Neighborhood Church

THIS WEEK'S QUESTION
Do I have to believe everything in the Bible to follow Jesus?

This collection of 66 books, written across 1,500 years by 40 authors across 13 countries and 3 languages can often feel overwhelming.

The earliest Christian church didn’t have the Bible as we know it until hundreds of years after Jesus.

THREE SPEEDBUMPS
• Questionable Characters
• Confusing Commands
• Apparent Contradictions

The Bible was written for us, but it wasn’t written to us.

We have to understand the difference between what is descriptive and prescriptive in the Bible.

The Bible is not a “how-to” manual or an encyclopedia. It is a story that leads us to Jesus—and in Jesus, we find God's desires for our world.

WHAT IS THE BIBLE?
The Bible is a library of books, both divine and human, that tell a unified story leading to Jesus.

WE AGREE THE BIBLE IS...
• inspired and authoritative (2 Timothy 3:16-17)
• divine and human (2 Peter 1:20-21,1 Thessalonians 2:13)
• a story that leads to Jesus (Luke 24:27; John 5:39)

OUR INVITATION TO SCRIPTURE
• Embrace the Bible
• Engage its story
• Experience Jesus in its pages

3 Different Kinds of Truth
• Fact Truth
• Meaning Truth
• Wisdom Truth

Fact Truth

Meaning Truth

Wisdom Truth

Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit, but wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.

Fact-truths result in knowledge

Meaning-truths result in understanding.

Wisdom-truths are about figuring out how to navigate the practical realities of what it means to be human.

Are you, right now, living a life of love patterned after Jesus?

What does love require of me?