Jonah

If you are joining us tonight and you haven't been around, we are in the middle of a Jonah series that's not really a Jonah series, for those of you who didn't catch that last week.

So we're kind of looking at the Jonah narrative, but more looking at some topics that come up in the Jonah narrative.

And tonight we're going to continue doing that.

So it's worth keeping your Bible open to that Jonah passage, but we are going to jump around a little bit as well.

So how about I pray, and then we'll get stuck into it.

Father God, we thank you for bringing us here tonight.

We thank you for the incredible joy of new families that will be beginning soon.

We ask that you would watch over and protect Asha and Jess and Susie and James as well,

that you would prepare them for what it means to be a family and that you would use their families for your glory.

Lord, we ask that tonight as we gather as a bigger church family, that you would prepare us to hear you speak,

that you would strip away anything in our minds that would block that,

and that as we sit under your word, you would change us and you would reveal yourself so that our lives are to your glory.

Amen.

I wonder what it is that you are expecting to happen in the next 20 minutes.

I say 20 minutes, but I said that this morning, and in truth, it was a little bit longer.

But what is it that you're expecting to happen in the next little while?

As we arrive to church each week, as somebody like Amy just did comes and opens the Bible and speaks,

and reads it, and then someone like me or Steve or Chris or Brian gets up and preaches,

what is it that you expect to happen in that moment?

What about in your community groups, or maybe as you do your own quiet times at home,

what is it that you expect is going on?

What is it that you think you are doing when you sit down and you open this book that we call the Bible?

I was reflecting on that this week, and the reason was I thought about it,

and I probably have 10, 11, 12, 13 Bibles at home.

I've got lots of English Bibles, lots of NIVs, a few other random translations as well,

and that even doesn't include the ones I have on my computer or my phone or, for some of you, your iPad.

And I was thinking, I actually don't know where some of my Bibles are.

Some of them are probably on bookshelves.

Some of them might be in piles of paper, on the coffee table, in my car, in my backpack.

One's right here.

Most of them are worn.

Some of them have, like, stains from Coke that I've spilt on them.

They've got pen marks in them.

They've got torn pages.

One of them's about to come out from the spine.

This particular one is missing about three words from Ephesians chapter 2,

Ephesians 2 · chapter mention

which is really important that I know off by heart when I get to Ephesians chapter 2.

Ephesians 2 · chapter mention

So, basically, I was thinking about it because the way I treat my Bibles is sometimes just like a book,

like any other book that I might have or might own.

And the reason this stuck out for me is I did some reading a little while ago

on the way that Muslim people handle their scriptures, the way they handle the Quran.

They are meticulous compared to me, and I think it's fair to say compared to us.

They wash their hands before they even touch the Quran.

Almost every Muslim memorizes significant chunks of the Quran in Arabic

so that they can use it in their prayers.

And if a copy of the Quran is damaged or a page is torn, like my one now,

you can't just throw it away.

You can't just recycle it.

In some cases, what they will do is they will actually put it into a stream

and let it float away.

Something symbolic about it.

They will ceremonially burn it or they'll find a remote place and bury it especially.

All this for a book that we would say is fictitious.

And yet, we treat our book, which we say is the Word of God, just like any other book.

And I wonder if that's the issue, is that we have taken this thing that God has given us

and it's become just like any other book, like Twilight or Harry Potter.

I mean, don't get me wrong, we think it's a good book.

Sometimes it makes us happy.

Sometimes it makes us sad.

Sometimes it's challenging, but it's kind of just a book.

It's like we've kind of lost the purpose of what God gave us the Bible for.

One of the joys of watching my little boy grow up is watching him discover new things.

A development in our family over Christmas is that he's now crawling.

That's exciting and scary because you've really got to lock stuff up now.

But one of his favourite things to do is to find stuff that he's not supposed to have

and stick it in his mouth.

My keys are a personal favourite of his.

I don't know why.

It's metal.

It can't be nice to eat.

I assume it's dirty and probably got germs all over it, but he loves it.

He puts it in his mouth and you can hear him tapping it on his teeth,

the two of them that he's got, and chewing on it all around his gums and stuff like that.

For him, keys are perfect for teething.

But in actual fact, those keys have a significant job to do.

They have to start my car so that I can get around and go places.

But for him, he's kind of got a lesser job for it and he's settled for that.

And I wonder if that's what we've done with the Scriptures.

The Scriptures have a significant purpose.

God gave them to us with an agenda and with an outcome in mind.

