Understanding the Bible for All It's Worth

Well, it is awesome, awesome to be with you guys, and um we'll also communicate you know uh to to you via our church communication emails and things of that nature uh about the meeting uh and this how the status of that as the weather comes in.

Um but exciting to be excited to be with you guys.

We're we're in a series as we begin this year uh called the Bible.

And I know that's not the most creative name for the series, but but we wanted to spend a little time really talking about really what's at the core of who we are as a church and and who we are as a community and and and our beliefs and what uh what we stand for.

And so last week's sermon, uh I know it was a weather-impacted Sunday, but but we did teach and and and and we spent a lot of time talking about where the Bible came from, how how throughout history um uh we, and and when I say we, I mean primarily evangelicals, how did we come to the convictions uh of what is in this book?

How did they determine the writings?

And and so there's there's more detail from last week, and I encourage you to go back.

And if you are especially um if you have questions about um the Christian faith, or if you're new to the Christian faith and you want a cut something concise that gives you a little bit of understanding, you like scholarship and you like some of those things that go beyond the surface, um your history nerd, a little bit like me, um, you know, go back and and watch that or listen to it from last week.

Today's gonna be uh uh quite a bit different.

It's really gonna be about how we should be reading.

If this is God's word, if this is his message that he has given for people throughout history to reveal himself and to have a relationship with humanity, um, shouldn't we read it?

Shouldn't we read it?

I mean, and and and we live in a modern day culture where there is so much vying for our attention.

Um, as a parent of three children, I have gotten accustomed to battling for attention.

And I'm sure you don't ever deal with this, but there's just a lot pulling um at our at our kids, and and they they have so much to pull at them, uh, whether it's technology, um, there every they all have phones.

We most of them do.

We we understand that.

But it's very common for me to sit down uh you know in our in our family settings and I'm I'm talking 90 miles an hour, and I look up and realize nobody's paying attention to me.

And so there's the TV or or or you know, other conversations taking place, and I'm trying to I'm trying to get some attention, and so no they're not paying attention to me.

But here's what I've noticed that there is a there's a sound that they are accustomed to that immediately grabs their attention.

And and it's the ding or whatever the sound is that comes from the notifications.

And so I can talk until I'm blue in the face, and they will zone out and glaze over.

But as soon as that ding sounds, buddy, they are tuned in to something, right?

And so, and so I want you to understand that God's word, if it's that important to the Lord, then we need to set notifications in our life and learn how we should spend time in God's word.

And and that goes way beyond just about believing that this book is God's word, but practicing the disciplines of putting it in our life.

And we have the vantage point of living in an age where there are more opportunities than ever before for how we can invest the Word of God into our life and how we can set notifications and reminders.

Hey, this is a daily thing that should be a regular part of my life.

And so last week I alluded to this as one of the most important things that I value is not just not just reading or hearing the word of God, but being reminded of how important the word of God and the starting point is the word and what the word says about the word.

So if you have your Bibles, you would turn to Psalm 119.

If you don't have your Bibles, don't worry about it.

We've got scripture on the on the screen, and you've got access to it possibly in a variety of ways there in your presence.

So Psalm 119 is the longest book in the Bible.

It is the very center point of the Bible.

It's like the center, the book that's right in the middle of the Bible.

It's the longest chapter in the Bible, but the whole chapter focuses on how God has revealed Himself through the Word.

And through His Word, He has communicated to us His heart.

So I obviously can't read through the longest chapter of the Bible in one morning, but I do want to take a little section about where the writer speaks about his love for the Word of God.

And I that's hoping that I hope that's what I'll stir up a little bit in your hearts and in your minds this morning is a love that's already there, or maybe a love that needs to be kindled and then a reminder to come back to the word.

And here's what here's what the psalmist says: Psalm 119, 97.

He says, Oh, how I love your law.

It is my meditation all day.

And my my question is, what do you think about during the day?

Most of what we think about is dictated to us, and depending on our stage of life, but we still have time and we still have opportunities where we might sit quietly or have some free time, and what consumes your thoughts?

