School House - Week 2

Come on, give the Lord some praise. Give the Lord

some praise. He's worthy, He's worthy, He's worthy. I'm telling

you didn't. The band and the production team, you guys

are just killing it. It is incredible. Can we give

them a hand. God's working and moving through our band,

our production team. Look, some things have changed. You may

not have noticed them. Maybe you did notice them. Our

job is to make sure you don't. But if you did,

I want you to know that we are getting better,

that things are improving, that we are moving ahead forward,

upward the way God calls us. So thank you so

much to our teams all across campus. We have just

really had an incredible summer. And here we are right

here on the precipice of the fall, right here on

the brink, on the edge of the growth season traditionally

in church. And I believe those things happen for a reason,

and I believe when we get to them, we have

a responsibility to step up and make sure we're making

it as easy as possible for people to step into

this place and experience God and walk in freedom and

find their place and live with purpose. And I thank

you Cornerstone for doing that, for continuing week after week,

making it a place where God can work and move

in the lives of his people and people who don't

yet know him.

It is.

It is an incredible, incredible time to be part of

the Kingdom of God. And I want to speak to

you this morning, continuing in our series Schoolhouse and all

our teachers, our students.

We've had now we've had a full week.

No, so everything's figured out right, everything's good, everything's perfect.

My wife is making a phase at me. Yeah, so

for a week of school though, we're still in the schoolhouse. Serious.

So we're gonna We're gonna deepen our thoughts that we

started last week. Chief started us off talking about the

importance of scripture last week, talking about why we believe

the things that we believe. Where do we get those

things from? Can we back those things up? If we

were asked, why do you believe that? Could we answer

those questions? I want to I don't want to switch gears.

I want to go deeper into those things. This morning.

I want us to talk as we continue into this

academic side of discipleship, because there is some there's some

academic parts of it. It's not it's not all just

uh bombastic displays of miracles and and and emotional moments.

There's some there's some thinking that we have to do.

There's some there's some work we have to do because

we live in a different time, in a different era

than when all of this was written. That doesn't make

it tired, that doesn't make it useless, that doesn't make

it old and old fashioned and no longer relevant. What

it does is it puts a little more work on

us to understand exactly what God is trying to say.

So I want us to continue this morning in that

line of thinking. Turn with me to second Timothy. We're

going to start in chapter three. Because you know, it's

one thing to It's one thing as you're turning there,

it's one thing to know about God's word. Lots of

people are aware of God's word. Not a lot of

people believe it, not a lot of people live by it,

but lots of people are aware of it. If you look,

you can look in in music, you can look in

in books, in poetry and literature, all across the arts.

You can see movies, there's evidence of the scripture. It's

used in almost everything we watch and consume it. It's

in all the government documents. There's so there's so much

pulled from scripture that it's hard to not be aware

of it.

But it's one thing to be aware of it.

It's another thing to know it, and it's yet another

thing to know it and do what it says. That's

where I want us to hang out this morning. Two Timothy,

Chapter three, Starting in verse twelve, Paul writes, Indeed, all

who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus

will be persecuted.

I was encouraging right out the rippin it.

While evil people and impostors will go on from bad

to worse, deceiving and being deceived. But as for you,

continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed,

knowing from whom you learned it, and how from childhood.

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, and

for training in righteousness, that the man of God may

be complete equipped for every good work.

Write out the bad God's word.

Reveals something about it that It tells you exactly how

it is.

All who do.

Desire to live a god life in Christ Jesus will

be persecuted. That's not I don't know, that's probably not

one you're going to write on your bathroom remember mirror

and remember every morning. Oh yeah, persecution's coming. That's not

really how I want to start my day. Right. But

God's words not really concerned with how we feel about it.

Come, I'm about ready to preach. We're getting here.

God's words not really concerned with how we feel about it.

It's telling us how it is. See, we often wait

for a tough moment, a tough season, a situation, and

I do this too, and I think you should do this.

