There are many verses in the Bible that tell us of the benefits of reading the Bible.

Joshua 1:8
This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.

Psalm 1:1-4
Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away.

Psalm 19:7-11
The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple; the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes; the fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the LORD are true, and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb. Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.

The title of my message this morning is, "Read Through the Bible." I want for you to know and experience these blessings. This is an applicational title, meaning, my title is an application. Indeed, it is my application for all of you this morning: "Rock Valley Bible Church, Read Through the Bible."

On the one hand, this is the most basic of all applications. Preachers know that in every sermon, it is easy to give the two-fold application: (1) Read the Bible, and (2) Pray. Yet, on the other hand, it is rightly so the most important applications that we can have as believers in Christ. The Bible feeds our soul. Prayer cultivates our relationship with the Lord. These two applications are at the core of what helps a Christian to thrive. This morning, we will focus on one of them: Read the Bible.

Notice that my application this morning isn't "Read the Bible." There's another important word there. It's the word, "Through." My exhortation to you this morning isn't merely to "Read the Bible." My exhortation to you this morning is to "Read Through the Bible." That is, I'm not calling you this morning to merely open your Bible and read it consistently, though that is good and helpful. Rather, I'm calling you to read the Bible broadly. Read it from start to finish. Read the sections that you aren't familiar with. Read it to catch the whole story of the Bible.

Obviously, this isn't the only way to read the Bible. You can read the Bible in very small portions. You can read a single verse in the Bible to great profit, especially if you think deeply about what you read, possibly memorizing what you read. Never underestimate the value of memorizing single verses of the Bible. During times of temptation, a verse may pop into your mind and be the trigger you need to turn you away from your sin. You see something that you shouldn't see and Job 31:1 pops into your mind: "I have made a covenant with my eyes; how then could I gaze at a virgin?" (Job 31:1), and you look away. Some co-workers ask you to join them in a bad activity, and 1 Corinthians 15:33 comes to mind: "Do not be deceived: 'Bad company ruins good morals,'" and you don't join them. You are far from home, away from all accountability, and you remember Proverbs 15:3: "The eyes of the LORD are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good," and you remember that you are not alone.

Single verses of Scripture that are memorized are super-helpful for us all to walk in God's ways. The Psalmist says in Psalm 119:11, "I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you." Furthermore, there are single chapters in the Bible that can have a great effect upon your soul as well.

Psalm 23
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
    He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
    He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness
    for his name's sake.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
    I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
    your rod and your staff,
    they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me
    in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
    my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
    all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

This Psalm alone can comfort you in times of financial hardship, realizing that God is your shepherd who will provide for you everything that you need. This Psalm can calm you in times of stress, understanding that God will give you rest in your toil. This Psalm can direct you in times of confusion, as you let the LORD God guide you in the paths of righteousness. This Psalm can console you in times of grief, knowing that God is with you in the valley of the shadow of death. This Psalm can give you hope, trusting that God's goodness and mercy will follow you all the days of your life. These are but a few of the ways that this Psalm, this chapter of the Bible, can help you in your life.

There are many other Psalms that can work the same way in your soul. Psalm 32 is a Psalm that shows us the blessing and the way of forgiveness and the importance of confession. Psalm 95 is a Psalm that teaches us about worship, how to come before the LORD with joy and humility. Psalm 139 is a Psalm of the omniscience, and omnipresence of God, which can comfort us in all of our lives. It's good for you to read the Psalms.

There are many other chapters in the Bible that can work in your soul. Romans 8 is known as "the great chapter eight." It is a great chapter that can stabilize your soul. Isaiah 40 is a chapter that will overwhelm you with the greatness of God. Isaiah 53 is a chapter that will direct you to Jesus and his sacrifice for us. Luke 15 is a great chapter to remind you of the gospel. Ephesians 2 will remind you of the glories of God's grace toward us in Christ. These are good chapters to know and to read over and over again, as they will help your soul.

On top of that, there are some key chapters of Scripture that are helpful for you to understand the Bible as a whole. One example is Genesis 3 and the fall of mankind, as it sets up so much of Scripture. Another example is Genesis 12 and the call of Abraham, as it explains the origin of the people of Israel. In 2 Samuel 7, we read of the covenant that God makes with David, as it explains how Jesus was the son of David, destined to have an eternal kingdom. Jeremiah 31 contains the New Covenant that God have given us in Christ, God's law in our hearts. Any of the resurrection accounts (Matthew 28; Mark 16; Luke 24; John 20), are crucial chapters that tell of the resurrection of Jesus, which is so crucial to our faith. The ending of Revelation (Revelation 21-22), give us a picture of where the world is headed, to a restored city, where God will be with those who have trusted in Christ. These are good chapters to know and to read over and over again, as they will help you understand God's plan of redemption.

