2013 Gospel Challenge

I am embarking on a year long journey - and I would like you to join me!

During 2013, I will attempt to read through the four canonical gospels four times.  If I read at a pace of one chapter per day, I will be able to read through Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John four times by the end of the year.  

This will not be a passive reading.  This will be a deliberate, intentional reading of the gospels in an attempt to better understand the person and work of Jesus Christ.  Consequently, it is my hope that this will translate into me becoming more like Jesus.  

Each quarter, there will be different points of emphasis I will be looking at as I read through the gospels.  I will also be sending out daily Tweets regarding what I've been learning.  That's right folks - a year long Twitter series.

Here is a breakdown of the different things I'll be focusing on while I read.

January - March
During the first read through, I will be focusing on the teachings of and about Jesus Christ.

Further Points of Emphasis:

-Claims made by or about Jesus

-Jesus' teaching regarding Hell

-Elements of Jesus' teaching that are conspicuously absent

-Hard or difficult teachings of Jesus

April - June
During the second read through, I will be focusing on the positive and negative responses to Jesus Christ.

Further Points of Emphasis::

-How religious leaders responded to Jesus

-How crowds responded to Jesus

-How the disciples responded to Jesus

-The expectations Jesus placed on his followers

July - September
During the third read through, I will be focusing on the activities and daily life of Jesus.

Further Points of Emphasis:

-Jesus' miracles and healings

-Jesus' response to the poor

-Activities of Jesus that seem conspicuously absent

-Activities of Jesus that seem of poor taste and/or timing

-Apparent contradictions or discrepancies between the gospels
-The emotions of Jesus

October - December
During the fourth read through, I will be focusing on Jesus' connection to the Old Testament.

Further Points of Emphasis:

-Messianic prophecies regarding Christ

-Jesus' teaching regarding the future

-Teaching regarding the Kingdom of God

-The accounts of Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection

I have tried to keep these categories broad enough to cover a wide variety of topics, but specific enough to prohibit casual reading.  The point of this year-long exercise is to force myself to think critically and carefully about the person and work of Jesus Christ.

As a Christian, I claim to be a devout follower of Jesus of Nazareth.  I am banking my life and eternal destiny that He truly was the Son of God - the Savior of the world.  Wouldn't it logically follow that I shouldn't be content with a mere cursory understanding of Jesus' teachings, life, and ministry?  I want to be fully acquainted with his life, and as a consequence become more like him in my own.

Will you join me?


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Here is a Printable Reading Schedule for those of you joining me on my journey!

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For my Twitter series, I will be using the following abbreviations:

Mt - Matthew
Mk - Mark
Lk - Luke
Jn - John
JC - Jesus Christ 

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-Jason

With Him

Some thoughts from my devotions in Ephesians:

Passage:

Ephesians 1:20 "that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places,"

Ephesians 2:6 "and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,"

Thoughts:

Please note: two incredible things happen to Christ in 1:20:

1) He was raised from the dead.
Imagine the look on Satan's face when death's grip couldn't hang on to Christ! Christ came to the earth, gained some followers, gained some haters, and died. Case closed? Not on your life.

2) He was seated at God's right hand in heaven.
I don't think we have to be an expert in Biblical imagery to know that being at God's right hand is a GOOD thing. God stamps his approval on this slain lamb and says, "He's with Me."

What's even more incredible, is that the same two things happen to us in 2:6:

1) We are raised from the dead with Him.
Don't let earthly distractions (Economy, Health, Power) deceive you - our greatest enemy is death. We live our life, we gain some followers, we gain some haters, and then we die.

2) We are seated with Him in heaven.
If God is for us, who can be against us? Again, it's not hard to see the significance of being seated with Christ in heavenly places. Undoubtedly a good place to be considering eternity is a long time.

So the first is a conquering of earthly death, and the second is the sealing of our eternal destiny.

Application:

Oh, please don't miss that ever important prepositional phrase - "with Him". Or that other one at the end of 2:6 - "in Christ Jesus".

These two facts that bring an everlasting peace (power over death, and eternity on God's side), can only be fully realized though the person and work of Jesus Christ. Fortunately, Paul doesn't leave us to guess about how to know that we are saved -
"For by grace you have been saved through faith." (Ephesians 2:8a)

If you want to know more about how to be saved, check out this video.

If you are already saved, let these two truths bounce around in your mind as you go about your day.

-Jason