WEBVTT 00:00:03.665 --> 00:00:07.793 Welcome to the Meet Hope podcast, where we have conversations about faith and hope. 00:00:07.793 --> 00:00:14.503 Hope is one church made of people living out their faith through two expressions in person and online. 00:00:14.503 --> 00:00:21.564 We believe a hybrid faith experience can lead to a growing influence in our community and our world for the sake of others. 00:00:21.564 --> 00:00:23.750 Welcome to Hope. 00:00:29.269 --> 00:00:31.193 Hi everyone, welcome to the Meet Hope podcast. 00:00:31.300 --> 00:00:41.823 I'm Ashley Black and I'm excited to be here today with one of our pastors, pastor Heather Mandela, and we're going to be doing a new segment on the podcast that we're going to be calling Monday School. 00:00:42.701 --> 00:01:08.551 So every once in a while, we had some feedback that people would love to hear us talk about how to do things or learn about things connected to the church or faith or ministry or our faith lives, and so we're going to be kind of trying this out every once in a while with some episodes, and so you're our first one, of course, and so today we're going to be talking about reading our Bible. 00:01:10.646 --> 00:01:19.825 So, heather, just so you know, this question came up from a handful of our listeners who I had gotten together with and said, like, well, what kind of topics would you like to have in Monday School? 00:01:19.825 --> 00:01:25.956 And this was a big one, and I would say that it's one that I hear often when I lead a small group. 00:01:25.956 --> 00:01:37.686 There's always like one or two people that say, well, I want to read my Bible more, but I don't know where to start, and that feels like a lot of pressure, and so I figured, of all of our people here on staff. 00:01:37.686 --> 00:01:44.225 You direct small groups and you point people in that direction a lot, and so I thought you'd be good to have conversation with. 00:01:44.507 --> 00:01:45.069 Well, thank you. 00:01:45.069 --> 00:01:58.772 No, I do love talking about this and I agree it's something that I hear regularly in my small groups and it's something we're super cognizant of when we're working with kids and families as well, because parents don't often don't feel equipped to teach the Bible. 00:01:58.772 --> 00:02:00.965 They're still trying to figure it out for themselves. 00:02:01.668 --> 00:02:02.811 Yeah, no, that's a really great point. 00:02:02.811 --> 00:02:08.780 Because, when you're younger, it's like just feels like this thing you're supposed to like learn or memorize or whatever. 00:02:08.780 --> 00:02:13.949 And you don't understand what it means in like a relational way, exactly, it's really hard. 00:02:14.211 --> 00:02:20.031 Yeah, and I think that's the question that we start with across the board is the why. 00:02:20.031 --> 00:02:22.426 So why do we read the Bible? 00:02:22.426 --> 00:02:46.631 And we read the Bible because this is the most direct source of information that we have about who Jesus was, and if we are supposed to be disciples, right where in the process of being conformed to the image of Christ for the sake of others, then we need to know what image we're being conformed into. 00:02:46.631 --> 00:02:57.729 Yeah, and one of the ways we learn about who Jesus is and what Jesus was like is through the Bible, and so that's the why. 00:02:57.729 --> 00:03:01.409 The why is learning about who Jesus is. 00:03:01.781 --> 00:03:09.084 No, that's really beautiful, because I feel like there's a lot of common misconceptions about why you should, and that's like the should Like. 00:03:09.084 --> 00:03:15.664 I should read the Bible and it feels very like physical homework, yeah, and it's like, well, why do you think you should? 00:03:15.664 --> 00:03:19.829 Are there any other like common misconceptions that you hear about? 00:03:20.500 --> 00:03:24.371 I think what I hear a lot is I try, but I just can't understand it. 00:03:24.371 --> 00:03:28.032 It's just too confusing and I get that. 00:03:28.032 --> 00:03:34.171 And the first question I usually ask is well, do you know what translation you're trying to read? 00:03:34.171 --> 00:04:00.588 You know, that's one of my first questions and there are a lot of really confusing translations out there that I don't recommend, and they're not necessarily the most accurate translations either, and it's funny because you'll hear some churches that are like live and die, King James, you know, and the thighs and the vowels and the, and it's not even the most accurate of the translations that are out there, but for some reason they've clung onto that desperately. 