Stewardship: God’s Word

Well, good morning, Watermark. Good morning. Well, before I begin, let me start by saying

that today's a very special day. It's my beautiful wife, Patricia's birthday. Thank you.

She is not in the room. So when you see her later, please run up to her, give her a hug.

That'll scare her and tell her happy birthday. Because the bigger deal you make out of her

birthday, the more money I save. So please make it a big deal. My birthday, however, was two weeks ago.

I turned 33. I also shaved, so it looked like I turned 12. But it's funny, at 33, I didn't expect

to be as far along in life as I've gotten. I always said when I was single and when I was younger

that I would follow in the footsteps of Jesus and not get married until I was 33. Some of you look

confused. I said that to someone and they said, well, Jesus didn't get married. And I said, no,

but he gave up his life at 33. Okay. My wife just walked in the room, so forget what I just said.

But it's amazing, though. We found out that we have two children and we have another one on the way.

And most likely, 80%, the doctor says, it's a girl. I don't know what 80% it's a girl means,

but with a high likelihood, it's a girl, which I was scared when I found out that we had another child

in the way. But now that I found out that it's a girl, I'm terrified. But it's amazing, as I think

about my life, as I think about how much responsibility I now have in my hands, it really

makes me consider what God has given me. That God has made me a steward of so many things. He's made me

a steward of my home. He's made me a steward of my marriage. He's made me a steward of my family,

of my children. That he has entrusted me with something that's not mine, but it belongs to him.

He's entrusted me with a life that one day he'll take back. What we do in the short time that we have,

matters. We're starting a new series called Stewardship, Stewardship Making This One Life Count.

And I'm excited as we look through the things that matter, the things that help us know that

what we do in our short years matters, not just in this life, but matters for eternity.

And today I have the privilege and the great responsibility, the pressure even,

to take us through the topic this morning, stewardship in God's Word, which is something

that's very dear to my heart. And I say that it scares me because the weight of this is so heavy

on my heart. Because if we don't get this right, then everything that we talk about after this won't

matter. If we don't get this right, we won't get anything else right. Because everything else hinges

on this. Let's pray. Father God, we come to you this morning. And God, I pray that you would speak to us

through your Word, that you would teach us. Open our eyes to see your majesty.

that our lives would be changed, that we wouldn't just have a head knowledge this morning,

but that you would change our hearts, that we would walk out of here differently because we've

experienced you. In Jesus' name, pray. Amen. In Deuteronomy 6, 6 through 9, it says, this is also in your

notes, in your bulletin, and these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.

You shall teach them diligently to your children. You shall talk of them when you sit in your house,

and when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise, you shall bind them as a sign

on your head. They shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorpost of

your house, and on your gates. Here, God is telling his children. He's telling a people that he's

gathered to himself. He's just given them his Word, and he says, listen, what I have given you is serious.

What I have given you should not just be some flippant thing that you hear today, and you throw it out

tomorrow. This needs to get into your heart, that you need to meditate on this, that you need to talk

about it, not just on Sundays, and listen to a good message, but you need to talk about this all the

time. You need to digest this. You need to talk about it when you're standing, when you're sitting,

when you're in your house, when you're on the way. And then he says something strange. He says,

you're going to tie it on your forehead, tie it on your hand as a reminder. Put it on your doorpost.

Put it on your gate so that you will look different. You're going to look weird, I tell you.

Please don't be so literal as to put this up here this week, or tie it here, but it will change how

you look. It will change you. God is telling us that we need to be passionate for his Word.

There's a name that I believe that every believer needs to know. Every Christian should know this

name. It's the name William Tyndale. Have you ever heard this name? Most of us have never heard of

William Tyndale. But William Tyndale lived in the 1400s and the 1500s in England. He was a very smart

man. He graduated from Oxford and from Cambridge. He spoke seven languages. I struggle with English.

Okay, seven languages. He was fluent. He studied Greek, the ancient Greek and the ancient Hebrew.

