Read for this week's study:
Memory text: Proverbs 2:4-5
Key thought:
"The Holy Scriptures, Old and New Testaments, are the written Word of God, given by divine inspiration through holy men of God who spoke and wrote as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. In this Word, God has committed to man the knowledge necessary for salvation. The Holy Scriptures are the infallible revelation of His will. They are the standard of character, the test of experience, the authoritative revealer of doctrines, and the trustworthy record of God's acts in history."--Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook 1994, p. 5.
The Bible is Central.
Often we avoid deep, detailed, and thorough study. Unless something captures our imagination or we sense its deep importance, we can have a difficult time learning it.
There seem to be three stages of attitudes toward Bible study: (1) the "Medicine Stage," in which we study because we suspect it should be good for us to do so; (2) the "Nurture Stage," in which we recognize that the Bible is important and can help us, but it is often seen as dry and difficult to understand; (3) the "Garden Stage," in which we discover the cental importance of the message for our personal spiritual growth. Study becomes exciting and more focused.
Outline:
SUMMARY
The divine-human encounter that resulted in the Word of God provides a specific revelation of God's will for humanity. Without it, we would find it difficult to interpret the purposes of God in this world. But we have God's revelation in written form, we have a Word to follow that is "more sure" than the witness of our own senses. With the written revelation, we have an objective text to explore.