00:04:01.862 --> 00:04:09.560 You know, personally, I love the NLT, which is the new living translation, and I love the NIV, which is the new international version. 00:04:09.560 --> 00:04:15.948 You just find those are the plainest English to read or the most accessible English wise. 00:04:16.009 --> 00:04:17.112 The message is great. 00:04:17.112 --> 00:04:21.002 I like to read the message in conjunction with one of those. 00:04:21.002 --> 00:04:34.524 I find for me the message is a really great way to think differently about a verse I might be stuck on, you know, so if there's something that's confusing or language that I don't understand, I might look at that there. 00:04:34.543 --> 00:04:40.466 Yeah, I found sometimes what I like about the message version is it adds a little bit more like color to the picture. 00:04:40.466 --> 00:04:45.206 Yep, but yeah, that's usually where I start to that NLT. 00:04:45.206 --> 00:04:50.225 And I recently saw someone go by on I think it might have been Instagram someone I follow. 00:04:50.225 --> 00:04:54.942 They said you know, we have to remember that the Bible was not written in English. 00:04:54.942 --> 00:05:04.995 You know, and it's been through many languages, yes, so being tied to even one English, translation fair to us in trying to understand who Jesus was, like you said. 00:05:05.134 --> 00:05:06.158 Exactly no. 00:05:06.158 --> 00:05:13.502 And then the second question is well, the quest second question I will ask is well, what are you trying to read, you know, and they're like. 00:05:13.502 --> 00:05:14.925 Well, I tried to start at the beginning. 00:05:14.925 --> 00:05:17.403 No, look to wonder. 00:05:17.403 --> 00:05:26.889 Let me guess you hit like Deuteronomy or Leviticus and you were like peace out people, because all the rules and all the lineage of everyone. 00:05:26.889 --> 00:05:34.773 And there are some amazing stories in the Old Testament, but everything in the Old Testament points to. 00:05:34.958 --> 00:05:35.358 Jesus. 00:05:35.541 --> 00:05:53.966 And if we're not reading the Old Testament through the lens of Jesus, we're doing a disservice to the Old Testament, and so I will almost never suggest that people start in the Old Testament, start in the New Testament, start in what we call the Gospels, which are Matthew, mark, luke and John. 00:05:53.966 --> 00:05:54.898 Pick one of those. 00:05:54.898 --> 00:05:58.829 My favorite is John and Matthew. 00:05:58.829 --> 00:05:59.713 They're my two favorites. 00:05:59.713 --> 00:06:01.196 Is there a reason why they're your favorite? 00:06:01.877 --> 00:06:14.225 So John was known as the disciple that Jesus loved, and this relationship I feel like so clearly comes through in the Gospel of John. 00:06:14.225 --> 00:06:37.963 John points to Jesus's love again and again and again, and all of the stories he recounts, in the things he shares, in the exchanges between the disciples and Jesus, and so for me it's this beautiful look at the tender side of Jesus and the personal side of Jesus and Matthew. 00:06:37.963 --> 00:06:53.543 Matthew is what most of the show God's Bell is based upon, and I started doing the show God's Bell at 16 here at Hope, and it has been a favorite of mine for my entire adult life, and so I. 00:06:53.543 --> 00:07:05.149 There are so many scriptures that are completely linked to that show for me, I can't even read them without singing a song or doing something that's a very special memory for you Can. 00:07:05.189 --> 00:07:05.853 I connect with it. 00:07:05.853 --> 00:07:06.959 Yeah, Exactly so. 00:07:06.959 --> 00:07:09.187 For me it's a personal thing with Matthew. 00:07:09.187 --> 00:07:11.899 They're all great, but that's just my own personal presence. 