And I wonder if we have settled for making them just another book that we read,

just something that might teach us some information.

And I wonder if we have misunderstood just why God gave us his word

and just what it means to have it in this form that we have it.

And so what I want to wrestle with tonight is I want to rediscover God's word

and why God has given us his word.

So I want to look at three things particularly.

First one is we need to understand that the words we have on the pages,

the words that Amy just wrote out for us from Psalm 1 and from Jonah 3,

these are not just human words.

We live in a culture where if something is old, it has credibility.

If you read something that somebody said 50 years ago, suddenly it is wisdom.

It is good advice.

But if the same advice was written down yesterday,

we have to wait a little while and see if it has actually got any credibility.

But the Bible is not just old wisdom that has kind of gained credibility over time

because it is older and older and older.

The Bible is actually God's words.

We sometimes call it God's word and that is right,

but we have to understand that the words are God's.

This is not just random thoughts.

This is God speaking.

In the Old Testament, when God spoke, people were scared.

If you think of Mount Sinai, for example,

God came down to speak to his people and it was so scary for the people

that they insisted that someone else stand between them.

They sent Moses off and they said,

Moses, you go and hear from God because we are scared to hear the voice of God speak.

We are nervous to have God speak directly to us because we know who he is

and we know how powerful his word is.

And we need to understand that the same God speaks in his word.

This is not just a book.

This is God's mouthpiece to us.

This is his means of communicating with us.

When you read a letter that is sent to you,

you don't kind of step outside the letter and dispassionately just read what's going on.

And, you know, it might be a letter of somebody telling you how fantastic you are.

At that point, you don't step outside of that letter and think,

well, I can see why they said that sentence and they must be talking about someone great.

When you read a letter to you that says you're fantastic, it makes you feel good.

When you read a letter to you that says you're a jerk and you shouldn't have done this thing,

it might offend you.

It might make you feel bad.

And it's the same here with God's word.

You've got to understand this is not something that you sit next to

and study and find information from.

Every time we open these pages, God is speaking to you.

God is not speaking near you.

God is not speaking merely to other people.

This is his word to you.

Now, it's true there is historical context.

There is the people of Israel.

There's all that stuff going on.

But that doesn't change that this is God's word to you.

In 1 Thessalonians chapter 2, Paul says this to the church that he's planted there.

1 Thessalonians 2 · chapter mention

It says,

Paul went to this church and preached the Old Testament.

He opened God's word to them and he converted them.

And the Bible was God speaking to them.

It was the story of Israel's rescue from Egypt.

It was the story of creation.

It was the story of Abraham.

It was all that.

But in those stories, God was speaking to the church at Thessalonica.

And in the same way, what we read now is God speaking to us.

Now, it is good and helpful for us to understand what's going on in the history,

to understand the background, to understand the context.

But it matters most that we actually approach it expecting to hear from God.

Not expecting to find out about Jonah and a whale and thinking, great story.

But expecting God to tell us something.

To show us something.

Because God's word is powerful.

The scriptures open by showing us this picture of creation in which God creates by speaking.

God's word does things.

And so we need to be clear that when we open this book and when we hear God's words,

his word will do things.

His word will achieve an outcome.

It can't just wash past us.

We can't be a passenger.

We can't be passive with it.

We need to expect that because this book comes from the words of God,

who is sovereign and powerful and authoritative,

it will achieve something.

It's addressed to us to achieve something in us.

So first thing is that we've got to understand that this is God's divine word.

This is God speaking to us.

But the second one is just important.

Because God is speaking to us,

it means something's going to happen.

God's word does stuff.

It never doesn't do stuff.

And I don't just mean empathetically,

like when you're reading Twilight and you wish you were Bella.

And not just that sense where you cry in a sad story.

I remember the first,

it was actually a movie,

so I'm cheating a little bit.

The first movie that made me cry was The Power of One.

I'm a softie at heart.

But it was a sad story.

I was horrified at the racism and the injustice that happened.

But the Bible's not like that.

The Bible's not supposed to make me look at it and go,

wow, I can't believe that injustice.

That's horrible.

Wow, I wonder what new book is out.

And move on.

Because that's what happened with Power of One.

I didn't cry last time I watched it.

God's word is different.

It achieves specific outcomes.

I want you to quickly,

we're going to jump through Jonah,

and I want to show you a couple of examples of what I'm talking about.

Jonah 1.1.

The word of the Lord came to Jonah, son of Amittai.

Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it.

God speaks.

