We are a Community of Growing Disciples, Growing Disciples. Community Presbyterian Church 1555 Poli Street Ventura, CA 93001 (805) 648-2737 www.cpcventura.org Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. Psalms 119:105 A in Thy Courts: A Bible Reading Plan www.facebook.com/cpcventura
Almighty God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, grant, we pray, that we might be grounded and settled in your truth by the coming of your Holy Spirit into our hearts. What we do not know, reveal to us; What is lacking within us, make complete; That which we do know, confirm in us; And keep us blameless in your service, through Jesus Christ our Lord. the prayer of an early Christian
Reflections Introduction Nothing is more important or more vital to the Christian life than the regular practices of reading the Bible and coming to God in prayer. The Christian life is, at its heart and essence, a relationship with God. This relationship, like all our relationships, depends and grows time together, conversation, honest sharing, love, respect, and trust. Time in Scripture and prayer are how all these happen. Setting aside time wholly for the purpose of being with God, to listen to him through his written Word and Spirit, to confess sin and failures and receive his forgiveness, and to share our joys, needs, and concerns, is how our relationship with him grows and deepens. Time given to God through daily reading of Scripture and prayer keeps this relationship deteriorating into religion and ritual. It keeps the living faith becoming Christianity. It brings understanding and provides guidance. It strengthens trust and deepens love. It builds courage as it dissolves fear. For these reasons and many others time in Scripture and prayer is vital to knowing God and growing in faith. The Plan(s) This plan has a unique and intentional shape designed to aid success. Rather than simply starting in Genesis and moving page by page until the last pages of Revelation this plan has three or four different readings each day. There are several reasons for this: first, it is helpful to be reading both the New and the simultaneously. This provides unique insights into both and prevents the being untouched until the last months of the year. Second, the fact is that some passages of the Bible are less edifying than others. Reading the Bible cover to cover requires long stretches in portions of Scripture that are less relevant to the Christian life (Leviticus comes to mind). By splitting the readings this plan ensures that each day contains portions of Scriptures that are relevant, interesting, and helpful. Third, the Gospels the most important portions of the Bible are spread across the whole year allowing the reader to return again and again to the life of Jesus. The plan laid out in these pages may be followed in two different ways. Both are good. Both will lead you through the whole Bible and help your prayer life deepen and become easier. Both provide a daily practice and plan. But each provides different benefits. This allows each person to take a course that most fits their schedule, aims, personality, and level of faith. Plan 1 This course is designed to bring you through the whole Bible in one year and simply entails reading all four readings for a given day. This has the advantage of bringing you through the whole Bible in one year but requires more time each day and may make it harder to dive deeper into the chapters you are reading.
Plan 2 This course is shaped around a two-year plan during which you will read the once and the New Testament and Psalms twice. In this plan you will read three columns instead of four. In the first year you read One,, and Psalms and in the second year you read Two,, and Psalms. Less reading each day allows for a slower, more more careful approach but spreads the over two years making it harder to remember details and see the big picture. Reflections That being said, there is no right or wrong approach, no better or worse plan. The goal is to be in Scripture each day and to read the entire Bible. Whether this takes one year or two does not matter. So pick the plan that will work best for you. Psalms and Prayer The Psalms play a special role in this plan. While they will be read alongside all other parts of the Bible their primary use is to give shape, direction, and vocabulary to prayer. In other words, they are not only to be read, they are to be prayed! Thus each day s reading will provide a short psalm or portion of a larger psalm that you are to turn into prayer. For example, the text of Psalm 23: The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want......becomes a prayer: Lord, thank you that you guide me like a shepherd. Lead me today and be my guide. Help me to see and believe that in you I have all I need... Personal Worship The goal in all this is to create a daily time of personal worship. Like corporate worship on Sunday, this works best if it has a plan and shape. This need not (and should not) be complex but very personal and helpful. Begin with a brief prayer expressing your desire to meet with God and welcoming his presence. This may be followed by a brief time of confession, laying your sins before his mercy and asking his forgiveness. Music can help guide and focus our worship and you might listen to some favourite worship music or hymns. Read that day s reading and then finish with prayer, using that day s psalm as a start. Finish with thanking God for all he is and does and asking him to guide and lead you through the day.
