Sun. May 10, 2009 (Bruce Hiebert)

As a young man Bruce Hiebert was exasperated with the disciples on the Emmaus Road who failed to recognize Jesus who walked with them. Jesus interpreted scripture to them, beginning with Moses and the prophets. Understanding Scripture is important because the Bible is one of the keys to understanding the Christian faith; it is the word of God. Bruce noted that there are complex rules guiding correct interpretation and the key to this is honesty. We live by stories, he said, and reading Scripture will change us. When we read the Bible as the word of God we enter a universe that is not our own. Bible stories teach us how to live; doctrine without stories is meaningless. Reading scripture creates the need for personal honesty. "I read my Bible waiting for the feeling that Jesus was with me," he said. The discussion focussed on the need for tolerance, some preferred "compassion" to tolerance. (HN) Listen to the sermon audio MP3 recording from Sunday May 10th, 2009 using your browser's preferred media player.