Bible Fed & Spirit Led

Hey everyone, this is Josh from Encounter Church

Henley and thanks so much for tuning into our

podcast. Our prayer is that through this podcast,

you can have an encounter with Jesus that will

change your life. And now get ready for an inspiring

message from our preaching team. Hey friends,

my name is Tim. I'm one of the pastors at Henley.

Let's pray. as we get stuck into the word today.

Holy Spirit, we just ask that you would come.

God, we thank you for feeding us with bread and

wine. We pray that you would feed us with your

word right now, that you would lead us by your

spirit, and that we would hear your voice today.

We pray, Lord, that you would come and bring

your forgiveness and your grace to us today,

in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Jean -Antoine Bria

-Savaron, a well -known 18th century French lawyer,

famously said this. It'll be on the screen. Surely

you can... You guys know what that is. You've

heard that. It's inspiring. It's probably even

true. He said, tell me what you eat, and I will

tell you what you are. This is where the common

phrase, you are what you eat, comes from. Now,

if this is true, then it's actually kind of terrifying,

I think. You know, for a couple of weeks this

year, I decided that I wanted to count my calories,

just to be aware of what it was that I was putting

in my body. How much did I actually eat? What

kinds of things did I eat? Am I overeating from

what I need? I thought, well, if I'm not aware,

then I, no awareness, no choice. If I'm not aware,

unless I know what's happening, how can I do

anything about it? If I don't know what's going

into my body, how can I change my energy, my

weight, my sleep? But if I am aware, then I have

a chance to change things. So a few weeks I kept

track. If I am what I eat, at least now I know

what I am. Turns out I'm like 60 % protein milks.

I love those things. Every time I fill up the

petrol in the car, I grab one. It turns out you

are what you eat is true. There's a peer -reviewed

paper published in the International Journal

of Environmental Research and Public Health,

which I'm sure you all read it regularly. The

intake of food is more than just a necessary

process for ensuring the functionality of the

human body. Nutritional components become a part

of us, interacting with our gut microbiota. Good

word. Immune system and metabolism. What you

take into your body doesn't just go through you,

but much of it actually becomes a part of you.

I don't know about you, but the thought of that

just makes me second guess everything that I

eat. But I wonder if it's the same for the other

things that we consume. Does the content I consume

become a part of me? Do the movies I watched,

the books I read, do they become a part of me,

do they shape me? You know, as a teenager, I

used to watch a lot of dumb comedies, and then

I'd quote them to no end in the schoolyard. Every

scenario at school, they had a quotable moment

from a movie that you could drag up. You with

me? I had them at my fingertips. Why? Because

I had consumed so many quotable movies, the now

was basically in my bloodstream. Step Brothers

was in my bloodstream. The things we consume

have become a part of us. They shape us. Now

this isn't in and of itself a bad thing. It's

just how it is. We are what we eat. And that

can be a really positive thing in our lives and

it can also be a hugely destructive thing. It

depends on our diet, so to speak. Depends on

what we consume. I wonder what you take into

your life. Just like what you take into you into

you shapes who you become in the same way who

we follow Shapes who we become you've probably

heard Jim Rohn's motivational quote. You're the

average of the five people you spend the most

time with The basic idea here is that human beings

are don't we don't live in a vacuum? We're not

an island actually highly influenceable and most

influenced by those who we are closest to have

proximity But we live in a world with so much

content and so many opinions that are accessible

and easily downloaded into our brains. Maybe

it's not the proximity to people that matters,

but the people you choose to listen to that shape

who you become. Maybe they are the average of

the five people you most listen to, the five

people you follow. Think about this. Why do you

choose to take a pun or a book or a TV show or

a movie or some other thing or a show or an event

that you know nothing about? Maybe church was

one of those things you took a pun on. It's probably

because someone you follow, someone you listen

to, someone you trust, you trust their opinion

recommended it to you or you've seen them you've

seen them reading the book so you've seen their

review on goodreads that's right you're shaped

by who you listen to who you follow whether literally

on social media or in real life the people friends

strangers who ideas thoughts philosophies you

resonate most with and again this can be hugely

positive thing or highly destructive It depends

on who you follow. Who are you following? Who

do you listen to? What we consume and who we

follow shape who we become. But it's more than

that because often we trick ourselves into thinking

that what we consume and who we follow doesn't

change us. But it does. For good or bad. What

we consume and who we follow can change our lives

for the better or it can lead us to disaster.

What it never does, friends, is nothing. If you

are what you eat, what are you consuming? If

you are the average of the five people you most

follow, who are you following? For us at Henley,

this is week two of our core values series, but

for Enfield, this is week five. We're looking

at our new core values as a church. So we're

going to take the time to really get into this

because our core values are our statements of

intent. They shape the kind of church that we

want to be, but they also shape the kind of people

that we want to become. And those are multiplying

resilient disciples, contending in prayer, Monday

invaders, and hearts on fire for Jesus. And today

we're looking at Bible -fed and spirit -led.

