In the Beginning Was the Word— Sermon by the Very Rev. Dr. Craig Stephans

Let us pray.

Aba Father, we come to you through your

son Jesus.

And Lord, we pray that today we might

receive grace upon grace through him

that your grace would abound to us and

help us to respond with faith, with

humility, and with obedience to you.

Come, Holy Spirit, grant us wisdom and

revelation. apply your gospel to our

hearts and lives with power and

conviction through Jesus Christ in whose

name we pray. Amen.

>> Amen.

>> Please be seated.

In the beginning was the word. So starts

John's gospel which is the gospel

reading for the first Sunday of

Christmas every year.

And this season as I've been meditating

on this passage, the Lord has really

impressed upon me just that opening

phrase, in the beginning was the word.

As we begin a new year 2026,

I think the Lord would want to encourage

us to practice in 2026

a discipline that would enable us at the

end of 2026 to look back and say in the

beginning was the word and the word has

been with me all year.

I want to impress upon you the value of

God's word. John here in his gospel is

speaking of the living word. Jesus who

is from infinity to infinity with no

beginning and no end. He was with God in

the beginning and all things were made

through him. He is the word of life who

became flesh and dwelt among us. And

through him, as John says, we have

received grace upon grace.

And what is true of Jesus also points to

God's word that he has given to us in

scripture. This scripture is grace upon

grace to us. It is life to us. It is

blessing and guidance to us. So I want

to just share about the value of God's

word and what scripture it says itself

says to us to exhort us to tune in to

God's word is scripture the Bible I was

really given grace in my life to that

while I was in college I was led to a

onampus disciplehip group called the

navigators which is a ministry to

college students and to those in the

military which emphasizes above all I

think having a daily quiet time as part

of your life, as part of your daily

regimen. A quiet time being time that

you spend in God's word and responding

to that word with faithful prayer.

And so I developed that habit somewhat

slowly during college in a response to

navigators. but then also received the

grace that after a couple years um when

Missy and I were married and we were at

a small church in Charleston, the pastor

was going through a dry time in his life

and God put it on his heart to practice

one discipline to maintain his rhythm

with God to get refreshed and it was to

spend an hour reading the Bible out

loud.

And so as he did that and as it was

fruitful in his life, he encouraged all

of us in the church to practice that

daily discipline of reading the Bible

out loud for an hour and asking God to

grant us true repentance unto salvation.

And so that also proved fruitful in my

life and helped me to develop a habit of

reading the Bible for about an hour a

day. Not as a rule uh that is based on

fear but as a delight that is based on

the lifegiving impact of God's word in

our life. not only as the word that is

written but as the word that comes to

life through the Holy Spirit who

inspired it and who applies it to our

heart and I want to highlight some

emphasis some emphasis of what the word

of God does and is in our lives. The

word gives us life. Jesus the living

word is the light of life and the word

that he has inspired and given to us and

applies to our lives it also gives life

and this is emphasized throughout God's

word but particularly in the book of

Deuteronomy

when Moses is writing God's word to

God's people he says this in Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy 8:3

8:3 and part of this will sound familiar

from the gospels

God humbled you causing you to hunger

and then feeding you with mana, which

neither you nor your ancestors had

known, to teach you that a man does not

live on bread alone, but on every word

that comes from the mouth of the Lord.

Now, we

recognize ourselves as people who

believe God's word. People who have

taken a stand for God's word as

Christurch Anglican. And so, we have to

ask ourselves, are we living like we

believe this is true? that our lives do

not depend on what we put into our

bodies, but on what we hear from God.

And you will recognize this as a

response that Jesus made to the devil

when he was tempted by the devil in the

wilderness after fasting for 40 days and

he was tempted. And the devil came to

him and said, "If you are the son of

God, turn these stones into bread." And

Jesus said, "It is written, man does not

live on bread alone, but on every word

that comes from the mouth of the Lord."

If we live like that, we don't want to

miss a word that comes from the mouth of

the Lord. We don't want to miss a word

that he has inspired in his scriptures.

When Moses was about to be called into

heaven and die and he was writing his

last words that were given to him by God

for the people of Israel as they went

into the promised land, he gives them

these instructions later in the book of

Deuteronomy chapter 32 beginning in

Deuteronomy 32 · chapter mention

verse 45.

