https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Bible-Stories.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n\tText: II Peter 1:16-21<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I. “Grandpa, read me a story.”<\/p>\n A. Children love hearing a story and so stories are selected to teach the children some\nlessons\n B. Most of us don’t grow out of the desire to hear a story. Whether from reading a\nbook or hearing a podcast or watching a movie, stories have a powerful attraction\nto people.\n 1. Though it seems that as adults, we care less about the purpose behind the\nstories.\n 2. We want to be entertained and don’t think about what the stories are\nteaching us\n
3. I Corinthians 15:33 – What we associate with will influence us<\/p>\nII. But too often I see adults treating the Bible as just a collection of stories, disconnected\nfrom real-life\n A. They look for morals to be drawn from a story without understanding why the\nevents occurred\n 1. The story of David and Goliath becomes the backdrop for how to deal with\nbullies\n B. The application a person desires becomes more important than understanding the\nevent\n
1. We lose focus regarding why God told this event.<\/p>\n 2. For example, the story of Naaman is often cited to illustrate the\nimportance of baptism.\n
a. After all both stories involve immersion in water<\/p>\n
b. But the story of Naaman is about humility and submission<\/p>\n c. This can help explain why we need to submit to the commands of\nGod, but it is not limited to this one illustration\n d. By keeping it in context, we find that Elisha’s servant becomes a\ncounter example. \n (1) He heard Elisha refuse payment from Naaman – II Kings\n5:15-16\n (2) But Gehazi decided that Naaman should have paid – II\nKings 5:20\n
(3) He covered up his disobedience with a lie – II Kings 5:24-25<\/p>\n (4) By his disobedience, he received Naaman’s leprosy – II\nKings 5:26-27\n C. There are so many stories, like Homer’s Iliad, that might be loosely based on\nhistory but are fanciful accounts with events that are clearly not true.\n
1. Some assume the Bible is the same. Thus, the miracles are dismissed.<\/p>\n 2. One author cited what she thought is a historical error in Luke’s dating of\nJesus’ birth. \n a. She never stopped to think whether she was reading Luke’s details\naccurately. \n b. From that stance, she concluded that she didn’t have to accept\neverything stated in the Bible.\n
c. But she becomes her own editor of God’s word – James 2:10-12<\/p>\n D. But the stories of the Bible are historical accounts. They are things that really\nhappened to people who really existed.\n
1. The Bible doesn’t warp history in order to tell God’s story.<\/p>\n 2. Rather, events were selected from the billions that occurred to build up the\nmessage God wanted told.\n
a. Judges 3:31 – A single verse about Shamgar<\/p>\n
(1) Why did God include this brief event?<\/p>\n (2) Well, for one thing, it shows that God can deliver His\npeople in unexpected ways. He didn’t use an army but one\nman with a pointy stick.\n
III. A lack of historical context causes people to treat each story in isolation<\/p>\n
A. Consider the placement of the stories. Why is one event told after another?<\/p>\n
1. There were countless things that happened to Jesus – John 21:25<\/p>\n
2. Yet, look at Mark 2:1-3:6<\/p>\n
a. The story of the Paralytic being healed – Mark 2:1-12<\/p>\n
b. Jesus’ popularity – Mark 2:13<\/p>\n
c. The conflict of associating with tax collectors – Mark 2:14-17<\/p>\n d. A discussion on fasting that leads to telling why the Old Law has to\nbe replaced- Mark 2:18-22\n
e. The plucking of grain on the Sabbath – Mark 2:23-28<\/p>\n
f. The healing of a man on the Sabbath – Mark 3:1-5<\/p>\n 3. Why was this series of events selected? In this case we are told indirectly –\nMark 3:6\n a. These events explain why the Pharisees and Jewish leaders hated\nJesus so much\n B. The stories in Judges form a chain that explain how people progressively become\nmorally corrupt without accepting guidance – Judges 21:25\n
1. Each event recorded shows a greater degree of depravation<\/p>\n C. Paul draws on events from Israel’s wondering in the wilderness to prove that\nbeing God’s chosen people does not guarantee an entrance into heaven – I\nCorinthians 10:6, 10-11\nIV. The stories in the Bible ultimately tell us about how God guided mankind on a trajectory\nthat culminates in the coming Savior and his death\n
A. So many of the recorded events explain why we need a Savior<\/p>\n
1. The world before the Flood shows how bad people become without law<\/p>\n 2. Without a king, we too go from bad to worse. Not an earthly king, but the\nLord himself.\n B. The events hint at the Savior’s coming and foreshadow his life and death, such as\nthe time Abraham is asked to sacrifice his son – Genesis 22\n
C. People are drawn when Christ is lifted up – John 12:31-32<\/p>\nV. The stories in the Bible are meant to change how we see the world and our own lives –\nRomans 15:4\n
A. From the seeds planted, new Christians sprout – I Peter 1:23-25<\/p>\n