William Tyndale had a passion. He had a passion to take God's Word, which at that time was only allowed

to be written in Latin and only read in Latin. And he desired that every person would have the ability

to read it in English. Every person in England would be able to read it in their own language.

It was against the law. But William Tyndale was convinced of the power of God's Word. So what he did

is he went and he translated the New Testament from Greek into English. And from far away he published it

and it was smuggled into England and people started reading it. And it was so infuriated the king that anyone

found with the Bible would be killed. They would be tried for treason. William Tyndale writes this,

and forgive me, it's in old English. Let it not make thee despair, neither yet discourage thee, O reader,

that it is forbidden thee in pain of life and goods, or that it is made breaking of the king's peace or treason

unto his highness to read the word of thy soul's health. For if God be on our side, what matter make it

who be against us, be they bishops, cardinals, popes. You hear what he said? He's writing to a people

who are so hungry for God's Word and he says, don't despair. Don't be afraid, even though this could cost you

your life. There is something greater that can't be taken away from you. Imagine that in our world today

where we have Bibles all over the place, where you can have a Bible on your phone, where you can have a

Bible on your iPad, you can have a Bible on your Android, when you can have a Bible on your shelf,

a Bible in your car, you can have Bibles anywhere, 24 hours a day, anytime you want them in any language,

that you can dream of almost any language that you can imagine. But he said, don't worry, it may cost you life,

but it's worth it. William Tyndale lived that out. He was caught and tried.

And on October 6, 1536, he was tied to a stake. And they wrapped a rope and a chain around his neck

and they choked him. And then they set him on fire. Before they did that, a historian recorded that

his prayer was, Lord, open the King of England's eyes. You see, this was a crazy idea. This was a

dangerous idea that if people could just read the Word of God in their own language, it would change

their lives. I once visited a village in northern China. And this village, it was a village of 1,000

people, very small village. And there were 600 believers in this village. They had weathered

through some tremendous things during the Cultural Revolution in China. And I went to meet with some

of the brothers and sisters in the church and they met in a one-room mud hut that had one light bulb

in the middle. Imagine this morning if we were all huddled into a one-room mud hut with a light bulb.

And they shared with me that during the Cultural Revolution, the whole village had one Bible.

And they treasured that Bible. What they would do is that they would take pages from that Bible when

they would come together and they would pass them around. They would take those pages home and they

would memorize them. They would talk to their children about them. They would, in their homes,

they would devour the Word of God. And then when they would come back together, they would talk about

what the Scripture taught them. Can you imagine if we didn't have one Bible amongst all of us?

And all we could do is take a page home and memorize it. You see, they valued the Word of God because they

knew what the Word of God was. They knew that the Word of God was precious. They knew it was powerful.

It had the power to change people's lives, to transform people. They knew it was useful. They knew that the

Bible, though written thousands of years ago, was relevant and current to today.

And more important, they knew that the Word of God was a treasure. And the Word of God is a trust.

The Bible, if you want to put it in a very simple acronym, Bible, B-I-B-L-E, basic instructions before

leaving earth. Isn't that cool?

Well, but it is. This is our field manual. We are in a war. We're in a battle every day.

You would not go to battle without knowing what's in the field manual. You would not go into battle

without your weapon. This is the sword of truth.

Psalm 119, 105 says,

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

A lamp to my feet shows that this is where I am.

This is where I'm standing. It shows that

if I'm on the path or I'm off the path,

and it is a light to my path,

that means it shows me where I'm going.

I know where I am,

and I know where I'm going

because of God's Word.

Why is it

that many Christians

don't read

the Bible?

You know, if I'm

honest, and here this morning,

I live in Hong Kong.

How many of you live in Hong Kong?

Okay, yeah, some of you still aren't with me.

Okay.

This has been called

one of the busiest cities in the world.

How many of you are busy?

Raise your hand if you're busy.

Okay, so

not as many as I had hoped.

But we are busy.

