1. Know Your Bible Welcome to Week 1 Introduction

3. Why “Know Your Bible”? To address your questions Getting a sense of structure and themes Having confidence in the Bible Knowing God better

4. Time factor – 1500 years in the making! Three different languages, translation Different writing styles Forty different authors Impossible task?

5. Jewish Book Strategy – but no favourites Matthew 1 – genealogy Mark 8 – feeding of the four thousand Oral and written tradition

6. Our authority for: --- teaching --- rebuking --- correcting --- training in righteousness inspired (‘God-breathed’), giving wisdom that leads to salvation through faith in Jesus. How to read the Bible See 2 Timothy 3 v16,17

7. God speaks – why? --- so that we become like Jesus (2 Corinthians 3 v18) --- to build us up and make us strong spiritually (Deuteronomy 8 v3) --- joy and peace in the midst of the storm (Psalm 23 v5) --- guidance (Psalm 119 v105) --- health/healing (Proverbs 4 v20-22) --- defence against spiritual attack (Matthew 4 v1-11) --- power (Hebrews 4 v12) --- cleansing (John 15 v3)

8. How to hear God speak: A regular pattern Ask God to speak Read and ask…….. What does it say? What does it mean? How does it apply to me?

9. Main message of the Bible: Christ …in the Old Testament in the law – Deut 18 v15,18, see also Galatians 3 v23-24 in prophecy – Isaiah 9 v6,7 in poetry – Psalm 110 v1

10. …and in the New Testament in the gospels in the early history of the Church (Acts) in the letters in Revelation – the climax to history yet to come Main message of the Bible: Christ

11. The Big Picture For the big picture, read Hebrews 11. We are part of this chapter, and also of Acts ‘29’