“Where the Bible is taught and lived” has been our church’s motto for the last 24 years. I believe that expression accurately reflects what we are all about here at Bethel, and 2016 was no exception. In our Sunday morning worship time we have traveled through some amazing portions of God’s Word together.

We began the year by looking at Psalm 33 and discovering what it means to praise the Lord. Among other things, we learned why we should praise the Lord, what we should praise the Lord for, and the joy that praising God brings to us.

Everyone was challenged to either read through the entire Bible in 2016 or to read through the New Testament three times. For that reason we spent two weeks studying the importance of the Bible from Psalm 19:7-14. That text showed us the authority of God’s Word, the perfection of the Scripture, and the power it has to change our deepest desires. We also learned other ways that the Bible encourages and guides us from day-to-day.

As we looked at the amazing doxology recorded in Jude verses 24 & 25, we were encouraged to learn that God is the One who keeps His followers saved, safe, and eternally pure through the righteous work of Christ. Those truths energize us to praise God for His worthiness, His exalted position, His unending rule, and His unlimited authority.

We spent two weeks in February exploring HOW we should be reading and studying the Bible, using the information given in Proverbs 2:1-9. Solomon explains that we will only benefit from God’s Word when we are humble enough to see how desperately we need His guidance. Only then can we discover the knowledge and wisdom that God has for us. We finished that month examining Saul’s failure recorded in 1 Samuel 13:3-14. We saw that it was caused by his unwillingness to fully trust God’s revealed Word.

Next we challenged our congregation to a participate in a one week fast from media entertainment. We did this because Jesus shows us (see Matthew 5:6 and 6:16-18) that our appetite for holiness will increase as we deny the cravings of our physical appetites. After that we looked at different texts of Scripture that show us how to prepare our hearts to read the Bible. We also explored practical ways to read God’s Word, and we saw the power it  has to made radical, and yet wonderful, changes in our everyday lives.

In May we began a verse-by-verse journey through the book of First Peter. So far, we have completed a careful study of the first two chapters. Peter wrote this letter to Christian refugees who had suffered much, just because they were followers of Jesus Christ. Through what Peter taught them, we too have been learning how to experience God’s joy in the face of life’s unfair suffering.

As we approached the end of 2016 we spent several weeks gazing at the wonder that God would love us enough to leave heaven, become a human just like us, and volunteer to suffer the hell that we all deserve.

God continues to grant me the opportunity and the enormous joy of studying and preaching the Bible to a congregation of believers who love the Lord and His Word. I also appreciate the readers of my column here in our community, and your feedback to me, either in person or through emails. I thank God often for these privileges. This column is my retrospective of the past year. I’d love to hear from you. What has God been teaching you? If you are interested in learning more of what the Bible has to say about our Creator, we would love to have you join us.

May your New Year be filled with a deeper and more satisfying relationship with God.