Where do you run to?

Do you run to your to your phone or or your electronics, or do you run back to the word of God?

He says in 98, your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies, for it is ever with me.

He says in verse 99, I have more understanding than all my teachers, for your testimonies are my meditation.

He says, I understand more than the aged, for I keep your precepts.

That means I, he says, for someone who loves the Lord and loves the law of God, loves the word of God, they have more understanding than old people.

That's what he's saying.

He says, the age, this is the English Standard Version I'm reading out of.

And then verse 101, he says, I hold back my feet from every evil way in order to keep your word.

And so you've heard that the concept where somebody has wisdom beyond their years.

I find that very often with people who've grown up spending time in the Word of God, growing spiritually.

There's a wisdom that comes from that, that is not something that can be measured just in chronological age.

He says, um, he says, I do not, verse 102, I do not turn aside from your rules.

I know rules is is maybe not the best word there, but that's what the translator picks in the English Standard Version.

Um He does give us guidelines in our life and and precepts and and and and and and ways that we should live.

He says, For you have taught me.

And then I love this is one of my favorite verses in all of Scripture.

And it's it's a verse that I've memorized years ago.

He says, How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth.

I love that verse.

And I um one of my mentors taught me, and I've been to Israel a couple of times, that when they teach Hebrew children some of these principles, the value and the preciousness of the Word of God.

In ancient life, they would take slates, black slates, and that's what they would teach them to write on.

And so they would learn their Hebrew alphabet, they would learn how to write and read and how to communicate, learn, learn the same things that we want our children to learn.

Um, but this would be one of the main verses, and what they would do before they they did their academic work, they would take honey and they would pour it on that slate.

And they would just let those little children, imagine a five or six-year-old who can who who's never had a piece of candy like we have, and so something sweet like honey, they would let them rub it all over their hands and just put it on their mouth and eat it.

And then and then while this is going on, they'd say, okay, listen up, listen up.

How sweet are the words of God to our taste.

Sweeter than the honey to our mouth.

Oh, I love that.

In verse 104, he says, Though your precepts I, through your precepts I get understanding.

Therefore I hate every false way.

And then 105, a very well-known verse, it says, Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

And I don't know if you've ever ever been.

It's harder to find places in the world like this, but I when I've been in a couple of foreign countries out in a rural area, and I have to get up and walk to the bathroom at home, I can go flip on a what?

A light.

So to walk from my tent out in a rural village where there are wild animals, I I want to I want to see, and so I now I have the vantage point of a leader telling me, preparing me, Russ, bring your flashlight on this trip because you're gonna need it.

But but this is a picture I get, is is when somebody is walking around and it's pitch black, dark, and and they can't see, they would light an oil lamp to guide their way.

And sometimes it would not illuminate the whole room, but it would give them enough light for the next step or two.

And and so that's that's the lesson.

And so I I could go on, but I want to stop there, and and I want to I want to give you some practical how-to's for 21st century life to be notifications and and to remind you of the importance, but more than that, how we can spend time in the Word of God.

And so I I want, you know what I want for our church family?

I want us to be rooted in the Word in a way that encourages our relationship with God and gives us a vision for how we can be great, great followers of Jesus, how we can be great leaders in our family, how we can be great leaders in our community, how we can be great citizens in our community.

And so I want it so badly.

Here's what God provides for us in the Word.

And I'm gonna go a little bit rapid fire here.

If you're a note taker, you can follow along.

So why do we want?

What why do we spend time in the Word of God?

What is the benefit?

And number one, it's spiritual nourishment.

Spiritual nourishment.

Just as much as I need to make sure that I eat something on a daily basis, I need to spend time in the Word of God nourishing my soul.

I think we live in a culture and a society where we starve our souls too much.

We starve our souls, and we're bombarded trying to keep up with life.

Number two, it provides guidance and wisdom.

A very common question, and we'll probably come back and teach on this very soon, maybe this year, on how try how do we determine God's will for our life?

How do we make important decisions in our life?

And we need guidance and wisdom that comes from the Bible and comes from God's Word.