Not only is it helpful for you to read and study single verses of the Bible, not only is it helpful for you to read and study single chapters of the Bible, it's also helpful for you to read and re-read single books of the Bible, so that you know them well. It's super helpful to read the life and stories of Jesus. It's super helpful to read the book of Acts to understand the working of God to build his Church. It's super helpful to read any of the epistles in the New Testament. It's super helpful to read the books of Genesis and Exodus and Joshua and Judges and Isaiah and Jonah. As a church, this is our pattern: to take a book of the Bible, and work through it from beginning to end, as right now, I am preaching through the book of John, and will continue to do so for the next year and a half.

So, any way that you intake the Bible is helpful for you, whether it's small or big. I know that there are many of you that read your Bibles consistently, and I have seen the fruit that has come from your lives as a result. Praise the Lord for his work in your lives.

But this morning, I am advocating for you to consider taking in all of the Scripture, from Genesis to Revelation. That is, not to "Read the Bible," but to "Read Through the Bible." That is, read everything in the Bible.

My exhortation comes to you out of personal experience. As many of you know, I took a Sabbatical in the summer of 2020, which was so good and helpful to me and my soul, and to Yvonne and our marriage. The elders placed no expectations upon me during our three months away. They simply wanted me to rest, which is what a Sabbatical is. It's a time of resting.

During those three months away, I did do a project. I read through the entire Bible and summarized every chapter in the Bible. I typed it up and printed out a little booklet, which I have and carry in my Bible. The only limit that I placed on the summaries was that the summaries of any book of the Bible had to fit on a single page in my booklet, which meant a fair bit of editing to shorten my summaries to fit on a single page. The only exception to this is the book of Psalms, which fits on four pages, about 40 chapters per page.

With booklet in hand, I invited some guys to join me in reading through the entire Bible in 2021, and Yvonne invited some gals to join her in reading through the entire Bible as well. As we read through the Bible, they attempted to summarize each chapter that they read, and we met for an hour each week to talk about what impacted us from the reading. After reading through the Bible in 2021, and finding it so profitable, we decided to do it again in 2022, inviting anyone from church who would like to join along. Most of those who joined the first year were helped enough that they continued on for another year. Some more joined, so that in 2022, we had four groups going, two men's groups, and two women's groups.

After reading through the entire Bible that year with others, I wrote a book about the process. I entitled it, "My Bible Summaries." I remember giving a copy of this book to every family in the church at the time, encouraging you all to do what I did on my Sabbatical: Read the Bible in a year and write a summary of every chapter, in the space provided in the book. That's what this book is. It's really a workbook with an 8-page introduction. I want to read the first page and a half of this book. I begin by quoting from 2 Timothy 3:16-17, which I have placed on the screen for you to read along:

2 Timothy 3:16-17
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

Then, I write the following:

Over my two decades of ministry, I have trusted in the truth of the above verses. They speak of the power of the Scriptures to train believers in righteousness. I have had the opportunity to watch the Word of God teach, reprove, correct, and train people in righteousness, equipping them for every good work. It has greatly encouraged my soul to see Scripture work in these ways.

But recently, the first two words jumped out at me afresh: "All Scripture."

ALL SCRIPTURE

For years, I assumed these words simply meant, "each and every individual verse of the Bible" is truly breathed out by God and is profitable for us. Rooted in this belief, I have preached verse by verse through many books of the Bible. I have witnessed the power of God's word to transform people's lives. Seeing God work in this way has reinforced my belief in the inerrancy, sufficiency, and authority of every word of Scripture.

Yet, I have recently discovered another layer to the inspiration and profitability of "All Scripture." This layer is found by embracing the Bible as a whole, "All Scripture." Training in righteousness comes from reading and understanding the entire Bible, not merely reading some of its decontextualized parts. The depth of individual Scripture passages only increases as the believer understands them in the context of the whole.

By reading the entirety of the Bible, we become more familiar with all Scripture, as we discover many connections, repetitions, similarities, themes, and patterns. We observe theological developments and watch God's plan of redemption unfold. Further, many aspects of God's consistent character come into view as we witness his faithfulness again and again. Understood within the rest of Scripture, all the individual passages come together to form a rich tapestry which is beautiful in its parts, but even more beautiful when seen as a whole.The promise of 2 Timothy 3:16-17 is that God will use "All Scripture" to train us in righteousness.

Consider these verses again:

2 Timothy 3:16-17
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

The whole Bible teaches us. The whole Bible reproves us. The whole Bible corrects us. The whole Bible trains us. The whole Bible equips us for every good work.