Reflections Hints for Success Set a regular time that works well for you, fits your schedule, and will be free of interruptions. Write this time in your calendar and lock it in as an appointment with the Lord. Find a comfortable (but not too comfortable!) place for your meeting with the Lord. It should be private and free of distractions (driving through freeway traffic will not work!). Daily worship and time with God in the Scriptures and in prayer is the goal. If you fall behind, keep at it. If you can catch up go for it. And if you finish behind schedule you won! Keep a list of prayer requests. This prevents you forgetting and allows a place to write down the answers you see. Some things on your list might be prayed every day and others given to a specific day of the week. Be disciplined but not legalistic. Ask God to help you succeed in this. At the end of each time of worship ask the Lord to help you and lead you for the next day s worship. Ask him to speak to you through the Scriptures. If you have questions or need some direction or help please do not hesitate to talk with pastors Mark, Kent, and Wayne. We are glad to help you grow in this area and enjoy the wonders it brings!
Week 1 GENESIS EZRA LUKE 1 1 1-2 1:1-25 1 2 2 3-4 1:26-55 2 3 3 5 1:56-80 3 4 4 6 2:1-20 4 5 5 7 2:21-52 5 6 6 8 3 6 7 7 9 4:1-13 7 Week 2 8 8 10 4:14-30 8 NEHEMIAH 9 9 1-2 4:31-44 9:1-8 10 10 3 5:1-16 9:9-20 11 11 4 5:17-39 10:1-11 12 12-13 5 6:1-19 10:12-18 13 14 6 6:20-49 11 14 15-16 7 7:1-35 12 Week 3 15 17 8 7:36-50 13 16 18 9 8:1-25 14 17 19 10 8:26-56 15 18 20 11 9:1-27 16 19 21 12:1-26 9:28-62 17:1-5 20 22 12:27-47 10:1-24 17:6-15 21 23 13 10:25-41 18:1-6 Week 51 2 CHRONICLES ZECHARIAH JOHN 351 22 4 14:15-31 352 23 5 15:1-17 353 24 6 15:18-27 354 25 7 16:1-15 355 26 8 16:16-33 356 27 9 17:1-18 357 28 10 17:19-26 Week 52 358 29 11 18:1-24 359 30 12 18:25-40 360 31 13 19:1-16 361 32 14 19:17-42 MALACHI 362 33 1 20:1-18 363 34 2 20:19-30 364 35-36 3-4 21
Week 48 1 CHRONICLES MICAH REVELATION 330 27 1 2:1-12 331 28 2 2:13-24 332 29 3 3:1-16 2 CHRONICLES 333 1-2 4 3:17-36 334 3-5 5 4:1-26 335 6 6 4:27-54 336 7 7 5 Week 49 337 8 1 6:1-21 338 9 2 6:22-70 339 10 3 7:1-36 HABAKKUK 340 11 1 7:37-52 341 12 2 8:1-30 342 13 3 8:32-59 ZEPHANIAH 343 14 1 9 Week 50 344 15 2 10 345 16 3 11 HAGGAI 346 17 1 12:1-36 347 18 2 12:37-50 ZECHARIAH 348 19 1 13:1-20 349 20 2 13:21-38 350 21 3 14:1-14 Week 4 GENESIS ESTHER LUKE 22 24:1-27 1 11:1-28 18:7-19 23 24:28-66 2 11:29-53 18:20-36 24 25 3-4 12:1-12 18:37-50 25 26 5-6 12:13-34 19 26 27 7 12:35-59 20 27 28 8 13:1-17 21 28 29 9-10 13:18-35 22:1-8 Week 5 JOB 29 30 1 14:1-14 22:9-21 30 31:1-21 2 14:15-34 22:22-31 31 31:22-55 3 15:1-10 23 32 32 4-5 15:11-32 24 33 33 6 16:1-15 25:1-7 34 34 7 16:16-31 25:8-22 35 35 8 17:1-19 26 Week 6 36 36 9 17:20-37 27 37 37 10 18:1-17 28 38 38 11 18:18-37 29 39 39 12 19:1-10 30 40 40 13 19:11-27 31:1-13 41 41 14 19:28-48 31:14-24 42 42 15 20:1-8 32