We wait for those tough times and then we look

to God's word and we find an encouraging scripture, something like,

you know, I'm more than a conqueror. I can do

all things through Christ Jesus, who strengths me. We look

for those scriptures. We use those scriptures to pump us

up when we need a little boost. And you should

and I want you to keep doing that. And this

is a great thing to do. But it's clear right

here we can just use this first part of first

Timathy or second Timothy three twelve, to see that God's

words not just about pumping us up. It's not just

about a boost when we need a little pick me up.

It's not just about encouragements. It's not all easy to digest.

And this is a sobering reminder that all of us

we desire to truly live under the lordship, under the

lordship of Christ. Do we truly desire to live with purpose?

That things are gonna get hard from time to time,

that there will be opposition, there will be tough times

when you try to do the right thing. There's gonna

be a bunch of people trying to stop you from that.

There's a very real, supernatural enemy that wants you to

stop doing what you're doing right now. He would rather

you not be here online, he would rather you tune

to something else, and he's given you all these other options.

All these other things are pulling us away from godly living,

even to the point where we are directly opposed for it.

But immediately after this we're informed that those who are evil,

those who are faking it, have it even worse. They're

stuck in this vicious cycle of deception that leads to deception,

and they're deceived and they're confused, so they deceive and

they confuse others, and this cycle continues and continues and continues,

and it leads them to more and more ungodliness, from

bad to worse. And Paul quickly contrasts these people, these

evil people, these fakers, these imitators. He contrasts them with

the people of God. He contrasts them with the reader,

which in this case is Timothy originally and you and

I today. He contrasts us from the evil ones, encouraging

us that we should persevere in what we've learned and

what we've believed, that we continue firm in the faith.

He encourages Timothy to remember and continue in what he's learned.

But he also I want you to notice this, knowing

from whom you learned it. Knowing not just what you learned,

but notice and remember who you learned it from.

You know, there's a phrase that floats.

Around and and you've heard it, I'm sure many times

that that those that cannot do teach. Have you heard

that before? I really hate that phrase. I really despise

it because I think it really downplays what a teacher

does and I don't mean just school teachers, although your

school teachers are incredible. I love y'all, but all it

downplays what a teacher does all across the board.

I really hate that phrase.

Rather I would I'd like to change it and say,

those that have knowledge have some level of responsibility to

teach it. If you know, oh, something, you should be

telling other people about it, not in a know it

all kind of way and I'm better than you kind

of way, you should be teaching it. And depending on

the context, you get on their level and you teach

it to them the way they can understand it. I

believe we have a responsibility to do that. And this

is especially true when it comes to discipleship. I think

it's true all across life. Parents, you have to teach

your kids, otherwise they don't know. Right, Teachers, you have

to teach your students otherwise they don't know. But when

it comes to discipleship, which is a call for all

of us as we make disciples, we have a responsibility

to teach what we know. And if you say, well,

pastor I don't know anything, this is a great sermon

for you. Teachers of God's Word have a responsibility to

teach with integrity, meaning personal integrity. I mean, I can't

get up here faking it right. Paul told us that

they fakers go from bad and worse. They're lumped in

with evil. So I can't get up here and be

something I'm not. So I have to have personal integrity.

But we also have to have the notion that we

would preserve the integrity of the truth, that we're not

adding anything, we're not taking anything away, we're not twisting

this the wrong way. It's a responsibility. And then you

might be sitting here today and you might be well

Pastrick Clay. I don't have that experience like Timothy. Somebody

didn't teach me when I was a kid. I didn't

even know about scripture until last week when I came

and got saved and had this experience. That's fine, Your

level of experience is not.

What we're looking at here.

What we're looking at here is integrity that you're approaching

it the right way. You may not have had access

to sacred writings your whole life. You may not have

had like I've had Chief to pour into me for

years and years and through all kinds of seasons. You

may not have had that but you are here today,

meaning that you've come into this place, you've tuned in

online that you might learn. So you're on the right path,

no matter where you started, no matter how you started,

no matter how far along you are, you are to

continue in that effort. Why because right here God's word

makes us wise for salvation. I love that turn of

phrase because and I don't know I've ever really thought

about it until I was preparing for this message. Wise

for salvation communicates the reality of being saved. It's beyond knowledge.