I think that this is why I'm passionate about leading others to read through the Bible, because, as we read, it opens up our lives to the Lord to work, and to train us in all godliness. That's why this morning, I want to encourage you to consider reading through the Bible, not merely reading a verse or a chapter or a single book of the Bible, but the whole thing.

Now, one of the difficulties of reading through the Bible is that the Bible is a big book. It's not something that you will sit down to read this afternoon. It takes a bit of strategy. It takes a bit of help. The reason that I wrote, "My Bible Summaries," is that I have found the process of writing down a summary of each chapter in the Bible is a very helpful way to grasp the contents of the entire Bible. This is what I talk about in the next paragraph in my book:

Reading through "All Scripture" involves taking in large amounts of information. The enormity of this task means that it can be challenging to engage with, understand, and remember what is read. To help overcome these issues, I have taken up the practice of writing a simple summary of every chapter in the Bible.

At this point in the book, I spend a page and a half talking about what a "Chapter Summary" is, and give a bit of counsel in how to write them down. The value of writing down the chapter summaries is that it just forces you to slow down just a bit, to consider what you have read, rather than reading on and not reflecting upon what you have read.

The value of doing this in a group is that it helps to urge you to keep on going. Because, it is difficult to read through the entire Bible on your own. There are enough things in life to distract you. There are enough difficult passages in the Bible to discourage you.

A group helps. That's why most of those who read through the Bible in 2022 joined us again in 2023. Some new people came, and some dropped out. Most of those who read through the Bible in 2023 joined us again in 2024. Some new people came, and some dropped out.

Here we are, soon to begin again with another year, and most of those who have joined us with our groups will continue on, but at this point, we are inviting others to join. This will be our fifth year at this. That's the purpose of my message this morning: to invite you to "Read Through the Bible" with us, beginning in January.

I'm preaching this message to you this morning because I have seen such growth in those who have joined us for the reading, both from those who have been Christians for a long time, and those who have only recently become Christians. I want you to hear from one of those who have been reading along with us.

<At this point in the service, Istvan shared his testimony about how reading through the Bible has impacted his life and helped him grow in his faith. I have placed a transcript of what he said below:>

Good morning, and thank you. I just want to take a couple of minutes—not forty-five—to share how being part of the Bible reading group has helped me grow in my faith. Many of you already know parts of my story, but for those who don’t, I want to share how God has worked in my life.

On November 29, 2022, my life changed. I didn’t grow up as a Christian, but my mother was a strong believer. She always pointed me toward God, but back then I didn’t really understand what that meant. She had such a deep faith, but I wasn’t ready to listen.

Exactly two years and two days ago, my mother died in my arms. Her loss hit me hard. In the middle of that grief, I realized how much she had tried to show me a different way—God’s way. As I faced the pain of losing her, I began to see God for the first time. In that time of deep sadness and emptiness, I found myself at the end of my own strength, and that is where God met me.

In that moment, I noticed my mother’s Bible lying on the table in front of me, and I started to read it. All I wanted was to learn from the Bible so I could grow in faith. I prayed and asked God for a Bible teacher and a church. I searched online, and my prayers were answered. It was such a blessing to find Rock Valley Bible Church. Pastor Steve introduced me to the Daily Audio Bible with Brian, and he told me about the Bible reading groups—exactly what I needed as a new Christian.

When I first became a believer, I’ll be honest: I had no idea where to start. I knew the Bible was important, but the thought of reading the whole thing felt overwhelming. Then, when I joined the Bible reading group in March of 2023, it completely changed how I approached Scripture. I began reading the Bible systematically, meeting every week online for an hour with Steve, Al, and Wayne. I wasn’t sure I would actually finish, but having the group for encouragement and accountability made all the difference.

We discussed what we were reading, what was going on in our lives, shared insights, talked through our summaries, and encouraged each other to keep going. What helped me even more was learning from mature Christians who regularly read the Bible. Every book I read felt like a new adventure, especially since I had never read the Bible before. I remember being amazed at how God’s Word began to connect—the stories, the teachings, and the way everything points to Jesus.

What has kept me going is not just the group but also tools like the Daily Audio Bible. Listening each day has helped me stay consistent and has brought Scripture alive in a new way. Hearing the Bible read aloud has added understanding and often given me a fresh perspective on familiar passages.

This journey has completely changed how I approach the Bible. It is no longer intimidating or something I feel I “should” do. It has become something I look forward to. Reading the Bible this way has not only deepened my faith but also equipped me to step out in ministry. This December, I will be leading the jail ministry for the first time, and I feel much more prepared because of what I’ve learned and the confidence I now have in God’s Word.