And one of the biggest,

one of the top reasons

that if you ask someone,

why aren't you reading the Word?

They'll say, I'm too busy.

I just don't,

I don't have enough time.

I'm, I'm,

I've got all these things

to do.

All these important things.

I, I don't,

I don't have time for it.

Wow.

Now wait a minute.

You've got time

to play word,

words with friends.

You've got time

to find out all of your,

all of your friends' Facebook posts.

But you don't have time

to spend even just five minutes

in God's Word.

It's what I call a value call.

You see no value in it.

And there have been times

where I've lost the value

of God's Word

that, that I,

I think that in,

in that moment,

something else is more important.

But the reality is,

it's not.

Maybe it's because

if we're honest,

we're too lazy.

I've been guilty of that.

Been too lazy

to even read God's Word.

And then there's another one.

Maybe it's because

we're afraid.

Afraid that what we read

will cause us

to have to examine our lives.

That what we read

will cause us to say,

I know that I'm not living

the way God

created me to live.

It might make us feel

this strange feeling

called guilt.

It might lead us

to live differently.

What's the danger

of not knowing God's Word?

The first thing is

we misuse,

we can be led

into misusing

God's Word.

There's a,

Philippians 4.13

is a verse that I love.

It says,

I can do all things

through Him

who gives me strength.

Or I can do all things

through Christ

who strengthens me.

When I was growing up,

I was in a crowd

of people

that would use

this verse

for whatever

they wanted it

to,

whatever they wanted

in their lives

at that time

they would use

this verse.

I'm having a hard time

paying my bills,

but I believe

God wants me

to have this

brand new car.

I can't afford,

but I'm going to

sign my name

on the line

because I can do

all things

through Christ

who gives me strength.

There's this,

there's this other thing

that I want

and I probably

shouldn't have it,

but I can do

all things

through Christ

who gives me strength.

You want that house,

you want all

this nice stuff,

you can do all things

through Christ

who gives you strength.

And many people

use it

as a means

of getting

all the riches

of the world

that they want,

of saying that

I'm going to look pretty,

I'm going to be healthy.

But you know,

Paul is writing this

and you know

what he says

right before this?

When you don't know

all of God's word,

when you're not

a good steward

of God's word,

you don't know

that before this

he's saying,

I know what it is

to be in plenty

and I know what it is

to be in want,

but I've learned

the secret

of being content

in all circumstances.

If you're not

a good steward

of God's word,

you can be led

to misuse it.

Jeremiah 29 11,

again,

one of my favorite verses.

We talked about this verse

in your community groups

this week.

Do you all remember that?

This past week,

Jeremiah 29 11,

for I know the plans

I have for you,

declares the Lord,

plans to prosper you

and not to harm you,

to give you a hope

and a future.

To those that misuse

God's word,

to those that are not

good stewards

of his word,

that means

whatever you want,

whatever you think

your life should be like,

it's going to be happy

because God knows

the plans he has for me,

plans to prosper me

and not to harm me,

to give me a hope

and a future.

And it becomes twisted

in all of these things

that it's never intended

to be.

And if you're in your

community group this week,

you learned

that God is speaking

through the prophet Jeremiah

to the people

that he says,

I have carried you

into exile.

This is an uncomfortable place

for the children of Israel,

for the Israelites.

This is a very uncomfortable place.

It's not what they had expected.

This is a terrible thing

that's happened to them,

but God says,

hey, this is uncomfortable.

Your false prophet said

that you're going to be

out of this in a few years.

This is going to be

a long time.

It's going to be 70 years.

But listen to this.

Even though it's uncomfortable,

I know the plans I have

for you,

declares the Lord.

Plans to prosper you,

not to harm you,

to give you a hope

and a future.

To those that misuse it,

they say nothing

will ever happen

that you don't want

to happen.

But the full counsel

of God's word says

that he's going to take us

through even the storms

of our lives

for a reason.

False teaching.