Week 7 GENESIS JOB LUKE 43 43 16 20:9-26 33:1-11 44 44 17 20:27-47 33:12-22 45 45 18 21:1-19 34:1-14 46 46 19 21:20-38 34:15-22 47 47 20 22:1-13 35:1-18 48 48 21 22:14-38 35:19-28 49 49 22 22:39-53 36 Week 8 50 50 23 22:54-71 37:1-13 EXODUS 51 1 24 23:1-25 37:14-26 52 2 25-26 23:26-56 37:27-40 53 3 27 24:1-13 38:1-8 54 4 28 24:14-53 38:9-22 ACTS 55 5 29 1 39 56 6 30 2 40:1-10 Week 9 57 7 31 3 40:11-17 58 8 32 4 41 59 9 33 5:1-16 42 60 10 34 5:17-43 43 61 11 35 6 44:1-8 62 12 36 7:1-29 44:9-16 63 13 37 7:30-60 44:17-26 Week 45 1 CHRONICLES HOSEA REVELATION 309 1-2 7-8 5 310 3-4 9-10 6 311 5-6 11-12 7 312 7-8 13-14 8 JOEL 313 9-10 1 9 314 11 2 10 315 12 3 11 Week 46 AMOS 316 13 1 12 317 14 2 13 318 15 3 14 319 16 4 15 320 17 5 16 321 18 6 17 322 19 7 18 Week 47 323 20 8 19 324 21 9 20 325 22 OBADIAH 21 JONAH 326 23 1 22 JOHN 327 24 2 1:1-18 328 25 3 1:19-28 329 26 4 1:32-50
Week 42 2 KINGS EZEKIEL 1 PETER 288 5 43 1:1-12 147:1-6 289 6 44 1:13-25 147:7-11 290 7 45 2 147:12-20 291 8 46 3 148:1-6 292 9 47 4 148:7-14 293 10 48 5 149 DANIEL 2 PETER 294 11 1-2 1 150 Week 43 295 12 3 2 296 13 4 3 1 JOHN 297 14 5 1 298 15 6 2 299 16 7 3 300 17 8 4 301 18 9 5 Week 44 302 19 10 2 JOHN 303 20 11 3 JOHN 304 21 12 JUDE HOSEA REVELATION 305 22 1 1 306 23 2 2 307 24 3-4 3 308 25 5-6 4 Week 10 EXODUS JOB ACTS 64 14 38 8:1-24 45:1-9 65 15 39 8:25-40 45:10-17 66 16 40 9:1-30 46 67 17 41 9:31-43 47 68 18 42 10 48:1-7 PROVERBS 69 19 1 11 48:8-14 70 20 2 12 49:1-15 Week 11 71 21 3 13:1-25 49:16-20 72 22 4 13:26-52 50:1-15 73 23 5 14 50:16-23 74 24 6 15 51:1-9 75 25 7 16 51:10-19 76 26 8 17 52 77 27 9 18 53 Week 12 78 28 10 19:1-20 54 79 29 11 19:21-41 55:1-11 80 30 12 20 55:12-23 81 31 13 21 56:1-6 82 32 14 22 56:7-13 83 33 15 23 57 84 34 16 24 58
Week 13 EXODUS PROVERBS ACTS 85 35 17 25 59:1-8 86 36 18 26 59:9-17 87 37 19 27 60:1-4 88 38 20 28 60:5-12 ROMANS 89 39 21 1:1-17 61 90 40 22 1:18-32 62 LEVITICUS 91 1-2 23 2:1-16 63 Week 14 92 3-4 24 2:17-29 64 93 5 25 3:1-20 65:1-8 94 6 26 3:21-31 65:9-13 95 7 27 4:1-8 66:1-7 96 8-9 28 4:9-25 66:8-20 97 10 29 5:1-11 67 98 11-12 30 5:12-21 68:1-10 Week 15 99 13 31 6:1-14 68:11-17 ECCLESIASTES 100 14 1 6:15-23 68:28-35 101 15 2 7:1-12 69:1-12 102 16 3 7:13-25 69:13-29 