He gives Jonah a specific command.

He says,

Go here,

and Jonah disobeys and runs away.

But God's word still achieves something.

We know,

because we just read in chapter 3,

that eventually Jonah ends up in Nineveh.

So God's word has achieved what it set out to achieve.

But more than that,

we also know that God's word never fails.

Last week,

we wrestled with the sovereignty of God and the power of God.

God has a plan.

Jonah is going to Nineveh.

And so when Jonah runs and disobeys God's word,

God's word becomes judgment on Jonah.

Because God's will is clear and it's in front of him,

and Jonah tries to ignore it and disobey it,

the judgment of a storm and a fish is sent.

So that God's word will achieve its outcome.

Jonah 1.9.

God speaks through Jonah the prophet again to the sailors.

Jonah answered,

I am a Hebrew and I worship the Lord,

the God of heaven,

who made the sea and the land.

Jonah is a disobedient prophet.

And yet when God speaks through him,

when God gives him his words,

sailors make vows to God and sacrifice to God

and cry out and understand

that God alone controls all things.

Jonah 3.1.

God speaks this time and Jonah finally obeys.

The word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time.

Go to the great city of Nineveh

and proclaim to it the message I give you.

And Jonah does.

But the big one,

I think,

in Jonah is Jonah 3.4.

On the first day Jonah started into the city,

he proclaimed,

40 more days and Nineveh will be overturned.

The Ninevites believed God,

they declared a fast,

and all of them,

from the greatest to the least,

put on sackcloth.

Now,

we know stories like this

and it's really dangerous

that we miss the significance of this story.

In Jonah,

God makes the point of telling us

that this is a big city,

that it's going to take time.

A visit requires three days

because there's lots of people there.

We know that Nineveh has a king

and yet Jonah turns up unannounced

as a mouthpiece for God,

walks in the gate and says,

you are going to be destroyed

because of how you're living

and every single person in that city repents.

That is significant.

We know it's got nothing to do with Jonah

because just two chapters ago,

Jonah is running away

and trying to avoid God.

There's nothing impressive about Jonah

as a mouthpiece,

but God's word,

through Jonah,

his prophet,

achieves the outcome that God desires

and that outcome is that

that city would repent.

God's word never fails.

God's word will always achieve God's purpose.

Every time it goes out in this story,

something happens.

Even when Jonah ignores it and runs away,

it brings judgment.

We learnt last week,

God's will is unstoppable

and even our disobedience

cannot stop God's plans.

God has spoken to Jonah

and Jonah will achieve what God wants,

whether he likes it or not.

God's word is there to guide us

in what God's will is.

For Nineveh, it's obvious.

He wanted them to turn from his ways,

so he sent Jonah to speak to them.

And again,

an inadequate,

imperfect,

disobedient prophet

with the word of God

led a whole city to repent.

even the king

strips off his royal robes,

gets down in the dirt

and acknowledges the God of heaven

simply because God has spoken.

There's no miracles here.

There's no visions for the king

to show them what God could do

and what God will do.

God just speaks

and that is enough

because God's word is powerful.

God's word will pierce us.

Hebrews 4 tells us

that God's word is living and active,

sharper than any double-edged sword.

It penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit,

joints and marrow.

It judges the thoughts

and attitudes of the heart.

God's word will convict us

and challenge us

and maybe sometimes

even make us feel guilty.

I remember

when I was a student at school,

I wasn't a great student

to have in your class.

I was a fairly proud kid

and so that meant

if you told me I was wrong,

I just got my back up

and would yell.

And it didn't matter

what the cause was,

it didn't matter

if I'd done something wrong,

I just didn't like to hear

that I'd done something wrong.

And so teachers would yell at me

for talking,

for distracting someone,

for not doing my work,

whatever it was.

And as they began to yell,

I began to yell.

And it would escalate back and forth

and I was so proud

that I refused to lose

in that moment.

I refused to let them

get on top of me

and so I would keep yelling

and keep yelling

until eventually

they would break down

or send me out

or whatever it was

and time and time again

I'd get flicked off

to the principal

or the head of senior school

or whoever it was.

And I'd walk into the office

and I remember

having these conversations

over and over and over

and they'd just tell me

that it was rude

and disrespectful

and what a bad kid I was

that I would drive teachers

to tears

or that I would make them

have to go home

and do all these things

and I would just block it out.

I didn't want to hear that.

I don't care if it's true.

I don't want to know

that I'm damaging somebody.