And now I can say I’ve done it. On March 16 of this year, I finished reading through the entire Bible, and I am continuing into my second year.

I’d like to quote 2 Timothy 3:16–17, which says, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work."

That verse really sums up what this journey has been for me. God’s Word isn’t just words on a page—it’s alive, and it changes you. There have been so many moments when I read something and thought, “Wow, that’s exactly what I needed today.” It has been such an encouragement and a reminder that God speaks to us right where we are through His Word.

If you have never read the whole Bible before, I really want to encourage you to give it a try. It’s not as intimidating as it seems, and it is so worth it. Being part of this group made it doable for me and helped me grow in ways I never thought possible.

Thank you for letting me share my story, and I hope it inspires you to dive into God’s Word—whether on your own or with a group like ours.

_______________

One of the greatest helps to me in reading through the Scriptures has been an audio podcast that I found. It's called, "Daily Audio Bible," where a guy named Brian Hardin reads through the Bible fresh every day, and gets through the Bible in a year. (In fact, I listened to it on my way to church this morning.) Often, after reading the Scriptures, he will provide a brief audio commentary on what was just read to help us understand and apply the passage. Often, after that, he includes a recording of people calling in with prayer requests.

I have been listening to this podcast (at least the Bible-reading portion of the podcast) almost every day for the past decade. It's been these last four years that I have listened along with summarizing the chapters in the Bible, with others who are doing the same.

This is the schedule that we have followed in our Bible Reading Groups: whatever Daily Audio Bible was reading, that's what we were reading and talking about in our groups. It has proved to be very helpful. What is particularly helpful about it is that it's not a studio recording. It's a fresh recording, sometimes even referring to the weather or the elections or holiday celebrations. The freshness really helps.

So, Yvonne and I took this concept to Junior High Students at Hallstrom, (a home-school co-op, that meets once a week). I wrote a book entitled, "My New Testament Summaries," where we took this same approach in a classroom setting with Junior Highers.

This book feels much like my other book. It has a brief introduction, followed by a bunch of charts to fill in. The charts are simply blank pages, for the students to fill in summaries of chapters of the Bible.

To help the students along, Yvonne and I created our own "Daily Audio Bible" podcast, calling it, "Read Through the New Testament," where Yvonne and I read the New Testament out loud and recorded it on a podcast for the students to listen to as they read through the New Testament.

I remember asking the students on the first day of class, "How many of you have read the entire New Testament?" Out of a class of 20 students, I remember 2 of them had read the New Testament. I remember asking students on the last day of the class, "How many of you have read the entire New Testament?" Every student raised their hands.

I was amazed at how well the students kept up with their reading and summarizing of every chapter in the New Testament. Further, I was amazed at the positive feedback that we received from the parents of the students. Some of the families even listened through our podcast together as a family, using it as a devotional time for them.
__________

Well, the feedback was so strong that I wrote another book entitled, "My Old Testament Summaries, volume 1." This school year, we are taking High School students through half of the Old Testament. Next school year, we plan to take High School students through the second half of the Old Testament.

The book feels just like the other books I have written. There is a brief introduction at the beginning of the book, and then a bunch of blank pages for the students to fill in. Again, we have added an audio component to this class, which means that Yvonne and I are reading through the Old Testament out loud and recording it on a podcast for the students to listen to as they read through the Old Testament. This podcast is called, "Read Through the Old Testament."

The Old Testament is a bit more difficult than the New Testament, especially when you get to the book of Leviticus and the laws given to Israel. Much of the prophets is also challenging to read and understand. But these high school students are hanging in there. As of now, none of them are behind. They have all written summaries for every chapter we have read. There's just something about an audio component, with writing down summaries of every chapter, with a weekly meeting to help keep you on track, that is helpful in reading through the Scriptures.

I would like to extend that opportunity to every one of you in the church. If this is something that you would like to be involved with, talk to me. Talk to Yvonne. When we see who is interested, we will form our groups accordingly, figuring out when and where and how you can meet together for a weekly check in and encouragement.

This year, we are doing a bit of a change. For the past four years, we have read through the entire Bible each year. But, some have related to us how overwhelming it is. So, we are planning to slow things down this year, and read through half of the Bible in 2025, and then the other half of the Bible in 2026.