It's the application of that knowledge into wisdom. The Bible

over and over and over calls us to seek out wisdom.

Knowledge leads to wisdom. Chief says it all the time.

Wisdom is the application of that knowledge. So again, if

you have the responsibility to teach, you have the responsibility

to do something with what you know, apply it that

it turns into wisdom. We can learn that we're broken,

and we can learn that God has made a perfect

solution to that brokenness. But until that moment when you

make the conscious decision to allow Christ into your life

and you make him lord of your life. Until that

moment when you make that decision, the knowledge does not

save you.

It's only when it's applied.

We don't cross from darkness to light until we make

the decision to accept Christ. And then Paul goes along

to explain the inherent.

Value of scripture. Let's look at it.

It's God breathed, meaning that it's trustworthy and eternal, timeless,

that it's not only useful, but it's profitable for teaching,

profitable meaning and fits everybody. As you teach it, it

works on you as you learn it. It works on

you as you do it. It works on you. It's

beneficial for all.

Teaching.

We mean making disciples reproof. It's good for reproof, meaning

pointing out the faults, which is the tough part when

we get into it, because it starts to reveal things

about us.

It points out the problems.

But not only does it point out the problems, is

also useful for correction, to fix the problems that it

points out. It doesn't leave you up. Here are all

the things wrong with you, good luck. Here are all

the things wrong with you, and here's how God wants

to fix them. Here's how God wants to turn them

from shame into glory and for training in righteousness. And

remember I appreached several weeks ago about how our righteousness

is not our own.

God gave it to us.

He gave us his righteousness, so it's not it doesn't

come naturally to us. We have to train in that righteousness.

We're not used to it. And really, you could say, well, Pastor,

I've been saved thirty years and I'm further along. The

fact that you would even say that kind of indicates something.

I'll let you sit with that one this week and

then Chief can fix it all next Sunday. But doesn't matter.

It's more about where your heart has bent, where your

heart is slanted toward. If it is slanted toward God,

righteousness is something we must train. And again here's that

pesky concept of responsibility. We just can't avoid it. If

you want to be in the kingdom, you're just you

have to be responsible. There's some stuff you just have

to do. And this part of responsibility is that when

we hear the word of God, we have the responsibility

to not only just hear it, but to take heed,

meaning that we pay attention, we ensure the quality of

the source. So as a hearer, you're not just going

to listen to everybody. You need to listen to people

that are trustworthy. Make sure you're listening to the right people.

Make sure you're looking at the character of those people.

Make sure you are not just tuning into every word

that tickles your ear, because again, there's a lot of

that out there. But we have the responsibility to take

heed and properly interpret what we hear. Does anybody ever

feel like something's missing like in your life? You ever

feel that way? You don't have to raise your hand,

But if you're bold and brave and honest, you can

you ever feel like something's missing? It's great because there's

the answer is right here. If you want to be complete,

you need God's truth. It makes the Man of God

the Woman of God complete, equipped for every good work.

It's through this cycle of teaching and hearing scripture that

this training and righteousness is carried out.

But wait, there's more.

True disciples of Christ are not just teachers or hearers,

but they're doers James Chapter one, starting verse twenty two,

James says, but be doers of the word and not

hearers only deceiving yourselves.

There's that concept again.

Remember what happens to the evil and to the fakers,

To the deceivers bad and worst.

For if anyone verse twenty three.

For if anyone is a hearer of the word and

not a doer, he is like a man who looks

intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he

looks at himself and goes away, and at once forgets

what he was like. But the one who looks into

the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres. There's

that concept again, being no hearer who forgets, but a

doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.

So not only will you be complete and equipped, but

you'll be blessed.

It sounds like the kind of life I'd like to live.

And doers cannot rightly do without rightly hearing, and we

can't rightly hear without teachers rightly teaching.

You see the cycle.

You may again, you may object and say, Peter Clay,

I'm not a teacher. Though fair enough, you may not

have the gift of teaching.

