Have you ever read the whole Bible?  The New Testament?  Don't be embarrassed if your answer is no.  Surveys of committed Christians often show that less than 10% have actually read the New Testament, and fewer say they read it with understanding.  The question is: Can the Church be Church if it doesn't open the Bible?  The Open The Book Project is our way of trying to work toward having everyone who calls this congregation home read with understanding the whole New Testament.  On Wednesday evenings we are offering a class that introduces the New Testament to participants with hands on reading and study of the Bible and use of an exciting resource by one of the country's best scholars, Mark Allan Powell.  His book, Introducing the New Testament, and its web resources make the New Testament come alive; it fills in some of those missing pieces of information that always made reading hard.  We'll use the book to guide a number of "units" of study in the coming year.

On January 27th, February 3rd, and 10th, 2009, we'll work through a unit called:

New Testament World, New Testament Writings

This will paint a picture of the place and times in which the New Testament was written, and an overview of the collection of writings that became the New Testament.

The Open The Book Project continues with Wednesday night classes (part of our weekly Lenten gatherings). The new unit is called:

Jesus & Paul

The unit will look at both of these figures as persons of history and then explore how Jesus became the foundation of what the New Testament is about, and Paul became such an important interpreter of Jesus and contributor of New Testament writings. We will meet on the following Wednesdays at 6:15 for study:

• February 24th, 2010
• March 3rd, 2010
• March 10th, 2010
• March 17th, 2010
• March 24th, 2010

Come join us for a simple and delicious meal of homemade soups at 5:30 PM, and then stay for a brief Prayer service at 7:05.