And when Moses had finished speaking all

these words to Israel, he said to them,

"Take to heart all the words by which

I'm warning you today, that you may

command them to your children, and that

they may be careful to do all the words

of this law. For it is no empty word for

you, but your very life. And by this

word, you shall live long in the land

that you are going over the Jordan to

possess."

What he is saying is God's word, the

word that he speaks to us, the word that

he gives to us is our very life.

Jesus in John 10:10 said he came into

John 10:10

the world to give us life and life

abundantly. And it is through God's word

that we are inspired and empowered as

well as with the Holy Spirit and the

people of God to live this life.

It is this word that is your very life.

And this word that we have in scripture

is indicated in the New Testament to be

by um Peter in second Peter 1:20.

2 Peter 1:20

It is prophecy of scripture that doesn't

come from someone's own interpretation,

but it is inspired by the Holy Spirit.

And then Paul writes the same thing in 2

2 Timothy 3:1

Timothy 3:1 16. He says, "All scripture

is breathed out by God." So we can be

assured and confident that the word of

God that we have, the Bible, is God's

word that gives us life and guidance and

direction.

When Moses had passed away and Joshua

was raised up in his place to lead the

people of Israel into the promised land

over and against many adversarial

nations, God didn't give him

instructions about how to wield the

sword or about how to lead people

necessarily. He gave him instructions

about this. This is the beginning of

Joshua. Joshua 1:7. Be strong and very

Joshua 1:7

courageous, being careful to do

according to all the law that Moses, my

servant, commanded you. Do not turn from

it to the right hand or to the left,

that you may have good success wherever

you go. This book of the law shall not

depart from your mouth, but you shall

meditate on it day and night, so that

then you so that you may be able to do

according to all that is written in it.

For then you will make your way

prosperous, and then you will have good

success. The key to the success of the

Israelite people going in to this

foreign land and living the life that

God has for them and being at peace was

that they would meditate on God's word

day and night and be careful to do all

that is written in it. This is the way

that they would live a life that

fulfilled God's purposes for them. And

it is no different for us today. God's

word has not lost value. God's word has

not lost its lifegiving impact for us.

And God has not changed his mind about

his word and what he speaks. It is still

what God calls us to meditate on day and

night, being careful to do what is

written, being encouraged by the

promises and having faith in what God

has said. The word gives life. And like

Jesus is the light of life and that

light shines in the darkness and the

darkness has not overcome it. God's word

also gives light in the darkness. And

you know that we face a seemingly

overwhelming amount of darkness all

around us. No matter where we look,

there seems to be darkness encroaching.

And that is no doubt a tactic of the

enemy to try to create constant fear and

anxiety and trepidation among us. But it

is God's light that shines and overcomes

the darkness. In Psalm 119, a psalm all

about God's word and its value. In verse

105, the author writes, "Your word is a

lamp to my feet and a light to my path."

God's word shines before us. It scatters

the darkness in the way that God is

leading us. It is his word. It

supernaturally shines light over and

against the darkness.

And Paul calls the word of God the sword

of the spirit. when he is exhorting

God's people in Ephesians 6:10-20

Ephesians 6:10–20

to stand firm and fast against all the

spiritual forces of evil that are our

enemies. He says to put on the full

armor of God and in that armor of God,

the one weapon of offense is the sword

of the spirit which Paul calls the word

of God. It is the sword of the spirit

that we are to take up against darkness,

against enemies, against the powers and

principalities of this world, even

sometimes against our own sinful nature,

to stop it, to put it down, to help us

die to ourselves and live for God and

his light.

In that passage I referenced earlier in

second Peter uh chapter 1 beginning in

verse 19, Peter is doing the same thing

I'm doing is promoting God's word to the

church. And this was the first century

church, those that have come to Christ

in that first generation. He's promoting

to them the word. And he says, "We have

the prophetic word more fully confirmed

to which you will do well to pay

attention as to a lamp shining in a dark

place until the day dawn and the morning

star rises in your hearts, knowing this

first of all that no prophecy of

scripture comes from someone's own

interpretation. For no prophecy was ever

produced by the will of men, but men

spoke from God as they were carried

along by the Holy Spirit."

This is a wonderful exhortation to us

that we can trust that God's word was

inspired by the Holy Spirit and we can

know from reading God's word that the

Holy Spirit is present with us to

interpret the word and help us to apply

it to our lives. He speaks to us for our

lives and others like a lamp shining in

a dark place. If we don't have this

word, if we don't have this light in our

hearts and in our mouths, the darkness

can overwhelm and overcome us. And trust

me, it is constantly trying to do that.

