I love it when a plan comes together (Thanks, A-Team!). And a new year is always the time for new plans and new to-do lists. At the beginning of each year, I want to let you know where we will be spending our time in the Scriptures over the next 12 months. Hopefully, this helps you in preparation for weekly worship. Of course, all of this falls under Proverbs 16:9 - The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.
Each year, we will begin by looking at the Old Testament story of redemption. While the world of our fathers and mothers in the faith grows more distant and stranger to us, it is important that we see how all of the Old Testament is vital to understanding the person and work of Christ, His gospel, and His kingdom. Our focus will be on the opening chapters of Genesis in a series titled, “Everything You Need to Know”. In these initial pages of the Holy Scriptures, most of the foundational elements of all that comes after are set forth, at least in seed form. Important ideas such as creation, the image of God, sabbath, work, marriage, and sin all find their roots here. This series will take us up to Easter.
From Easter until some time around Pentecost, we will do a dive into some part of a New Testament epistle. For 2022, that will be the 12th chapter of Paul’s letter to the Romans. After an extended meditation on the gospel, the apostle begins to flesh out the ramifications of the impact of such good news. Romans 12 is a challenging yet encouraging portion of the Bible that sets forth a positive vision of what it means to live as followers of Jesus.
In the summer, we return to the Psalms. Practically, Psalms are nice, contained units to consider during a time when folks usually miss a couple of weeks due to travel and vacation. Theologically and devotionally, I am not sure of a better place in Scripture to return to each year. Psalms 11-20 will be the 10-course meal for our summer feast. From the How long, O Lord of Psalm 13 to the The heavens declare the glory of the Lord that opens Psalm 19, we will once again travel the depth and width of experience with God.
The Fall will be our annual season in the gospels. Last year, that was the gospel of Mark. I think it is important that once a year we spend time considering the birth, life, ministry, teaching, death and resurrection of our Savior. We have four gospels to mine and such reflection inevitably reorients our hearts, minds, and souls. I am not sure exactly what this will look like yet (Give me a break. I still have 8 months to work out the details). I do know I want to give us time in each gospel and not get bogged down in only one.
That’s the plan. Before you know it, we will be celebrating Advent again. Let me encourage you to find out what the passage for each week will be and take some time to read and meditate on it prior to our weekly gathering. The bulletin generally contains the passages for the upcoming few weeks and it also goes out on our Facebook page and in our weekly newsletter (contact the office if you’d like to sign up).
Looking forward to hearing from the Lord by His Spirit through His word in our worship in 2022.