00:07:11.899 --> 00:07:12.199 Yeah, I mean. 00:07:12.279 --> 00:07:23.197 One thing I love about when you read each Gospel is you get to know the personality of each writer, and I love learning about who they were and who they were writing to. 00:07:23.197 --> 00:07:41.023 So around this time last year, I think, I did a study on the book of Luke and we just got together and we read through the book of Luke and one of the first things we talked about was like who Luke was and or who we believe Luke was, and who he was writing to and why he was writing what he did or why he shared what he did. 00:07:41.023 --> 00:07:47.225 And then even things so fascinating as like they also believe like Luke wrote Luke and Acts, I think. 00:07:47.225 --> 00:07:54.269 But there's like, but those books aren't right next to each other in the Bible and so like, well, why aren't they? 00:07:54.269 --> 00:07:57.141 And talking through, so that's like another piece of it is. 00:07:57.141 --> 00:08:08.927 We don't always, when you mentioned people think they should start at the beginning in Genesis, like when I learned that not the whole Bible is on a timeline like a direct timeline. 00:08:08.947 --> 00:08:10.673 My mind was blown because, as a little kid. 00:08:10.673 --> 00:08:12.079 I just assumed, like you read a book. 00:08:12.240 --> 00:08:13.867 It's chapter to beginning, get to the end. 00:08:14.127 --> 00:08:21.754 And so when you kind of learn how it all points, to each other and pieces anyway, that's a little bit of a side tangent, but those things are important. 00:08:22.055 --> 00:08:24.964 It's one of the reasons why I also ask people who they're reading it with. 00:08:24.964 --> 00:08:38.899 Because it's so important that we do this in community, because we bring only one perspective to the table, and when we are reading with other Christians, we are hearing different perspectives, different life experiences. 00:08:38.899 --> 00:08:43.226 The Bible is a living word. 00:08:43.226 --> 00:08:58.734 It is going to interact with our hearts and our minds and it can be confusing sometimes, and so we might read something that is confusing to us and we need someone else's perspective to help us understand it better. 00:08:58.734 --> 00:09:04.746 It was also written in a different culture and a different time, with different life experiences. 00:09:04.746 --> 00:09:24.331 We may not know shepherds or fishermen, or have a situation where we are indebted to one particular person the way that people were indebted in the past, and so having our debt forgiven brings differently for us than it does for someone else. 00:09:24.815 --> 00:09:30.460 So it's important for us to be reading in community and to do what we call looking at the whole canon of scripture. 00:09:30.460 --> 00:09:37.519 I know very big words right, but basically it just means to understand where that particular scripture fits in the larger puzzle In the whole story. 00:09:37.639 --> 00:09:38.302 Yeah, yeah. 00:09:38.302 --> 00:09:53.014 One of my favorite questions I heard somebody ask once was no matter where you are in scripture, whether you're in the Old Testament or the New Testament, specifically in the Old Testament, where it can feel like really old and confusing is they asked where is Jesus in this? 00:09:53.014 --> 00:09:57.514 And so I love that you started off by talking about you know, that part of it is. 00:09:57.615 --> 00:10:06.379 Our goal is to learn who the character of Jesus is, so that we can be more like him, and so even we can look at an Old Testament story and ask where is it pointing to? 00:10:06.379 --> 00:10:10.956 Like, how is this story pointing to Jesus that I know for me it's helped a lot. 00:10:10.956 --> 00:10:12.201 It is. 00:10:12.962 --> 00:10:16.980 It's that old cheesy bracelet everybody wore you know, what would Jesus do? 00:10:16.980 --> 00:10:25.769 And you can't answer that question for your own personal life until you know who he is, and this is the best place we can find who he is. 00:10:26.229 --> 00:10:54.306 And he is amazing and irresistible and grace filled and powerful, and there is a whole mystery waiting for us you know, and that's why it's worth pushing through what might seem challenging at first, and it's why it's worth doing it in community and growing closer to each other as we grow closer to him and figure out what it means to look like our savior. 