Searching the Scriptures: Our Guide for Life

Every journey needs a map. If you don’t know where you are going and how to get there you will never arrive. The Psalmist reminds us that it is the Scripture that is “the lamp unto our feet and the light unto our path.” (Pslam 119:105) This week I want to introduce you to a couple of my spiritual guides and encourage you to join me in the practice of the Daily Office.

First, John Wesley calls us to engage in the means of grace called “searching the Scriptures,” not merely to read them. Wesley holds out his firm belief that the Scriptures will be the guide to life and the way to heaven through the application of the truth in daily life.

I want to know one thing, the way to heaven – how to land safe on that happy shore. God himself condescended to teach the way: for this very end came from heaven. He hath written it down in a book. O give me that book! I have it. Here is knowledge enough for me.
Let me be homo unius libri. (a man of one book) (Works 1:105)

Wesley was a man of one Book. Through the searching of the Scriptures, Christians come to know God and how they are to live for his glory.

Another spiritual guide in my life is Thomas Cranmer, who was an English Reformer. Cranmer served as Archbishop of Canterbury from 1533 to 1555 and composed the first two editions of the Book of Common Prayer as he longed to see the people of England searching the Scriptures. The purpose of the Book of Common Prayer was to root the Church of England in corporate prayer and Scripture reading as the foundational practices for life and faith. This is the heritage of the Anglican Church, as the Book of Common Prayer has served to guide disciples around the world into the practices of prayer and searching the Scripture.

The practice of praying the Daily Office found in the Book of Common Prayer provides a rhythm for life that begins and ends each day with prayer, confession, creed, and searching the Scriptures. The daily lectionary will guide one to read through the entire canon of Scripture. In addition, the prayers one prays daily are rooted in the Scriptures; thus we are praying God’s words back to God. The practice of praying and searching the Scriptures transform our hearts and desires and conforms our wills to that of our Heavenly Father. They lead us to know the will of the Father and transform our hearts to want to live accordingly.

We live in a world with so many competing voices, many of whom claim to be experts in a given field. However, Scripture serves to reveal to us the will of the One who knows all things and is sovereign over all. Searching the Scriptures guides us as we navigate this world and leads us to see through the eyes of God and walk in the path of His will.

I highlight this practice as recent research reveals that a majority of those who are “regular church attendees” do not read the Bible on a regular basis. As your pastor, I long to see each of you with your Bible in hand during the sermon. I want you reading the text, underlining passages, and memorizing the word of God.

There are several opportunities each week at Christ Church to grow in the practice of searching the Scriptures through prayer and worship.

Morning Office
Monday–Wednesday | 8:30 AM
In the Nave

CCA Chapel Service
Thursday Morning led by Deacon Debra | 8:45 AM
Parents, grandparents, and parishioners are welcome.

I hope that you are encouraged today to pick up your Bible and begin to search the Scriptures. If you would like some help in learning how to use your Book of Common Prayer, I am available to meet you and help with that practice. Remember that it is the Scripture that is the lamp unto your feet and the light unto your path – the map for the journey before us.

Fr. Keith

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