52 Weeks in the Word

  Welcome to Week 51.  Merry Christmas to each of you.  We are almost finished with our reading for the year.  I also know this is a busy time of year.  I am so excited that we have almost completed this reading together as a group.  Through the year, we have had some very thought provoking and meaningful discussions.  I am very thankful for each of you! This Week's reading: Hebrews 7 - 1 John 5. I will provide a small amount of background information for these books below: James James wrote this book around A. D. 50.  James, the half-brother of Jesus, was the leader of the church in Jerusalem in the middle of the 1st century; however, he was a later convert it seems.  In the beginning, you might consider him a typical sibling, skeptical to believe his brother, Jesus, was the Son of God.  It seems this belief shifted when James met with Jesus after His resurrection.  By 44 AD, he was considered the leader of the church in Jerusalem....

  Welcome to Week 50.  That's Week 50 out of 52!!  Can you believe we have made it this far?  It's exciting to think how far we have come this year!   Last week's reading made me decide what my next Bible study would be for the New Year.  Reading through the New Testament this quickly, I've decided that I will be taking a much slower pace and just concentrating on a study of the New Testament for awhile.  My opinion, just because we can read it quickly does not mean we can absorb it best, quickly!  However, I'm still enjoying reading His Word together with you all.       This Week's reading: 2 Thessalonians 1 - Hebrews 6. I will provide a small amount of background information for these books below: 2 Thessalonians Paul's second letter to the Thessalonians was written a year or two after the first.  They had some misinterpretations of the "Day of the Lord" because they thought it had already taken place, so they quit ...

  Welcome to Week 49.  You may have noticed that reading through the New Testament has been moving at fast speeds like the days until Christmas.  This week alone we will be reading in 6 different books from the New Testament.  The chapters are shorter in comparison to many of the chapters from the Old Testament.  However, you may desire to break up your reading and do some in the morning and some in the evening if you find it too much information at one time.  This week we will finish reading 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and 1 Thessalonians.     This Weeks reading: 2 Corinthians 8 - 1 Thessalonians 5. I will provide a small amount of background information for these books below: Galatians    It is believed that the Galatians was Paul's first letter written around 49 or 50 A.D.  (This is a reminder that the New Testament is not organized by when it was written.)  Several of the cities that P...

  Welcome to Week 48 and the last month of the year.  We are so close to finishing our goal of reading through the Bible together.  I know last week was very busy for many of you, for several different reasons.  I want to encourage each of you to keep going with your reading.  Your questions have really helped one another to keep going and press further into God's Word.  This week we will finish reading Romans and 1 Corinthians, and we will also begin reading 2 Corinthians.   This Weeks reading: Romans 13 - 2 Corinthians 7. In Romans this week, we will read about Christian liberty at the end of the book.   Next, we will look at 1 & 2 Corinthians.   Let's take a look at a little background information before we get started with this week's reading.  1 and 2 Corinthians are letters written to the church in Corinth by Paul.  It is believed Paul first visited Corinth in 50 A.D on his second missionary journey where he...

  Welcome to Week 47 and Thanksgiving Week here in the United States.  We will finish reading Acts and begin Romans this week.  Acts has been one of my favorite reads so far in this year's journey because I find the words so powerful! This week in Acts we will read about Paul's Trial.  Up to this point he has had 3 mission journeys around the Mediterranean. Then he was falsely accused and taken to Caesarea, where Felix placed him under house arrest.  Over the next 2 years, Felix met with Paul to hear the Gospel message.  It was time for Paul to go to Rome, so they placed him on a large grain freighter, a large commercial vessel common during that time, to get to Rome.  Due to heavy winds that time of year (probably around October), the ship moved very slowly towards Rome.  Paul warned them about the stormy season, and he was correct.  The ship and crew found themselves in the middle of a horrible storm, for two weeks!  The Roman soldiers...

    Welcome to Week 46.  This week we will finish reading the Gospels.  You may have noticed the book of John includes a little more detail about some of the encounters than the other Gospels.  John was a little more direct when he had something to say, at least in his writings.   Thank you to all those who shared interesting ideas and thoughts on last week's reading.  This discussion has really enriched the reading for me.  Looking ahead to Week 46: The reading for Week 46 includes: John 20 - Acts 18.  A little background info on the book of Acts: The book of Acts begins where the book of Luke ends.  Same author as the book of Luke.  The events of the book begin with the 40 days following the resurrection of Jesus.  The book goes on to describe the quest of the Great Commission, requested by Jesus.  Acts is 28 chapters long, with half describing the ministry of Peter, and the second half describing the ministry of Pa...