Since there is no podcast available for such a schedule, Yvonne and I are planning to record a daily podcast, reading through the entire Bible in two years. We have so enjoyed reading through the New Testament together, and now reading through the Old Testament together, that we want to do so for the entire Bible. It forces us to focus. It forces us to read every word of the Bible slowly. It forces us to read together. This is not a burden for us. This is our delight. We are looking forward to it. The name of this podcast? "Read Through the Bible."^[1]
 
This podcast is up and going. We recorded an introductory episode, and on January 1st, the first episode should drop. We will be reading Genesis 1 and 2. I would suspect that each day's reading will be 10-15 minutes. You should be able to subscribe (or follow) the podcast wherever you get your podcasts. If you can't find it, please let me know, because we want it to be available to anyone. If you don't do podcasts, but are interested, let me know. I would be happy to help you out.

At Rock Valley Bible Church, I have worked diligently to develop a culture through the Weekly Word, which I send out every Friday, giving you a vision of what's coming up in the life of our church, but also filling it with pictures of past events, like the Turkey Bowl this past Friday, giving you some good reading material or helpful videos, highlighting people (and families) in the church with events in their lives, including prayer requests and updates. With this podcast, I hope to cultivate a similar sort of culture at Rock Valley Bible Church, where many of you might tune in to listen to it, whether or not you are involved in a Bible Reading Group. It's easy to put on a recording when you are driving or doing the dishes at home or during your morning routine, or as you exercise each day.

But to help engage all of you, I envision having some guests on the podcast, where you too will read the Bible for everyone on the podcast, perhaps even saying a thing or two about your life and what's going on. I would envision there being conversations at church on Sunday, "I heard you on the Read Through the Bible podcast this past week." "I didn't know that you grew up in Iowa! Me too," or "I didn't know that you liked to ski. Let's go skiing sometime." When we made our "Read Through the New Testament" podcast, I was in Nepal for some of it, and I invited native Nepali speakers to read the New Testament with me. The students really enjoyed it. I would love to see something similar take place with this podcast, including just enough of a personal touch, that might interest you to make listening to the podcast a part of your daily routine.

Also, wouldn't it be wonderful for the church to have an understanding of where others are reading in the Bible? This is helpful for our marriage. It is often that Yvonne and I will reference the reading for the day on Daily Audio Bible, as we are both listening daily. Wouldn't it be wonderful if, on Sunday mornings, you knew that many in the congregation had listened to the same passages of the Bible that you listened to this week? You could bring it up in your conversation, about what you learned that week. Because, in reading through the Bible, there is always much to learn.
_____________

This community reading was the vision of this man: Robert Murray M'Cheyne. He was a pastor in Scotland during the 1800's. He was known for his godliness and zeal for the Lord. As his Wikipedia page says, "Perhaps no minister in the Church of Scotland is better remembered for the saintliness of his character, the anxious devotion which influenced the whole of his short ministry, and the success which everywhere accompanied his efforts as a preacher of the Gospel." In the providence of God, he died at the age of only 29 in 1843, but he made a big impact on those around him. One of his initiatives was a Bible Reading Schedule that he distributed to his church family, that many follow today.

In publishing his plan, M'Cheyne pointed out the inherent dangers and advantages of following such a plan. The dangers included: 1. Formality, reading the Bible by some fixed rule and not delighting in God's word. 2. Self-righteousness, thinking that reading the Bible makes you godly. 3. Careless reading, reading without trembling at God's word. 4. A yoke too heavy to bear.^[2]

For some, reading this much of the Bible is really too difficult. May we avoid these dangers, especially the last one. If listening to or reading the Bible in this way is too burdensome for you, may you feel no guilt in following after some reading that is more helpful for you. If you have some other plan that works for your life, continue in it.

But M'Cheyne also included some advantages as well:

1. The whole Bible will be read through in an orderly manner in the course of a year. I fear many of you never read the whole Bible; and yet it is all equally divine. If we pass over some parts of Scripture, we shall be incomplete Christians.

2. Time will not be wasted in choosing what portions to read. Often believers are at a loss to determine towards which part of the mountains of spices they should bend their steps. Here the question will be solved at once in a very simple manner.

3. Parents will have a regular subject upon which to examine their children and servants. It is much to be desired that family worship were made more instructive than it generally is.

4. The pastor will know in what part of the pasture the flock are feeding. He will thus be enabled to speak more suitably to them on the Sabbath.

5. The sweet bond of Christian love and unity will be strengthened. We shall be often led to think of those dear brothers and sisters in the Lord, here and elsewhere, who agree to join with us in reading these portions.

That's my hope for all of us together. That we may read the Bible (or at least listen to a podcast) on the same text, and as we read (or listen), we can think of those in our church family who will be reading the same thing. May "the sweet bond of Christian love and unity be strengthened."

This sermon was delivered to Rock Valley Bible Church on December 1, 2024 by Steve Brandon.
For more information see www.rockvalleybiblechurch.org.