I don’t know about you, but I have so much reading to do at school, that when it comes to reading the Bible, sometimes it seems like a big hassle.  I like movies better.  Do you think they can make a movie out of the Bible, so I can watch it instead of reading it? 

I LOVE girlie movies.  Love stories, mushy romances…LOVE them.  What is your favorite kind of movie?

In some cases, the Bible IS like a movie.  It has mystery, action, plot twists, relationships, murder, infidelity, poetry, romance, friendships…there is no plot in any movie that beats what is written about in the Bible.  Let me show you how:

The Bible is large.  It’s a book of books.  If you open you Bible to the table of contents, you will see two groupings.  Now, these books in the Bible are not the only writings about those times.  But since you can’t copy EVERYTHING into one big, huge book, it is divided into two sections; the Old Testament (before Jesus was born) and the New Testament (Jesus’ story and beyond).  We believe that the Bible is written by man but inspired by God.  That means that human beings were directed by the Holy Spirit when they wrote down the history (events that lead up to the creation of the church), poetry (usually about God, or people’s need for God), letters (also called epistles), and prophesy (details on things that have not happened yet) that the early church had collected over many many years.  The Bible (also called Cannon) was closed by the early church in 97A.D., which means it can’t be added to or changed.  So, in other words, you or I can’t sit down and write a book and have it included in the Bible.  Darn! 

            So, without looking, take a guess how many books there are in the Old Testament?   Now look…how many are there actually?  Count carefully!!! Now guess how many are in the New Testament…no peeking! Now check your guess, how many are there?

The Old Testament  

            The first five books of the Bible are.  These are called the Torah (Hebrew for Law) or the Pentateuch (Hebrew for 5 books).  These books include the laws and commandments given to the Israelites (God’s Chosen People) by God.  It also talks about their early history…pretty exciting!

            The next 12 books are history, and they tell the story of how God’s people obeyed and disobeyed him, and how God laved them through it.           

            The next five are called Wisdom, or Poetry.  You can find advice, comfort, and direction in these books…much better than you can from most anywhere else!

            Then there are the Prophets.  They spoke for God to His people.  They told everyone about the Savior (Jesus) and how and when He would come to earth; and they told the people when they were sinning against God and breaking their covenant (promise) with Him.

            Which part of the Old Testament seems the most interesting to you? How about the least interesting?

            The New Testament

            The New Testament starts with four books that talk about Jesus’ birth, life, death, and resurrection.  These are called the Gospels.

            The next book, Acts, talks about what His Disciples did after He went back to Heaven…there is some pretty cool stuff in there!  The next group of books, which makes up most of the New Testament, is the Epistles.  The Apostle Paul wrote most of these.  He went all over the place, helping to start churches, and then he would write to them to keep their spirits up, or correct things they might be doing wrong.  You can learn a lot about how God wants you to live by reading these books! 

            The last book of the Bible is Revelation.  It is mystery, prophecy, and drama all in one book!

            Which part of the New Testament seems most interesting to you?

            In terms of how the Bible got to be so famous, well…there’s a lot to say.  We’ll keep it short in explaining that until the invention of the printing press in 1400s, every bible had to be copied by hand, and many of the people couldn’t read.  Once the press was invented, it became much easier to get the word out!  How do you think this helped the church?

            Because we can print them so easily now, it is easier to make other translations.  Check the outside of the Bible you have…what translation is it?    Can you name 3 other translations of the Bible?  (here’s hint, if you can’t, go ahead and google it.  I’ll wait!)

            Using your bible, look up 2 Timothy 3:16-17.  I’ll walk you through this.  In the table of contents, look for the book 2 Timothy.  Go to the page listed.  Now, within the books themselves are large numbers, called chapters.  Go to Chapter 3.  Then look for little number 16 (these little numbers are called verses), and read all the words next to the number 16 and 17.  Stop when you see verse 18. 

            Now, what does this passage say about why we should read the Bible?

            Ok, you finished session two!!! 
Type your name and hit submit, see you next week!!!