We need God's word. We need this light

shining on our path, shining in our

souls, in our minds, and through our

mouths.

Paul says something very si similar to

Timothy uh the fuller passage that I

referenced earlier 2 Timothy chapter 3

2 Timothy 3 · chapter mention

beginning in 14 and Paul's writing to

Timothy which is like his mentee who's

serving as a pastor of the church that

Paul started and Paul says he he's

writing to to him in the context of

all of the workings of the enemy of

darkness and evil that Timothy is up

against in this area in this church not

unlike all the contexts that we are in

in this world. It's not all bad. It was

created by God and God is active. But

there is darkness. There is evil. There

are lies and delusions and deceptions

and there are so many temptations. But

Paul writes this to Timothy. But as for

you, continue in what you have learned

and firmly believe, knowing from whom

you learned it, and how from childhood

you have been acquainted with the sacred

writings, which are able to make you

wise for salvation through faith in

Christ Jesus. What is Paul saying? He's

saying, you have known the sacred

writings, the scriptures, as you've

grown up as a faithful Jewish young man.

Those scriptures, that word of God is

not childish. It's not something you

grow beyond or learn past and just have

it as something from your childhood. We

never grow beyond the word of God. We

never mature to a place where we don't

need God's word daily.

It gives us life.

And there are no shortcuts to God's word

either or to knowing God or maturity in

the faith. There are no shortcuts to

stand firm against the spiritual attacks

of the enemy, all the temptations of

this world outside of time in God's word

and in prayer.

Paul goes on to say to Timothy, "All

scripture is breathed out by God and

profitable for teaching, for reprove,

for correction, and for training and

righteousness, that the person of God

may be complete and equipped for every

good work. What we need in our life,

correction, teaching, discipline,

training,

comes from the word of God.

Not just spiritual things but also

practical guidance

and the word of God is accompanied by

God's presence.

In fact, the word of God brings

transformation to our lives. something

we all need as we are born again like

Paul described in our reading from

Galatians and we are adopted as God's

children and we are given the spirit of

adoption by whom we cry aba father and

who confirms with our spirit that we are

god's children it is the word of god

that helps us to live into that new life

in god's kingdom

uh Jesus talks about this transformation

in John 15 when he talks about abiding

ing in Jesus that he is the vine. We are

the branches. Listen to what Jesus says.

John 15 verse two. Every branch in me

that does not bear fruit he takes away.

And every branch that does bear fruit,

he prunes that it may bear more fruit.

Already you are clean because of the

word that I've spoken to you. Abide in

me and I in you. As the branch cannot

bear fruit by itself unless it abides in

the vine, neither can you unless you

abide in me. Our abiding in Christ is

based on the word that he has spoken to

us and the work that he has done for us.

And so as it starts with his word, it

continues with his word. Our abiding,

our remaining, our being with Christ,

our fellowshipping with him is based and

facilitated based on and facilitated by

God's word to us. It lets us know his

mind, his heart. Lets us know what he is

saying to us. And the Holy Spirit of

Christ is present there with us to help

us, to bring to our remembrance, to

speak directly to us.

This is why the author of Hebrews says

this about God's word. The word of God

is living and active, sharper than any

two-edged sword, piercing into division

of soul and of spirit, of joints and of

marorrow, and discerning the thoughts

and intentions of the heart. The word of

God applied by the Holy Spirit does for

us what nothing else can.

Even we have trouble discerning

the thoughts and intentions of our

hearts. Even we have trouble really

knowing intimately the deep part of our

souls. But the Holy Spirit knows. And

the word of God is the surgical knife

that he uses to heal,

to discipline, to correct

along with a lamp that shines even in

our souls where it is dark and brings

light. The word of God is living and

active every time we open the Bible.

And open our hearts to God's word and

his spirit. It is alive to us just like

Jesus himself is the living word who is

the light of life who is grace upon

grace. That's how God uses his word in

our lives. But he can't do it if we

don't open it and apply ourselves humbly

to his word.

