Reading Scripture in Community

Quick Links Get the iPhone Bible Reader app! Download the Bookmark Get the Reading Plan on iCalendar Winter Institute Audio & Outlines

The Bible tells the remarkable story of God's unrelenting, expansive love for us. It reveals God's design for human life and the lengths to which God will go to redeem and restore his broken creation.

Because of God's inspiration, the Bible is a book that already knows us, knows our needs, sees our sin, and describes our hope. In January, as a community, First Pres will embark on a New Testament Reading Plan for 2012.  The plan is to read about 45 verses every day. Don't worry about days missed or about trying to catch up. Simply start or restart on any day in 2012, knowing that the passages you've missed are likely to be read again at another time.

As we move ahead together in faith, we want to be a people who are molded by and responsive to God's Word. As you develop a habit of personal reading, it is good to develop a predictable rhythm for reading the Bible. If you already have a pattern for your reading, great! If you don't, it is our hope that you will plant your reading of God's Word in SOIL:

• S: Soften your heart — Place yourself in vulnerable readiness for hearing God's voice.
• O: Observe — What are the simple facts, acts, and setting of the text?
• I: Interpret — What is the text intending to say or convey?
• L: Live it! — Ask God for the wisdom and courage to be faithful to him today.

Here are a few resources designed to help us:

• iPhone: Click here to get the First Pres Berkeley Bible Reader app for your iPhone or iPad.
• Bookmark: A bookmark of the Reading Plan, two months at a time, may be found in the Narthex or at Reception. Or, click here for a PDF that you can print.
• iCalendar: Click here to get the Reading Plan on iCalendar.
• Winter Institute: Click here to access Winter Institute audio files and outlines.