This new year, commit to read the Bible with us
A new year is upon us.
If you're like me, the beginning of a new year provokes you to reflect on the past year and prepare for the next. This is refreshing since, throughout most of the year, we spend most of our time just reacting to what comes our way. If we want to see change in our lives, we have to begin with reflection and preparation.
In our family, we tend travel between Christmas and New Year. My favorite part of our drive is the reflection conversation Emily and I have somewhere along the way. It begins with something like, "So, how are we doing?" We reflect on how we're doing in our pursuit of Christ and on our life as a whole.
In my own life, I’ve always found this type of holistic reflection essential. We meander through the conversation wondering what habits are keeping us from doing what we really want to do, and I have found that the solutions are often connected to other problems. For example, if I desire to spend more time in the Word, I often realize that what hinders me from rising early to read is going to bed too late. Or if I desire to be more productive with my work, I can be thwarted in my productivity by my lack of exercise.
Have you ever had these realizations- one problem area is often linked to another? If you find yourself wanting to reflect and prepare for this new year, I encourage you to take the time over these next few days to do so and here is a helpful place to start: Donald Whitney’s 10 Questions to Ask at the Start of a New Year. These questions focus not only on important areas like spiritual disciplines, personal holiness, and evangelism; they also focus on areas of productivity, diet, exercise, family, and friendships.
Growth for TCC in 2020
The past several weeks, I have been reflecting on various ways I want Treasuring Christ to grow over this next year. The most pressing area that I have identified for growth is a goal for all members to be reading God’s Word. However, like I mentioned before, sometimes there are tools or minor tweaks to daily habits that can make these goals a reality, rather than just a fleeting desire. Many of you have likely started a Bible reading plan in the past. In my experience, sometimes I keep up with it and sometimes I fall off. However, I've always felt having a plan is better than not having one. However, what I have found to change everything is to (1) have a plan, and (2) to do it with others. So, this year, at TCC, we are rolling out a church-wide Bible reading plan with that purpose in mind— to bring God’s Word and God’s people together.
TCC Bible Reading Plan
The TCC Bible Reading Plan is a weekly Bible reading plan that will take us through the entire Bible in one year. Download it here. Below is information about what to expect:
This plan starts on January 5th. So print it out, put it in your Bible, and be ready to start this Sunday.
It has five readings a week, giving room to catch up or take a day off to focus on other Bible readings or spiritual disciplines, and makes daily Bible reading practical and doable.
It walks you through the Bible chronologically, while balancing your time in both the Old and New Testaments.
Each day’s readings will take about 20-30 minutes to complete.
You can keep track of your progress by using the weekly progress register provided on the PDF. We will also have hard copies available the next few Sundays to pick up at church.
We have created a private Facebook group for those using the reading plan. This will be a place to provide encouragement to one another and to share what God is teaching us. Join it here!
We encourage you to to read each day and week in order— don’t jump around. If you skip a day, go back and read the previous day before moving forward.
We hope you take this journey with us as we seek to delight in, declare, and displaying the gospel this year! Download the TCC Bible Reading Plan 2020 here.