Number three, it's for transformation and growth.

Transformation and growth.

How do I grow spiritually?

How do I know God more and how do I know Him more closely?

Transformation and growth.

Number four, it's connection with God.

This is, listen, if you receive something in the mail and it's addressed to you specifically, and let's go beyond that, it's handwritten to you, and and you look up in the corner and there is a handwritten return address.

Let me go to another step here.

You recognize the handwriting.

You recognize the handwriting as being somebody that you love and somebody that is important to you.

And I'm going through my stack of mail, I'm gonna put down everything that looks like it's what, a bill?

I'll look at that a little bit here.

I'm gonna probably chunk a few, no no uh uh offense, a few campaign cars, especially at this season of life.

We're we're tired of those.

And this season in our country, uh, we're we're we're kind of tired of those.

And but but if I see that personal addressed envelope, it comes from somebody that I know and trust and love, and you know what?

I know they often send me money on my birthday, and I'm gonna I'm gonna tear that open.

And and so I it it connects me with that person.

It is a personal message from them.

And I don't there it might be somebody that encourages me.

I'm thinking back to family members like my grandmother who loves sending things in the mail, and uh, and we've lost that a little bit.

Um, connection with God, and then finally, it it provides community and accountability.

And there's something about a community of faith where we are spending time together.

That's why we do reading plans together at times as a church.

And so, um, and so here's here's my questions.

How can we how can we put practices in our life to be those notifications and to be uh provisions for consistency?

And so I'm gonna rapid fire through these as we kind of come to the end.

Is number one, set a regular time and place.

Set a regular time and place.

If you've been around here a long time, you you when I talk about spending time with God in prayer and spending time with God in the Word, I say this all the time.

Pick a time, pick a place, stick to it.

Pick a time, pick a place, stick to it.

Will you say it with me?

Pick a time, pick a place, stick to it.

And so uh all across my life, there's always been a chair or a place in the house where it's been my place to get in the word, to spend time with the Lord.

Um praying, spending time with the Lord.

I pray and walk a lot.

And and so you set a regular time and place.

Number two, start small and build.

Start small and build.

That's one of the things I encourage, especially people that are that are that are new to faith or new to try to understand some of the things we're talking about over these few weeks.

It is don't don't allow yourself to be overwhelmed.

Don't set a goal to read through the Old Testament next week.

As a matter of fact, I encourage new believers, start in the New Testament.

And I know that is a bit counter to the way we think, but but that the reason I tell you to do that is because that New Testament starts with the biographies of Jesus' life.

Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John and their accounts of those details.

And that's and the life of Jesus is what we want to look at as our model for how to live and how to connect with God and how to connect with each other and how to connect with people.

And so regular time and place, start small and build.

And number three, use a reading plan.

So so as I'm talking about where to start and how to read, is we had we do have the vantage point of using reading plans and having technology.

You may be familiar, most people are familiar with the Bible app.

Um, the Bible app, it is a it's the Bible available through technology on your computer or your tablet or your phone.

And so I I will tell you, I use the Bible app all the time.

And I use it um to to because it's got so many reading plans.

You can go and fight a multitude.

As a matter of fact, it's a little bit overwhelming.

So I'm gonna just give you one reading plan that is a common reading plan that I go back to, and and it's it's it's it's a and this is a little picture of what what it looks like on the Bible app.

It's the gospels in a month.

It's the gospels in a month.

You know why I love that?

Because it forces me to read Matthew in one week, Mark in a week, Luke in a week, and John in a week.

And I'm I'm having to do a lot of reading.

It's not necessarily a lot of reading, but it's a rapid fire progress through the stories of Jesus' life, but it but it keeps me rooted.

That's at the center of my faith, the life of Jesus, the teachings of Jesus, the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus as my Savior.

And so start with a reading plan.

If you don't have one, this is where I would encourage you to start and then come back to over and over.

And number four, incorporate technology.

Incorporate technology.

And I I'm gonna show you, I'm gonna tell you about a website, and I'm gonna give you a brief piece of one of their videos, but it's called Bibleproject.com.

