Trinity Presbyterian Church loves the Bible. Our first deacon, Ross, is committed to studying the bible. Our church’s commitments to biblical fidelity and proclamation are some of the things God used to call his family to our church.

In this clip, Ross shares one of the things he loves about Trinity Presbyterian Church of Norman: that we are a biblical church. We walk through the Bible (book by book) together as a community of faith.

Without the Bible, people can discover God’s goodness, wisdom, and power. Salvation, however, cannot be known apart from the Bible. Without God’s word, we would be ignorant of the meaning of redemptive history. Without God’s word, we would be impoverished in our inability to access God’s fatherly protection and provision in his adopting ungodly sinners to be part of His household through faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Without God’s word, we would have no promises to rest upon when we suffer or are attacked by the accusation of Satan. Without God’s word, we would have no secure foundation for hoping that our best days are ahead in the glorification of all things. These are just a few of the many treasures of knowing the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit by the means of the Bible. Ross and Jeanne (like the rest of God’s saints) have learned that the Word of God read and studied corporately in worship services and small groups, and personal study is necessary for their growth in grace.

The church has had a strange relationship with God’s word. Many Christians today have sought to minimize the role of scripture in worship and church programs. This is, on the one hand, an instinct that appears reasonable because as 1 Corinthians 2:14 says, “the natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God because they are folly to him.”

The Bible is honest about how people don’t want to hear it, so what should the church do? We must understand the only way that natural men become spiritual men is by use of the very word of God that the natural man cannot receive. The Spirit of God uses the Word of God to make natural men into new creatures (2 Corinthians 5:17). We need more Bible, not less.

The church that minimizes the Bible is actually discipling Christians in the wrong direction. They may catch that the bible is irrelevant and boring. Without such a thing ever being said, the lack of attention to the Bible and its sufficiency teaches such a harmful truth. Sadly, many Christians have never been in a church that has been robustly committed to God’s word being read and studied substantially. They have been to churches that are music-focused, good-deed-focused, practical life-focused, etc., anything but bible-focused.

Other Christians are committed to being biblical, but they use God’s word as a practical rule book or guide for improving their life. They forget the obvious that the Bible was not written directly to them. Unfortunately, when we rip a Bible passage from its redemptive-historical context in order to artificially make it more relevant, we do not actually make scripture relevant. By making it about us, we short-circuit the intended effect of scripture: a corrected God-centered vision of all things. Instead of being helped, we foster the dysfunctional assumption that everything (even God) exists to serve us individually.

The scripture is a book unlike any other book. In it, we have a library of sixty-six books wherein we meet God. At Trinity, we know that the natural man cannot receive scripture, but that being true, Jesus never discouraged his church from the diligent use of the scriptures. He commanded the church in the great commission (Matthew 28:19) to teach the church to obey everything he commanded. Not everyone will respond when we teach, of course. Jesus’ parable of the sower (Mark 4) explains the dual effect of God’s word. In some, it will have little to no lasting significance, but to others, the word of God may bear fruit that is one hundred times the initial investment!

Ross has been studying God’s word for decades and would tell you that he is anything but bored with scripture. He finds himself becoming more and more fascinated with knowing God through the Bible as each year passes.

We rejoice that God has called Ross & Jeanne to be some of the first members of Trinity Presbyterian Church of Norman, OK. Ross and Jeanne are actively serving in various ministries in our church and community, particularly focusing on their role in making disciples of their seven grandchildren. Ross was elected to become our church’s first deacon when we were organized as an official church in September of 2021. A Biblical church is a necessity for him and it should be for you too. Ross’ servant heart and calling to serve as deacon is founded upon his desire to serve the ministry of God’s word through meeting needs and by leading our church to adorn the gospel with good works.

We call you to worship with us each Sunday at 10:30am at 428 W. Lindsey.