Ephesians 4, 14

says that,

so that we may

no longer be children

tossed to and fro

by the waves

and carried about

by every wind of doctrine,

by human cunning,

by craftiness

and deceitful schemes.

When you hear things like

there are many ways

to God,

then you can automatically

say,

no, wait a minute.

God's word,

Jesus says himself,

I am the way,

the truth,

and the life

that no one comes

to the Father

but by me.

When you hear things like

as long as you're

a good person,

you'll go to heaven.

And then,

again,

a good steward

of God's word,

it comes to your mind

that,

wait a minute,

in Isaiah 64,

it says,

all of us have become

like one who's unclean,

that all of our righteous

deeds

are as filthy rags

before the Lord.

Or you'll say,

wait a minute,

for by grace

you've been saved

through faith

and this not of your own doing.

It is the gift of God,

not a result of works,

so that no one

may boast.

Another danger

of not being a good steward

of God's word

is that you stop growing

and you forget the things

that you once knew.

It's hard to believe

if you look at me now,

but I used to be

in great shape.

And I don't mean

round as a shape,

I'm a great shape now,

it's just different.

But at one point

in my life,

I was quite athletic.

That's not the joke,

you're not supposed

to laugh at that part.

But something happened

where I stopped

going to the gym

as often.

It happened

about December 10th,

2005.

I lost my motivation

for working out.

But something happened.

I noticed

within just months,

if I would go back

into the gym

after months

of not being in the gym,

I could not lift

the weight

that I once could.

And there's something

that happens

in our muscles,

that when we are not

building up our muscles,

when we stop

using them,

there's a word

that happens,

it's called atrophy.

It's where

you not only

start to become weaker,

but the muscles

even start to be

eaten away.

That happens

in our lives

when we are not

good stewards

of God's word.

Here's what happens.

The writers of Hebrews

writes in

5.11

through 14.

About this,

we have much

to say.

And it is hard

to explain

since you

have become

dull of hearing.

For though

by this time

you ought to be

teachers,

you need someone

to teach you again

the basic principles

of the oracles

of God.

You need milk,

not solid food,

for everyone

who lives

on milk

is unskilled

in the word

of righteousness

since he is a child.

But solid food

is for the mature,

for those

who have their

powers of discernment

trained

by constant practice

to distinguish

good from evil.

Do you hear

what he's saying

to the Hebrews?

He's saying,

you know,

I have all this

great stuff

to tell you,

but it's hard

because you're stupid.

It's hard

because you're dumb.

And you're dumb

because you,

you should be

at the point

where you're teaching,

but instead

you have to be taught

those,

those basic

elemental things again.

I was in school,

I was in middle school,

which is about

eighth grade,

with a guy

who was

19 years old.

Eighth grade.

That means

most of us

are 12 and 13.

He was 19 years old

because he didn't

pass the tests.

He didn't study.

He didn't even

sometimes show up

at school.

And it was embarrassing

to be the only kid

in middle school

with a beard.

But spiritually,

that's what happens

to us.

And he's saying,

hey, wait a minute,

you should be teaching,

but instead

you're being unproductive

because you don't even

know the basic things.

You have not continued.

You haven't been working out.

Second Timothy,

this is in your notes,

3, 14.

What does it look like?

How do we become

good stewards

of God's word?

But as for you,

continue in what you've learned.

Paul is writing

to Timothy.

Timothy's been taught

the word

by his grandmother.

He's been taught

the word by Paul.

But as for you,

continue in what

you have learned

and have firmly believed,

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.

All scripture

is breathed out

by God

and profitable

for teaching,

for reproof,

for correction,

for training

in righteousness,

that the man of God

may be competent,

equipped for every good work.

Now, I know

that's a long passage

of scripture,

so let's break that down

for just a moment.

First,

but as for you,

continue in what

you have learned

and have firmly believed.

Continuity,

when we are a steward

of God's word,

it does not mean

that one time

we read the Bible

all the way through

in a year,

and then we stopped,

because we know it all.