Bibleproject.com.

And let's let's go ahead and show that, Riley.

This is a intro video.

And the largest collection of poetry in the Bible is the book of Psalms.

So that's what we're gonna look at here.

Now the Israelites composed lots of poetry throughout their history.

Yeah, poems were written by Israelites, sages, kings, and prophets.

Some poems were sung by choirs in the Jerusalem temple, while others were prayed by families at home.

And over the centuries, the most important and widely read poems were compiled together to be read or sung on special occasions.

And I'm familiar with books of poetry, a large collection of the greatest poems in one place, and I can read through and pick.

That's just that's about a five-minute video, and I read it, I gave you 45 seconds.

Now, I love this is one of my favorite resources because of the creators of it are young men and women that have the ability to tap into technology.

They know how their generation and the younger generations think and how to how they take in information and apply information, but they also are scholars, and so they have the understanding and the background that goes as in-depth as you want to go.

And it may be more than than some of us necessarily want or need, but I love it.

And I want to tell you, I I as a pastor, I use that website like a commentary or a historical study tool.

And I love it because it's it's creative, um, it's it's uh it's on video, and that's a that's a huge emphasis um in this modern day that we're in.

And so Bibleproject.com.

And so I would encourage you, um, you and your family, this is that's a resource that can be used.

By you individually and as your family.

Number five is reflect and journal.

Reflect and journal.

How are you going to grow as a believer?

How are you going to grow in your life?

This is just something that I think leaders, but everyone, if we want to be able to observe and think about the future, but also observe and measure the effectiveness of our lives or our leadership, looking back, it's so important to spend some time quietly reflecting and maybe writing down some of the important steps that we've seen in the way that he's worked in our life.

Number six, join a study group.

Number six, join a study group.

I was up here Wednesday, and there's a group of ladies that meet here Wednesday morning at 10 o'clock, and I love their group is they they're they dive in deep in their study group, but I come in each Wednesday and there's there's one or two extra people here every Wednesday.

That group is growing because they they are enjoying spending time and studying together.

And I know that's that's during the workdays.

We have study groups that meet at various times and all places in our community.

And so, and I'm sure I know of groups that are people that are from different churches that meet together and do Bible study and reflect, talk about it, discuss it.

And sometimes when you engage with others, you learn what God is doing in their life, and it encourages you in your own spiritual journey, and you even provide in those groups accountability, encouragement, and you and you get to hear diverse perspectives and how the Holy Spirit is working in somebody else's life.

And you can't get that reading a book or a commentary.

That's that's that's personal, and so that's that's huge.

And then finally, um pray for understanding.

Pray that God would give you understanding.

And um I I've always found it best, you know, to begin your day.

First, first part of your day, give it to God, and it sets the tone for the rest of the day.

And and I can I can go to the Lord and pray any time of the day.

But to stop at a few times during the day, number one, that's that's what Jesus modeled.

Now he he could talk to his heavenly father anytime, but the model we see is he would get up before it was sunlight, and he would pull away from his disciples and those that were following him, and he would go be with his heavenly father.

And and God used that so powerfully that one day when Jesus is coming back, the disciples are all standing there.

And I think they're they've been talking about why hasn't he been taking us with him?

He takes us everywhere with him.

Why hadn't he taken us with him on this secret journey?

And so I can imagine they said, Jesus, what are you where have you been?

Well, I've been spending time with my Heavenly Father in prayer.

And so they they ask a very common, simple question.

Would you teach us to pray?

Would you teach us to pray?

You know, and so he gives them what we now know is the Lord's Prayer and is a model.

It's not really, I don't believe it's meant to be something we just recite, but it gives us a model for how we approach the Lord.

Now, that is not even an inch deep of something that can be explored very widely and very deeply.

And so it's just hopefully gonna whet your appetite a little bit.

But I hope what it will do is it will help you grow in your spiritual journey.

And when we grow in our spiritual journey, we can't help, listen to me, listen to me, we can't help but to let that overflow in our life.

