Sunday morning’s sermon, “Like Newborn Infants…” was about our need for the Bible. We need the Bible like infants need milk. This requires the devotion of our time to actually reading our Bibles.

Few people could say that same thing better than D.A. Carson. Here’s an excerpt from his book, Love in Hard Places.

“Christians must recapture the Bible-reading habits of some earlier generations. . . . The impact of the cultural pressures upon us, not least from the media, is so devastatingly great that only a mind steeped in thinking God’s thoughts after him will begin to withstand the onslaught. What this demands of every believer who can red is devoted, reverent  disciplined reading and rereading of the Word of God, a reading discharged in an attitude of eager attentiveness. And what such reading presupposes is time. I am not trying to impose a new legalism. I am sadly aware that it is possible to read the Bible a gerat deal and merely become self-righteous or wallow in unbelief; but I doubt that it is possible to obey the fist command without reading the Bible a great deal.”

In this post we would like to link to a number of helpful articles, books, and resources for helping you read your Bible better. Each book mentioned below is available at Amazon, with a link provided, but also at DSC within a dollar or two of Amazon pricing at the Book Nook.

Bibles and Bible Study Helps

• If you have a commute or time for listening in general, there are several ways to listen to the Bible. Check out the ESV Bible online or download audio from Faith Comes By Hearing.
• There are many fine translations, but at DSC we use the ESV Bible published by Crossway, available online, or at DSC for 40% off at the Book Nook.
• Bible study booklets can also be helpful for helping walk you through a book of the Bible with thoughtful questions. The “John Stott Bible Study” series is worth checking out, along with Crossway’s new, “Knowing the Bible” series.

Resources for those who aren’t Christians

• If you are new to the Bible, start with the book of John.
• For some, an introduction to the Bible’s basic message and teaching will be especially helpful. Two great first reads are, John Stott’s, Basic Christianity, and, J.I. Packer’s, Knowing God.
• For a brief online presentation of the heart of the Bible, the gospel message, check out “Two Ways to Live.”

Bible Reading Plans

• For the Love of God (Vol. 1, Vol. 2) is a two volume series of books written by D.A. Carson providing daily reading to supplement the M’Cheyne reading plan. This plan assigns reading to days, so it is the easiest to begin this plan at the head of the year, but you could also jump in now.
• For a reading plan without dates assigned, look into The Bible Reading Record, by Don Whitney. It’s a simple list of every chapter in the Bible. With this, you can read at whatever pace you like and keep track of what you’ve read until you’re through the Bible.

Encouragement for Reading the Bible

• For a great introduction to the delights and effects of God’s Word, listen to Ryan’s sermon on Psalm 1, “If You Wanna Be Happy for the Rest of Your Life…,” or Psalm 19, “God’s Words – Better Than Gold!“
• Here are two articles that may help whet your appetite for the Bible: “How to Read the Bible: A Beginner’s Guide,” by Fred Zaspel, and, “Dr. Seuss and Good Bible Reading,” by Jason Lee.
• Jonathan Leeman’s book, Reverberation: How God’s Word Brings Light, Freedom, and Action to His People, will help you think more biblically about the Bible in your life and the life of the church.
• David Helm’s book, One-to-One Bible Study: A Simple Guide for Every Christian, will help you read the Bible more and better with other people.
• If you have struggled with Bible reading in general, read Ryan’s article, “How’s Your Bible Reading Going?,” and if you’re a mom with young kids and changing possibilities with your time, starting with reading this new mom’s testimony and this good advice from Don Whitney.
• Two chapters in John Piper’s, When I Don’t Desire God: How to Fight for Joy, are well worth the cost of the book. Chapter seven, “The Worth Of God’s Word In The Fight For Joy: Seeing The Measure Of This Mighty Weapon,” and chapter eight, “How To Wield The Word In The Fight For Joy: Musing, Memorizing, And The Message Of God.

Help for Interpreting the Bible

• The ESV Study Bible includes a number of excellent articles, introductions to Biblical books, and commentary across Scripture.
• In his article, “Hearing the Music of the Gospel: Christ-Centered Bible Study,” Keith Johnson helps us think carefully about how to read Scripture with the big picture of Christ in view.
• There are many books that help us get a sense for the Bible’s background, books that help us see its big picture, and books that outline principles for interpreting Scripture. Here are a few examples: How to Read the Bible Book by Book: A Guided Tour, by Gordon Fee, Douglas Stuart. According to Plan: The Unfolding Revelation of God in the Bible, by Graeme Goldsworthy. God’s Big Picture: Tracing the Storyline of the Bible, by Vaughn Roberts. The God Who Is There: Finding Your Place in God’s Story, by D. A. Carson; The Message of the Old Testament: Promises Made, and The Message of the New Testament: Promises Kept, by Mark Dever; Survey of the Old Testament, and Survey of the New Testament, by Paul Benware; Dig Deeper: Tools for Understanding God’s Word, by Nigel Beynon and Andrew Sach; 40 Questions about Interpreting the Bible, by Robert Plummer.
• John Piper is a reliable pastor and theologian with an almost silly amount of material published to the web. Stop by Desiring God to search by Scripture for material written or preached by John Piper.
• For more help on specific subjects related to the Bible, or for help in reading the Bible in general, stop by the Resources Page for recommendations.