That's a clap to the elders of the church. As

in counter church, both as a church and a people,

if we are what we eat, we want to be a church

and be a people who eat this book. If we are

the average of the five people we follow, we

want to follow above all others the leading of

the Holy Spirit. I wonder if you've ever asked

yourself, what would my life look like if I was

Bible -fed and Spirit -led? Maybe you're not

a Christian or you're new to faith and that's

a weird or daunting thing to think about. Maybe

you've been doing this for so long that you've

forgotten in many ways that this is actually

the call of the Christian life. There's a reason

why almost every sermon application you've ever

heard is read your Bible or pray. You will struggle

to have a life with God if you do not know Him

or have a relationship with Him. If you don't

soak your mind in the revelation of Jesus through

the scriptures, if you don't get to know the

heart of God which is laid bare in the scriptures

and perfectly manifest in Jesus Christ, you will

struggle to know Jesus and you will struggle

to know God's voice unless you know Him. Unless

you seek to know Him through reading the scriptures.

And if you don't speak with God and listen to

His voice, if you don't slow down enough to spend

time in His presence, it is hard to have a life

with Him. This is how every other relationship

you have works. If you don't call your mum and

dad, if you don't speak to them, if you don't

spend time with them, if you're always busy or

distracted or half there, it's hard to have a

relationship with them. It's hard to do life

with them. Thank you dad. Pipe down in the back.

It's the same with our friends and our partners

Leslie new beginner missionary said this we can

only know we can know God only by listening to

the words he speaks and attending to the works

he does You will struggle to have a life with

someone if you do not speak with them and do

not get to know that This is why almost every

application to every sermon is read your Bible

and pray Every pastor and leader just wants to

get you alone with Jesus We just want you to

speak with him We just want you to know him because

I can tell you to do something I can see you

down and say hold up there young fella. Are you

sure? This is a good decision But you won't listen

to me And frankly, maybe you shouldn't maybe

i'm wrong. Maybe i'm wrong for calling you young

fella You probably won't listen to me But you'll

listen to god When god says my beloved daughter

or my beloved son, cut out that nonsense. Step

into your calling. Throw off that thing that's

holding you back. You're gonna listen, right?

Hope so. This is why we as a church must encourage

each other to be Bible -fed and Spirit -led.

And friends, I'm not talking about just snacking

on the Bible. I'm talking about feasting. J .C.

Ryle says this. A quick glance at the Bible now

and then does little good. At that rate you will

never become familiar with its treasures or feel

the sort of the spirit fitted in your hand in

the hour of conflict. But store up your mind

with scripture by diligent reading and soon you

will discover its value and power. Text will

rise up in your heart in the moment of temptation.

Commands will suggest themselves in times of

doubt. Promises will come across your thoughts

in the time of discouragement. Friends, don't

snack on scripture. Feast on it. Consume it.

Feed on it. Take it into your life. Make it a

part of your very self Eugene Peterson said this

Christians don't simply learn or study or use

scripture. We assimilate it We take it into our

lives in such a way that it gets metabolized

into acts of love cups of cold water missions

into all the world healing and evangelism and

justice in Jesus names hand raised in adoration

to the father feet washed in company with the

son metabolize the bible take it in and the life

you want the person you really want to become

will start to come out now i don't know about

you but i hate alan's lollies and there's a reason

why and that's because after three of them it

feels like the alan's lollies are coming out

of my pores i can smell alan's lollies through

my skin is it just me do i need to go to hospital

okay You can't escape something when it starts,

when it's coming out of your paws. You can't

run from it. It follows you around. It's everywhere.

It's there. And this is what I imagine metabolizing

the Bible is kind of like. You take it in and

it just comes out of you. Comes out of you when

you pray. Like Ryle says, it'll come out in your

discouragement. It will come out in your doubt.