I believe that is a gift.

I think some people are blessed with an extra gift

to teach, and it carries through their whole life. It's

not just about the gift of teaching. When it comes

to scripture or in a church setting. But I think

when when people are truly gifted to teach, they can't

help it. They just do it at every level, all

the time. And the way they do it, you look

at them, you go, how do they do that? How

are they able to communicate that? And you see the

people that are listening to them and learning from them,

they perk up and they actually do learn it that

You just can see.

That gift of teaching. You may not have that gift, but.

You will have influence and relational collateral with people that

I never will listen to me. There are people that

will never darken the door of this church that you

interact with on a day to day basis. There are

people that will never listen to this on the podcast,

but they will listen to you if you'll talk to

them at lunch. There are people that will never ever

come in here and hear Clint and the band just

crush it and be amazing. They don't care about that,

but they care about you and they will listen to

your heart if you'll share it. So the question that's

being begged is what's in there? You're gonna have the

opportunity to share it. You have the responsibility to share

it what's in there. No one else can teach your

kids like you can, mom and dad. Nobody can lead

your wife like you can, husband. Nobody can can can

be in those relationships with your friends like you have.

You've invested that time, You've created that bond. You have

an opportunity to teach and to share the gospel and

make disciples far beyond probably what we even imagine in

this moment. You're the one out there doing the work.

Because making disciples is not a formal profession. It's the

responsibility of every follower of Jesus. So it's clear it's

a serious task that we have to take serious. Let's

go back to second Timothy. We're gonna go back to

chapter two because I want us to fully ask the

gravity of this, because it's one thing to know that

we have the responsibility, but it's another to know that

we're not only responsible, but we're equipped to do it. God

has given us all the tools. Two Timothy, Chapter two.

This is actually a little bit before our Great House

scripture that's been carrying us through the whole year.

Paul says, remind them of these things.

And charge them before God not to quarrel about words,

which does no good but only ruins the hearers. Do

your best to present yourself to God as one approved,

a worker who has no need to be ashamed. Here

it is, this is the if you get nothing else.

I want us to go out here rightly handling the

word of truth. But avoid irreverent babble, for it will

lead people into more and more ungodliness, and their talk

will spread like gangreen among them, or hymoneus and felead

us who have swerved from the truth, saying that the

resurrection has already happened. They are upsetting the faith of some.

But God's firm foundation stands bearing this seal. The Lord

knows those who are his, and let everyone who names

the name of the Lord depart from iniquity. See, believers,

we have the responsibility to rightly handle the word of truth.

There is no way for us to go about being

disciples without handling God's word. We can't ignore it, we

can't dismiss it. You know the Greek here, the original

language that this was written in. This concept of rightly handling.

Some translations still translate it to rightly dividing, but the

Greek there What that Greek word is really about is

about agricult. Agricult term. When they were cutting the fields

for the crops to grow, they would rightly divide the field,

meaning they kept it straight. They cut, they kept looking.

They would look across the field and make sure we're

cutting it straight all the way through the crops. Gives

the crops enough space, proper spacing so they can grow

and that the harvest will be good.

Does that sound familiar.

So our responsibility is to cut it straight, to rightly

divide the truth means that there's probably a wrong way

to divide it right. We could cut it incorrectly, wrongly

dividing or handling the word of truth that leads to

this irreverent babbel Paul talks about, and that we're gonna

while we're translating irreverent babbel, you don't even need the

Greek for it.

Guess what it means.

Nonsense, Nonsense that dishonors God and leads people to more ungodliness,

causes conflict. And as we've seen, our responsibility is the

opposite of this. We're supposed to lead people toward Christ.

That's the core of being a doer of the word,

and Paul explains that this irreverent talk, this babble, this nonsense,

it spreads like gangreen. Other translations say cancer, And I

don't think it's coincidental, because gangreen, if you don't know,

is a disease. It's where the bodily tissue can't get

enough blood flow and so it dies. I don't know

about you. I just hear the gospel in all of

these things. Gangreen kills the tissue by cutting the blood off.