103 17 4 8:1-11 69:30-36 104 18 5 8:12-27 70 105 19 6 8:28-39 71:1-8 Week 39 1 KINGS EZEKIEL MARK 267 5 22 15:1-24 135:13-21 268 6 23 15:25-47 136:1-9 269 7 24 16 136:10-15 HEBREWS 270 8 25 1 136:16-26 271 9 26 2 137 272 10 27 3 138 273 11 28 4 139:1-4 Week 40 274 12 29 5 139:5-10 275 13 30 6 139:11-16 276 14 31 7 140:1-8 277 15 32 8 140:9-13 278 16 33 9 141 279 17 34 10 142 280 18 35 11 143:1-6 Week 41 281 19 36 12 143:7-12 282 20 37 13 144:1-8 JAMES 283 21 38 1 144:9-15 284 22 39 2 145:1-7 2 KINGS 285 1-2 40 3 145:8-13 286 3 41 4 145:14-21 287 4 42 5 146
Week 36 1 SAMUEL EZEKIEL MARK 246 7 1 5:1-20 119:153-160 247 8-9 2-3 5:21-43 119:161-168 248 10 4 6:1-29 119:169-176 249 11 5 6:30-56 120 250 12 6 7:1-23 121 251 13 7 7:24-37 122 252 14 8 8:1-21 123 Week 37 253 15 9 8:22-38 124 254 16 10 9:1-29 125 255 17 11 9:30-50 126 256 18 12 10:1-31 127 257 19 13 10:32-52 128 258 20 14 11:1-19 129 259 21 15 11:20-33 130 Week 38 2 SAMUEL 260 22 16:1-34 12:1-17 131 261 23 16:35-63 12:18-44 132:1-9 262 24 17 13:1-23 132:10-18 1 KINGS 263 1 18 13:24-37 133 264 2 19 14:1-16 134 265 3 20 14:17-52 135:1-5 266 4 21 14:53-72 135:6-12 Week 16 LEVITICUS ECCLESIASTES ROMANS 106 20 7 9:1-18 71:9-24 107 21 8-9 9:19-33 72:1-7 108 22 10 10:1-13 72:8-14 109 23 11-12 10:14-21 72:15-20 SONG OF SONGS 110 24 1-2 11:1-16 73:1-12 111 25 3-4 11:17-36 73:13-28 112 26 5-6 12:1-8 74:1-9 Week 17 113 27 7-8 12:9-21 74:10-23 NUMBERS ISAIAH 114 1 1:1-17 13:1-7 75 115 2 1:18-31 13:8-14 76:1-3 116 3 2 14:1-11 76:4-9 117 4 3 14:12-23 76:10-12 118 5 4 15:1-13 77:1-3 119 6 5:1-17 15:14-33 77:4-9 Week 18 120 7 5:18-30 16 77:10-15 MATTHEW 121 8-9 6 1 77:16-20 122 10 7 2 78:1-4 123 11 8 3 78:5-16 124 12-13 9 4 78:17-25 125 14 10:1-23 5:1-26 78:26-31 126 15 10:24-34 5:27-48 78:32-39
Week 19 NUMBERS ISAIAH MATTHEW 127 16 11-12 6:1-17 78:40-49 128 17-18 13 6:18-34 78:50-55 129 19 14 7:1-14 78:56-64 130 20 15 7:15-29 78:65-72 131 21 16 8 79:1-8 132 22 17-18 9 79:9-13 133 23 19-20 10 80:1-11 Week 20 134 24 21 11 80:12-19 135 25-26 22 12 81:1-7 136 27 23 13 81:8-16 137 28 24 14 82 138 29 25 15 83:1-8 139 30-31 26 16 83:9-18 140 32 27 17 84:1-4 Week 21 141 33 28 18 84:5-9 142 34 29 19 84:10-12 143 35 30:1-17 20 85:1-7 144 36 30:18-33 21 85:8-13 DEUTERONOMY 145 1 31-32 22 86:1-10 146 2 33 23 86:11-17 147 3 34-35 24:1-28 87 Week 33 1 SAMUEL JEREMIAH 1 TIMOTHY 225 12 39 2 118:13-21 226 13 40 3 118:22-29 227 14 41 4 119:1-8 228 15 42 5 119:9-16 229 16 43 6 119:17-24 2 TIMOTHY 230 17 44 1 119:25-32 231 18 45-47 2 119:33-40 Week 34 232 19-20 48:1-25 3 119:41-48 233 21-22 48:26-47 4 119:49-56 TITUS 