It will come out in your temptation. It will

come out when you're listening for a word of

encouragement for someone else. But it will also

come out in the decisions you make. and how generous

you are and how you put others above yourself

and how you worship and how you set things right

in your life and how you talk about your faith

now let me tell you about my pet peeve all right

tom's nodding because he's got some my pet peeve

is when i hear people talk about coming to church

in relation to being fed and of course i'm talking

about other churches and other christians not

you guys okay They say things like I left Church

X or Y because I wasn't being fed or I'm upset

because my pastor is not feeding me or Man, I

ate so well today at church. I just don't hear

that one actually that much Let me let me explain

why this grinds my gears now Jesus tells Peter

to feed his sheep in John 21 That is the role

of pastoral ministry, is to nurture and grow

the people that Jesus has entrusted to you. But

friends, sheep are not hand -fed. They are not

baby birds. They are led to green pastures to

graze away at their own discretion. They are

led to places where they can eat their hearts

content. And someone talks about coming to church

to be fed. Part of me gets it. You know, if you've

waited all week for a meal, you want it to be

a good one, don't you? Except that, you have

a bible hopefully and if you don't we'll get

you one and you have the spirit of god and if

you don't we'll pray for that too you have food

at home your mum was right the whole time you

have food at home you are a sheep with a pasture

that is evergreen you don't have to come to church

hungry for a meal feed on the bible in your everyday

life don't wait for church don't starve until

sunday you've got food at home listen to your

mum My mom's not going to pipe up there? Okay.

We are talking about actually letting God, when

we're talking about being Bible -fed, we're talking

about feasting on the Word. And when we talk

about being Spirit -led, what we're actually

talking about is letting God lead us Monday through

to Saturday, 24 -7 -365. This is where our Monday

invaders value comes from. I wonder when you

walk into a room, Are you thinking about what

you should do or asking the Spirit what He wants

you to do? I wonder when you decide to press

order on your Amazon cart, do you ask the Spirit?

When you decide what job you're going to apply

for, where you'll live, who you will date, do

you ask the Spirit? When you're praying for someone,

do you just speak what you want or think they

need to hear? Or do you ask the Spirit what He

wants you to say to the person that you're praying

for? While you're in worship, are you thinking

about yourself or you're asking God? What do

you want me to do here? Should I cross the room

for to pray for? Maybe you do that naturally,

but maybe like me you find this hard and it's

hard because I find it easily to be distracted

It's hard because being distracted is a habit

that I have formed But being spirit led Can be

a new habit that we build the missionary frank

lawback has this advice all during the day in

the chinks of time between the things we find

ourselves obliged to do there are moments when

we our minds ask what next and usually in that

moment we pull out our phone in these chinks

of time ask him lord think your thoughts in my

mind what is on your mind for me to do now when

we ask christ what next we tune in and give him

a chance to pour his ideas through our enkindled

imagination If we persist, it becomes a habit.

Friends, all this boils down to is just one question.

Does God have your attention? Does God have your

attention? Do you feast on His Word? Do you let

Him lead? Does He have your attention? Now, we

want to be people who are Bible -fed and Spirit

-led, but we also want to be a church that lives

out that value. And simply what that means, that

as a church, we will not put an emphasis on the

Word over the Spirit or the Spirit over the Word.

We will not prioritize one at the expense of

the other but we will hold to robust biblical

teaching and preaching and holy spirit ministry.

This is who we are as encounter and this is what

we're pursuing as a church. We won't always nail

it but we intend to faithfully steward word and

spirit in our church and I want you to get that

this isn't just a new idea. I don't want you

to think for a moment we've taken our new core

idea and something that's new to encounter or

unique to encounter like we've plucked it out

of obscurity or out of Mike Wardrobe's brain.

This is baked into our DNA. This is written in

our genetic material. It comes from our ancestry.

It comes from our spiritual heritage. We sit

today in the walls of what once was the Enfield

Methodist Church. God brought Methodism to life

through the ministry of John Wesley. Wesley famously

said this. the Bible or give me that book at

any price give me the book of God I have it here

is knowledge enough for me let me be a man of

one book and so Methodists were known as the

people of one book our heritage is Bible -fed

and Methodism came out of a revival and a spiritual

revival an awakening of the experience of the

Holy Spirit William Sykes said this about a Methodism

was born in fire The Holy Spirit came upon the

early Methodists and they went out to change

England. The same spirit is available to change

the world today if we will let him. A heritage

of spirit led. We're a church of one book. We're

a church born in fire. And I want you to know

this isn't just quirky offbeat Methodists. No

offense to any people who still identify as a

Methodist in the room. We see this same dynamic.

Bible fed and spirit led in the ministry of Jesus.

To circle back to our teaching text today, Jesus

is full of the Spirit's power. He's been led

out to the desert by the Spirit to be tempted,

and now he comes back, and he comes back to his

hometown, goes to the synagogue on the Sabbath,

gets up the front, unrolls the scroll of Isaiah,

and reads, the Spirit of the Lord is upon me.

For he has anointed me to bring good news to

the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives

will be released, that the blind will see, that

the oppressed will be set free. and at the time

of the Lord's favour has come. Jesus rolls it

up and He declares, the Spirit, the scripture

you've just heard has been fulfilled this very

day. How? How can it be fulfilled? Who has the

Spirit of the Lord sent to bring good news, freedom

and God's favour? The man who reads it, Jesus.