But we can be assured that when we do

read God's word sincerely with humility,

whether we read it for a while or

whether we focus on one verse, we can be

assured of what God says in Isaiah

Isaiah 55:10–11

55:10-11,

that his word is impactful. He says this

about his word. For as the rain and the

snow come down from heaven, and do not

return there, but water the earth,

making it bring forth and sprout, giving

seed to the sewer, and bread to the

eater, so shall my word be that goes

from my mouth. It shall not return to me

empty, but it shall accomplish that

which I purpose, and shall succeed in

the thing for which I sent it.

We can rejoice that our God is loving

and good and kind and merciful and full

of grace because he is going to

accomplish his purpose one way or

another.

And we can be glad and thankful that his

purpose is good. His purpose is loving

and kind for us. His purpose is that we

might live the life he has for us. And

the word facilitates and helps to

accomplish that. Our responsibility is

to receive it and to believe. Just like

when Jesus comes in what John says in

chapter 1 verse 12-14, he says he came

to his own and his own rejected him. But

to all who believed him or to all who

received him and all who believed him,

he gave the right to become children of

God. The same is how we approach

scripture. We can reject it and it will

be no good to us. But God will fulfill

his purpose in creation.

Or we can receive it and believe it and

God will bring about his good purposes

in our lives to cause all things to work

together for good according to his

purposes. that truly is that we would be

conformed to Christ and that we would be

people of his kingdom and live as his

sons and daughters bearing witness to

the living word who is Jesus.

And the good news that John conveys in

this first chapter I is that the word of

God is true and it is accompanied by

grace. It would be really terrifying if

we only had the truth and no grace

because the truth, that sword of the

spirit would show us how sinful and

depraved we are.

And it does do that. But it is also

accompanied by grace. the grace of

Christ that also shows us how Jesus died

for us. How Jesus saves us and how God

has justified us, made us righteous, and

given us peace with him as his sons and

daughters. So now his love is poured out

to us. And the truth is good news. It's

nothing to be scared of. It's not

condemning. It's not punishing. It is

encouraging and full of God's promises

of eternal life with him that begins the

moment we receive and believe in Jesus.

His word is grace and truth.

Jesus said in John 8:31 that he said

John 8:31

this to those who believed in him. If

you abide in my word, you are truly my

disciples and you will know the truth

and the truth will set you free.

What's implied there is apart from God's

word and the truth, we are bound. We are

oppressed. We are captive to sin and

those things

that oppress us in this world and in

this flesh. But as we believe in Jesus,

as we receive the Holy Spirit and as we

continue in his word, the Holy Spirit

applies that truth to our lives and

frees us from lies, frees us from

condemnation, frees us from temptation

and sin that oppresses us, frees us from

things like fear and anxiety.

And this is Jesus's prayer for us that

we know God is working to answer in all

of his people's lives. Jesus prayed in

John 17:17 before he went to the garden

John 17:17

where he prayed and then was arrested

and put to death. He prayed for those

who would follow him. God, sanctify them

in the truth. Your word is truth.

to sanctify is that all of those things

that are contrary to life and God's good

plan for us and his purposes for us to

have that life abundantly, all of those

things would be purged and pruned from

us and we would be conformed into

Christ's image and live into all that

God has for us. Even if that is

sacrificial in this world, it leads us

to his eternal paradise in heaven.

And the word of God is how we know the

father, the son, and the holy spirit. It

is how we know the true identity for

ourselves as well and live in this

relationship with God, which is what his

heart's desire is.

I I love the first chapter of Proverbs

where the author personifies the voice

of wisdom. And I think that voice of

wisdom is the voice of God. And in

chapter 1 verse 23 of Proverbs, that

voice of wisdom says, "If you turn at my

reproof,

behold, I will pour out my spirit to

you. I will make my words known to you."

Another translation says, "I will pour

out my spirit to you and make my heart

known to you." This is God's desire for

us. And and if if we can discern through

God's word, we will find that it is

truly what fulfills and satisfies our

soul is that God would pour out his

spirit to us and make his words and his

heart known to us. And he does that in a

great measure through our connection and

interaction with God's word. When Jesus

died and rose again, before anyone knew

about it, his disciples, his followers

became dejected, disillusioned, scared,

really hopeless because they didn't

believe in the resurrection. And two of

them, you probably know in Luke 24, were

leaving Jerusalem going to Emmas, giving

up on their hopes for Jesus being the

Messiah.

