It may seem like an odd question to ask in church. After all, the Bible is at the heart of our worship. We hear Scripture read, listen to sermons, sing hymns drawn from its words, and pray using language shaped by it. Many of us have been reading the Bible for years, even decades. And yet, perhaps the question is worth asking.
I recently came across a thoughtful article in Christianity Today about the decline of biblical literacy in the church. One sentence especially caught my attention: “The church is, and has always been, a house of learning.” That is an important reminder. The church is not only a place where we worship, serve, and fellowship. It is also a community where we learn—to know God’s Word, to understand our faith, to ask questions, and to grow in wisdom as followers of Jesus Christ.
Knowing the Bible is about more than remembering familiar stories or favourite verses. We can know the story of Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, or Daniel, and yet miss the larger story in which they belong. We can know individual passages without seeing how the different parts of Scripture fit together.
Why does the Bible begin with creation? What happened to God’s people throughout the Old Testament? How do the promises of the prophets point toward Christ? Why did Jesus come? How does the story of the early church lead toward the hope presented in Revelation?
When we begin to see these connections, we discover something remarkable: the Bible is not simply a collection of separate stories and teachings. It tells one great story of God’s creation, humanity’s fall, God’s covenant faithfulness, His promise of redemption, and His salvation accomplished through Jesus Christ.
This is why biblical learning matters. It is not about becoming experts who can answer every Bible question. It is about becoming people whose minds and lives are increasingly shaped by God’s Word. As Paul reminds us, we are to be “transformed by the renewing” of our minds (Romans 12:2).
It is also part of how we pass our faith from one generation to another. Psalm 145:4 says,“One generation commends your works to another; they tell of your mighty acts.” We have received something precious from those who came before us, and we have the privilege and responsibility of knowing it well enough to share it with those who come after us.
This fall, we will have an opportunity to do some of that learning together. In collaboration with the Canadian Bible Society, Jacob Birch will lead an eight-week Bible study beginning Tuesday, September 15 at 12:15 p.m. He will give us an overview of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation.
I hope it will be a helpful opportunity—not something we feel we ought to attend, but something we might genuinely enjoy doing together. There is something wonderful about opening the Scriptures with other people, discovering connections we may have missed before, and sometimes simply being reminded of truths we have known for years but need to hear again.
A healthy church is not a church that thinks it already knows everything. It is a church that remains humble enough to keep learning, curious enough to keep asking questions, and faithful enough to keep returning to God’s Word.
So, do we still know our Bibles? Perhaps the better question is whether we are still learning our Bibles. And as we learn them more deeply, may we come to know God more deeply, follow Christ more faithfully, and become better equipped to live and share the faith we have received.
May Graceview continue to be a church that worships, serves, cares for one another—and remains a people of the Book, always ready to listen and learn from the Word of God.
Walking with you in faith, Pastor Eric