It changes our character, it changes our habits and our patterns, it gives us confidence and gives us hope.

And it produces it in at the end, at the end of that pathway, it produces two fruits.

And I tell you about this, the Bible speaks of fruit and uses this analogy.

Now, there's two fruits that Jesus talked about.

There's the fruit of the spirit and then the fruit of a believer.

The fruit of the spirit is the spiritual change in your life that results from a relationship with God and growing in that relationship.

And so the fruit of the spirit, Paul speaks about this in Galatians chapter 5.

Galatians 5 · chapter mention

He says, the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control.

Now, don't we like those words in a world that's kind of gotten mean and ugly, or hasn't kind of gotten mean and ugly?

It's been mean and ugly since it started, but it seems to be ramped up now.

And so we are, I think most of us are refreshed when we see people that are changing in their character.

And so the fruit of the Spirit is one at one one part, one definition of fruit.

The other fruit is the fruit of other believers.

The fruit of other believers.

And my dad was, I don't know, I was probably about five or six years old, and we had moved onto a new piece of land.

Um, it was an exciting part or time in the life of our family, and I'll never forget my dad planting these two apple trees down in front of the barn behind our house.

And and so it now I didn't I wanted to wake up the next morning and see apples, right?

That didn't happen.

It took years for apples to come.

And I remember when the first year we that that tree produced apples, I was like, these are apples.

And then it took another uh you know year set of years for it to produce really healthy apples, you know, that we could eat.

And and and so um app here's what I learned.

Apple trees produce what?

Do they produce apples?

Do apple tree, how do you how do you get an orange?

You go what to what kind of tree?

If you want an apple, you go to an apple tree.

I mean that's that's pretty, we've learned that, right?

That's a pretty common thing.

And so we reproduce who we are.

And so the natural result is that if somebody sees our life and they're drawn by a life that's been invested in God and the word of God, and the word transforms us and changes us, they want to know how can I have a little bit of that?

And and you can easily transition and share about your journey and your faith and how you've come to Christ.

Bottom line.

Read it.

Read it.

Read it, read it.

There's nothing more frustrating than talking to somebody who has very strong opinions.

But I ask them, where do you base that on, that information on, and you know what they give back to me?

Zilch.

That's because they've heard somebody on TV, or they've heard somebody else's opinion, or they've just made up something themselves, or they've come across something on the internet.

And I know most things are true that we read on the internet, but you, you know, we we should be a little bit intuitive in validating, and so I'm like, look, give this 30 days of your life, and be open.

And at the end of those 30 days, you know what I think you'll do?

I think you'll either, you'll either, you'll either you'll start believing, you'll start, you'll start changing your perspectives, or you'll say, I want more.

And somewhere along the way, what you read on a page in black and white letters begins to take life in your heart.

And Jesus becomes real.

It's not a story, it's a person that gave his life for me and offers us hope.

And we live in a world that desperately needs hope.

Amen.

And so Jesus, Jesus, when he taught, do you know what he quoted?

You know what Jesus quoted when he taught?

He quoted scripture.

I mean, you go go read.

Go read, do the reading plan.

And what reading plan would it be?

Read the gospels in a month.

30 days.

Read the gospel in 30 days, and and you, one of those months that you go through, highlight every time Jesus quotes and refers to something, it's gonna be he's referring to Scripture, he's referring to the old covenant and and and the old testament.

He is referring to the word of God, and you know why?

Because he had been raised that way, he had been taught that way, and that was that was, he knew if I'm gonna communicate, I want to, I want people to hear the words of our Heavenly Father.

Of course, he taught and he elaborated and he shed light and he spoke and he modeled how we should live.

He got to a point in his life where he knew it was time and he surrendered his life, he was arrested, and he was beaten cruelly, ultimately crucified on a Roman piece of execution called the cross.

Only time in history that's been used as a device for execution.

And so Jesus was executed.

They buried his body in a tomb, and on the third day, life came back into his physical body.

The disciples visit the tomb and his followers visit the tomb and find that it's empty.

It's still empty.

