jesus just because you've cometo church and hear us talk about
him.
You know we have to dive in alittle bit deeper to to really
figure out who that person is,and so we have to dive in a
little bit deeper and figure outwho jesus is.
But he doesn't want us to do italone.
Yeah, definitely it's alwaysabout being together in
(12:36):
relationships.
Speaker 1 (12:37):
So so far we have you know.
You suggested start by readingthe Gospels, get to know Jesus.
Speaker 3 (12:42):
Yes, you suggested doing it with other people not
doing it by yourself, yeah.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
Small groups, yeah.
And what about?
Are there any other tools thatyou would suggest, like when
someone so I love.
Speaker 3 (12:53):
There's a lot of great devotionals out there.
I mean, you can, you know,throw a stone and hit a thousand
, um.
But one of the things that Ifind really useful and easy, if
you are of the generation thatalways has a phone on you, is
the YouVersion app.
It's great, and they've got aton of plans that you can choose
from that will give youscriptures and devotional
readings that might help youhave a little more insight into
scripture.
(13:13):
That might be more difficult,um, you can do that in groups,
you can do that independentlyand it's always right on your
phone.
You can do it wherever you are,whenever you are, so you don't
have to um to feel like, well,I've got to have the right
lighting and sit down in myperfect chair and have my
journal and blah, blah, blah,blah, blah you know, which which
for some people is reallyhelpful, and with some people
it's just too overwhelming.
There's too many factors that Ihave to have lined up correctly
(13:35):
for me to be able to sit withGod.
And it's like nope, it canliterally just be your phone in
your back pocket.
Speaker 1 (13:39):
Yeah, yeah, that's great that you can.
You know, kind of getting overthat hump of of not believing
that we can encounter Godeverywhere when you can
encounter God everywhere.
Speaker 3 (13:48):
Yes, and podcasts Imagine that you know.
And if you're not sure of one,ask someone that you're in
community with because theyprobably have a great
recommendation.
Speaker 1 (13:55):
Yeah, no that's really great and we'll, we'll,
link all those things in ourshow notes.
So people are looking for theYouVersion Bible app and other
things like that.
We can, we can share it withthem no-transcript.
Speaker 3 (14:11):
Remember or take away from this podcast.
I feel like Nike, just do it.
You know, like just, don't makeit too big, take small chunks.
You know, don't make it likeI'm going to read the whole
Bible in a year.
If you've been doing this along time and you've read
scripture a long time and that'sa goal, that is a fantastic
goal to have.
But if you're just starting, ohmy goodness gracious, try one
(14:32):
chapter in a week.
You know, like just, andsometimes you read that chapter
two or three times in that weekbecause you don't get it all the
first time and there are somelike questions you have that you
want to sit on, and that's okay.
And if you're not sure, reachout to us.
Anybody here on staff at Hopewould love to help point you in
a direction.
Speaker 1 (14:51):
To start, yeah, no, I love that.
I was thinking while you weretalking about you said just do
it, and I was thinking thephrase give it time, um, so it
can be it's, it's not.
It's in some small ways it'sgoing to shape you quickly and
in some big ways it's going toshape you over time, over time,
in in ways that you don't expectto Um, and that can be really
(15:13):
hard to give something time whenwe just want to like jump in
and feel like we're getting itright and like it's like when
you remove that, that I don'tknow expectation to meet this.
Speaker 3 (15:26):
You know specific goal and I admittedly have an
issue with plans.
I love plans, I love havingplans.
Plans make me feel good, theymake me feel secure.
But the reality is, as much asI love plans, I love having
plans.
Plans make me feel good, theymake me feel secure.
But the reality is, as much asI love plans, I'm also okay with
not following them.
And that's kind of where youhave to be with this, like it's
great to say, hey, I'm going tocommit to this, I'm going to
(15:49):
have a plan.
But you know what, if your lifeis anything like my life, it is
upside down, topsy turvy.
Every day is different.
You're never sure what's comingdown the pike, and you've got
to have as much grace as youhave plans.
So it is great to say, hey, I'mgoing to do this, but you've
got to have grace for yourself.
There may be a day or two or aweek where you miss it
completely, and that's okay.
The point is relationship, andrelationship just means you keep
coming back.
Eventually, you just keepcoming back, you just keep
(16:11):
coming back, you keep comingback, keep pressing in, keep
giving it a try.
Speaker 1 (16:14):
Yeah, no, that's really beautiful Just to even
have that mindset of you.
Know, this is just kind ofabout seeing what God has for
you, and I really believe youknow in any little way that we
try to find God, that he meetsus in those moments, and so,
yeah, it's all about just tryingto get to know who Jesus is,
get to know him better and asyou get to know him better, you
(16:35):
are better equipped to answerthe question.
Speaker 3 (16:37):
How should I handle this situation?
You know, if I'm trying to belike Jesus, how should I show
that love right now, in thisreally hard place?
Speaker 1 (16:45):
Cool.
Well, this has been reallygreat, thank you.
I know these conversations arepretty short and we could talk
about this forever and I wouldencourage anybody that is like
if you're connecting to thisconversation, to reach out to
you or somebody else, like yousaid, on staff and and talk more
about their feelings aboutgetting started reading their
Bible and so yeah, that's.
(17:06):
That's pretty much all the timewe have for today, but I would
encourage you to keep listeningto the Meet Hope podcast.
We have a new podcast everyweek and we'll be doing more
episodes like this in the future, where we just try to give you
some insight into some how-tosor some new learnings with your
faith.
But until next time, it wasgreat to have you here and we'll
see you then.
Speaker 2 (17:30):
Thanks for being a part of the Hope community as we
continue our conversationsabout faith and hope.
If you don't already, pleasejoin us for worship on Sundays
or on demand.
You can learn more atmeethopeorg or find us on
socials at Meet Hope Church.
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