The amazing BIBLE!

It is "His-Story"
It is His love letter to the World
It is His instruction manual for life
It is His road map to your forever-future! He is talking about everything that has ever and will ever happen... And you are part of that story!

We learn in God's Word that He wants to have a relationship with us, a personal 'Father to child' relationship. He speaks to us in many ways, we just need to listen...

Here are a few ways that we can strengthen our relationship with our Father...

Connecting through God's Word. There are many different ways to read the Bible... as many ways as there are Christians because each person will connect to God in a unique and personal way. Here are a few different ways you could explore and make them your own...

Reading the Bible from cover to cover - start at Genesis and go through to Revelation. You can do this on your own time, maybe doing a chapter a day. Or you could choose a reading plan that organizes Bible reading for you into a 1-year plan or a 2-year plan.
Read the Bible in Chronological order - this is reading the Bible as it happened in time. For example, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John tell different accounts of some of the same stories about Jesus. A Chronologic plan is a fascinating way to read the Bible arranged in the order that the events actually happened. For example, it will help you understand what was happening in the surrounding country when David was writing the Psalms, and that will illuminate why he wrote some of the Psalms the way he did. It is a fascinating different way to read the Bible.
Choosing a section of the Bible - Maybe you feel you need the comfort of the Psalms, or the wisdom of Proverbs. Maybe you wish to find out more about Jesus' life on earth in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Perhaps you want to read about the creation of the world in Genesis. There are many resources for reading the Bible online. We recommend BibleGateway.com, which was started by a student of Calvin College (which is supported by our church) so we know that they are a trustworthy site. They have a lot of resources and reading plans (most of them, however, begin on January 1st reading date) They also have an audio Bible if you just like to listen. They have an amazing search feature to help you find passages. Many of their reading plans and tools are free, and they do have a section of studies for which they charge a small fee.
Journaling the Bible - This is a creative way to study and highlight the things you are learning or that are meaningful for you. There are many posts on pinterest that could help you study the Bible this way.
Personal Bible study methods - such as the H.E.A.R study method are a methodical ways to read and help you understand what you are reading in the Bible. There are many more such methods that you can find online.

Bible Study Groups are a wonderful way to connect with others as you study the Bible. Here at Strathroy East, when we are allowed to be fully open, we have a number of Bible Study groups for adults and also groups for kids and youth that include Bible study as part of the program. You can check these groups out in our CONNECT button on our Home page.

Prayer can be a very personal thing, a conversation between you and God. It can also be talking to God as a group. The only real guideline for prayer is the prayer that Jesus himself gave us in Matthew 6:9-13, commonly known as The Lord's Prayer. But there are many references in the Bible that talk about Prayer.
But know this, that there is not a wrong way to talk to God our Father if you come to Him sincerely and reverently. Even if we don't have the right words to say when we pray, the Holy Spirit who knows our heart intercedes on our behalf. We can pray directly to God the Father through Jesus who earned our right to do so by dying for our sins on the cross, in order to present us without sin to our Father. God wants to hear from us, He wants to hear how your day went, He wants you to pray for others and your self, He wants us, His children to talk to Him as our Father.

We hope that this gives you a small taste of different ways that you can explore a relationship with the Creator of the universe who loves you personally so much that He gave His only Son to save you for an eternity with Him!

As time goes along, we hope to expand this section with teachings and verses about studying the Bible and prayer. So please check back from time to time. We look very forward to resuming Bible study groups and you would be most welcome to join us for one of them!

If you would like further information about getting to know God better, please contact the church office or our pastor. We would love to walk with you on your journey!