And while they're walking away, Jesus

comes up beside them, his identity

hidden from them, and asks, "What are

you talking about?" And they're shocked

that how can you not know what has just

happened in Jerusalem?

And they talk about their experience and

what happened to Jesus, how he was put

to death. But they had hoped that he was

the Messiah.

And Jesus says to them, "Oh foolish

ones, slow of heart to believe all that

the prophets have spoken. Was it not

necessary that Christ should suffer

these things and enter into his glory?"

First of all, Jesus is showing that

God's word is being fulfilled. The more

we interact with it, the more we are

tuned in to what God is doing. And then

Luke says that beginning with Moses and

the prophets he interpreted interpreted

to them all the scriptures

in all the scriptures the things

concerning himself.

It is through the scriptures that we

come to know Jesus that we come to know

the father and the holy spirit.

The word of god it can I think of it

sometimes as like a huge jigsaw puzzle

thousand pieces maybe more. And you know

when we first try to start a puzzle, it

doesn't seem like we know where anything

goes. We try to work on the border and

try to frame it. We try to find how this

picture is working out. And during those

initial moments of trying to put a

puzzle are probably the most dangerous

because we can just say, you know what,

forget it. This is too hard. I'm not

going to be able to figure this out. The

Bible can be the same way as we try to

approach it. We'll read something like,

I don't know what that means. Th this is

too hard to figure out. But if we press

on, those puzzle pieces start fitting

together and they start forming a

picture. And the more we read, the more

those pieces fit together and it

develops more and more into a a clear

picture. And and the Bible does that. If

we will just press on, keep reading,

keep praying, keep meditating, it forms

a picture of life with God, both in this

world and in the world to come.

And it builds our faith to receive what

God has for us and to live this life.

Paul writes in Romans 10:17, "Faith

Romans 10:17

comes by hearing and hearing through the

word of Christ." In fact, the Bible is

the word of faith. And so, we need it to

have faith to live the life that God has

for us.

I want to encourage you and challenge

you as we begin this year to develop

patterns and habits and disciplines of

reading God's word on your own and with

others so that at the end of this year

you can look back and say in the

beginning was the word of God and at the

end is the word of God and going forward

will be the word of God in your life.

I want to encourage you to read the

Bible and meditate on it on your own.

There's many different ways. I remember

when I was a junior in college, my dad

gave me a read the Bible in a year, uh,

New Living Translation, and that got me

going.

There's other ways. You can journal and

read. You can read in small bits or you

can read for longer longer passages. But

I want to encourage you to aim for

reading the Bible an hour a day.

Think about how you're inundated with so

much outside the Bible, outside of God's

will each day.

Jesus, when he was in that garden with

his disciples before his arrest, he told

Peter, James, and John, pray with me.

And he came back after an hour and they

were asleep and he said, could you not

keep watch with me one hour?

aim by God's grace

to read and study and meditate on the

scripture for an hour to pray in

response to it. It's not a law. It's not

to condemn you. It is to give you life

and to develop your relationship with

scripture. And remember, grace and truth

came through Jesus, not condemnation and

truth, grace upon grace. It is God's

favor and delight.

And I want to encourage you also if you

are not in a Bible study and or a prayer

group that studies the Bible and

discusses it together, join one or start

one, one or two, three people. Read and

study the Bible together where you can

hear different perspectives, where you

can

help one another understand and apply it

to your lives.

So let's pray.

And I want to encourage you in this.

Find ways, a rhythm of life between you

and scripture.

Bring your Bible with you wherever you

go. Bring it to church. Take it to work.

Keep it in your car. Your Bibles, or at

least my Bibles, have lots of coffee

spills on them. They have stains. Who

knows what they are? They get messy.

They fall apart. When Tommy Zto, the

evangelist, was here, he he had pages

coming out of his Bible, just falling

apart because he had been using it so

much. Or you can keep it nice and

pristine.

But let's pray.

And Father, we thank you for your word.

God, help us to study and to read and to

meditate on your word. And father, I

pray that you encourage each one of us.

That as we do sincerely apply ourselves

to your scripture, that in your goodness

and grace, you would speak clearly to us

and we would know that Lord, you are

present with us, speaking to us by your

spirit in your word. And help us all to

be involved with others, the body of

Christ, to discuss and discern your word

together. Guide us in the truth. And as

Jesus prayed, sanctify us in the truth.

Your word is truth. Amen.