PSA Bible Reading Challenge 2025-2026

We find in both Genesis and John the stories of creation. Genesis gives us the literal creation of all that we see in heaven and on earth, in the sea and in the sky. In John we see us being created as children of God, that takes root from the prompt that we find in Genesis that we are made in the image of God. This concept of being made in the image of God is not an appearance thing. Remember what God says to Samuel when he is trying to find the next king: “Do not look upon his appearance for people look on the outside, but God look upon the heart.” We are made in the image God in that we strive to be in relationship that gives life. Jesus gives life and we ought to desire to be in relationship with him.

We find in John the primary difference between the Old and the New Testament, which is in reality the difference between the Old and the New Covenant. Look at vs.17 where we read: “The law was given by Moses, but grace and truth were given by Jesus.” That is the difference. We no longer are relegated to following rules which dictate our lives and which bind us to inevitable sin. Instead, we find ourselves pursuing grace and truth in the person of Jesus Christ through a relationship that is completely unbound.

There are so many details in the creation story that I would love to touch on. Some see two creation stories, one in chapter 1 and the other in chapter 2. That is not my approach. I tend to harmonize the stories into one. What we find in chapter 1 is a general overview of creation. Chapter 2 gives us the specifics that we hear mentioned in chapter 1, specifically in relationship to the creation of man and woman. Woman being described as a helper is also a key concept we would do well to understand. The term helper is ezer and it is used in a few other places in Scripture. But here is the kicker, each time that it is used it is used to describe God as our helper, someone who was necessary for us to pursue and continue on in our lives. The helper that God creates is just as equally made in God’s image as the man that God creates in chapter 1.

John begins his Gospel with his own account of creation. Notice the theological truth that he begins with which is necessary to our understanding of the Trinity. The Son, the Word of God, is present in creation. Without the Word, without Jesus, the second person of the Trinity, the Son, creation would not and did not occur. We often misunderstand the Trinity in a modalist perspective. The Son is relegated to the first century and never seen or heard from again. That is not our belief. The Son was present from the very beginning. The Son, Jesus, was God fully and completely and without any hesitation. Anything less than that is heresy. This includes the presence of the Son in creation itself.

“Thy word is a lamp unto my path and light unto my feet.” Psalm 119:5

What a great way to start our Bible reading challenge. We will be together now for the next 9 months reading through Scripture and trying to figure out together how what we consider and believe to be the Word of God actually has the ability to impact and change our life for the good forever.

It is a great Psalm to start off our challenge for a number of reasons. I get to teach some of you a new word today: acrostic. That means simply that each section of the Psalm, so about every 8 verses or so, begin with the next letter of the alphabet. Now, as you are reading it you are probably saying to yourself that no, it doesn’t begin with A and then the 9th verse begins with B. Well, just in case we forget, the Old Testament, and so the Psalms as a whole, were originally written in Hebrew and not in English.

Psalm 119 also happens to be the longest of all the Psalms and yet it maintains the most consistent them: I love the law of the Lord. If you remember in the New Testament Jesus while he is in a jam packed house is told by those around him that his family is waiting for him outside. He responds by saying: “Who is my family but those who keep my commandments?” Matthew 12:48-50. Keepings the commandments of the Lord is mandatory for those who want to be followers of Jesus.

Now, let’s be clear, being a disciple of Jesus Christ is not meant to be a legalistic endeavor. I remember when I was a senior in high school and not wanting to have anything to do with Jesus. I was a clear cut atheist. I thought it was all made up. The main reason why I was fighting a personal relationship with Jesus was because I thought that it was a list of rules. Following the commandments of the Lord was to me a prison into which I did not want to put myself. On January 14, 1986 the Word of God came to me, yes literally, and told me: stop living for yourself.

