Patty Shelly speaks to adults at Thursday morning worship. Photo by Vada Snider.

For many of us, the Bible is a “book we already know” or it doesn’t feel relevant, said Patricia Shelly during her message during adult worship on Thursday morning.

Shelly is professor of Bible and religion at Bethel College, North Newton, Kan., and the new moderator of Mennonite Church USA.

“According to our Confession of Faith, the Bible is the essential book as the church,” she said. “But how well are we connected to this part of our history?”

Shelly spoke from Luke chapter 24.

“We don’t understand Jesus’ life and ministry without being immersed in the Scriptures—the Old Testament no less,” she said.

The Scriptures are the key to understanding Christ and walking with him on your faith journey, she said.

But there is a second insight from that chapter in Luke: “Christ is the lens through which we read the rest of the Bible,” she said.

Shelly concluded by reflecting on the title of her message: “The Word on the Way.”

“It has a simple wonderful simplicity to it. But also a profound truth,” she said. “‘The Way’ refers to Emmaus Road, but also to our Christian journey.”

Also, the ‘Word’ has a double meaning, Shelley said. It is both Scripture and Jesus.

“Understanding Christ as the center of Scripture … makes the Bible a living Word in our midst,” she said. “It is not an ancient artifact.”