The scriptures are about Him. Now Jesus has metabolised

the Hebrew scriptures, even the religious elites

who have studied all their life. are amazed and

astonished by the way He teaches. He is Bible

-fed. And Jesus is Spirit -led constantly. He's

always doing the will of the Father. He's always

being led out to do stuff. What this passage

shows us is something that is true throughout

Scripture. Jesus might be Bible -fed and Spirit

-led, but both Spirit and Scripture lead to Jesus.

Both Scripture and Spirit testify that Jesus

is Lord. 2 Corinthians 12 says, no one can say

Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit. It is

the Spirit that brings about faith in Jesus Christ.

And Jesus himself says in John 5, you search

the scriptures because you think they give you

eternal life. But the scriptures point to me.

The scriptures testify about Jesus. You know,

friends, we trick ourselves into thinking that

the things we consume don't change us. But nothing

changes us more than scripture. and Spirit. Because

if you open yourself to the Spirit, if you begin

to consume the Scriptures, you will find yourselves

face to face with Jesus. Scripture and Spirit

testify about Jesus. Pursuing them will lead

you to an encounter with Jesus. And pursuing

them over a lifetime will make you more and more

like Jesus. Friends, eat this book because it's

where you can meet the living Jesus. Let the

Spirit lead you so that we can become like Him

and live like He lives. We want to be Bible -fed

and Spirit -led as a church. Not so you can have

a generic religious experience and understand

some theology. But it's so you can meet the risen

Jesus and have an encounter with Him. Because

once you know that Jesus is really alive, this

will change your life forever. Nothing can or

will or ever be the same. Everything in your

life must be radically reorientated around the

fact that Jesus lives. everything must be shattered

to make way for it. New Begin says this, there

is no way by which Jesus can be accommodated

within any a theology which has its starting

point elsewhere. It must be Jesus. To acknowledge

Him as who He is, is to accept a shattering of

all other structures of confidence and belief.

All other structures of confidence and belief.

In John 6, And the band can come back out if

they'd like. Jesus says something that makes

many of his followers desert him. He says, I

tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh

of the son of man, he's talking about himself

and drink his blood, you cannot have eternal

life within you. Unless you eat my flesh and

drink my blood. I mean, no wonder why the crowds

left. Jesus, you want us to eat you? What's going

on? But he doesn't. But he also does. Jesus is

being intentionally obtuse. He's sifting the

crowd. Who's here for the hype? Who's here because

Jesus is the best show in town right now? Well,

they'll be offended and they'll go home. And

who's really paying attention? Who's willing

to accept that I am who I say I am and accept

the shattering of everything else as a result?

Friends, are you? We are changed by what we consume

Jesus says to the crowds. I am the bread of life

Consuming be consumed by me Don't just take the

scriptures into your life Don't just take the

bread and the juice into your body through communion

Take Jesus into your life Jesus says to us I

am eternal and you are mortal. You cannot have

my eternal life unless you have me. And Jesus

goes on to say in John 6, anyone who eats my

flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I

in him. And friends, this is the mystery of faith.

We consume all these things. We follow all these

things and we're looking for something in all

of that. But the only one thing will give us

life everlasting. That's Jesus. Being united

to Him by faith. Being in Him and Him being in

us. Consuming Him and being consumed by Him through

faith. It's the only way. He is the only way.

We want to be people at Encounter who are Bible

-fed and Spirit -led because we are people, want

to be people who want Jesus. Who want all of

Jesus. who want Him at the expense of everything

and anything else. Who want Him above career,

above relationships, above money, above influence,

even above family, and even above ourselves.

We want to be people who want Him not for what

He can give us, but because through the cross

He's already given us everything. You cannot

give someone more than your own flesh and blood.

And Jesus offered that up on the cross for you.

He held nothing back so that we could be with

you. We could be with him forever. Friends, do

you get that Jesus wanted you that much? Jesus

wanted you, yes you, that much. My friends, the

question Today is do you want him? Do you want

him? Let's pray Holy Spirit come God we want

you here in this place We want you God because

you are holy because you have saved us Because

you have given us just the gift of your spirit

Because we are never alone when we have you.

But we want you for you, Jesus. We want you even

when it shatters the things we think we want

or the life we think we need. We just want you

and we want to be a church that wants you above

everything else. We don't want you just to make

this church grow, just to have a sense of your

presence here on a Sunday. We want you and all

of you to come and deal with us. to come and

be with us. We love you, Jesus. We pray this

in your name. Amen. Amen. Thanks so much for

tuning into this week's message. If you felt

challenged or need prayer, we'd love to hear

from you on Instagram at encounterhenley. Or

if you're interested in how you can support this

ministry, please go to our website encounteradelaide

.com .au. Thanks again for listening. God bless

you.