Our Values:
Learning and Living the Bible
At Church 4 Life our first value is “learning and living the Bible” as we see it as a key to living the best life possible, the life God has intended for us. There are many reasons to learn and live the Bible, which include:
- Learning to know God’s Voice.
- Learning to know who God is, what His character is like, how He behaves, how He sees us.
- A deeper understanding of what we believe so we can share our faith.
- Constantly learning and growing in knowing what God expects from us and how to live the Christian life.
- We need to know our Bibles so we can spot and reject lies and false teaching that take us away from Jesus.
- It increases our faith and helps us navigate life’s challenges.
- God wrote it for us to read and know, it’s a love letter, an instruction book, a comfort, a guide, a prophesy for our future.
Reading or listening to the Bible daily is a vital part of our faith. If you need help with this please speak to Pastor Richard or Pastor Ba.
10 Ways to Learn the Bible
- Read or listen to the Bible every day.
- Memorise Bible verses – this helps God’s Word stick in your head, grow in your heart and increase your understanding of the Bible.
- Many church songs have been put to music and are a great way to memorise, learn and understand scripture. (Google “scripture in song” for suggestions).
- Meditate (stop and intentionally think about) what you’ve read.
- Take your Bible to church to read along and check that what the pastor is saying is true.
- Ask questions – ask other Christians, ask your pastor, ask the Holy Spirit.
- Join a Bible Study Group so you can do in depth learning of a particular topic or book.
- Read the Bible alongside a concordance or Bible reference book.
- Write in a notebook or journal what you are learning, your questions and the answers God gives you.
- Stop and imagine the live scene of what you read. Make it a movie in your mind, not just words, imagine what Noah’s flood, the Good Samaritan, Creation would have looked, sounded and smelt like.
10 Ways to Live the Bible
- Pray and ask Jesus, the God who lived as a man, how to live what you have read in the Bible.
- Study the Bible to see for the “how to’s” like how to love your neighbour, when to forgive, how to pray, what to eat etc.
- Start where you are, do what you know God wants you to do and then move onto the next thing. Living the Bible is a journey of growth not an overnight wonder.
- Give yourself the grace God gives you to try, make a mistake, and try again.
- Read the book of Proverbs for snippets of wisdom and then add them into your life e.g. Proverbs 20:3 “It is honourable for a man to stop striving, since any fool can start a quarrel.”
- Pray about what you read, even praying the scripture exactly as it is, e.g. “God I pray that you will bring into my life “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” as your Word says in Galatians 5:22.”
- Look for clues for on how God see you to build an accurate view of your value and then act like the son or daughter of God that you are.
- Attend church regularly so you can learn how to live the Bible and share the lessons of the journey with other believers.
- Be brave – as the Bible teaches – and give it a go, try a new action, trust God’s love and wisdom in giving the instructions for us to follow.
- Talk to other believers about how they live the Bible and try doing the same things.
Real People Living and Learning the Bible
My Learning, My Life by Gail Taylor