Doing The Bible

Last Updated on June 26, 2023 by Rocklyn Clarke

At Life Church, “Doing the Bible” (i.e. putting the Bible into practice) is one of our core values!

Getting Started

What To Do

1. Review the Sermon on the Mount reading for the week in your life group.
2. Start reading a chapter from the Gospels on a daily basis. You will find a suggested schedule in the Gospels Section below and in the Bible Reading Schedule & Calendar Section below as well. Once you’ve established this habit . . .
3. Add a period of daily reflection to your routine. Consider using the Reflection Plan below with a different theme for each day of the week.
4. Talk to your life group leader about a plan for reading through the entire bible every 1, 2, 3, or 4 years.

What To Expect

• You will grow in your ability to live consistently with the Sermon on the mount.
• You will be able to understand the stories about Jesus in the gospel in their context rather than as isolated passages.
• You will gain insight about how God wants to use you from your time spent in reflection.
• You will grow in your understanding of the Old Testament context of Jesus’ life as revealed in the Gospels.
• You will understand how the rest of the New Testament is grounded in Jesus’ life as revealed in the Gospels.

Here are some of our pages devoted to helping you to put the Bible into practice:

Bible Resources & Rhythms

In order to consistently “do the Bible” (i.e. put the Bible into practice), we encourage our members to develop daily and weekly rhythms for reading the Bible:

The Gospels

  In the beginning was the Word,  and the Word was with God,  and the Word was God.  He was with God in the beginning.  Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.  In him was life,  and that life was the light  of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness,  and the darkness has not overcome  it. 

.  .  .

The Word became flesh  and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory,  the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace  and truth. – John 1:1-5, 14 (NIV)

Jesus is God’s Word made flesh! How can you be “worded up” if you never work your way through his story in the Gospels?

We encourage our members to read through all 4 gospels three times a year:

Month	Gospel	Reading Days	Days Off
January	Matthew	1/1 – 1/28	1/29 – 1/31
February	Mark	2/1 – 2/16	2/17 – 2/28 (or 2/29)
March	Luke	3/1 – 3/24	3/25 – 3/31
April	John	4/1 – 4/21	4/22 – 4/30
May	Matthew	5/1 – 5/28	5/29 – 5/31
June	Mark	6/1 – 6/16	6/17 – 6/30
July	Luke	7/1 – 7/24	7/25 – 7/31
August	John	8/1 – 8/21	8/22 – 8/31
September	Matthew	9/1 – 9/28	9/29 – 9/30
October	Mark	10/1 – 10/16	10/17 – 10/31
November	Luke	11/1 – 11/24	11/25 – 11/30
December	John	12/1 – 12/21	12/22 – 12/31

Gospel Reflection Questions

As you read each chapter, reflect on the following questions:

• • What would I like to better understand about this chapter?
  • What did I find challenging about this chapter?
  • What did I learn as I tried to apply this chapter to my life?
  • Would an outsider who read this chapter recognize that I was trying to apply it to my life?

The Sermon On The Mount

The Sermon on the Mount (SotM) is found in chapters 5 – 7 of the New Testament Gospel According to Matthew. Follow this link to read about how we’re making it part of our culture at Life Church.

We have divided the Sermon on the Mount (SotM) into 16 sections and we encourage our members to reflect on a fresh section on the week following the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Sundays of each month. There is no designated SotM reading for the week following 5th Sundays.

Learn The Bible

Follow this link to join with us as we work our way through reading the whole Bible. We encourage our members to choose and follow a plan for reading through the entire Bible on a regular basis.

Following Jesus: Focus On The Message

Follow this link to learn more about the first component of Following Jesus, our church-wide discipleship program.

Reflection

In addition to reading through the Bible, we also encourage our members to develop a habit of daily reflection and prayer. We recommend selecting one of the 7 components of our Following Jesus disciple curriculum for each day of the week:

Day	Focus
Sunday	Reflection: Focus on the Message
Monday	Reflection: Family Up
Tuesday	Reflection: Flow in the Spirit
Wednesday	Reflection: Face Your Problems
Thursday	Reflection: Farm Your Land
Friday	Reflection: Find Your Purpose
Saturday	Reflection: Fulfill Your Mission

Bible Reading Schedule & Calendar

The following calendar and schedule will help you incorporate Bible Rhythms into your daily routine.

Bible Reading Calendar

View our Bible Reading Calendar.

Subscribe to our Bible Reading Calendar (Google Calendar)

Subscribe to our Bible Reading Calendar (iCal)

Bible Reading Schedule

This schedule is based on our Bible Reading Calendar. You can view it in list format: