Understanding the Word Handout Traveling two hours on Oct. 31 for a party

First Century Assumptions Luke 2:1-12 1) Caravan of People 2 & 3) Several Weeks – walking and Donkeys 4) Midwives and family Women 5) At Joseph’s familial home 6) Poor families 7) Front of familial house where animals were kept on cold nights. 21 st Cent. Assumptions 1) Just Mary 2 & 3) Hours or days 4) Joseph 5) At an inn Cave or a stable. A king being born poor was a sign – the shepherds would not have been accepted in a palace

We need to be careful In reading scripture it is important to realize we are not reading stories about our culture. We need to be careful how we “fill in gaps” We don’t need to be “history buffs” but we do need to be humble and be careful

Bible is not a “rule book” God wants us to learn how to learn to discern principles from the Bible And then how to apply the principles by putting them into practice God did not create a book that is 100% or even 25 % “rules”

Friends rather than servants John 15:15 Jeremiah 31:31-34 – Even though there are rules in O.T. especially – God wanted something different – Following his word with our minds and hearts

Examine Acts 17:10-11 Examine with eagerness – God wants us to do this Paul was not telling them what the scriptures say – God and Paul both wanted them to examine themselves and they were eager to do it

Interpreting God did not want Paul to interpret the scriptures for the Bereans We need to interpret the scriptures ourselves but we need to be careful – not take things out of context – Ken’s lesson – many passages of N.T. written to a group

Intended Meaning What we need to find is what God wants us to learn and follow for scripture – interpret the passage to find the intended meaning. Not one word of the Bible was written directly to us in the 21 st century

John 4 – observe and navigate Jesus challenged the culture of the time: 1)Jews should have avoided Samaritan territory. 2)A Jew should not talk to a Samaritan. 3)A man shouldn’t talk to a woman alone in public 4)A woman shouldn’t be at well this time of day.

Jeremiah 29:11 - context 1)Written to Old Covenant People and it is not a timeless promise to us. 2)It was written to people being dragged off into Babylonian exile for 70 years. 3)In the midst of this difficult time for them, God still had a bigger plan for them that would be eventually for their good as a people (eventually fully with Jesus).

Find the Principle I Tim 2: 8-10 God wants us to reject worldly stereotypes of culture – men giving into anger and women dressing immodestly. Principle – what is important - not if the hair is following a “rule”

Romans 8:28-29 – application and putting it into practice 1)People of God as a group – addressed to whole church 2)This makes v. 29 clearer. 3)Purpose is to transform us to the image of Christ. 4)Not our comfort but to our submission to His purpose.

Heart We need to keep examining and this is what makes the scriptures exciting even after 34 years of examining them We need to follow God with our hearts to find God’s heart when He wrote the passage Understanding the Word