Cancer irregular cells grow and grow, and they keep the

good cells from growing and forming and keep the good

cells from working the way they're supposed to. I don't

think it's any coincidence that that's the way this irreverence, nonsense,

irreverent babble is translated. In proper handling of the word,

it leads to spiritual disease in the body. It will

lead to disease in your spiritual body. But in the

body if we're not careful, if we don't rightly divide

the word, it leads to corruption across the board. And

it does so in a way that it might remain

unseen for a while. There may not be symptoms for years,

but when they come up when it's discovered, often it's

so far gone it takes aggressive treatment.

I don't want us to get their church.

I would like for us to rightly handle it, because

just like gangrene, just like cancer, the best things you

can do are on the front end to prevent it

from happening. We cannot afford to wait and be flippant

about the Word of God and discover a disease down

the road. We need to make sure that we are

doing everything we can to do it right on the

front end. It's always better to be proactive and preventative.

So while we can't avoid it. So I mean, you

might be hearing that, you might go, well, maybe I

should just not open it. If I just don't open it,

then I don't have a chance to wrongly divide it. Right.

But as we've seen, we need it in order to

do that cycle teaching, hearing, doing so. We can't make

disciples without it. We can't avoid it. We can't just

get rid of it. We have to be wary of

handling it the wrong way. In fact, to wrongly interpret it,

to weaponize it against another person, to use it to

stir up controversy, actually might be worse than avoiding it entirely,

so we must treat it the way it deserves to

be treated. Is your Bible a guy to help you

navigate life?

Yes? So on one nineteen one oh five.

It's a lamp un to our feet, a lamp to

our feet, a light unto our path. It's a tool

for that training in righteousness that we just talked about.

It's a tool that we can use that helps us

do that. And it's a weapon against the darkness, not

against flesh and blood, but a weapon against the darkness

Ephesian six seventeen, the sword of the Spirit. And if

you're interested, you know, when I was first preparing for this,

I really wanted us to get into some practical how

do we interpret scripture kind of things.

I want to do that. We want to help you

do that.

If you're interested in diving deeper in okay, well, Pastor,

that's great and all, and I believe it's important, but

I have no idea how to get the real truth

out of it. I would love to I would love

to help, We would love the cornerstone, would love to help.

And that's coming in some podcasts, that's coming in some

We got a brand new service launching next month called

First Wednesday. Here's the plug First Wednesday, on the first

Wednesday of every single month, right here in the sanctuary

at six point thirty, we're gonna have church. Well, y'all

don't seem very excited. When can we get excited about

church a little? We're gonna have church. There are no

groups are gonna meet, no students, no kids. It's it's

just we're all gonna come right here and we're gonna

do a couple of songs, and the Chief's gonna teach

and preach deeper. So it's coming in that way. If

you want of those things. First Wednesday is a great

place to be. The Saltbox podcast is a great thing

to listen to. We're gonna get into those teachings, but

the best way for you to get into that is

to get into a m M.

Everybody's on board. We're getting there.

A group.

Days.

Coming to get into a group would be the best

way to do this. You say, well, pastor Clay, there's

no group for biblical interpretation. What if you asked me,

I'll be glad to and if I don't have the

time to do it, I'll find somebody that can do it,

and we'll teach it if you'll come to it.

I wanted to do that this morning.

But really what I want us to walk away with

is just a gravity, a weight on us that this

is so important that we just have to start somewhere.

If nothing else, I don't know if you mentioned this

last week or not, if nothing else we were talking.

You know how many proverbs there are thirty one? You

know how many days or in a month, sometimes thirty one,

sometimes thirty, right, so that means the days the months

that aren't thirty one days, you've got to double up proverbs.

But you could just read one a day, and that's

a great place to start. It's already formatted in a

way that we understand the way that we like. Just

start reading one to day. We just have to start

somewhere knowing that this is that serious and that important.

The band can get ready, because I really believe that

the most important We talked about lots of functions of scripture,

but I believe the most important function of scripture is this.

