From Debby Reynolds, Parishioner

Why we need to understand the Old Testament

Having been brought up in an Episcopalian church, Saint James on Wilshire Blvd. in Los Angeles, I was unacquainted with the Old Testament. Yes, many of the Bible stories of the Old Testament were taught and acted out in Sunday school. Everyone knows about Noah and the ark, Jonah and the whale, Eve and the apple, David and Goliath, King Solomon's wisdom and you can think of many others. But these are stories which contribute to the overall message of God's plan and his love for his people don’t tell the full story. To fully understand how the Christian religion has developed through the centuries, one needs to understand God's revelation of Himself to the Jewish people, the many references to the coming of the Messiah who will save his people, and the completion of his plan of redemption through the incarnation, life and death of Jesus Christ.

Fast forward to 1985 when my son, Jeffrey, gave me a Bible and suggested I read it. I looked it over and decided it was much too difficult. At the same time I had begun to attend Saint Paul's Episcopal church in Darien, Connecticut. The Reverend Terry Fullam, a faith filled Priest Full of the Holy Spirit, was drawing people by the hundreds. In addition to church on Sundays, he had a morning teaching on Wednesdays which drew an overflow crowd. He was a big man, and I will never forget him standing in front of the altar, with the Bible in his hand. He would be talking about something in the New Testament and he would say this is exactly what happened in Joshua, or some such thing. He would leaf through to the back of the Bible and read the scripture from Joshua which indeed was the same thing. He did this many, many times and it inspired me to learn the Old Testament and subsequently the entire Bible.  In fact, he announced to the congregation that they couldn’t be a member of that church unless they were in Bible Study!

People need to understand that Jesus, the Messiah, is clearly pointed to throughout the Old Testament. There are over 350 prophecies as to His Life and death and what he would mean to this world. Jesus didn't just arrive on the scene to bring us closer to God, it was God's plan all along.  We can see this if we get the whole picture by reading ALL of the Bible.