And so sure enough,

the next day

or a week later,

I'd be doing the same thing.

I'd get in a situation

where I didn't want to know

that I was bad.

I didn't want to know

that I'd done something wrong

and so as soon as I heard that,

I would just push

and push and push.

And now I'm a little bit embarrassed

to admit

the kind of stuff that I did

and the person that I was

and I'm very thankful

for some teachers

who persisted with me

and were gracious with me.

But before you judge me,

I wonder if you do

the same sort of thing with God.

We come to church

and we open God's Word

and we have just read

in Hebrews 4,

God's Word

will judge our thoughts.

It will judge

the attitudes

of our hearts.

It will pierce us.

And I wonder

if when God's Word

does that,

you stop listening.

When God's Word

shows you parts

of your life

that don't match up

with what it means

to be a follower of Jesus,

do you switch off?

Don't get me wrong,

God's Word is full

of encouragement.

It's full of comfort

and assurance.

Last week,

we were reminded

that God is sovereign

and powerful

and that He is always

working for our good,

that He has an unstoppable

plan in creation.

But sometimes,

God's Word

will rebuke you.

Sometimes,

it will need to show you

things in your life

that aren't okay.

Sometimes,

God will need to rebuke you

for words

you have spoken

in anger,

for the way

you have maligned

someone else,

for the private,

lustful thoughts

that no one else

knows about,

for the way

we rationalize

going that few kilometers

over the speed limit,

for our refusal

to forgive people

when they hurt us.

If you are anywhere

near as sinful

as I am,

then there is a lot

that God will need

to rebuke in you.

we are reminded

in Scripture

if we claim

to be without sin,

we deceive ourselves.

We are not perfect.

And so,

sometimes,

when we open the Bible,

God will

rebuke us.

in Isaiah 55,

we are told

that as the rain

and snow

come down

from heaven

and do not

return to it

without watering

the earth,

making it bud

and flourish,

so my word

that goes out

from my mouth,

it will never

return to me

empty,

but will accomplish

what I desire

and achieve

the purpose

for which

I sent it.

God's word

never fails.

Just because

we sometimes

try not to listen

or maybe try

and run

in the other

direction

like Jonah did,

God's word

still achieves

its purpose,

whether that is

to guide us

and direct us

or to judge us

for avoiding

and running

from God.

I remember

when I was

at college,

I found

God's word

difficult,

as strange

as that might

sound.

The way

that college

is,

is that you

spend a lot

of time

jostling for

position,

if that's the

right word.

You arrive at

college and

there's this

unspoken

who's the best

preacher.

There's this

constant awareness

of who's getting

asked to speak

at the biggest

events,

who's travelling

around,

who's releasing

books,

who's doing

all that sort

of things.

Now I know

it sounds

childish,

but it's

the reality.

You get

there,

and for me

personally,

I found

myself over

the course

of college

stopping

hearing God's

word.

I would

walk into

a sermon

and instead

of thinking

what is God

teaching me,

I would

think,

is this

preacher any

good?

And I could

tell you

whether or not

they were

any good.

I could tell

you if their

stories were

entertaining,

if they were

helpful,

if they

illustrated

anything,

I could tell

you if their

structure was

clear,

I could tell

you what they

should have

said,

and I

wasn't

alone.

I wonder

if you ever

find yourself

in church

doing something

similar.

You walk out

of church

thinking,

oh, I wish

that preacher

was on

tonight.

I don't

really like

listening to

this one.

Or, it

wasn't a very

good sermon,

I didn't learn

anything.

I remember

making that

comment one

morning tea

after a

chapel at

college,

to a friend

who I

trusted and

who I

still trust,

I said that

wasn't a

very good

sermon,

I didn't

get anything

out of it.

And he

responded by

pointing me

to this

verse,

and reminding

me that

God's word

is doing

God's will

whether I

hear it or

not.

Now, this

doesn't mean

that the

preacher doesn't

have a

responsibility to

work hard to

understand God's

word and to

preach it

clearly,

but what it

means is,

you have a

responsibility as

well, and so

do I.

As we come to

sit under God's

word, whether

it's a sermon,

whether it's your

own reading,

whether it's the

Bible reading,

God's word will

achieve its

purpose.

Are you actually

coming willing to

hear what it has

to say?

Or are you maybe

trying to pick and

choose the things

you want to hear?

Maybe today you

would prefer to

hear that God

loves you lots.

And it's true,

and it's good,

and it's great,

but what if God

has something else

he wants to

tell you?