It's found in the way that it prompts us to

look to the Lord, the way that it persuades us

to become more like him, and it preserves our relationship

with him. The Word of God prompts us. If you're

one of those people that likes the alliteration, you need

that you want to put that together. It prompts us,

It persuades us, It preserves us. I believe that if

we have that desire to get into it and the

willingness to let it work on us the way God

designed it to, that we truly are able to rightly

divide it as we close. Is the band's getting ready here.

I want to look at Hebrews chapter four. Hebrews chapter four.

The most important thing I think we need to remember

about scripture Hebrews four, verse twelve. For the Word of

God is living and active, sharper than any two edged sword,

piercing to the division of soul and spirit, of joints

and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of

the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight,

but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of whom,

to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.

It's familiar scripture. We quote that one a lot talking

about the Word of God's living and active, and it

cuts down deeper than anything else. We quote that one often,

but I want you to know that even though we

read the same words and read the same passages often,

God is always doing something fresh. I don't mean and

he's coming up with new things, like new theologies new.

But He's always trying to do something fresh. His mercies

are new every morning for a reason. So don't know

if you're like pastor, I've been reading the same scripture

over and over and great. I think if we truly

open our hearts, if we rightly divide the word every

time we read it, it changes us. It does something

to us if we let the Holy Spirit guide us.

Because God's word it's not just an ancient relic to

be observed. It's not just this ancient book that we

can learn a lot of literary concepts and be in

awe of. It's not just it's not an ancient relic

to be observed. It's also not an object to be worshiped.

We do not worship the scripture, worship the God of

the scripture, sure the author.

We worship the author.

This is just the most concrete way you can get

to them. It's an active means for us to hear

from him. That means in every season, no matter what's

going on with you, God has something to say about it.

And I know that. Maybe you're here today and you're like,

you know, I'm just in a seasoned pastor where I

I'm just I just can't hear from the Lord. I've

said that before. I've gone through season.

I said, I'm just not.

Hearing from God the way I really want to, or

I'm not hearing from God the way I used to.

You know, I don't believe there's any time ever.

I don't know if I've ever said this, because I

used to not believe this, but there are no times

where you're not hearing from God. You might feel like

he's not moving and working. Maybe maybe maybe the Sunday

Service wasn't as powerful as we thought it ought to be.

Maybe it just didn't hit the right way. Maybe maybe

we just didn't We just weren't feeling good, we didn't

get enough rest, maybe we got a cold verse. But

God is always speaking to you always. All you got

to do is open it. When you open these pages,

the mouth of God is open and he's speaking. It's alive.

In one season we might study and get some understanding.

In another season, God may use those exact same passages

and words to communicate another encouragement or a reproof. Sometimes

it's to wake us up to the problems, to the

things that are toxic. In another season, he might provide

a means for you to help and teach somebody else.

The more we get to know him, the closer we

get to him, the more we become like him. So

the thrust of Hebrews full Oh, right here, the thrust

of this passage is really what the sword does to

us personally. We would do we would really do well

to remember how sharp it is, sharper than any two

edged sword, right pierces all the way to the deepest

parts of a person. As you begin to rightly handle it,

more and more what you need to be prepared for.

If you get nothing else from today, I want you

to get this. As we pursue rightly dividing the word

of truth, you need to be prepared for how it

cuts you, because it's going to it's very, very sharp,

and it's meant to cut both ways. Is that you're

weapon against the darkness? Yeah, but that's a little bit

easier because I'm pointing the sword that way, right, I

can get comfortable with that, I can fight off.

The darkness with the swords. Not near me, it's near

my enemy.

But that's the thing about the sword of the Spirit

is that it's designed to cut away the problems, cut

away the things that are ungodly. Causes us to have

to change in order to use it. We have to

be molded by it, be prepared for it to cut

away the holy unholy parts of you. And the Word

it not only tells us how we should be, but

it reveals how we really are when rightly divided. It

magnifies the gap between where we are and where God

wants us to be. And that's tough, that's painful because

then I realized, Actually, we were talking about it this

morning with the band. We're talking about some stuff we've

changed with the inner monitors. You can kind of hear

the gap between how I'm singing and how I should

be singing.

