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Big Picture Bible Study

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Get the Picture!

The Big Picture Bible Study is an in-depth, chronological study of the whole Bible. In its entirety, it comprises 10 separate studies spread out over a two-year time frame.

Two Years

Ten Classes

Check out a brief overview of the ten classes you can expect to see over the course of this study.

You may think your story began a few decades ago, but to get at the heart of who you really are and what your purpose is, we need to go back to the beginning... to the very beginning. Join us for the first series in The Big Picture Bible Study for a five-week journey through the book of Genesis. We’ll unpack themes such as: being made in the image of God, the theology of sin and its effects, the purpose of mankind, and the importance of a special covenant God made with a man named Abraham.

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When most people hear about God’s Law, the Ten Commandments immediately come to mind. But the Law is so much more than that. In this second installment of The Big Picture Bible Study series, we’ll spend five weeks diving into the origin of God’s Law, the aspects of the Law that we rarely hear about, and what importance (if any) the Law has for our modern context.

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After Adam and Eve got kicked out of the Garden of Eden, God made His people a promise that He was going to give them a land flowing with milk and honey to possess and bless: the Promised Land. The only problem? Other people already lived there. In this 5-week series, we’ll dig deep into the books of Numbers, Joshua, Judges and Ruth as we examine the conquest and settlement of the Promised Land, as well as the people’s spiral into disobedience. As we study this bloody period in our faith’s history, we’ll learn a lot about God and about the heart of humankind.

Offering Spring 2026

After God’s people inherited the long-awaited Promised Land, they quickly turned away from Him toward the temptations of the pagan cultures around them. It didn’t take long for them to realize what a big mistake they made as they spiraled deeper and deeper down into a pit of immorality and self-destruction. Desperate for help, they cried out to their forgotten God, pleading for Him to appoint a king who would lead them and rescue them. In the fourth series of the Big Picture Bible Study, we’ll dive into the books of Samuel, Kings and Chronicles as we look at the dawn of the monarchy, the dividing of the kingdom, and the fall into exile.

Offering Spring 2026

Francis Schaeffer once wrote a book entitled “He Is There and He Is Not Silent”. That description of God could not be more accurate during a very dark time in His people’s history. After God gave the Israelites what they requested – a king – they soon found out that a human king could never solve the real problems they faced. They didn’t need a king; they needed a Savior. Amid their moral decay and hopelessness, God did not sit by passively. Instead, He sent prophet after prophet to remind the people of His steadfast love for them and that it was never too late for them to turn back to Him. In this 6-week series, we’ll dive into the prophetic books of the Bible to examine how God responds to our sin and how we can develop eyes to see Him even when all hope seems lost.

Offering Summer 2026

In The Writings, we’re going to backtrack a bit in our chronological study of the Bible to tackle some poetic books and wisdom writing; specifically, we'll read the books of Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and the Song of Songs. We'll dive into the historical and cultural contexts of these books and learn how to properly interpret wisdom literature. 

Offering Fall 2026

In this series, we’re turning to the New Testament to study the central figure of the entire Bible: Jesus of Nazareth. We’ll study the four biographical accounts of His life – Matthew, Mark, Luke and John - to find out what made this God-man such a polarizing figure. With intertestamental background, we will dig into the historical and religious climate of the world in the first century, taking an immersive look into the context of Jesus’ audience. You may have read a lot about Jesus before, but we guarantee you this class will offer a much-needed fresh perspective to the untold story behind the text.

Offering Fall 2026

Following the resurrection of Jesus, a strange phenomenon occurred. The small movement of ordinary Jewish men and women that was meant to have been squashed by the death of their supposed Messiah was suddenly transformed into a bold group of witnesses that began a community that would forever change the world. In this 5-week series of the Big Picture Bible Study, we’ll discuss the importance of the Holy Spirit and track the launch and growth of the early Church. We will also meet a man named Paul and talk about how he played a pivotal role in the early church and still continues to impact us today.

Offering Spring 2027

Much of the New Testament is made up of a collection of letters written by the early disciples of Jesus. While reading other people’s mail is usually frowned upon, God invites us to not only peek into these letters but also to study them and apply their lessons to our own lives. In this series of The Big Picture Bible Study, we’ll unpack the internal dynamics of church life, confront false teaching that threatens our faithfulness, and learn how to grow in our reflection of Jesus.

Offering Spring 2027

The book of Revelation is known to be one of the most intimidating and confusing books of the Bible. But is it really? What's at the heart of this book, and what do we need to understand about it? Join us as we close out The Big Picture Bible Study by examining the way that God ends His book. We'll learn about the end times and how to live in the present, and we'll also circle back to the overarching narrative of the Bible from start to finish.

Offering Summer 2027

Questions

Big Picture Bible Study

Nope! Like all of our Institute classes, The Big Picture Bible Study is open to everyone. That means you can invite whomever you’d like to join you, even if they live states or countries away.

Not at all! We start the series with an overview of how to study the Bible to orient anyone joining for the first time to the approach we’ll be taking. But we’ve designed this whole series so that you can come no matter where you are. That said, a recommended (though not mandatory) pre-requisite is the Exploring the Bible on-demand class, which you can access HERE.

Not much! You’ll need a modern translation of the Bible. We most often use the New Living Translation (NLT) or the New International Version (NIV), which you can find in The Grounds Bookstore & Café. You’ll also need the class workbook, which is available digitally for free or in print for a small cost.

They are. However, we do recommend that you attend live if you’re able. We value communal learning, and that happens best when you can be there during the class time. But if you just aren’t able to make it during the live session, we do send out the recording the following day so you can watch the lesson.

You don’t. We recommend that you do because this series is about more than information. It’s about transformation and we believe that happens best with other people – where you can process what you’re learning, share what you’ve experienced,
learn from others. But we also know attending live is not always possible so we’ve done our best to make recordings accessible (and your instructors accessible if you have any questions).

There is and, admittedly, it’s a good bit. The purpose of the homework is to get you into the Bible. We’ve intentionally made it so you won’t be able to get it all done in just a single sitting. We want it to be something you spend a bit of time on every day. But we all have those weeks where life just happens. So, you can always come to class, even if you didn’t finish the homework or even touch the homework. The homework is meant to help you get more out of the class, but it’s not a requirement for participation! You’ll get out of it what you put into it.

You can start whenever you want! The whole two-year series takes us chronologically through the Bible, but we do a recap at the beginning of each new series of where we’ve been and where we are in the story. So, while each class is part of a whole, we also work to make each class a bit self-contained. If you join at a different point, you won’t be lost. And, if you have any questions, we’re always available.

There is no cost to take this class. The only possible cost is if you want a printed workbook. The digital version is free. If you want to pick up a printed copy from Meck, it’s $5. If you want us to ship you a printed copy, it’s $8. But, otherwise, no cost at all!

Big Picture Bible Study | Mecklenburg Community Church