FAQs

Why The Bible Year?

Wouldn’t it be incredible over the course of one year for our church to read the Bible cover-to-cover together? That is what The Bible Year is all about.

As Christian people, the Bible is our go-to source. We believe it contains revelation from God.  We know that it’s important. But many of us have not read the entire Bible. We may have tried to read it all the way through before, only to get stuck at really difficult places.  

The Bible is a living word. It speaks to us today in similar and new ways to how it spoke to the original audiences. So when we take time to read the Bible daily, we encounter God. And when we read the Bible together, we hear and see God working in new and different ways.  

This is a challenge. You’ve looked at how many pages are in the Bible before. But more than a challenge, this is a grand opportunity. You have the opportunity to practice walking with Jesus on a daily basis, with your church family and leadership cheering you along the way. At Macedonia in 2022, we want to get on the same page with each other. 

What does The Bible Year include?

Daily Devotional Readings

At the heart of The Bible Year is a daily Bible reading, usually about 3-5 chapters in length. This is accompanied by a devotional book that has a brief question or prompt to help make the day’s Scripture practical in your life.  

Sunday Worship

All through 2022, our worship will focus on The Bible Year. We will preach about the passages that we are reading.  Sermon series will be developed around these major themes. We will still follow the liturgical calendar and seasons of the church, including Lent and Advent. They will dovetail with the Scriptures that we are reading at particular times and seasons.

Small Group Opportunities

The Seekers Class will function on Sunday mornings as a Bible Year discussion group.  

In addition, Pastor Kevin’s Tuesday Morning Bible study will begin on Tuesday January 11, 2022 and will be another in-person small group option.

We will also have an online group that will meet on Thursday’s at 7:30pm via Zoom.  

It is not required that everyone who participates in The Bible Year participates in a small group. We highly recommend that you do, as there is more accountability when we read together and there will be plenty of questions that we have along the way that we can feel comfortable to ask together in a small group.

Weekly Videos

Every person who is part of The Bible Year will have access to a weekly 5-7 minute video through Amplify Media, a streaming service. Small groups will use these videos, but if you’re not in a group or want to watch a video again, you can easily catch these videos online.

Private Facebook Group and Questions for the Pastor

If ever there are questions that you want to ask Pastor Kevin, you have an open forum in a private Facebook group and by just emailing or scheduling a time to meet. People asking questions and wanting to talk about the Bible is a Pastor’s dream!

Fears and Frustrations about reading the Bible for an entire year

There is good reason to come with trepidation to an undertaking of reading the Bible in an entire year. Especially when we have come across the following fears or frustrations in our own lives and in the lives of other who we care about.

What about the parts that are really boring?

This is why a lot of us have stopped reading the Bible when we’ve tried it before. We were doing fine, and then…Leviticus.  

There are sections of the Law and Prophets that feel really dry, or really repetitive. Or they may be so culturally distant from our time that it’s hard for any of it to feel relevant. During those times, we need to ask questions that wonder what these passages meant for the first hearers and what aspects of them show us meaning today?  

What about the parts that are really violent?

The Bible is full of bloody sections. And a lot of these seem sanctioned by God. Like the people of Israel were just being obedient to God when they were slaughtering foreign nations. This is hard for our modern sensibilities to understand. When we read Scripture together, we can ask questions about how to interpret these sections of Scripture instead of just avoiding them altogether.  

What about the depictions of God that are unsettling?

We understand that God is love. 

So what do we do when God is depicted in ways that are not loving? How do we understand God destroying the world with a flood, asking a man to sacrifice his promised son, and order the killing of people?  

We need a way to interpret and understand these stories. As we read together, we will hold our understanding and experience of who God is in tension with the stories we encounter in Scripture.  

How does The Bible Year work with the liturgical calendar and holy days?

The seasons of the Church Year are extremely important to our worshiping life at Macedonia.  So our sermon series in the midst of The Bible Year will coincide with the liturgical seasons.  During Lent, we will be looking at being people of character as we encounter the lives of Samuel, David, and Solomon. Then we will read the traditional texts about Jesus’ passion, death, and resurrection during Holy Week.  

During Advent we will be finishing the letters of Paul to the church. But we will also light the Advent wreath and read the Christmas story on Christmas.

What version of the Bible should I use?  

The best answer to this question is “The one you’ll read.”  That’s not being funny, it’s just pretty true. Sometimes the version that we read can be confusing or unhelpful. If you have an old King James version sitting around, or even a Revised Standard Version, there are more contemporary versions that are a lot easier to read and understand.

The Common English Bible (CEB) is what we use primarily in worship at Macedonia and what Pastor Kevin preaches from. This translation is about 10 years old and is extremely readable and accurate. If you would like Study Notes along the way, the CEB Study Bible is great (although it has pretty small print). Click here to see the Common English Bibles available.

The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) is a great translation to use, so is the New International Version (NIV). One of the gifts of participating in a small group will be comparing translations.

There are also countless resources online to use to read and hear Scripture. One of the best and easiest is Bible Gateway, which also features an app. You can listen to some versions of Scripture here, and this might be a way to hear Scripture while you’re on the move.

What Resources are offered to help me along the way?

In addition to the weekly sermons, the streamable videos, and small groups, there are other great resources to help you answer questions or dig deeper.

Podcast: The Bible Project 2020

Hyde Park UMC piloted this program in 2020, and they developed a weekly podcast with biblical scholars. You can click here or check it out wherever you listen to podcasts.

Bibleproject.com

This is an incredible website that mainly features short videos to help introduce biblical books and their themes. Paired with The Bible Year, this might be a helpful resource before you start any new biblical book along the way. You can also find them on Youtube.

What happens if I fall behind or miss some readings?

This is one of the hardest parts about starting such an ambitious project. Many of us have started trying to read the Bible in a year only to stop a month in once we lost steam. If you have a rough week and just can’t get the reading in that week, it’s OK. You can mark where you were, and skip ahead. One of the most important parts of this for our church is staying on the same page.  

There will also be new series throughout the year where you can get a “fresh start.” We want as many people as possible to stay with us on this journey, so you can pick up and start back in with us. Also, there will be people new to the church throughout the year. And we hope they will find a place to jump in with us.  

How can my family participate in The Bible Year together?

In Macedonia Kids on Sunday evenings, the kids will be learning about the whole of the Bible.  Hopefully you can have conversation together about stories you’re reading. The children’s program already does a great job of covering the grand story of Scripture in the Godly Play program on Sunday mornings as well.

We encourage our Youth of Macedonia to participate in this challenge together. When they gather on Sunday nights, they will have conversations and discussions in these same Bible Year themes.