We need to be

people who have

ears that are

open, who

deeply desire

that God would

speak to us even

when it hurts,

because we know

from last week he's

always working for

our good.

He's not showing

us sin in our

lives just to make

us feel guilty.

He's showing us

and reminding us

that he is holy

and perfect and

majestic, and for

us to spend

eternity with him

he needs to

cleanse us of

the parts of our

lives that aren't

good enough.

He's preparing

us for heaven.

But again, the

point isn't guilt.

That's not God's

desire.

If you come here

regularly and you

sit and feel a

weight of guilt as

we are in church

gathered, if God's

word, you feel like

it just points at

you and shines a

spotlight on parts of

your life that you

want to be kept

secret, that's not

God's desire for

you.

Guilt is not a

wrong starting point

because the way that

we live is shameful.

But the reason God

shows us those parts

of our lives is

because his desire is

that we might be

purified and cleansed

and that we might

spend eternity with

him in heaven.

It is not a

coincidence that in

God's word we are

convicted of sin but

we are also shown

Jesus.

God speaks to us to

show us that we are

not good enough so

that when he preaches

to us of our

Saviour, we may

catch a glimpse of

the majesty of

God's love and

forgiveness in the

face of our

disobedience.

God's word is

God speaking to

us.

God's word always

achieves its

purpose and

ultimately that

purpose is for us

to see God.

God's word is

God speaking to

God.

The way that God

rebukes us in

Scripture isn't

always to say, I

saw you speeding.

There's no verse that

says that.

Or I know what you're

thinking about that

person.

But what Scripture

does, what God does

when he speaks is he

shows us himself.

And as we see his

majesty and holiness,

our sin becomes

apparent very

quickly.

We need to be very

careful that we are

not people who read

God's word selectively,

who pick and choose

the stuff that we

like to hear at

certain times in our

life.

God wants more for

you than that.

God doesn't want

some superficial,

I feel great and

isn't life fantastic

faith.

He doesn't want us

to understand just

the love of him

because you can't

understand God's

love until you

comprehend his

holiness and his

justice.

I've had a

conversation with a

woman who has left

this church.

And she said,

I just got sick of

being told that I

was wrong.

I got sick of being

told that there was

things that needed to

change in my life.

I just wanted to hear

about God's love for

me so that I could be

ready to handle the

week ahead.

Now, without judging

her situation,

she can't understand

God's love unless she

understands how

unworthy she is of

it.

When we are

reminded of our

own sin, we are

driven back to the

cross and we see

God most clearly

because he loves

unworthy people like

us.

The Bible tells us

that as we open

God's word, we get

to know God better.

It's here, in God's

word, when God speaks,

that we are born

again, that we

receive new life,

that we are shaped,

not because of this

paper or these words,

but because God

speaks here.

By his Holy Spirit,

this becomes living

and active and

shapes our heart to

love what God

loves.

This is the only

place where you get

to see God.

There are some

fantastic Christian

books to read that

are helpful, but

this alone is the

place that you get

to know God.

This alone is the

place that he has

chosen to speak to

you, to reveal

himself, and this is

essential if you want

to grow and mature as

a follower of Jesus.

Psalm 1 that was

read for us earlier

paints this incredible

picture of when we

delight in and

meditate on God's

law, on his word,

we become like a

healthy tree.

It's planted by a

stream.

It gets the

sustenance it needs.

It grows, it

produces fruit, it

prospers.

In God's word, we're

fed and strengthened.

In God's word, we're

pruned that we might

bear more fruit.

And by God's word, we

fulfill the purpose

that he has for us.

So this is not just an

ordinary book.

It's nothing like a

good story we might

read.

This is God speaking to

you.

This is God wanting to

work in your life and

shape you.

This is God wanting to

reveal himself to you.

But what does that mean

about the way we handle

this book?

Should you wash your

hands before you open

it tomorrow morning to

read it?

Maybe.

It's probably not

essential.

What will it mean for

us to treat this as God

speaking to us?

Let me suggest a couple

really quickly.

Firstly, be prepared.

for Israel, having God

speak to them was a

fearful experience.

Because the God who was

about to speak was the

same God who spoke

creation.

As you prepare for your

own quiet times, as you

prepare for church, as you

prepare for community

group, don't come here

thinking about 50 other

things.

Don't go out late on a

Saturday night so that

you're so tired when you

get here on Sunday you're

struggling to stay awake.

God wants to speak to

you.

Come here in the best

frame of mind that you

possibly can.

