Getting an overview
The bible is a collection of books that have been put together in a particular order, you don’t need to read it front to back, like a regular book, you can choose what to read and in what order.
For Christians the bible is considered to be the inspired word of God, what this means is that God helped people to write down and record the things he wanted to say to us about himself, us, our relationship with him, and how we can live, should live, and the promises that are available for us.
If you are new to reading the bible we have a few suggestions on where to begin.
21 day reading plan for new readers – Gospel of John
This Bible Reading Plan for Beginners takes into account the high number of people who do not have a strong background in reading the bible/word of God. Or who might not enjoy reading as much as others do.
This plan gives is an introduction and stepping-stone into bible reading, so that you don’t feel you have to read every part of the bible straight through first time.
It starts you with the Gospel of John, and after you feel comfortable at this level, then you can go on to the next level, or other books and topics. Our main goal is to encourage you to read God’s Word for yourself and to introduce you to the revelation that God will bring to you because you have done this.
The format of the plan is reading a different chapter each day, and then briefly looking at some of the themes or topics that come forward.
The beginning, middle and end
One order is to read the beginning, the middle and the end; so that you get an overview picture of God’s plan for the life.
- Genesis (to understand how things began),
- the gospel of Luke (the historical life of Jesus),
- the book of Acts (the birth of the church) also written by Luke,
- the gospel of John (the spiritual life of Jesus), and
- the book of Revelation (what will happen at the end of all things).
Reading the Bible in a year
Many Christians choose to read the Bible through every year, so that they can build up their faith and understanding in God and to allow Him to influence their thoughts and the way they live.
One simple structure to help you do this is as follows; on a daily basis read…
- 2 x Old Testament Chapters
- 2 x New Testament Chapters
- 5 x Psalms
- 1 x Proverb
If you do this then in a year you will read both the Book of Psalms and the Book of Proverbs once a month (12 times a year), the Old testament once a year, and the New Testament four times a year.
The BibleProject
The BibleProject is an online resource offering lots of video and visual based content about the bible, to help you understand how it has been put together, how is was written, and tons of other stuff for you to enjoy.
This is an introductory clip from the Bible Project which explains how the bible is put together and something about the styles that it is written in.
If you want to Learn about the Bible and how to read it well: from an introduction to the important differences of the various literary genres compiled within.
If you want to watch more Bible Project videos on ‘How to read the bible’ then click this link to visit the BibleProject.com website
BibleProject is a nonprofit, crowdfunded organization that produces 100% free Bible videos, podcasts, blogs, classes, and educational Bible resources to help make the biblical story accessible to everyone everywhere.
Online Bible – Bible Gateway
If you don’t have your own copy of the bible, or you just want to be able to search for things online, then we would recommend using Bible gateway.
Bible Gateway – Bible Gateway is a searchable online Bible in more than 200 versions and 70 languages that you can freely read, research, and reference anywhere. With a library of audio Bibles, a mobile app, devotionals, email newsletters, and other free resources, Bible Gateway equips you not only to read the Bible, but to understand it.
Need a bible in multiple languages?
Try this key-chain QR code
Keychain Qr-code Digital Bible App
An accessible digital Bible with more than 80 languages. By scanning the QR code you will directed to the App, and once you have chosen a language the app has a plethora of content and different options to choose from! Find out more here on the City Bibles website
Purpose of the City Bibles
If you are out and about the purpose of the City Bible is to help Christians to share the good news of the Gospel, to evangelize and give them the tools to do so. So, the City Bible is an evangelistic tool! The concept is based on “identification” and “communication”: – Identification with the town, region or village of the receiver. – Communication about the content in an understandable summary.