1. II Timothy 2:15 (NKJV)
 15 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

3. Digging Around
The purpose of our theme for 2016 has been to encourage us to dig deeper into God’s word
There are certainly ways that are well within our power to dig deeper
One of these ways involves the idea of context

4. Digging Around
Context is always important in anything that we do or say
Things can be taken out of context and used to hurt or harm someone or used as an excuse to do something
We learn the idea of context early in life…

5. Digging Around
We are taught to look for context clues to figure out the meaning of a word
Ex. “row” or “bear”
The context helps to provide the proper meaning of a certain word, phrase or sentence

6. Digging Around The same thing is true of the Bible
There are many verses that can be, and have been, taken out of context
Ex. “Curse God” – Job 2:9
This verse, if taken out of context, can have disastrous effects

7. Digging Around
It’s been said, “A text without a context is just a pretext for what you want it to mean”
If we are going to dig deeper into God’s word, we must have good study habits
This includes studying the context

8. What is Context?
The context is so very important to properly understanding God’s word
There are some important questions we should ask in this regard:
Who is speaking?
To whom are they speaking?
What are they speaking about?

9. What is Context? We need to look first at the book we are studying
Get background information on the author, the city or town that might be it’s backdrop and the purpose of the writing
This can help in our understanding

10. What is Context?
Remember that chapter and verse divisions were not in the original text
They were added later to help with breaking down books
Sometimes they break up thoughts that should go together (Ex. I Cor. 12 & 13)

11. Context Missing
There are passages in the Bible that are often taken out of context
One of the most common examples that we hear today is from Matthew 7:1…
“Judge not, that you be not judged”

12. Context Missing
Another involves the idea of Christ being present when “two or three are gathered together in My name…”
This comes from Matthew 18:20
The context of that verse reveals that Jesus isn’t speaking about a worship service or devotional

13. Context Missing
Another that is common in the denominational world is the idea of calling on the name of the Lord
Acts 2:21 & Romans 10:11
These passages, in their context, are simply stating that salvation is for all, not just the Jews

14. Remember the Context
Our goal moving forward in our Christian lives should be to follow God’s will as closely as we can
That means understanding His will even better
This is one way that we can become better at “Digging Deeper”