That's what happens when you get into the Word.

It shows you how far off this is where I am,

This is where God wants me to be.

Yikes.

But the best thing about God's Word is it does

not leave you there. It provides hope to fill in

that gap. It provides a practical way for you to

fix that, to follow God where he's leading you in

those times of devotion and study and in those times

of teaching and doing like God is doing to me

right now. When you encounter God's word that way, when

you use it and you teach it and you hear

it and you do it over and over and over,

God reveals the parts of us that are hidden to

everyone else. He reveals them to us. I pray for

my kids all the time, God, reveal more of you

to them, and reveal more of them to them one

because I want them to believe that God is deposited

and he has He's deposited purpose and a plan and

a destiny. But also want them to wake up to

the things that are broken that they might turn to

Him so he can fix them. And that's for us too,

that as we look upon it and rightly divide it,

it exposes those things, and we're reminded that we will

be held accountable at the end of this by the

one who can see us through and through. He already

knows his Word's not revealing it to him, He's revealing.

It to you.

Because there's responsibility. And I don't think this is meant

to scare us. I think there is a level of

holy fear that we should have. I think that's healthy

at some level. This passage is not meant to scare you.

It's meant to encourage you. Rightly dividing the word of truth,

it's not just we talked a lot about responsibility this morning.

It's not just responsibility. It's also opportunity that things don't

have to stay the way they have been. They don't

have to be the way they were. I don't have

to remain in the gap. God's word is taking me

across it toward him. We cannot hide from the Father.

We can't escape his presence, we can't escape his truth.

We are not holy, not on our own. We're not

righteous on our own. But we belong to a gracious,

heavenly father who has never given up on bringing us home.

Would you stand with me all across the room online,

I want us to just think about that. We belong

to a heavenly father who is always speaking to us,

who's always He's not just pointing out the things that

are wrong. He does and then gives us an opportunity

to fix them, gives us an opportunity. He makes a

way for us to cross that gap. God's word reminds

us of this, and it gives us the opportunity and

the strength and the wisdom to improve. I want to

get better. I hope that you do. I believe the

season that God's carrying us into in these next few

weeks and months. I think in the next few years.

I just feel it. There's just something happening. Chief and

I have talked about this a lot. There's just something happening.

God is doing something. The winds of change are blowing.

I want to be ready to ride that wave. And

you can't ride the wave if your board is not

under you. You can't ride the wave of what God

is doing unless you kind of proper understanding by rightly

dividing the Word of truth. So as our alter team

would come, We're going to sing a song living Hope,

which I think is just incredibly appropriate for we're talking

about the Word of God being at tive in a life.

Jesus is here for you.

He's ready to take you to the next step, the

next level.

He's ready for you to take that next step.

So whatever it is you need this morning, if you

need some encouragement, hey, I just I'm struggling rightly dividing it.

I want to do it right. I desire that, Pastor,

I want to do that. I just don't know how

to do that and some encouragement. I've tried, and I'm

I'm off I'm off track. If you need some prayer

for that, if you want somebody to join with you

in faith and and and pray for you, that's open

this morning. If you're like, hey, I've never read a

word of that, and maybe I should come and find

a prayer partner, Let's let's pray about it. Let's talk

about that, whatever it is you need. This with that

core thrust being, I want to rightly divide the word

of truth, that I might be wise, that I might

be a doer of the word and not a hearer only.

And we're gonna sing together.

We're gonna worhip them, we're gonna go so as they

begin to sing, I want you to come down and

find a prayer partner. Let me pray for you.

Father.

I thank you, thank you for speaking to us today,

thank you for all that you've done so far. And Lord,

in these next few moments, as we press in, as

we lift your name, as we sing about you, Lord Jesus,

our living hope, as we find prayer partners, as we

pray together, encourage us, strengthen us, give us a desire

for your word like never before, a desire to encounter

you in the right dividing of your truth. But we

love you and we thank you in Jesus' name. Amen,

Come on listening together,