#308: "The God Who Stays" by Matthew West

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If your pattern is to closely examine small chunks of Scripture -- and you never zoom out to see the Grand Story -- you may miss out on the staying pattern of our faithful God. Matthew West's song "The God Who Stays" inspired me to take a fly over approach we see the method of our Master.

Buckle up, we're going to fly high over a lot of ground, but I think it will give us an amazing perspective wherever we land in Scripture next.

On this week's episode I discuss:

• Taking a B.I.T.E. out of Scripture - this week's Bible Interaction Tool Exercises include:
  • Reading in context
  • Considering the big story (metanarrative)
• The reason why we are drawn to the "staying" characteristic of God - Psalm 94:14
• Considering the whole of Scripture - all 66 books, over 40 authors, written over 1500 years
• The covenants of God and a useful tool from Bible Project to help you explore them - BibleProject.com
• Consider exploring further these areas of Scripture:
  • Genesis 1-3 - creation and fall
  • Genesis 6+ - the flood and the Noahic Covenant
  • Genesis 11 - the Tower of Babel and the scattering
  • Genesis 12 - the Abrahamic Covenant
  • Exodus 14 - God's deliverance of His people by the blood of the lamb and by water with the crossing of the Red Sea
  • Exodus 19-24 - the Mosaic Covenant
  • Joshua and Judges - displaying the pattern of deliverance by God, rebellion by the people, crying out, rinse, and repeat
  • 2 Samuel - the Davidic Covenant
  • Kings and Chronicles - each king showing that they were not sufficient to bring the people in right relationship with God
  • The New Testament as the Light of the World dawns breaking 400 years of silence and bringing all the nations (all who would respond) into the New Covenant
• Entering the New Covenant is made possible only by faith in Christ, who shed His blood to take away the sins of the world - Hebrews 8:6

Additional Resources

• Lyrics and Chords (and guitar tutorial) - EssentialWorship.com
• Bible Project - The Covenants in the Bible

This Week's Challenge

We covered a lot of ground today. If you would like to explore the big idea of covenant further, I highly recommend a resource on covenants by The Bible Project. If there is a story I highlighted that you’ve never read for yourself before, by all means, read it this week! If you just want to meditate on a chunk of Scripture as is our normal weekly pattern, I recommend Psalm 94.

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