You've just received a Bible from Bethel Church. Congratulations! Inside is the Word of God. Read carefully and prayerfully and you will be able to hear, within the pages, a message that God is giving you. It is a message of God's love and grace and acceptance. It is a message of God's hopes and expectations for you and the human family. It is a message that will challenge you to think about your life and your goals. To enter the world of the Bible is to enter a world that is odd and unexpected. Read with openness about God and God's relationship with you.

Listed here are some passages to get you started. These are some of the most well known and best loved stories in the Bible. They are a good beginning point. Perhaps you and a parent would like to read these together. Maybe the whole family would like to read a story together each day after dinner. Bible reading and study requires a commitment in your schedule and some discipline to carry forward. But the rewards are great.

To look up a passage, first find the book in the Bible. (An alphabetical listing of the books can be found on page ix.) The first number, before the colon (:) indicates the chapter. Chapters are large sections usually containing several paragraphs. The second number, after the colon (:) indicates the verse. Verses are the shortest sections, usually just a sentence or two long.

The Bible you were given is The Harper Collins Study Bible, NRSV. This Bible has some features that may be helpful to you now or in the future. It is given to you with the idea that you will live and grow with it through the years. It is basically a New Revised Standard Version, but it also includes many helps to make Bible reading easier and more understandable.

A helpful part of the study Bible are the footnotes which offer further explanation about verses and give reference to similar passages that are located elsewhere in the Bible. For instance, look up Matthew 4:1-2. You'll notice in the footnote that a similar passage can be found in Mark 1:12-13 and Luke 4:1-13. The footnote for 4:2 indicates that the 40 days of Jesus; temptation in the wilderness is similar to the experience of Moses and Elijah, and may symbolically represent Israel's 40 years in the wilderness. Other information is sometimes included in these footnotes. Look at page 1862 , just opposite Matthew 4, and you will see a family tree for the Herodians, the rulers during Jesus' lifetime.

In the back of the book are many maps. Towns and other geographical places can be found on these maps with the help of an alphabetical index beginning on page 2347.

This particular Bible includes the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical Books. These books, beginning on page 1435, are included in Catholic and Orthodox Bibles and are considered "scriptural" in these churches. In Protestant churches like ours, these books are not usually thought of as scriptural. But there is no harm in looking at them. They include some interesting historical narratives concerning the time between the end of the Old Testament, roughly 400 B.C., and the beginning of the New Testament with the birth of Christ in about 3 A.D. This does not mean it is a "Catholic Bible." In fact, many protestants study these books as well.

The first five books of the Bible are called the Torah or Pentateuch. They contain the foundational stories of the Old Testament. After creation and the Noah stories in Genesis, we are introduced to Abraham. Genesis 12-50 covers the story of Abraham and his descendants. Exodus tells the story of Israel's slavery in Egypt and how God, through Moses, led them through the wilderness toward the promised land.

Genesis 1:1-2:4 First Creation Story

Genesis 6:9-22 Noah commanded to build an ark

Genesis 9:8-17 The rainbow covenant

Genesis 12:1-9 God's Covenant with Abraham

Exodus 2:1-10 Moses is born and raised in Pharaoh's house

Exodus 3:1-15 God speaks to Moses in the burning bush

Exodus 14:15-31 Crossing the Red Sea

Exodus 20:1-21 The Ten Commandments

(See Deuteronomy 5 also)

Numbers 6:22-27 A blessing

Joshua tells of the conquering and settling of the land promised by God to Abraham and his descendant.

Ruth is a love story, containing a beautiful passage of commitment between Ruth and her mother-in-law.

Ruth 1:16-17 Affirmation of relationship

(Often used at weddings)

I Samuel 17:1-58 David and Goliath

I Kings 3:16-28 Solomon's wisdom shown

Job, Psalms, and Ecclesiastes are part of what is known as the "Wisdom" literature of the Bible.

Job 38:1-15 God's wisdom is beyond human wisdom

Psalm 8 The majesty of God

Psalm 23 The Lord is my shepherd

Psalm 46 God is our refuge and our strength

Psalm 100 Make a joyful noise to the Lord

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 For everything a season

Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel are the major prophets of the Old Testament. They interpreted God's message to the people in their particular times. Lamentations is ascribed to Jeremiah. The imagery of Ezekiel and Daniel is later taken up by the Revelation of John at the end of the New Testament.