00:10:54.586 --> 00:11:25.821 No, I love that so much because I think often there can be this feeling like you just have, it's something you have to just like memorize, or you have to know it all, and it's like no one's testing you on knowing it all, it's just, it's if, just if you have this desire to, like you said, be more like Jesus and and yeah and this it tells us to write the scripture on our hearts and you know it is important for us to have an understanding of what the scripture says, to know who he is, but I promise you it is not. 00:11:25.921 --> 00:11:29.881 God is not going to grade you on what translation you memorized that's not what it's about. 00:11:30.023 --> 00:11:31.568 It is about understanding character. 00:11:31.568 --> 00:11:42.591 And you know, just like you don't really know a movie star because you've watched their movies, right, you know you don't really know Jesus just because you've come to church and hear us talk about him. 00:11:42.591 --> 00:11:47.563 You know we have to dive in a little bit deeper to really figure out who that person is. 00:11:47.563 --> 00:11:55.567 And so we have to dive in a little bit deeper and figure out who Jesus is, but he doesn't want to, stood alone yeah, definitely it's always about being together in relationships. 00:11:55.748 --> 00:11:57.793 So so far we have you know. 00:11:57.793 --> 00:11:59.727 You suggested start by reading the gospel. 00:11:59.727 --> 00:12:00.532 Get to know Jesus. 00:12:00.532 --> 00:12:07.138 Yes, suggested doing it with other people yeah yeah, and what about? 00:12:07.138 --> 00:12:09.284 Are there any other tools that you would suggest? 00:12:09.284 --> 00:12:10.008 Like with someone? 00:12:10.008 --> 00:12:10.811 So? 00:12:11.011 --> 00:12:13.783 I love there's a lot of great devotionals out there. 00:12:13.783 --> 00:12:16.216 I mean, you can, you know, throw a stone and hit a thousand. 00:12:16.216 --> 00:12:23.653 But one of the things that I find really useful and easy if you are of the generation that always has a phone on you is the u-version app. 00:12:23.653 --> 00:12:31.860 It's great and they've got a ton of plans that you can choose from that will give you scriptures and devotional readings that might help you have a little more insight into scripture. 00:12:31.860 --> 00:12:33.389 That might be more difficult. 00:12:33.389 --> 00:12:37.907 You can do that in groups, you can do that independently and it's always right on your phone. 00:12:37.907 --> 00:12:50.465 You can do it wherever you are, whenever you are, so you don't have to to feel like, well, I've got to have the right lighting and sit down in my perfect chair and have my journal and you know which which for some people is really helpful, and with some people, it's just too overwhelming. 00:12:50.625 --> 00:12:59.231 Yeah, there's too many factors that I have to have lined up correctly for me to be able to sit with God and it's like nope it can literally just be your phone in your back pocket yeah, yeah, that's great that you can. 00:12:59.432 --> 00:13:09.524 You know, kind of getting over that hump of not believing that we can encounter God everywhere when you can't encounter God everywhere yes, and podcasts imagine that you know. 00:13:09.625 --> 00:13:14.158 And if you're not sure of one, ask someone that you're in community with because they probably have a great recommendation. 00:13:14.178 --> 00:13:17.760 Yeah, no that's really great, and we'll link all those things in our show notes. 00:13:17.760 --> 00:13:21.774 So people are looking for the you version Bible app and other things like that. 00:13:21.833 --> 00:13:33.785 We can yeah, we can share it with them so I think the biggest thing, I think the most important thing for people to you remember or take away from this podcast, I feel like Nike, just do it. 00:13:33.785 --> 00:13:38.884 You know like, just don't make it too big, Take small chunks. 00:13:38.884 --> 00:13:41.346 You know, don't make it like I'm gonna read the whole Bible in a year. 00:13:41.346 --> 00:13:46.908 If you've been doing this a long time and you've read scripture a long time and that's a goal, that is a fantastic goal to have. 00:13:46.908 --> 00:13:51.585 But if you're just starting, oh my goodness gracious, try one chapter in a week. 00:13:51.585 --> 00:13:58.990 You know like just, and sometimes you read that chapter two or three times in that week because you don't get it all the first time. 00:13:58.990 --> 00:14:02.866 And there are some like questions you have that you wanna sit on, and that's okay. 00:14:02.866 --> 00:14:05.006 And if you're not sure, reach out to us. 00:14:05.006 --> 00:14:09.682 Anybody here on staff at Hope would love to help point you in a direction. 