Day 2619 – New Testament Orientation – What is the New Testament?

Welcome to Day 2619 of Wisdom-Trek. Thank you for joining me. This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom Day 2619 – New Testament Orientation - What is the New Testament? Putnam Church Message – 04/27/2025 Sermon Series: New Testament Orientation Message 1: What Is the New Testament?   Last week was our third and final Easter message about The Road to Jerusalem. We asked and answered the question, Why are you looking among the dead for someone who is alive? This week, we will begin our twelve-week New Testament Orientation series. Our first lesson will be: What Is the New Testament? The core verse is: 2 Timothy 3:15-16 What is the New Testament? A Story from Our World Shalom, friends, and grace to you from the one true God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who has revealed Himself in the face of Yeshua, our Messiah! Think of our journey together in the Old Testament Orientation as walking a long, dusty road stretching centuries. We saw the mighty acts of God, the covenant made on Sinai, the struggles and triumphs of our ancestors, and the longing for a Messiah who would set things right. As we begin this New Testament Orientation, it is as if we have turned a corner on that road, and the landscape, while familiar in some ways, is also breathtakingly new. This is not a separate journey entirely, but rather, as some have rightly said, it is like entering the next chapter of the most important story ever told: the story of God’s relentless love and unfolding plan for humanity. Picture yourself as a Hebrew family when Yeshua, the Messiah, came. In our time, things are different than they were for Moses, David, or even the Prophet Malachi, whose voice was the last we heard before a long silence. We live under the watchful, often heavy, eye of Rome. Our world is connected in ways our ancestors could scarcely have imagined. Roman roads crisscross the land, and while they are built for legions and trade, they also carry whispers of a new movement, a new hope centered on Yeshua. Today, we ask a fundamental question: What is this “New Testament”? What are these new letters, these accounts of Yeshua’s life and teachings, these writings from the apostles that are now being read in our homes and our gatherings? To understand this, we must first understand how we, the people of this time – those of us steeped in the traditions of Israel and those who have come to faith from among the Gentiles – think about sacred writings and the very words of God. Let us open our hearts and minds, and let us pray. Opening Prayer: Gracious Spirit, the very breath of God, Who hovered over the waters at creation, Who inspired the prophets of old to speak Your truth, We pray that You would open our minds and hearts now. Quiet the anxious thoughts and the distractions of our busy lives. Help us to listen not just with our ears but with our souls. Illuminate these words and bring them to life within us. May they teach, challenge, correct, and train us in righteousness. May they make us wise for salvation through faith in Yeshua, the Messiah. We are like children learning a new song; help us to catch the tune. We are like travelers on a road, wondering where it leads; show us the way. Use this time, this message, to deepen our understanding, To strengthen our faith, and to draw us closer to Your...