This week, Tom (our base leader and my partner in leading the School of Foundations and Missions), is teaching our SBFM course lectures. We are doing a two week Bible Overview, surveying the meta-narrative of Scripture from Creation through the First Century. This isn't study for the sake of study- the goal is to provide a context and framework for an understanding of Scripture and an awareness of the enduring purposes of God upon the earth.
Its always an outstanding series of lectures for our students, as even for those having grown up in the church, its easy to have never really developed a strong understanding of the big picture of Scripture. As a result, the bible seems to many people to be a collection of disconnected stories and incidents- capped with the gospel story of Jesus and a shout out from Paul to the early church. These weeks are intended to bring understanding to the consistent epic of Scripture- looking at the clear theme of God's Self-revelation and His redemption of Man in the context of both His love and His holiness throughout the ages. Throughout the Bible this redemption is promised, covenanted, prophesied, and accomplished. But as we typically read in short erratic patterns, most of us tend to miss the continuity of the story and fail to see how it fits together. Its always exciting for the class to see the big picture that sets what they do know and understand in context... significantly deepening their understanding.