234 23-24 49:1-22 1 119:57-64 235 25 49:23-39 2 119:65-72 236 26 50:1-17 3 119:73-80 237 27 50:18-46 PHILEMON 119:81-88 MARK 238 28 51:1-32 1:1-20 119:89-96 Week 35 239 29 51:33-64 1:21-45 119:97-104 240 30-31 52 2:1-17 119:105-112 2 SAMUEL LAMENTATIONS 241 1 1 2:18-28 119:113-120 242 2 2 3:1-12 119:121-128 243 3 3 3:13-35 119:129-136 244 4-5 4 4:1-25 119:137-144 245 6 5 4:26-41 119:145-152
Week 31 JUDGES JEREMIAH PHILIPPIANS 211 19 27 4 109:21-31 COLOSSIANS 212 20 28 1 110 213 21 29 2 111 RUTH 214 1 30 3 112 215 2 31:1-22 4 113 1 THESSALONIANS 216 3 31:23-40 1 114 217 4 32:1-25 2 115:1-11 Week 32 1 SAMUEL 218 1 32:26-44 3 115:12-18 219 2 33 4 116:1-6 220 3-4 34 5 116:7-14 2 THESSALONIANS 221 5-6 35 1 116:15-19 222 7-8 36 2 117 223 9 37 3 118:1-7 1 TIMOTHY 224 10-11 38 1 118:8-12 Week 22 DEUTERONOMY ISAIAH MATTHEW 148 4 36 24:29-51 88:1-10 149 5-6 37:1-20 25 88:11-18 150 7-8 37:21-38 26:1-35 89:1-4 151 9 38 26:36-75 89:5-13 152 10 39 27 89:14-18 153 11 40:1-14 28 89:19-29 1 CORINTHIANS 154 12 40:15-31 1 89:30-37 Week 23 155 13-14 41:1-16 2 89:38-45 156 15 41:17-29 3 89:46-52 157 16 42 4 90:1-10 158 17 43 5 90:11-17 159 18-19 44 6:1-10 91:1-8 160 20 45 6:11-20 91:9-16 161 21 46 7:1-13 92:1-7 Week 24 162 22-23 47 7:14-24 92:8-15 163 24 48 7:25-40 93 164 25-26 49 8 94:1-3 165 27 50 9 94:4-11 166 28:1-44 51 10:1-13 94:12-19 167 28:45-68 52 10:14-33 94:20-23 168 29 53 11:1-16 95
Week 25 DEUTERONOMY ISAIAH 1 CORINTHIANS 169 30 54 11:17-34 96:1-3 170 31 55 12 96:4-6 171 32:1-22 56 13 96:7-13 172 32:23-52 57 14 97:1-7 173 33 58 15:1-34 97:8-12 174 34 59 15:35-58 98 JOSHUA 175 1 60 16 99:1-5 Week 26 2 CORINTHIANS 176 2 61 1:1-11 99:6-9 177 3-4 62 1:12-24 100 178 5 63 2 101:1-4 179 6 64 3 101:5-8 180 7 65 4 102:1-11 181 8 66 5 102:12-17 JEREMIAH 182 9 1 6 103:1-5 Week 27 183 10 2:1-19 7 103:6-18 184 11 2:20-37 8:1-15 103:19-22 185 12 3 8:16-24 104:1-9 186 13 4 9 104:10-13 187 14 5 10 104:14-18 188 15 6 11:1-15 104:19-26 189 16 7 11:16-33 104:27-30 Week 28 JOSHUA JEREMIAH 2 CORINTHIANS 190 17 8 12 104:31-35 191 18 9 13 105:1-11 GALATIANS 192 19 10 1 105:12-22 193 20-21 11 2:1-10 105:23-36 194 22 12 2:11-21 105:37-45 195 23 13 3:1-14 106:1-5 196 24 14 3:15-29 106:6-12 Week 29 JUDGES 197 1-2 15 4 106:13-15 198 3 16 5 106:16-23 199 4 17 6 106:24-31 EPHESIANS 200 5 18 1:1-14 106:32-39 201 6 19 1:15-23 106:40-48 202 7 20 2 107:1-9 203 8 21 3 107:10-16 Week 30 204 9 22 4:1-16 107:17-22 205 10-11 23:1-24 4:17-32 107:23-32 206 12-13 23:25-39 5 107:33-43 207 14-15 24 6 108:1-6 PHILIPPIANS 208 16 25:1-14 1 108:7-13 209 17 25:15-38 2 109:1-5 210 18 26 3 109:6-20