It doesn't mean

that if you've studied

every one of the 66 books,

the 39 books

of the Old Testament

or the 27 books

in the New Testament

that you've studied them,

that it's finished.

It's not a once-off thing

that he's telling Timothy,

continue in what you've learned.

This keeps going

throughout your whole life.

And I've learned that

I came to Christ

when I was 13 years old,

and I remember

the passages

that were so powerful

for me when I was 13.

And when I read them

when I was in university,

when I read them again,

those same passages

would teach me something

completely different,

something new

that I didn't know before.

When I was in my 20s,

again, it spoke to me

in a much different way.

When I became a husband,

very different.

When you're a good steward

of God's word,

no matter what stage

of life you're in,

God's word will continue

to speak to you

and differently

than what it did before.

It will never contradict

itself,

but you will see

something new about God.

Your experience.

You know,

there are great ways

to learn.

As a believer,

there are three great ways

to learn.

One is through

your own experience.

The second is through

the experience of others.

But these first two ways

of learning as a believer

are flawed.

And they're flawed

because there's a way

that seems right

into men,

but in the end,

is death.

The third way

is through the scripture

because it is the lens

that we see

all of our experience,

that we see the world

around us.

It changes how we

see everything,

how we respond

to everything.

Next,

he says,

the sacred writings

which are able

to make you wise

for salvation

through faith

in Christ Jesus.

The word wise,

to make you wise.

Wisdom.

Throughout the Bible,

wisdom doesn't mean

teaching you

how to do something

or how to do

one particular thing.

It's not how to build

a house,

not how to do math,

but wisdom

is always

about how to live

a life

that's pleasing to God.

That's what we were

created for.

So we're learning

how to fulfill

our purpose

and our destiny

as humans.

How are you guys doing?

The next thing

is very important.

He's saying that

all of the scripture

here

will give you wisdom

for

salvation

through faith

in Christ Jesus.

That all of the Bible

is not

separate stories

that are put together,

but all of the Bible

is one

consistent story

from the beginning

to the end.

It is the story

of God

creating

people

for a reason.

It's the story

of

how we've

fallen away

that we've

rebelled against God

and God

bringing

us back

to himself.

We see that

from

Genesis

to the culmination

in Revelation

where he has

his church

gathered

from every nation,

tribe,

people,

and language.

One continuous story

and it all

points to one

central person.

Who is it?

That's the

church answer,

right?

It's Jesus.

It all points

back to Jesus.

The next thing,

all scripture

is breathed out

by God.

That these are not

a group of

ignorant people

writing about

the things that

were happening

in their day

not knowing

how to explain it

so they write it

the best they could.

That's not

what the Bible is.

It says that

it is breathed

out of the mouth

of God.

That this is

God's word.

And it's profitable

for teaching.

It profits us

not by evoking

emotions

but by teaching us,

instructing us.

And it instructs us

in the things of God.

It's valuable

because God

places a value

on it.

Imagine

if the God

of the universe

who created everything,

who holds

all things together,

the God

who made you

and me

says,

hey,

I want you to know

why I made you.

And I want you to know

how to have relationship.

I want you to not

have to suffer

the wrath

of your sin.

That's pretty important,

right?

That's pretty valuable

for reproof,

for correction

and for training

in righteousness.

It tells us

what sin is.

It tells us

how to live

a righteous life,

a life that pleases God.

What's amazing,

if you go into

any bookstore

in Hong Kong,

most of the books

that you see

in the front

have something

to do with management

or how to invest

your money.

All the practical things

that you need

for a life

in Hong Kong.

How to control people

and how to gain wealth.

It all seems

very practical

and some people say

the Bible's

just not practical.

Wait a minute.

Jesus had

a very different take

when he says,

what will it profit

a man to gain

the whole world

yet lose his own soul?

How practical is that?

That all of these things

that one day

are going to pass away

but the Bible

talks about

the one thing

that's going to last

for eternity.

God and the souls

of people.

