What a remarkable gift we have in the Bible. It is a collection of writings, a library of stories, and instructions, and songs, and sermons, and teachings, and humorous anecdotes, and poetry, and historical accounts, and reports of visions and miracles, and laws, and ethics.... It is a work that can only be called inspired. It is the foundation of our faith. All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.

If Trinity UMC is to be an effective instrument for the kingdom of God it must be firmly grounded in the Holy Scripture. The success of the church’s mission absolutely depends upon this. The stated mission of this church is:
To know God, to show the love of Jesus, to share the gifts of the Spirit.
How can one know God and ignore the written record of God’s revelation? How can one show the love of Jesus without a thorough knowledge of how Jesus shared his love throughout his ministry? How can one share the gifts of the Spirit without knowing what those gifts are and how they are discovered and developed in the Christian community? It is impossible to be equipped for the mission of the church without serious study of the Scripture.

Jesus commanded us to make disciples. That is the overriding priority of our lives. We begin by making disciples of ourselves. A disciple is one who follows a master; a student who is devoted to a teacher. A person who thinks he or she can be a Christian without taking this commission seriously is tragically mistaken. The vine that bears no fruit is trimmed away and cast into the fire because it is useless to the vineyard.

This is tough talk. But let me put an even sharper point on it:

Unless you take the study of the scriptures seriously, you have no right to assume the title Christian.

Why? Because to call yourself a Christian is say that you are a follower of Christ, and you cannot be a follower of Christ and ignore his teachings and the contexts out of which those teachings arose.