Isaiah 40:1-8 Comfort, O comfort my people

Isaiah 40:28-31 Renewing strength in God

Isaiah 60:1-7 Arise, shine; for your light has come

Jeremiah 31:31-34 A new covenant

Daniel 3:13-30 Three saved from fire

Daniel 6:6-24 Daniel in the lion's den

The last twelve books of the Old Testament are known as the Minor Prophets. Each has its own flavor, some speaking of the judgment of God and others of the comfort of God - and in many ways these two aspects of a living relationship with God are held in tension. There are many tender passages which speak of God's love like the love of a Father for a child. There are many passages which are used in the New Testament to support the claim that Jesus is the Messiah.

Amos 5:18-24 A call for justice

Jonah 1:11-2:10 Jonah in the whale

Micah 4:1-5 A vision of community and peace

Malachi 4:5-6 Turning hearts toward each other (See Luke 1:17)

Matthew, Mark, and Luke are known as the "synoptic" Gospels. They tell a "synopsis" or summary of the life of Jesus. Some study Bibles, including the Harper-Collins Study Bible list the parallel passages in the Gospels - the passages which are essentially the same, perhaps even copies by the authors from one Gospel to another. (See page 1841.) The Gospels vary in tone. Mark is the shortest and was probably written first. Mark says a lot in a very few words. Matthew is the Gospel which exalts in the authority and power of Jesus while Luke emphasizes Jesus' simplicity.

Matthew 1:18-2:12 Matthew's birth narrative

Matthew 5:1-12 Sermon on the Mount - Beatitudes

Matthew 6:7-13 The Lord's Prayer

Matthew 8"23-27 Jesus calms the storm

Matthew 14:13-21 Feeding 5,000

Matthew 18:10-14 The Parable of the Lost Sheep

Matthew 22:34-40 The greatest commandment

Matthew 26:26-30 The Lord's Supper

Matthew 28:1-10 Baptism of Jesus

(Notice there is no birth story in Mark.)

Mark 11:1-11 Entry into Jerusalem

Luke 1:46-56 The Song of Mary (The Magnificat)

Luke 2:1-20 Luke's birth narrative

Luke 10:25-37 The Good Samaritan

Luke 14:11-32 The Prodigal Son (or the "Jealous Brother")

Luke 19:1-10 Jesus and Zacchaeus

John is different from the other three Gospels, and does not hide the fact that he is giving an interpretation of the meaning of the life of Jesus for believers. Events are changed and a different outline shapes this Gospel. Many, of the stories are unique to John, and are not found in the other Gospels

John 1:1-18 The Word of God

John 11:28-44 Jesus raises Lazarus

John 13:1-20 Jesus washes the disciples' feet

John 17:20-26 Jesus prays for the disciples

(UCC motto is in verse 20)

The Acts of the Apostles tells the story of the beginning of the church, following the resurrection of Jesus.

Acts 2:1-13 Pentecost - the birth of the Church

Acts 2:41-47 Early Christian community

Acts 9:1-19 The Conversion of Saul

Paul's letters to the churches make up a major part of the New Testament. The letters deal with many church issues and matters of personal faith.

Romans 1:16-17 Theme of the letter and of much of Paul's ministry

I Corinthians 12:1-31 Gifts and the unity of the body

I Corinthians 13:1-13 The "more excellent way" of love

Galatians 5:1; 13-26 Freedom for love

Philippians 2:1-11 A humility that leads to honor

Philippians 4:8 Think about these things

Colossians 1:15-20 Hymn to the Christ, before all, in all

I and II Timothy and Titus are letters attributed to Paul but probably not written by Paul himself. They are referred to as "pastoral" letters because of their concern with pastoral leadership in the church. Philemon is an unusual, authentic letter of Paul that indirectly but forcefully urges Philemon to free the slave, Onesimus, which Paul is returning to him. It is a brief letter and worthy of being read because it reveals some insight into the way Paul could urge others to do what was right.

I Timothy 6:11-16 The good fight of faith

Hebrews 11:1-3 Faith is the assurance of things hoped for

Hebrews 13:2021 A closing benediction

The collection of letters which follow Hebrews are, for the most part, brief. The value of the letter of James was questioned by Martin Luther because outside of the first verse it makes no other mention of Jesus. It calls for the evidence of faith to be given in good works. The Letters of John are beautiful devotionals.

I John 4:7-21 God is love

Revelations 21:1-7 Words of promise and comfort