Are You Ready to Launch?
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Greetings NT260 participants! Tomorrow we will begin our journey through the New Testament together. I must tell you: I have been blown away by the overwhelming response to this invitation to read through the entire New Testament. The Lord has been stirring up the hearts of folks young and old, from new believers to seasoned saints. I am so excited to see how God will use this daily time in His Word to shape us to be the people He's calling us to be. As we take time to read, reflect and respond to God's Word each day, I really do believe we're going to grow in our understanding of who He is, and see Him do some big things in the life of our church...in individuals, in families, in small groups and even into our surrounding community.
Season One begins tomorrow, with Luke Chapter 1. As you spend time reading and reflecting on the passage, I want to encourage you to focus in on two questions, which are the two questions that will guide our reading through the entire New Testament. “What does the biblical text say?” And “How am I going to respond?” Your response could be in the form of praising God for something it says about Himself, or something that He has done for us. Your response could be in the form of confession of where you’ve fallen short of something His Word calls you to. Your response could be in the form of committing to DO something His Word calls you to DO. But whatever you do in response to His Word, may it always be done in light of the gospel, the good news of what God has DONE for us in Christ to reconcile us to Himself and make His children.
As you engage daily with God's Word, I encourage you to chew on those questions, inviting God to speak clearly to your heart, and to give you the boldness to faithfully respond to whatever He's teaching you through the Scriptures.
Now, I know that this might seem like a daunting task for many of us. You might be like many Christians, who have tried reading the Bible before, but because it was confusing, you gave up. Or maybe once upon a time, you set a goal to read the Bible, but a few days in, you stumbled, and then the guilt of falling short kept you from picking it back up – at which point you just felt stuck, wanting to grow in your faith, but feeling paralyzed by confusion, guilt, or apathy. My guess is that’s where some of you have been.
But the Bible wasn't meant to be a burden or a means of confusion. That's why we've designed NT260 the way we have. 1 chapter a day, 5 days a week. With the Lord’s help, you can do this! Plus, our team and I will be providing daily reflections throughout this journey. Those reflections, along with other resources that will help you make sense of the New Testament, will be available at tefs.org/dailytime.
Before I let you go, I want to take just a moment more to encourage you with a promise (from Isaiah 55) that as we read, reflect, and respond to God’s Word, He will accomplish (through His Word) all that He intends for it to do. God proclaims (in Isaiah 55):
“As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.”
May the Lord do (thru His Word) all that He wants to do – for His glory and our good.
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We designed the NT260 in seasons to allow for folks to jump in once the journey has begun. Placing a gospel at the beginning of each season ensures that no matter which season they start with they’ll start with the gospel.
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Daily reflections will be available on the NT260 Daily Time page Monday - Friday throughout this journey.
Additional Resources
NT260 Reading Plan (Season One)
NT260 Daily Time Overview
NT260 Daily Time Blank Printable
Want to get a glimpse of the larger story of Luke’s Gospel at the start of this journey? Check out the fantastic overview below provided by The Bible Project.
