Weekend Preview | Context: Part 1 – The Torah

Journey Church - May 8, 2015

By Chris Denning

If you watch How I Met Your Mother, then you know that Barney has a lot of #1 rules. However, his ultimate #1 rule is this:
New is always better.
That seems to be the way that a lot of people view the Bible as well. Yes, the words of Jesus and everything that happened after he changed the world do seem to carry a lot of weight, but what about everything before?
Everyone knows that context matters. Without context, stories don’t make sense, people can be hurt, and even fights can break out.
If you walked in on your best friend mouth-to-mouth with your girl, you would probably be quite upset, maybe even causing you to rearrange his face. However, if you had the context that just moments before, your girlfriend began choking and was unable to breathe, and that your friend started mouth-to-mouth resuscitation on her to save her life, you would feel a little differently.
When it comes to the Bible, the Old Testament isn’t just a collection of stories of people who don’t matter anymore. The Old Testament provides rich context for us that not only helps us to better understand why we believe what we believe, but gives us a deeper appreciation for what Jesus is, what He did, and the great love of God.
This weekend, we’re starting a series called Context, where we’ll be learning about the Old Testament and why it matters to us today.
In Part 1, we’re talking about The Torah, or the first 5 books of the Bible. The Torah is not only the beginning of God’s word, but it sets the groundwork for how God called His people to live. God chose the Jewish people as His people, and as such, provided them a VERY detailed road map for how they were to live.
There is a lot we can take from the stories found in the Torah and even from the mind-numbingly long (lets be real) list of laws that address every facet of life. We can even learn about God’s character in how He interacts with people. There is much to take in from even the simplest story.
This is going to be such a helpful series, and I promise you that you WILL NOT, no, COULD NOT be bored. I want to encourage you to commit to coming over the next few weeks to learn more about the Old Testament and why it matters to you today. I promise you will walk away from this series with a perspective of the Old Testament that will change your walk with God!

Join us this weekend at 9 or 11am
(Click for Directions)
or Online at TheJourneyOnline.tv at 11am