On Wednesday night, Ryan preached a sermon from Matthew 26:36-46, titled, “Dark Gethsemane.” There at Gethsemane, as Ryan said, Jesus was in aguish in what laid before him so that we wouldn’t have to fear death.

This passage raises a number of questions that we weren’t able to explore concerning the relationship of Jesus to his Father. With perfect timing, just yesterday an article was published to the Gospel Coalition Blog dealing with one of the questions raised by this text.

The article was titled, “You Asked: Does Gethsemane Separate the Trinity?” Here’s the question submitted by a reader of the TGC Blog:

When Jesus says to his Father in the garden of Gethsemane, “not as I will, but as you will” (Mt.26:39), how should we think of this relationships within the Trinity? Did the Son have a different desire or will from the Father?

Great question. Click here for a reply from John McKinley.

In Sunday’s sermon, “Living Out a New Identity,” we considered Peter’s words when he wrote in 1 Peter 1:15, “as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct.”

In his devotional book, For the Love of God, Volume 2, D.A. Carson makes this insightful observation about Christians and holiness:

People do not drift toward holiness. Apart from grace-driven effort, people do not gravitate toward godliness, prayer, obedience to Scripture, faith, and delight in the Lord. We drift toward compromise and call it tolerance; we drift toward disobedience and call it freedom; we drift toward superstition and call it faith. We cherish the indiscipline of lost self-control and call it relaxation; we slouch toward prayerlessness and delude ourselves into thinking we have escaped legalism; we slide toward godlessness and convince ourselves we have been liberated.

Sunday’s message from 1 Peter 1:13, “A Fixed and Focused Hope,” brought us to the subject of Christ’s return, and the subject of Christ’s return brought us to the subject of heaven. Why is Christ’s return so great? Why is heaven so great? Because God and Christ are there.

Heaven is something Christians certainly believe in, but it’s something most of us aren’t sure what to say about.

Well, here’s some help. If you’re into sermon reading, check out a sermon by Charles Spurgeon, titled, “The Heaven of Heaven.” Then, if you’re into sermon listening, listen to the excellent message by Sam Storms, titled, “Joy’s Eternal Increase: Edwards on the Beauty of Heaven” (click here for the video).

Listen, enjoy, and look forward to all that God has in store for those whose hope is set fully on the grace that will be revealed to us at the appearing of Christ (1 Peter 1:13).

Last night, Ryan preached a sermon from Ezekiel 16 titled, “God’s Initiative and Persistency in Love and Mercy.”

If Ezekiel 16 peaked your interest last night, here’s another idea: read an old sermon on the same text by Charles Spurgeon, titled, “Ezekiel’s Deserted Infant.”

Here’s a link to Spurgeon’s sermon, and here’s his outline:

I. At the outset, I shall direct your contemplations to a survey of the misery of man’s estate.

1. At the very first glance, we remark, here is an early ruin.
2. The next very apparent teaching of the text is utter inability.
3. Apparent, too, is yet a third misfortune—we are utterly friendless.
4. Furthermore, our text very clearly reveals to us that we are by nature in a sad state of exposure.
5. It seems that this child, besides being in this exposed state, was loathsome.
6. We close this fearful description by observing the certain ruin to which this infant was exposed, as setting forth the sure destruction of every man if Divine Grace prevents not.

II. We are now to search for motives for God’s grace.

1. One of the first would be, necessity.
2. In this case, there was nothing in the birth of this child, in its original parentage, that could move the passerby.
3. Nor was there anything in this child’s beauty, for it was loathsome.
4. Furthermore, as we have found no motive yet, either in necessity or the child’s birth or beauty, so we find none in any entreaties that were uttered by this child.
5. Yet, further, Brothers and Sisters—it does not appear that the pity of the passerby was shown upon this child because of any future service which was expected of it.

III. But now, we turn to consider the mandate of his mercy.

1. This fiat of God is majestic.
2. This fiat is manifold as well as majestic.
3. It is, moreover, spiritual life.
4. It is an irresistible voice.