It was then that I realized the freedom that I had in following Jesus’ commandments. It led me not to a life of slavery to sin, but rather to freedom in Christ. That was when I took upon myself my favorite Bible verse found in John 8:32 where Jesus tells those who doubted him: You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free. Reading the Word of God reminds us of the new life that we have in Christ when we accept him as personal savior and as we live our lives in freedom.

I am so looking forward to taking this journey with you over these next 9 months as we dive into the God’s Word.

We are excited to bring to you another Bible Reading Challenge. Were you looking for a way in which to read through Scripture without getting stuck in Numbers? Well, this is your chance. Join the church as we read through the Bible and as we blog through our days of reading Scripture together.

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I do have to focus on Psalm 137, but the other Psalms are important as well. Okay, before we look at 137 let’s see 136 which repeats over and over again that the steadfast love of the Lord endures forever. Isn’t that nice to be reminded of that for 26 verses. This is a psalm that we can read whenever we find ourselves in a position that maybe we might be feeling disconnected and separated from God. Remember, the steadfast love of the Lord endures forever.

Now to Psalm 137. This is a Psalm that I believe was written by someone who had been ravaged and attacked and her children taken from her by the Babylonians and killed in front of her eyes. Yes, those things did happen. If you look at vs.7-9 you see her wishing upon her captors the same that she experienced. That is me adding my own perspective, but I think it works.

I can’t read this Psalm without thinking of this song.

We have to focus on Psalm 133 where we read how blessed it is to dwell together with those who love the Lord. Well, that’s not exactly what is stated. The demographic group that is lifted up is kindred. Now, that could be blood relatives, or kin, or that could be spiritual relatives, or the church. I like the latter, although the former was probably what was in mind when this was written. But I have used this verse countless times to describe what it is like to be in unity together in all sorts of different settings, even in those settings where the participants aren’t related in any way shape or form, by spirit or blood.

The first thing that caught my attention was found in Psalm 126 where we read in vs.6 the words that brought about this song.

I hope this got you started on your day. We are very close to closing out our time together on this Bible reading challenge. We only have this week left!

We have two of the most classic psalms that we find in all of Scripture. When we read Psalm 46 we hear the words “God is our refuge and our strength.” What strong words of comfort we find here which should be familiar to us. We hear the words “Be still and know that I am God.” Again, very familiar words that we have used in one setting or another where our life might seem a bit out of control and those words come to calm us down.

Similarly we find in Psalm 118 numerous phrases that we have used and with which we are familiar. We see from vs.25-27 the very words that the people used to greet Jesus when he entered Jerusalem. These are words that were used to greet the pilgrims as they came into Jerusalem and went back out. But they are words that have been immortalized not just in this Psalm but by their repetition in the Gospels. We also hear words that we know in “O give thanks to the Lord, for his steadfast love endures.” It does remind me of this song.

We have the shortest of the chapters of the Bible in Psalm 117, but it is powerful. Is there anything more important that we do in our lives than praise the Lord? I have always said that it is from worship where we understand what God has called us to do. I have always said that it is in worship where we practice the righteousness that is required of us in the world. Worship is the pratice field of life, where we practice that which God calls us to do so that when we get into the game, the real world outside of the walls of sanctuary, we will have all the muscle and the heart memory that we need to do God’s work. Worship is at the center of our spiritual life. It has to be.

There is a somewhat secondary theme in a few of these psalms that we read which lift up certainly one of the primary themes of Jesus. We see a consistent recognition that there is a preference for the poor on behalf of God. Those who are poor, those who are marginalized, those who are outcast, those who are on the fringes of society are loved and evern favored by the Lord. But when we look at our own lives and certainly at the way in which society is constructed, there is almost a sense that the poor are poor because of their own doing. As a result we cast even more shame upon that status as opposed to being aware of how God favores the poor and looks out for them and wants them to come out of their poverty.

If we were but able to see poverty as not a result of ignorance or unwillingness to work but rather as a state that often our policies and our attitudes create, then we would probably have a different perspective of the poor, and it would be one that would be more generous and giving and loving than what we currently have.