Central Abbotsford

I have, for better or for worse, a mind that retains far too much trivia. Maybe it’s because of my educational background in history (but more likely just because of the way that my mind works), a lot of that trivia revolves around remembering things that happened on a specific date. For instance, this Saturday service at Central Abbotsford falls on November 22. November 22 is an important date for trivia in my mind, because on November 22…

• In 2003, the first NHL Heritage Classic outdoor hockey game was played between the Edmonton Oilers and Montreal Canadiens at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton;
• Also in 2003, I began dating the young woman who would, two and a half years later, become my wife (not all of the trivia is useless!);
• However, in 1963, on this date, the assassination of President John F. Kennedy happened in Dallas;
• On that same date, celebrated Christian author C.S. Lewis and prominent and prescient novelist Aldous Huxley both died.

You are free to distrust me on this next statement, but these various bits of trivia do not require a Wikipedia search for me (this is not a boast; it would be a pretty pathetic attempt at bragging if it were). 

I do not ask for this type of trivia to take up residence in my brain. But it’s there, along with a bunch more just like it (for instance, did you know that the word “trivia” comes from the Latin tri vium, meaning “the meeting of three roads”, where people would meet for idle chitchat? Now you do). 

Now, to move from the trivial to the substantial, and explain where I am going with this. I, along with the pastoral staff and leadership at Northview, believe that God has, in the Scriptures, granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3). We believe the entire Bible to be the infallible Word of God and the final, complete and authoritative guide for the faith and life of Christian discipleship.

It is tempting to look at the Bible and see a big book of information. Of data. Of trivia. And, indeed, I think it is beneficial to know the Bible in detail, and I wish my Biblical trivia knowledge was as strong as my knowledge of 1990s hockey statistics or celebrities’ birthdays. 

However, more important than knowing Bible trivia is knowing who the Bible is about. The Bible is, first and foremost, the primary written means by which God has revealed Himself to His people. We also believe that He has made His power and deity known in creation, and that the heavens themselves testify to His glory, but in terms of clarity and intellectual coherence, the Scriptures are the primary means of revelation.

Now, in addition to my role as the Central Abbotsford pastor, I have also had the privilege for the past two years of leading our Abbotsford Men’s Bible Study at the Downes Road campus on Wednesday nights. Alongside the women, who meet in two groups on Monday evenings and Wednesday mornings, our Discipleship department has been leading our church this ministry year through a Bible overview study entitled “Know Your God”. 

The purpose of this Bible overview is not to be immersed in Bible trivia, but to learn and understand the great story of redemption that has been authored by God and told through His prophets and apostles in the Bible. We are coming up to the end of Part 1 of the study in just a couple of weeks, and are preparing for the second part of the study to begin in the New Year.

Please accept this as an invitation and an encouragement to register for Part 2 of the study. You can find a link to do so here. Even if you haven’t been a part of the first half of the study, you will be enriched, edified, and encouraged by joining those who have been here. Not only are these times of discussing and hearing teaching about God and His story, they are also times of fellowship and prayer, as the men and women of this church consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, all while getting to know their God even better, not just for the sake of doing so, but for the purpose of loving Him more.

Trivial knowledge may be largely useless, but I can assure you that your time spent in this study will not.