Oct 2007
The Bible: Getting the Big Picture
A
few years ago I got one of those photo-mosaic jigsaws
for Christmas – you know the ones where a big image
is made up of lots of little tiny images. What a
killer! Probably the hardest jigsaw I’ve done. That
type of image was in fashion for a while. You used to
see them on advertising hoardings, and as you walked
past all you could see were the individual images.
You had to get away back from it to see the big
picture.
So often it’s the same with the Bible. There are a lot of individual stories that we are familiar with: creation, David and Goliath, the birth of Jesus, his miracles, the crucifixion etc.. But how do they all go together? Or do they even go together?
A jigsaw is always easier to understand when you can see the big picture on the box. And so it is with the Bible. It isn’t just a collection of random unconnected stories. Even though it is a library of 66 different books, written by around 40 authors over the course of 1600 years in three different languages, there is a single plot line that runs through it from beginning to end.
Each of the small pictures, or stories, fits into this greater picture. Quite simply it’s all about the King and his Kingdom. Once you get the big picture then you can understand why each of the stories is included. For example, Jesus’ miracles are no longer just random acts of kindness, but each one displays in a different way the power of the King.
Have you tried to read the Bible and found yourself getting monumentally lost, and eventually setting it aside in frustration or boredom? That’s understandable. It’s a bit like trying to do a jigsaw without having the picture on the lid.
Over the next 6 or 7 Sunday mornings at Milford Reformed Presbyterian Church we are going to be looking at this big picture, and seeing how everything fits into it.
If you have wondered what the Bible is all about, why not come along and find out for yourself? We meet from 12noon to 1pm at the church building on the Kilmacrenan Rd.
So often it’s the same with the Bible. There are a lot of individual stories that we are familiar with: creation, David and Goliath, the birth of Jesus, his miracles, the crucifixion etc.. But how do they all go together? Or do they even go together?
A jigsaw is always easier to understand when you can see the big picture on the box. And so it is with the Bible. It isn’t just a collection of random unconnected stories. Even though it is a library of 66 different books, written by around 40 authors over the course of 1600 years in three different languages, there is a single plot line that runs through it from beginning to end.
Each of the small pictures, or stories, fits into this greater picture. Quite simply it’s all about the King and his Kingdom. Once you get the big picture then you can understand why each of the stories is included. For example, Jesus’ miracles are no longer just random acts of kindness, but each one displays in a different way the power of the King.
Have you tried to read the Bible and found yourself getting monumentally lost, and eventually setting it aside in frustration or boredom? That’s understandable. It’s a bit like trying to do a jigsaw without having the picture on the lid.
Over the next 6 or 7 Sunday mornings at Milford Reformed Presbyterian Church we are going to be looking at this big picture, and seeing how everything fits into it.
If you have wondered what the Bible is all about, why not come along and find out for yourself? We meet from 12noon to 1pm at the church building on the Kilmacrenan Rd.
Getting Past our Past
If
you had an opportunity to plan your life – would you
be who you are now? Who we are is, in part, the
result of the actions and influences of others.
That’s fine if only good has happened to you. But since we live in a broken world there are many who have been shaped by situations and circumstances that have left deep scars across the surface of their souls. It might have been abuse, bereavement, absent or distant parents, alcoholism, drug dependence, or countless other factors.
We only get one life. It doesn’t seem fair that the actions of others in time past can mar and ruin who we are.
Perhaps this is you, and you’ve tried to hide from the past, but you know that it doesn’t work.
It’s possible to live with the past, and yet not cope with the past. It gnaws away at us. We become trapped, thinking that we have to remain victims.
In Ireland we are very good at putting up masks, and hiding behind them, pretending everything is fine. But underneath lies a soul that is still raw. The past is real; it cannot be changed. Yet it can be conquered.
Our past might define us, but it doesn’t have to defeat us.
But how?
As a Christian, and as a pastor I believe that there is an answer. The Bible offers help to the hurting, so that they can emerge like a butterfly from the chrysalis of their past. God makes a promise to hurting people: “For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” (Jeremiah 29:11).
What great words: hope, future, prosper. The hope that the Bible holds out is of a God who sets us free from the shackles of our past, who takes our past and uses it for good in us and around us. Not only does he rescue us from our past, but he rescues our past as well. The years we thought were lost are turned around and made into something profitable.
More needs to be said, and I will be speaking on Sunday evening (7th) on what the Bible has to say about ‘More than Conquering your Past’ at Milford Reformed Presbyterian Church, Kilmacrenan Road, Milford at 8pm. Why not come along and hear more?
That’s fine if only good has happened to you. But since we live in a broken world there are many who have been shaped by situations and circumstances that have left deep scars across the surface of their souls. It might have been abuse, bereavement, absent or distant parents, alcoholism, drug dependence, or countless other factors.
We only get one life. It doesn’t seem fair that the actions of others in time past can mar and ruin who we are.
Perhaps this is you, and you’ve tried to hide from the past, but you know that it doesn’t work.
It’s possible to live with the past, and yet not cope with the past. It gnaws away at us. We become trapped, thinking that we have to remain victims.
In Ireland we are very good at putting up masks, and hiding behind them, pretending everything is fine. But underneath lies a soul that is still raw. The past is real; it cannot be changed. Yet it can be conquered.
Our past might define us, but it doesn’t have to defeat us.
But how?
As a Christian, and as a pastor I believe that there is an answer. The Bible offers help to the hurting, so that they can emerge like a butterfly from the chrysalis of their past. God makes a promise to hurting people: “For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” (Jeremiah 29:11).
What great words: hope, future, prosper. The hope that the Bible holds out is of a God who sets us free from the shackles of our past, who takes our past and uses it for good in us and around us. Not only does he rescue us from our past, but he rescues our past as well. The years we thought were lost are turned around and made into something profitable.
More needs to be said, and I will be speaking on Sunday evening (7th) on what the Bible has to say about ‘More than Conquering your Past’ at Milford Reformed Presbyterian Church, Kilmacrenan Road, Milford at 8pm. Why not come along and hear more?
Mark
Loughridge is the minister of Milford Reformed
Presbyterian Church. He can be contacted on 074
9123961 or mark@milfordrpc.org. You can read more or
listen online at www.milfordrpc.org