That's very practical.

That the man of God

may be competent,

equipped for every

good work.

Do you know that God

calls us

to his mission?

That we are

to be about

his work.

That the Bible

equips us.

It makes us competent

for every good work.

If we are not

doing good work

then we know

that we are not

good stewards

of his word

and it's called

incompetency.

To summarize,

I want to do this.

There are four areas

of our lives

that if we are stewards,

good stewards

of God's word

that it will radically

change us.

I call it the head,

heart,

hands,

and feet.

The first is

the head.

That

we will

know

his ways.

Psalm 25

you heard read

earlier,

make me to know

your ways,

O Lord.

Teach me your paths.

That we will know

God's voice.

My sheep hear

my voice

and I know them

and they follow me.

You know,

sometimes

when we pray

and we don't

get answers

to our prayers

or we hear

all of these things.

How do we

distinguish

what's God's voice

and what's

not God's voice?

We know it

by his word

because we've heard

his voice.

We've seen

his voice.

We are

intimately familiar.

When I

shout

in a crowd

of people,

my son

knows

my voice

because he

has spent

time

with me

and when

he's behaving

he runs

right toward me.

He's two.

That doesn't happen

a lot these days.

You'll know

God's voice

and you will

know

his

heart.

You'll know

his gospel.

What's the gospel?

For God

so loved

the world

that he

gave his

only son

that whoever

believes in

him

should not

perish

but have

eternal life.

Romans 5.8

But God

shows his

love for us

and that while

we were still

sinners

Christ

died

for us.

we will

know

Romans

10.9

and 10

because if

you confess

with your

mouth that

Jesus is

Lord

and believe

in your

heart that

God raised

him from

the dead

you will

be saved

for with

the heart

one believes

and is

justified

and with

the mouth

one confesses

and is

saved.

We're talking

about a head

knowledge first.

If you're

a steward

of God's

word

you will

know

you will

recognize

God

but it

must not

stop there

because the

next when

we understand

his gospel

when we

understand that

we didn't do

anything to

deserve his

love and

forgiveness

it will sink

from here

to our

hearts

and it

will begin

to change

our hearts.

Hebrews 4.12

For the word

of God is

living and

active

sharper than

any two-edged

sword

piercing to

the division

of the soul

and of the

spirit

and of

joints

and marrows

and discerning

the thoughts

and intentions

of the heart.

That means

God's word

is the

blade

that does

the cutting

in our hearts

to remove

the junk

from our

hearts.

He starts

to change

us that

we begin

to want

the things

of God.

