Dear Church Family,
In writing about the Bible in his book What If It’s True, Charles Martin asks, “What if every single word of this story is absolutely true and I can trust it? What if Jesus really is who He says He is? What if the King of the universe is speaking directly to me through the words of His book? What if what He says is more true than my circumstances? Than what my eyes see and my ears hear?”
My friend, every word of Scripture is true and that means we must consume and be consumed by the truth of God’s Word.
As I prayed about what God would have for His people at Columbia’s First Baptist Church in 2024, it became abundantly clear that more than ever before we need to be a people grounded in God’s Word. There are so many VOICES competing for your attention; so many things that want to control you by consuming you. Our lives are being torn apart because of the things that we are allowing to control us. But there is one thing that should set your heart ablaze and that is the truth of God’s Word.
I want to challenge you to join me in reading chronologically through the Bible next year. As we personally read through the Bible, I will preach a message each Sunday from a text that was part of the previous week’s reading. Plus, I will encourage every small group in the church to give time in each meeting to share how God is using personal Bible reading in your life.
Our Bible reading plan will begin on January 1, 2024 and conclude the last Sunday of December. The details of the plan have been mailed to all of our members and are available on this site, along with some resources to help you know how to read and apply God’s Word in your personal devotion time. I look forward to what God is going to do in each of our lives and in the life of our church through Consumed.
With gratitude,
— Wes Church
