Master the Bible: How to Get and Keep the Big Picture of the Bible's Story

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Mas ter the B i b l e : How to Get and Keep the B i g P i c ture of the B i b l e ’ s Stor y

conformity with the Bible, and claiming that thing in the name of Jesus, God must give it to you. God does not lie, and when we name the blessing, and claim the Word of God, then God’s unchanging laws of truth will ensure that we get that thing.” This form of Christian conviction and practice is arguably the most well known and popular message in the Western societies, and is growing in popularity across the world. Based on the things that you have surveyed in this chapter, how does the health-wealth gospel stand up to the teaching of the “Already/Not Yet” Kingdom of God? What elements of the health-wealth highlight the Already/Not Yet Kingdom, and what elements undermine its teaching? Explain.

“Keep the main thing the main thing.” Read the following quote and discuss the paragraphs below:

Thus, in Christianity, all time has a center. Paul developed this notion in his epistle to the Colossians declaring that Christ is the creator of all things (1.16), the one in whom all things hold together (1.17), and the one through whom all things are reconciled (1.20). Christ is the cosmic center of all history [emphasis mine]. Everything before Christ finds fulfillment in Christ. Everything since Christ finds its meaning by pointing back to Christ.

~ Robert Webber. The Services of the Christian Year . Nashville: Star Song Pub. Group, 1994. p. 79.

The Church Year has been practiced over the centuries in order to remember and participate in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ in real time. When used as a way to focus on the critical events of Jesus’ life and ministry, the Church Year can ensure that these events are remembered, reflected upon, celebrated, and integrated in our spiritual journeys each year. Today, however, in many evangelical churches we are obsessed with being both relevant and fresh. We discount ritual as dry and unbiblical, and our efforts to make every teaching, worship service, and service project unique can make us faddish, shallow, and unfamiliar with the central acts of God in his tory. Such competing streams can lead to worship wars (old hymns versus new contemporary worship styles), gimmicky preaching, and congregations who fail to see the value of the ancient Scripture, faith, Creed, and biblical spirituality. If you were responsible for navigating your church through such waters, how would you strive to stay (on the one hand) anchored in the old, old story of Jesus and his victory through the Cross while