John

17.17

Sanctify

them in

your truth

your word

is truth

sanctify

means

purified

set apart

made

clean

made

right

that happens

through his

word

the Holy Spirit

at work

through God's

word

changes

our hearts

and then it

begins to

manifest itself

in other ways

when Jesus

says something

like

but love

your enemies

do good

it starts

to go

from our

heart

to our

hands

starts

with a

head

knowledge

sinks

into our

hearts

and changes

us

but it

can't

just

stay

there

it's

not

meant

to

just

stay

in our

hearts

and we

have

our

own

little

personal

faith

that no

one

knows

about

but it

will

become

evident

because

it

will

become

evident

in

what

we

do

our

hands

Luke

6

46

says

why

this is

Jesus

speaking

why do

you

call

me

Lord

Lord

and do

not

do

what

I

tell

you

1

John

2

5

but

whoever

keeps

his

word

in

him

truly

the

love

of

God

is

perfected

by

this

we

may

know

that

we

are

in

him

whoever

says

he

abides

in

me

ought

to

walk

in

the

same

way

in

which

he

walked

what

does

that

mean

why

do

we

do

what

Jesus

told

us

to

do

is it

because

we

can

earn

salvation

that

way

no

way

is it

so we

can

earn

the

favor

of

God

no

it's

because

we've

heard

his

word

we

know

it

in

our

minds

it's

gone

into

our

heart

it's

changed

us

we

have

salvation

already

and

because

of

that

we

want

to

do

and

to

live

the

way

God

wants

us

to

live

and

lastly

it

will

radically

change

our

feet

what

do

I

mean

by

that

that's

weird

if

you're

a

good

steward

of

God's

word

you

have

a

knowledge

of

God

your

heart

is

changed

it's

evident

in

the

things

that

you

do

and

how

you

live

but

it

will

also

change

where

you

go

let

me

explain

what

I

mean

Matthew

28

19

go

therefore

and make

disciples

of

all

nations

baptizing

them

in the

name

of

the

Father

the

Son

and

the

Holy

Spirit

teaching

them

to

obey

all

that

I

have

commanded

you

and

behold

I'm

with

you

always

to

the

very

end

of

the

age

God's

passion

is

not

for

just

you

alone

to

know

him

to

be

made

right

by

him

and

for

you

to

walk

alone

and

never

tell

anyone

but

God's

passion

Jesus

said

I've

come

to

seek

and

save

the

lost

if

he

if

you

have

a

head

knowledge

of

God

and

a

heart

knowledge

of

God

if

you're

doing

what

Jesus

has

told

you

out

of

love

for

him

then

you

must

be

about

his

mission

the

Bible

tells

us

oh

how

beautiful

are

the

feet

of

those

who

bring

good

news

if

you're

in

here

this

morning

and

you'd

say

I'm

not

a

Christian

I

still

have

questions

I

was

dragged

here

I

was

promised

lunch

afterwards

we

are

glad

that

you

are

here

because

we

believe

it's

not

by

accident

that

any

of

you

are

here

this

morning

I

want

to

plead

with

you

and

beg

you

to

consider

the

word

of

God

and

to

investigate

the

claims

that

we

make

here

this

morning

that

God's

word

is

all

about

how

he

created

you

for

a

reason

and

he

wants

to

glorify

himself

by

pursuing

you

through

the

generations

and

bringing

you

back

home

a

loving

father

that's

searching

for

you

will

you

join

with

us

in

being

good

stewards

of

his

word

investigate

these

claims

if

you're

a

believer

in

here

this

morning

if

you

say

I'm

a

Christian

let

me

ask

you

are

you

a

good

steward

of

God's

word

do

you

know

him

through

his

word

is

he

constantly

changing

your

heart

through

his

word

are

you

doing

are

you

living

it

out

and

are

you

passionate

about

taking

the

gospel

to

those

who

need

it

that's

how

you

recognize

a

good

steward

of

God's

word

we

have

up here

on the

board

behind

us

and

also

in

your

notes

this

morning

it's

an

app

if

you

don't

have

a

Bible

you

can

use

your

smartphone

you

can

it's

a

QR

code

you

scan

that

code

and

you

will

download

for

free

a

Bible

I

want

to

be

very

practical

for

a

moment

in

that

app

there

are

many

different

translations

in

several

languages

I

highly

recommend

the

ESV

in

that

or

the

NASB

there's

also

in

simplified

and

traditional

Chinese

there's

a

reading

plan

you

can

choose

there

are

a

number

of

reading

plans

in

that

app

please

take

some

time

start

a

reading

plan

you

don't

have

to

start

off

reading

for

hours

every

day

just

like

if

I'm

preparing

to

go

back

into

the

gym

I

don't

start

off

with

200

pounds

or

500

pounds

of

weights

start

small

take

at

least

five

minutes

out

of

your

day

and

dedicate

yourself

to

I'm

going

to

read

God's

word

we're

not

even

talking

about

studying

God's

word

I'm

just

talking

about

if

you

are

not

reading

God's

word

every

day

read

his

word

every

day

that

you

can

have

a

knowledge

of

his

word

that

he

can

change

your

heart

that

you

can

know

how

to

live

your

life

that

you

would

be

passionate

about

the

things

that

he's

passionate

about

would

you

commit

to

that

would

you

commit

to

knowing

his

word

to