Congratulations! Eight weeks ago, we began this amazing journey, and here we are today, a community accomplished. Over the past two months, the entire Penn Valley Church experience has revolved around this version of the New Testament. We didn't just read our Bibles; we listened to sermons on the deeper theology, we discussed our reading on Wednesday evenings, we read introductions to each book that explained the context, and we read the books of the New Testament as they were arranged in history.
Have you ever been so engaged in your Bible prior to this? Have you ever been able to read it like a novel instead of a textbook before? Have you ever been able to truly imagine the people and places? Have you ever felt the emotions written in those pages? Have you ever understood Jesus so well?
The Community Bible Experience didn't just bring us the Bible in a format that was easier to read. The goal of this project was to get to know Jesus. Did you get to know Him? Did you watch him create an overnight sensation as He healed, preached, performed miracles, and proclaimed His true identity? Could you see the crowds cheering His name, just before they cheered His crucifixion? Did you notice His compassion, His unwavering conviction, His holiness? Did you hear His prayers, the love in His words, the instruction in His sermons, the consistency of His message? Could you feel the pain of His death, on the cross, for you? And when He left, having issued the Great Commission, did you see how His apostles carried His message to the world?
When you read the last words of Revelation, "He who testifies to these things says, 'Yes, I am coming soon.' Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God's people. Amen," what went through your mind? Thank You was the overwhelming feeling that rose up in this blogger's being. Thank you for this world, Lord, for Your love, for salvation, for loving me, the lowliest of sinners. Thank You for the cross, Lord. Thank You for Your Word, Lord, and may You bless me with this spirit of Thanksgiving all of my days.