00:14:09.722 --> 00:14:11.308 To start, yeah, no, I love that. 00:14:11.308 --> 00:14:18.903 I was thinking while you were talking about you said just do it, and I was thinking the phrase give it time so it can be. 00:14:18.903 --> 00:14:30.505 It's in some small ways it's going to shape you quickly and in some big ways it's going to shape you over time in ways that you don't expect to. 00:14:31.139 --> 00:14:48.349 And that can be really hard to give something time and we just wanna like jump in and feel like we're getting it right and like it's like when you remove that expectation to meet this, you know specific goal and I admittedly have an issue with plans. 00:14:48.500 --> 00:14:50.905 I love plans, I love having plans. 00:14:50.905 --> 00:14:53.244 Plans make me feel good, they make me feel secure. 00:14:53.244 --> 00:14:58.225 But the reality is, as much as I love plans, I'm also okay with not following them. 00:14:58.225 --> 00:15:03.864 And that's kind of where you have to be with this, like it's great to say, hey, I'm gonna commit to this, I'm gonna have a plan. 00:15:03.864 --> 00:15:09.365 But you know what, if your life is anything like my life, it is upside down, topsy turvy. 00:15:09.365 --> 00:15:10.409 Every day is different. 00:15:10.409 --> 00:15:11.905 You're never sure what's coming down the pike. 00:15:11.905 --> 00:15:14.167 And you've gotta have as much grace as you have plans. 00:15:14.167 --> 00:15:17.865 So it is great to say, hey, I'm gonna do this, but you gotta have grace for yourself. 00:15:17.865 --> 00:15:23.361 There may be a day or two or a week that when you miss it completely, and that's okay, there isn't. 00:15:23.361 --> 00:15:28.260 The point is relationship, and relationship just means you keep coming back, you just keep. 00:15:28.260 --> 00:15:32.423 Eventually, you just keep coming back, you keep coming back, keep pressing in, keep giving it a try. 00:15:32.779 --> 00:15:33.904 Yeah, no, that's really beautiful. 00:15:33.904 --> 00:15:46.070 Just to even have that mindset of this is just kind of about seeing what God has for you, and I really believe in any little way that we try to find God, that he meets us in those moments. 00:15:46.221 --> 00:15:55.447 And so yeah, that's really great, it's all about just trying to get to know who Jesus is, get to know Him better, and as you get to know Him better, you are better equipped to answer the question. 00:15:55.447 --> 00:15:56.784 How should I handle this situation? 00:15:56.784 --> 00:16:03.043 If I'm trying to be like Jesus, how should I show that love right now, in this really hard place? 00:16:04.047 --> 00:16:04.307 Cool. 00:16:04.307 --> 00:16:06.225 Well, this is been really great. 00:16:06.225 --> 00:16:06.566 Thank you. 00:16:07.159 --> 00:16:30.107 I know these conversations are pretty short and we could talk about this forever, and I would encourage anybody that is like, if you're connecting to this conversation, to reach out to you, or somebody else that you sit on staff in and talk more about their feelings, about getting started reading their Bible and so, yeah, that's pretty much all the time we have for today, but I would encourage you to keep listening to the Meet Hope podcast. 00:16:30.107 --> 00:16:39.671 We have a new podcast every week and we'll be doing more episodes like this in the future where we just try to give you some insight into some how-tos or some new learnings with your faith. 00:16:39.671 --> 00:16:43.583 But until next time, it was great to have you here and we'll see you then. 00:16:48.259 --> 00:16:52.827 Thanks for being a part of the Hope community as we continue our conversations about faith and hope. 00:16:52.827 --> 00:16:57.245 If you don't already, please join us for worship on Sundays or on demand. 00:16:57.245 --> 00:17:03.206 You can learn more at meethopeorg or find us on socials at meethopechurch.