Beginning Week Preparation

2017 Bible in 90 Days @ MCC-DC

Our first weekly group session is Wednesday, January 11th at 7pm.  In preparation, we hope the below information will be helpful.  We will discuss on Wednesday.  We look forward to everyone who is joining us on this journey!

Weekly Meetings: Beginning January 11 on Wednesdays @ 7pm.  The call in number for our community meeting times will be (641) 715-0632, Access Code: 190766, yet we encourage you to attend in person if you can.

Blog: http://mccdcin90.blogspot.com/

·         The blog will have meeting summaries, tips, schedule and other information.  Feel free to post comments and questions.

Reading:  Reading begins on January 12, every day.  We conclude reading during Holy Week. 

Goal: To read the entire Bible, cover-to-cover, in 90 days.

How we get there:

Pray

Read every day, preferably from the official B90 Bible (which is 12 pages a day)

Participate in weekly group sessions in person or via phone – this will help encourage and motivate everyone and allow for participants to ask questions, share thoughts and tips, and check in on how the reading is going for them. 

Be encouraging and respectful to one another and their opinions

o   If you see others during the week, check in with one another and encourage one another.

o   During weekly discussions, no questions or answers are wrong – no judgment.

o   During the weekly meetings, listen -- do not interrupt others and be respectful of one another’s thoughts and opinions.

Do not give up!  Even if you find yourself behind, READ (do not skip)…just keep reading.

Weekly Sessions:

Weekly sessions will be one hour to respect everyone’s time.

Please be respectful of allowing everyone who wishes to speak, to speak.

The weekly group sessions are not intended to be a burden or an added layer of work, instead they are intended to help all participants in their journey – through encouragement, providing an opportunity to share questions and thoughts with others, and for us all to learn from one another.

While there will be someone leading the discussion each week, all participants are teaching and learning from one another.  The role of the group leader is to facilitate discussion, through general and (hopefully) helpful questions, moderate the discussion that ensues, and ensure we are respectful of time. 

We will strive to post summaries of discussions each week on the blog; however, do not rely on this method of participation as there may be some weeks we are unable to do so.

Common Mistakes

o   Reading without being part of a community

o   Using a Bible from your bookshelf to do the reading. People are more successful in completing the reading using the specially-formatted Bible for B90

o   Not making time in your schedule – look at replacing something in your schedule rather than adding on to it 

o   Stopping when falling behind

o   Deciding that you will take a break because you’re traveling, it’s a holiday or for another reason – we are reading so fast, even skipping a day is significant 

o   Stopping or slowing down to do research or more study about what you are reading

o   Skipping ahead

Beginning Discussion Questions:

1.      We are reading the Bible not studying the Bible - what is the difference?  Why is this important in meeting the goal?

2.      Why is the goal important?

3.      Why have you decided to take on this challenge?

4.      How do you plan to manage the reading each day?  What is your strategy?

 

Some Additional Tips:

Get into a Routine -- Find a time each day (morning, lunch, night), to complete the daily reading – get into a routine.  The hardest time is usually the first week, but once you get into a routine and see how fast and far you are moving, it will become easier.

DO NOT SKIP – Do not skip anything.  You do not want to get to the end and say you read everything, except…  There may be hard names and words but you are reading to yourself so do not stress.  Even if you fall behind, do not skip ahead.  Try to find extra time to catch up or add a few pages a day to your reading until you are caught up.  During the reading, you will find challenges – both in words, names, redundancy, and grappling with some of the stories and content of the Bible.  Press on and bring your thoughts to the weekly group.

DO NOT LINGER – Do not fall into the trap of lingering.  Yes there will be times you want to reflect, research or meditate on a particular story or passage.  If this happens, take note and finish the reading for the day first and, if you have time, go back. 

Attend weekly meetings – whether in person or by phone, attend the weekly meetings.  These are opportunities for everyone to share their questions and thoughts and also help to encourage one another in the reading.

Don’t Stress – just read.