Open Word

Paul writes that ‘… the Holy Scriptures … are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that all God’s people may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.’ (2 Timothy 3:15-17)

Open Word was devised by Matthew Hutton while a curate at St Stephen’s Church in Norwich. Matthew presented Open Word at St Stephen’s over 2016/17 and 2017/18 and, at the Mitre Benefice, in 2020/21, first in person and then (with the advent of Covid) on Zoom.

The idea behind Open Word as originally conceived is to cover (somewhat ambitiously!) the whole Bible over 18 weeks – to see how God’s Grand Story hangs together and how He speaks to us though the unfamiliar as well as the more well-known bits. A particular aim is to see how Jesus inhabits the Old Testament.

For those who would like to enjoy the whole of Open Word for themselves, you can easily access the content on 55 Podcasts which Matthew recorded in 2021.  Just click on the LISTEN ON SPOTIFY button, starting with Introduction and then 1.1, 1.2 and 1.3 for the Overview of the Bible through to 18.1, 18.2 and 18.3 for Revelation and New Creation. The EPISODE NOTES button will take you to the text of the PowerPoint Slides.

Teaching
Seeing and understanding what the OT says.

Training
Learning how to apply what we learn to our daily life.

Transformation
Allowing the Holy Spirit to conform us more into the image of Christ.