Eager to hear him speak.

Awake.

Alert.

Deeply desiring that he

might rebuke you so that

you might know the joy of

his forgiveness.

Be eager to know God

where he reveals himself

in his word.

We need to be regular.

There are so many voices

speaking into our lives

at the moment.

I confess this morning

that I have somewhat of a

Facebook addiction.

Now that it's on your

phone, I will literally

sometimes wake up, turn

off the alarm and in the

same motion hit the

Facebook icon just to

gander at what statuses

have appeared while I've

been asleep.

And maybe you're not as

bad with Facebook as I am

maybe you read the paper,

maybe you check your

emails.

The first voice you hear

for the day, is it

God's?

Do you even hear God

speak to you each day?

There are so many people

telling you who you are,

what matters, what's

important, but God's

voice is the one that

matters.

We are a church that has

as a core value Christ

centered Bible

saturation.

We want to be people that

when life squeezes us

through suffering and

trial, Bible comes out.

As you face difficulty

and pain, may the hope

and encouragement of God's

word be the first thing

that comes to the surface.

We need God's word.

Memorize it.

Read it daily.

Do whatever you've got to

do.

If you're not doing a

Bible reading plan this year

and you want to, please

join us during the one

that I've emailed out to

you.

It's been a joy this week

to get back into Genesis

and be reminded of the

God who is sovereign.

Lastly, be humble and be

expectant.

When you open this book,

don't let it be about

finishing what you're doing.

When we read the Bible in

church, don't let it be about

what's happening after

church.

When you meet in your

community group, don't let

it be about supper.

Don't let it be about

anything but hearing what

God has to say.

Don't close it until he's

spoken to you.

Because his word is always

achieving his purpose.

We want to be people who

delight in the opportunities

that God's word gives us

to repent.

We want to be like the

Ninevites.

When God says there is

wickedness in us, may we

humbly repent and

acknowledge that he alone

is God.

Repentance is joy for

followers of God.

There is that initial pain

and guilt, but all it does is

take us to Jesus.

It takes us to forgiveness

and it takes us to hope.

So let's be people who come

to church wanting God to

show us what in us needs to

change.

Because then we can hand it

over at the cross and ask

that he replace it with

something better.

He replace it with Christ's

likeness and a love for him

that is growing.

Sorry, one more.

So be prepared, be regular, be

humble and lastly be bold.

God's word does stuff.

We need to stop trying to

come up with fantastic ways

that we're going to introduce

Jesus to the world.

This is the way.

Jonah is trying to run away

from God and he speaks God's

word and sailors make

sacrifices to God.

In your work, in your family,

in your school, wherever it is,

speak God's word.

If you're looking for ways to

share the gospel, there are a

bunch of amazing memory verses

that will communicate the gospel

to people and it's God's words,

not yours.

And just a tip, he's more

articulate than you.

But more importantly, he's more

powerful than you.

And when he speaks, people have

the chance to see him.

This is the most incredible gift

God has given us, the ability

to know him.

So be prepared, be regular, be

humble, be bold and may God

transform us to be more and more

like Jesus for his sake and for

his glory.

Let's pray.

Father God, we want to

acknowledge that even tonight as

we sit and we read your word and

we wrestle with what it is to have

you speak to us, that there are

other things on our minds that

maybe all we're focused on is

getting to the end.

But God, we ask that you would

give us a deep thirst to know you,

that you would keep us from being

more precious about how comfortable

we feel, about how self-confident

we feel.

Instead, give us a desire to know you

more than anything else, to treasure

you more than anything else.

Make us people who soak in your word,

who delight in your law.

Write your word on our hearts, God,

that we may live lives that honor you.

God, we want to pray that as we open

your word, that it would never be just

an academic exercise.

But as we hear you speak, help us to

see you.

Help us to love you.

Shape our hearts that we may love what

you love and hate what you hate.

God, I want to pray that if there are

people in this room right now who for

them it's still the experience that when

your word is open, guilt is the first

thing they feel.

God, I pray that you may show them your

love.

Show them your grace.

Show them that guilt for us

is just an opportunity for joyful

repentance.

Father, we thank you so much for Jesus.

We thank you that we can call you

Father.

We thank you that we can sit under your

word, that we can rejoice as your

people, that we can be confident that

you are preparing a place for us.

Lord, every day until you come back,

may you reveal more of yourself, that

we may know you better, that we may

find the fuller joy that is only found

in you, and so that the world may see

you in us.

Amen.

Amen.