Learning to Read and Pray the Scriptures

One of most important practices for followers of the Way is engaging with Scripture (or what we commonly call the Bible).  If we want to know Jesus, we must learn His story and live into this story; and this story can be found in the Scriptures.

Here you can find some good resources for understanding the overall story of the Scriptures and also learning to pray the Scriptures.

If you are looking for some more scholarly or in depth understandings of the Old and New Testaments of the Bible, I recommend books by NT Wright, Iain Provan, and Bruce Walke for starters.  There are also many good audio Bible and Theology classes at Regent College. ( You can search by category on Regent’s audio page.)

If you are looking for some resources on the Basics of the Christian faith, click here.

Also, check out the cool graphic and outline below. The graphic, created by the folks over at Engadene and Heathcoate Anglican, is inspired by Vaughan Roberts, “God’s Big Picture” and gives an overview of the Bible Story. I did a mashup of their graphic with the outline provided by “The True Story of the Whole World” by Goheen and Bartholomew. The outline, which I created, goes along with this graphic and is a mashup of Robert’s work, Goheen and Bartholomew’s work, and some teaching I have done.

Also, be sure to check out this curated list of Bible Project videos that I created for my church’s “Storied” Cohort where we go through an overview of the Bible over the course of 6 Weeks. (All the Bible Project videos are great, but this will help you see the overall picture in less than 3 hours.)

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Overview of The Drama of Scripture

Acts, Sequences, and Scenes Combined From “The True Story of the Whole World” by Michael Goheen, “God’s Big Picture” by Vaughan Roberts, and teaching by Rev. Kristen Yates

 

Act 1:  God Establishes the Kingdom

  • Sequence 1:   Pattern of the Kingdom

    • Scene 1: God creates  - He creates the world 

    • Scene 2:  God relates – He creates Adam and Eve 

Act 2:  Rebellion in the Kingdom

  • Sequence 2:  The Perished Kingdom

    • Scene 1: Adam & Eve rebel (humans try to make the story about them)

    • Scene 2:  Adam & Eve’s descendants turn against each other and try to be God

Act 3:  The King Chooses Israel

  • Sequence 3:  The Promised Kingdom

    • Scene 1:  God calls – God calls the Patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob)

    • Scene 2:  God promotes– God raises up Joseph and God’s people come to Egypt

  • Sequence 4:  The Partial Kingdom Pt. 1

    • Scene 1:  God rescues – God calls Moses and rescues the Hebrews out of Egypt

    • Scene 2:  God guides & restores - God teaches his people in the wilderness 

    • Scene 3:  God leads – God leads his people into the Promised Land

  • Sequence 5:  The Partial Kingdom Pt. 2

    • Scene 1:  God[r1] [r2] [r3]  raises up Judges

    • Scene 2:  God raises up Kings of Israel and Prophets

  • Sequence 6:  The Prophesied Kingdom

    • Scene 1:  God judges & reminds – God judges His people and reminds them of their call to love God and to act justly

    • Scene 2:  God comforts & foretells – God comforts his exiled people, restores them to the land, & foretells of the Messiah 

Interlude/God’s Silence

Act 4:  The Coming of the King

  • Sequence 7:  The Present Kingdom

    • Scene 1:  God comes

    • Scene 2:  God serves

    • Scene 3:  God dies 

    • Scene 4:  God breaks through

Act 5:  Spreading the News of the King

  • Sequence 8:  The Proclaimed Kingdom

    • Scene 1:  God indwells His people

    • Scene 2:  God extends His Good News to the whole world

Act 6:  Return of the King

  • Sequence 9:  The Perfected Kingdom

    • Scene 1:  God returns & re-creates – God creates the New Heavens and New Earth