{"id":917,"date":"2017-12-26T19:09:10","date_gmt":"2017-12-26T19:09:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/missions.nalcnetwork.com\/?p=917"},"modified":"2019-07-16T21:37:23","modified_gmt":"2019-07-16T21:37:23","slug":"reading-the-word-of-god","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/missions.nalcnetwork.com\/reading-the-word-of-god\/","title":{"rendered":"Reading The Word of God"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"page\" title=\"Page 7\">\n<div class=\"layoutArea\">\n<div class=\"column\">\n<p>Reading the Word of God, a daily Bible reading guide, has been prepared for Lutherans to use over the next three years. <!--more--><\/p>\n<p>The reading guide was conceived and prepared\u00a0as a result of ongoing discussions between representatives of the NALC, the Lutheran Church\u2014 Canada (LCC), and the Lutheran Church\u2014Missouri Synod (LCMS).<\/p>\n<p>The reading guide includes monthly calendars with daily readings starting in January 2018 and continuing until December 2020. \u00a0As a companion to the daily Bible reading guide, 52 suggested readings \u2014 one for each week of the year \u2014 are offered from the book, Luther and the Scriptures by Johann Michael Reu (1869\u20131943).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"column\">\n<p><strong>Reading the Word of God \u2014 the daily Bible reading guide and the monthly calendars \u2014 are available in three different formats:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Reading The Word of God &#8211; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thenalc.org\/gallery\/daily-reading-calendars\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Print Version &amp; Traditional Calendar<\/a><\/li>\n<li>To receive a daily text message, please text: ReadingTheWord to 24251<\/li>\n<li>To receive a daily email, please please send an email with the subject line \u201cReading The Word of God\u201d to <a href=\"mailto: missions@thenalc.org\">missions@thenalc.org<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Calendar subscription to integrate into your current digital calendar:\u00a0Google Calendar, Outlook (Office 365), iCal, etc. \u00a0Calendar subscription link (paste into digital calendar): \u00a0https:\/\/airtable.com\/shroaqZI8ufceBDJx\/iCal?timeZone=America%2FNew_York&amp;userLocale=en<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong><i>Unfamiliar with how to add a calendar subscription? \u00a0Please feel free to\u00a0access\u00a0the following tutorials: \u00a0<\/i><\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Adding an iCal feed to an Apple Calendar:\u00a0 \u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/apple.co\/2BLxjzm\">http:\/\/apple.co\/2BLxjzm<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Adding an iCal feed to a Google Calendar:\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/bit.ly\/2aDk1qJ\">http:\/\/bit.ly\/2aDk1qJ<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Adding an iCal feed to Microsoft Office:\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/bit.ly\/2Bh4xpk\">http:\/\/bit.ly\/2Bh4xpk<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h4>Background Information &#8211;<\/h4>\n<div class=\"page\" title=\"Page 7\">\n<div class=\"layoutArea\">\n<div class=\"column\">\n<p>Rue, a German-born American Lutheran theologian who taught at Wartburg Theological Seminary in Dubuque, Iowa, from 1899 until his death.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDuring ongoing discussions between representatives of the Lutheran Church \u2014Canada, the North American Lutheran Church and The Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, the participants agreed on two foundational matters. First, we came to a common understanding of the Holy Scriptures. In so doing, we adopted a document titled \u2018God\u2019s Word Forever Shall Abide: A Guiding Statement on the Character and Proper Use of the Sacred Scriptures\u2019 (available online at www.thenalc.org\/nalc-statements). That document has been circulated within our three church bodies to widespread approval. Second, we agreed that, to a great degree, the membership in each of our church bodies suffers from a declining familiarity with the Bible. We are reminded of the commendation of the Bereans, who \u2018received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily\u2019 (Acts 17:11),\u201d the document states.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn order to encourage the people of our church bodies in the daily reading of Holy Scripture, we have compiled a three-year plan of daily Bible readings and a year-long series of weekly readings on Martin Luther\u2019s approach to the Scriptures. &#8230; The plan provides a guide that will take the reader\u00a0<span style=\"font-size: 1rem;\">through the entire Old Testament one time in three years, with the exception of Psalms, which are read twice each year. The New Testament will be read twice in the three years. A reading from the Old Testament, a psalm (or portion of a psalm) and a reading from the New Testament is assigned for each day.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"page\" title=\"Page 7\">\n<div class=\"layoutArea\">\n<div class=\"column\">\n<p>\u201cThe suggested readings are offered for one reason only: to enhance devotional life as an individual or a family daily examines, and is examined by, the Word of God and then responds in prayer to the heavenly Father. &#8230; The most important purpose of the guide is to encourage a daily practice of reading and meditating on the Bible, God\u2019s Word. Since the Scriptures as a whole are God\u2019s Word, increasing familiarity with the various books is encouraged.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe translation of the Bible into the vernacular \u2014 into the everyday language of common people \u2014 was one of the greatest and most far-reaching accomplishments of the Reformation. As we celebrate the 500th anniversary of Luther posting the 95 Theses, we might also recall that following that event in the year 1517, other events ensured that the Reformation would leave a permanent mark on the Christian church. &#8230; But we also cannot omit Luther\u2019s translation of the Bible into German, with his publication of the New Testament in 1522 and the entire Bible in 1534. The German Bible and the Catechisms enabled the Reformation to extend deeply into the mind and life of the laity,\u201d the document states.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Reading the Word of God, a daily Bible reading guide, has been prepared for Lutherans to use over the next three years.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":918,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,36],"tags":[6,17],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/missions.nalcnetwork.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Intro-Cover-Reading-the-Word-of-God.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/missions.nalcnetwork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/917"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/missions.nalcnetwork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/missions.nalcnetwork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/missions.nalcnetwork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/missions.nalcnetwork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=917"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/missions.nalcnetwork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/917\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/missions.nalcnetwork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/918"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/missions.nalcnetwork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=917"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/missions.nalcnetwork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=917"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/missions.nalcnetwork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=917"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}