Ever wondered about the Bible’s message? It may actually be different than what you think.
🍃 Watch the six-part series by Mescalero Apache, Soapy Dollar, here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLm4Y5qad3GcTF3swbs_1mvaD-E-ty_UdV

This series on the Bible for Native American, First Nation, and Indigenous people is taught by Mescalero Apache, Soapy Dollar. He talks about the origin of the Bible, it’s message, and answers the question, can we trust it? He also shares about the central character of the Bible, Jesus Christ. Soapy is both very familiar and passionate with what he calls, the Book of books, the Bible. He’s been teaching from it for over 50 years.

The purpose of this video, is to inform particularly and especially native people and native communities about this book called The Bible.

Part 4: The message of the Bible.

Key Points in Part 4:

– The central message of the Bible is focused on bringing people and God into a personal relationship.

– The God that we know, the Creator God is a personal God. He’s revealed Himself even through us creating us to be personal beings. We have personhood, we have intellect, we have emotion, we have wills that we exercise. We see in the Scriptures, even in the book of Genesis, God says, “Let Us make man in Our image,” for a relationship with humanity. His ultimate purpose that we find in the Scriptures, and that we find the message of the Bible is that message that God created us for Himself and that God had to do something. He had to act to make that relationship with Him between fallen, sinful, selfish human beings, possible.

– The first principle we need to emphasize is that God, the God of the Bible, the God, the Creator, does care about us. He longs for, He calls us into a relationship with Himself.

– The second principle is that Bible clearly points out over and again that we are sinful, that we are selfish. We have an irresistible tendency to selfishness and sin. It doesn’t matter what culture we come from, what religious group, or what heritage or language we speak. We all have that tendency to selfishness and sin and that is what the Bible talks about as sin. It says, “For all have sinned.” We’ve all fallen short of God’s glory, of God’s perfection, His righteousness. Paul, one of leaders in the Bible, makes the point that the wages, the consequence, the results of sin is death and that we’d become separated from God.

– God Himself has given a solution to that problem. And that’s what we see again from Genesis all the way to the end we see the prediction and the description that God is going to send a savior, a redeemer, someone who would come through substitutionary atonement. That is, He would take the judgment we deserved for us. He would be our substitute. He is going to take the punishment, the consequences of our sin upon Himself so that we might be set free from the penalty of sin and from the power of sin over our lives and that we might be able to experience the presence of God in this life and on into eternity. So that we see that the third principle is that God has given a Savior and a Redeemer, one who would come and pay the penalty of our sin.

– The fourth principle is that we must decide what we’re going to do with this gift that God is offering to us.

Here is the outline for following along in the series.

Soapy Dollar – A Native American Introduction to The Bible

Part 1 – Introduction and The Bible is Unique
It is Unique
– In it’s consistency
– In it’s circulation
– In it’s translation
– In it’s survival
– In it’s teaching
– In it’s message

Part 2 – The Bible is True and Accurate
Tests and Evidence
– The Bibliographical test
– The Internal test
– The External test
– Archeology

Part 3 – Is the Bible from God our Creator?
Why do we think this?
– It’s amazing consistency
– It has a “ring of truth”
– Fulfilled predictions and prophecies
– The life of Jesus
– Transformed lives

Part 4 – The Message of the Bible
The Central Message of the Bible
– God loves and cares for us
– We are sinful, selfish, guilty, and condemned
– God sends a Savior
– We must respond in faith

Part 5 – The Central Character – Jesus Christ
Jesus Christ is the central character of the Bible
– His person and redemptive work is foretold in the Old Testament
– His person and redemptive work is fulfilled in the New Testament

Part 6 – Final Thoughts and a Challenge
A Brief Summary and God has gone to great lengths to communicate with us
– Pick up the Bible and read it for yourself
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http://www.withoutreservation.com