B. Bible stories are not just for the young<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Text: II Peter 1:16-21 I. “Grandpa, read me a story.” A. Children love hearing a story and so stories are selected to teach the children some lessons B. Most of us don’t grow out of the desire to hear a story. Whether from reading a book or hearing a podcast or watching a movie, stories have a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[119,32],"tags":[568,219,964],"class_list":["post-24046","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-audio","category-sermon","tag-accuracy-of-the-bible","tag-bible","tag-understanding-the-bible"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":37732,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/preaching-the-bloody-bible\/","url_meta":{"origin":24046,"position":0},"title":"Preaching the Bloody Bible","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 3, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Ralph Walker There are portions of the Bible which trouble even the most faith-filled of us - stories of blood, brutality, and barbarism. Those stories and commands provide opportunities for the enemies of God to attack His goodness and ethics. This series explores some of those troubling passages. These\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Bible-and-Sword-300x220.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":23598,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/thank-you-for-publishing-old-bible-illustrations\/","url_meta":{"origin":24046,"position":1},"title":"Thank you for publishing old Bible illustrations","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 24, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Thank you for publishing these\u00a0old Bible illustrations. When my children were small, I used to read Bible stories to them from a book that had illustrations such as these. I prefer them to modern illustrations. The modern children's Bible stories are terrible. The illustrations are simply cartoons. Children have\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2930,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/where-did-you-find-the-old-childrens-bible-story-books\/","url_meta":{"origin":24046,"position":2},"title":"Where did you find the old children’s Bible story books?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 6, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I came across your website while looking for Bible story pictures from my childhood. As a small child, I dearly loved the pictures in the \"Standard Bible Story Readers.\" I remember memorizing some of the stories. The story of Blind Bartimaeus was my favorite. Several years ago, I saw\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":42079,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/ive-listened-to-the-entire-bible-during-my-day\/","url_meta":{"origin":24046,"position":3},"title":"I’ve listened to the entire Bible during my day","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 5, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I read your article on \u00a0Reading the Bible Cover to Cover. Permit me to share that I love listening to my audio Bible and have covered 50 to 100 chapters a day. I have since gone through the Good Book eleven times. By late Wednesday, March 5th, I'll complete\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":54147,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-plays-and-skits-about-bible-stories-be-used-to-teach-children-during-a-vbs\/","url_meta":{"origin":24046,"position":4},"title":"Can plays and skits about Bible stories be used to teach children during a VBS?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 5, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Can plays and skits about Bible stories be used to teach children during a VBS? Answer: A Vacation Bible School (VBS) is basically a gospel meeting for kids. The\u00a0Bible shows teaching being done in a variety of ways: A fig tree was killed (Matthew 21:21), Idols and worldly poets\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":92562,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/for-want-of-a-nail\/","url_meta":{"origin":24046,"position":5},"title":"For Want of a Nail","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 13, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Stephen Harper There is an old nursery rhyme that we may remember: For want of a nail, the shoe was lost. For want of a shoe, the horse was lost. For want of a horse, the rider was lost. For want of a rider, the message was lost. For\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24046","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24046"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24046\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24046"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24046"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24046"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}