Read the New Testament in 40 Days

"Been There, Done That, Got the T-Shirt"

If you went to one football game, would you say at the next invitation “nope, sorry, already did that?” If you visited Paris once would you turn down a chance to go again? If you had one child or one grandchild, would you be willing to be a (grand)parent to another? If you read through the New Testament once, could there be a chance that reading through it again might be a worthy investment of your time?

Please consider reading or listening through the New Testament beginning on Ash Wednesday, February 17thand completed on the day before Easter Sunday, April 3rd. That is forty days – the same number as the forty days of Lent. There are bookmarks in the lobby that tell you which chapters to read each day. It will take about 25 minutes each day to read six days each week (giving you Saturday to “catch up.”) Each Sunday, Pastor Randy will be preaching from some part of the New Testament reading scheduled for that day.

Some of the reasons you may have decided not to participate in the past may have included that “I just don’t get some of it” or “I read the words and I just feel like I am reading the words and nothing sinks in.” If you have ever listened to the radio or watched television chances are there have been times when you were not fully engaged in that either. Why not give the New Testament at least the same opportunity? Trust the Holy Spirit to engage you even if you think that it is just going in one ear/eye and out the other.

Not a reader? The church has a number of audio Bibles on cassette tapes and compact discs. Try listening in the car on the way to school or turn off Letterman and turn on the Bible. The church also has a DVD movie of Matthew’s gospel to get you through the first five days.

There is a sign up sheet in the church lobby. When you sign up to read Pastor Randy will send you a weekly reminder of the chapters to be read each day and some questions to help you focus your reading. On Easter Sunday we will celebrate all the persons who read through the New Testament. What a resurrection morning that will be. Regardless of whether you’ve done it before or not – please consider this invitation the read through the New Testament in 40 days.