The Bible is God’s own Word to us revealing not only who He is but also who we are. It’s the bedrock of our faith as it speaks with authority about how we can know God personally and enjoy Him forever. As such we see the Bible as our ultimate authority for what we believe and how we should live. We normally use a translation of the Bible known as the New International Version.  Lots of churches use it.  It's a modern translation so it's not full of "thou" and "thee" like the old "King James" Bible your parents may have had.

The Bible is a pretty big book so we don't suggest you start at the beginning.  The first part, and by far the biggest, is called the Old Testament.   This is the part of the Bible that tells the story of God’s dealings with people before the coming of Jesus. It speaks of how God created a perfect world which we spoiled by turning away from Him and in so doing ended up separated from Him. But it doesn’t just give us the bad news, it brings us the life changing Good News that God has devised a rescue plan for us so that we can know God again! The Old Testament points the way to the arrival God’s rescuer, Jesus Christ, who we meet in the New Testament.

It tells us about the life of Jesus and his death and resurrection. We read next of how the Good News of Jesus changes the lives of thousands of people who come together in churches living the new life God has given them.

The first 4 books in the New Testament, we call them Gospels, tell the story of Jesus' life on earth. and if you want to read about who Jesus is and what he said, Mark's gospel is a good place to start.  Here it is as a PDF file which you can view on-screen or download.  If you have an MP3 player, or want to listen to it on iTunes, you can pick it up here.  Or, if you really want to go to town, you could download the whole Bible from that site. 

You can use 'Net Bible Search' (below) to do just that.  Enter a word or phrase into the box below and click 'search'.  This will open a new window with results to your search.  You can also view the 'Verse for Today' (below right) which changes daily so be sure to come back to visit us. Biblegateway.com is another great place to go - you can compare different translations for example.