Welcome to Practical Theology

The purpose of this blog is to share my personal Bible study notes with you. I will be sharing the insights I have, the questions I ponder, and the way I am trying to apply it to my life. This will be done with study notes, these notes will be based on a passage, or grouped around a theme.

Each set of study notes should stand by itself, and so can be used independently. I will aim to include personal question sections allowing space for meditation, devotion, and application. As such these should be suitable for personal use or in a group study context.

I believe that the Bible is the living word of God and we should read it, study it, and apply it.

Why read or study the Bible?

For me this is a great question with a short answer.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God”

John 1: 1

This introduction isn’t about diving into these passages, but in a nutshell this single verse captures so much of who Jesus is, who God is, the relationship between Jesus and the Father.

Add to this what Jesus says in John 14:

“Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”...”

John 14: 6

To know the Father we must know Jesus, and to know Jesus we must know scripture. It is the best document we have for encountering Jesus.

Some may say "but worship is our highest offering to God". I agree that God is worthy of our worship, but how can I know that if I do not know God?

Others may say that God speaks to His people today and we can know Him that way. Again, I agree that God speaks today. However, we will only be able to weigh what others claim God is saying if we do so against scripture. We must, therefore, know scripture.

Knowing scripture, reading and studying the Bible is the main way to get to know God, it fuels our worship, drives us in our lifestyle, brings us to prayer, and births in us joy and hope beyond our circumstances.

This is why we should read, study, meditate on, and apply scripture.

How to read these notes?

You can read through a set of notes all in one go, or you can tackle each section within a post one at a time, maybe using it as a daily reading plan. After all, that’s how it was written; as the result of daily study.

Either way you will need a Bible to look up the references. Not all references are included in this text. This is in part to encourage you to have your Bible open while reading, check out the references and make sure they make sense. Let the references sit with you, meditate on them and carry them around in your mind throughout the day.