Are you ready for the Gospel Project?

Did you know that it's entirely possible for people to know the stories in the Bible and still miss THE Story?
 

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"Jesus isn’t part of the story — 

He is the point of the story!"

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The Gospel Project for Students helps teens develop a bigger perspective on Scripture and how the story of Jesus Christ ties it all together. Every week, in every passage, students will encounter the gospel through the in-depth study of biblical theology, apologetics, missions, and the grand narrative of Scripture. Because nothing has the ability to transform a teen’s life like the gospel.

As Christians, we hear a lot of talk about the importance of reading our Bibles and memorizing portions of it. But if we aren't taught how to read the Bible, or shown what we're supposed to be looking for as we read, we will miss the point. And the sad thing is that this happens all the time.

This is one of the reasons why we're excited to be starting the Gospel Project in the HSM this Fall. We chose TGP because of a desire to help students not only know the Bible, but to be able to see how all the stories (little "s") actually tell one Story (capital "S").

We're excited about seeing students connect the dots as they trace the thread of redemption from the Old to the New Testament. Ultimately, it's about seeing Jesus! As the dots connect, HE'S the picture that we see. And seeing Jesus is what changes us! 


In the coming weeks and months, we'll be posting all kinds of resources that make for a great companion with TGP material. Everything from articles & blogs to tweets, podcasts, and links will be made available right here on the blog!

How To Join A Lifegroup

HSM Lifegroups are launching on Wed, Sept 12!!!

What are Lifegroups?

Lifegroups are gender and grade specific groups of high school students that meet together weekly on Wednesday nights from 7-9pm, and offer something the world can’t touch: authentic community. We gather together as a large group in the HS room (D-1) and then breakout into our groups. Lifegroups are a great way for students to connect on a deeper level and experience the amazing resources made available to us in and through community that is being shaped and fueled by the gospel.

How do I sign-up for a Lifegroup?

Sooo simple! Just click the link below. It takes you to a wonderful lil form on our Facebook page to fill out. And when you're done with that...you're good to go!

Sign-up HERE

Don't Just Read Your Bible

"Just read your Bible." 

-author unknown

Without a doubt, one of the most important things we can do as Christians is read our Bibles. I've spent a lot of my time helping others to see the importance of it. I'm also learning that it isn't enough just to tell people to read their Bibles; We need to know WHAT we're looking for as we read or else we'll end up reading it wrongly.

Jesus Christ: The Center of It All

The Bible tells one story and points to one figure: it tells the story of how God rescues a broken world and points to Christ as the rescuer. In all of its pages and throughout all of its stories, the word of the Lord reveals the Lord of the Word. The Old Testament predicts God’s rescuer; the New Testament presents God’s rescuer. The plotline of the Bible, in other words, is Jesus-centered. He is the rescuer sent by God to right all wrongs, mend all that is broken, and reconcile separated, fallen human beings like you and me to God.

Alternatives to a biblical theology approach

What are other ways we might read the Bible? There are all kinds of ways we tend to read the Bible. Here are some of the common ways we approach scripture when Jesus is removed from the focal point:

• The Gold Mine Approach – reading the Bible as a vast, cavernous, dark mine, in which one occasionally stumbles upon a nugget of inspiration. Result: confused reading.

• The Hero Approach – reading the Bible as a moral hall of fame that gives us one example after another of heroic spiritual giants to emulate. Result: despairing reading.

• The Rules Approach – reading the Bible on the lookout for commands to obey to subtly reinforce a sense of personal superiority. Result: Pharisaical reading.

• The Artifact Approach – reading the Bible as an ancient document about events in the Middle East a few thousand years ago that are irrelevant to my life today. Result: bored reading.

• The Guidebook Approach – reading the Bible as a roadmap to tell me where to work, whom to marry, and what shampoo to use. Result: anxious reading.

• The Doctrine Approach – reading the Bible as a theological repository to plunder for ammunition for my next theology debate at Starbucks. Result: cold reading.

Don’t turn the Bible into something it isn’t

There is some truth in each of these approaches. But to make any of them the dominant lens is to turn the Bible into a book it was never meant to be. A biblical theology approach takes the Bible on its own terms—namely, that “all the promises of God find their ‘Yes’ in Jesus”.

The Bible's primary message is not about what you must do in order to make yourself right with God, but what HE has done to make you absolutely right with God.

Let's go further than just "reading our Bibles"...let's remember as we read WHO the Bible is all about: Not you...not me, but JESUS.