Bible 101: An Introduction

Every child baptized at St. Peter's receives a children's Bible.  Each fall, our 2nd graders receive another Bible to keep at home.  We offer this four-part series as a way for these children, or anyone who wants to revisit the Bible, to become familiar with this most important book.  The Bible is God's Word revealed to us in a variety of ways through many authors.  We invite you to see God's message of love and salvation present throughout the whole Bible!

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Week One: Finding Your Way Around the Bible

The Bible is a long, long book, but not if you know your way around! In this session, we'll look at how to find different books, chapters, and verses. We'll also explore a little about the people who wrote the books of the Bible, and what it all means.                

Week Two: The Old & New Testaments

There are two main parts of the Bible: the Old Testament, describing God's original covenant with the people of Israel; and the New Testament, in which Jesus arrives as our savior and redeemer, a new covenant.  We'll look at why both books are still relevant even in our modern lives.

 

Week Three: Looking at the Gospel of Matthew

Using two important stories from the Gospel of Matthew, we'll look at how different translations of the Bible speak to us in different ways.  The King James Version, the New International Version, and The Message all deliver the same story but in different styles--which speaks to you?

Week Four: Beginning a Family Bible Time

Now that we know our way around the Bible, what if we started our own family Bible time?  Here are some suggestions to get started--take it easy and go slow, making it more of a conversation than a formal lesson. Give it a try this Advent--you might be surprised!                                            

 

Additional Links:

Grow Christians is a relatively new website that has some amazing articles about raising young Christians in today's society.  The issues they raise are refreshing and relevant--you'll see many links to this site throughout our own Formation pages.  Here are several links to articles describing different families grappling with the Bible:

[This] is perhaps the single best reason to read the Bible with your children: from the very beginning, God has used deeply flawed, wildly inappropriate, very human people in order to accomplish God’s work. If that isn’t good news for all of us, I don’t know what is. This is still how God works, in and through us.
But what if all we did was introduce our kids to the story? Would their imaginations come to life? Would they feel more connected to our worship? Would the lectionary make more sense to them? Most importantly, would they be able to see God’s plan for the world—and their part in it?

  • My teens won't read the Bible by Miriam McKenney, part 1 of a series.  If you are looking for a realistic portrayal of a family Bible study, this is a good one to try!

The takeaway is that my teenager finds the Bible is simultaneously intimidating and boring. It’s also clear that despite good intentions we haven’t done Bible reading or study outside of church. Is it too late to change that? I don’t think so.