Triumph Centre’s Bible Reading Plan

We have started a Bible Reading Plan that is home-grown and developed. It is built around a thematic base. Each month will have a theme that is related to either spiritual or cultural celebrations or activities. Since January is the month of beginnings we are highlighting the Book of Genesis (Genesis means beginnings) for our monthly reading. We wanted to share with you some thoughts about the importance of reading the Bible.

(From the Introduction to The Message Bible) –
“Reading is the first thing, just reading the Bible. As we read we enter a new world of words and find ourselves in on a conversation in which God has the first and last words. We soon realize that we are included in the conversation. We didn’t expect this. But this is precisely what generation after generation of Bible readers do find. The Bible is not only written about us but to us. In these pages we become insiders to a conversation in which God uses words to form and bless us, to teach and guide us, to forgive and save us.
“We aren’t used to this. We are used to reading books that explain things, or tell us what to do, or inspire or entertain us. But this is different. This is a world of revelation. God revealing to people just like us---men and women created in God’s image---how God works and what is going on in this world in which we find ourselves. At the same time that God reveals all this, God draws us in by invitation and command to participate in God’s working life. We gradually (or suddenly) realize that we are insiders in the most significant action of our time as God establishes his grand rule of love and justice on this earth (as it is in heaven). “Revelation” means that we are reading something we couldn’t have guessed or figured out on our own. Revelation is what makes the Bible unique.
“And so just reading this Bible and listening to what we read, is the first thing. There will be time enough for study later on. But first, it is important simply to read, leisurely and thoughtfully. We need to get a feel for the way these stories and songs, these prayers and conversations, these sermons and visions, invite us into this large, large world in which the invisible God is behind and involved in everything visible, and illuminates what it means to live here---really live, not just get across the street. As we read, and the longer we read, we begin to “get it”---we are in conversation with God. We find ourselves listening and answering in matters that most concern us: who we are, where we came from, where we are going, what makes us tick, the texture of the world and the communities we live in, and---most of all---the incredible love of God among us, doing for us what we cannot do for ourselves.”