I was there just a couple of years ago, and I got to walk into the garden tomb, and you know what I found?

It's empty.

Because Jesus is alive.

As a matter of fact, he lives.

My grandmother used to sing about how he lives in me.

He walks with me, he talks with me, and lives with me.

And so we we, those of us who've put our faith in Jesus, that that's those are the key points.

And if you don't have a testimony, we're gonna have a baptism at the 11 o'clock celebration this morning gathering.

And so what I love about baptisms is you get to hear, you get to hear part of somebody's story.

And then this morning, in just a moment, I'm gonna invite you to come to the table of communion, the Lord's Supper, the Lord's meal that he instituted right before he was arrested and crucified and buried.

He he says, I want you to do this until I come back.

What do you mean by that?

He said, I'll come, I'll, I, I'm gonna, I'm gonna go away.

I'm gonna go be with my father, I'm gonna send the Holy Spirit.

He said, but I will return one day and I will I will I will bring my kingdom and inaugurate it here on earth.

Just as it is in heaven.

He taught his disciples, pray, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

And so he said, I want you to come to the table of the Lord.

And what we do when we come to the table of the Lord is we we take a piece of bread, a wafer that represents his body, and we say, God, um, thank you, Jesus.

I remember.

I'm gonna keep remembering your life and your death and your resurrection as I practice this meal with my family, with my spiritual family.

And you take that wafer and you'll dip it into the fruit of the vine.

We use juice here.

They the it can be juice or wine, and so you'll dip it into the juice.

And we practice open communion here, where you don't have to be a member of our church, you don't have to be a certain, you know, have a certain uh, you know, denominational background.

You're invited, if you've put your faith in the Lord, to come to the table of the Lord.

And so when we do that, he says, remember, remember, remember.

And so I have the opportunity when I open up this book, it causes me to remember, to remember what he's done for me.

And so if you've never put your faith in Jesus, I want to encourage you, maybe this morning is your first step to put your faith in Jesus.

Maybe this morning will be your first communion as a believer.

But the bottom line is that you come to the table and participate in this practice that Jesus instituted, and he instituted it to remind us.

It's almost like a notification.

To remind you, man, God is good.

My heavenly Father is good.

He has revealed himself to me, he has saved me, he is in the process of changing me and transforming me.

And so that's what we're doing here in a moment.

And so I'm gonna pray here in a second.

And when I say amen, that is your invitation as the Lord leads you.

And you can come as an individual, you can come as a couple, or you can come as a family, you come and dip the juice, and I will just ask you to maybe uh slide over closer to the wall or go back to your seat and pray together and then partake.

And as you partake, I want you to remember, remember, Jesus has revealed himself to me through the teaching or the reading of Scripture.

And as a result, I've been introduced to a relationship with him.

And so as he's changed me in this relationship, I'm reminded through this meal that he is good, that he saves, and he is going to return one day.

And we'll practice communion until he returns, and then there'll be a banquet as he inaugurates his new kingdoms.

Let's pray together.

Let's pray together.

Father, thank you for your goodness.

Thank you for your grace.

Thank you for all the things that that came together for you to provide for your Bible being protected and preserved throughout history.

Thank you for all of the circumstances that came together to provide for my salvation through your life and your death and your resurrection.

And we pray for your for your return.

But until you return, and I pray that you would use us, use your church family to be an anchor of hope in this world and in this community.

Lord, I pray, even as we talk about the vision uh of this of this city of Walnut Grove and how this, the things that are happening now will impact lives in the future, Lord.

May we have a vision that is filled with hope, that is filled with optimism, that is filled with joy, and as we seek to invest in families and to and to see uh our kids launched out into the world full of confidence, full of the Holy Spirit, full of transformation.

God, would you do it?

Would you do it?

And would you start right here?

Maybe start this morning.

If you never put your faith in Jesus, you can do it right now.

You say, Well, how will I do that?

And you pray.

What do you say?

You know what?

Prayer is so personal.

You you talk to God.

And it might sound something like this, where you just say, Dear God, I know I need you.

I know that I'm a sinner and I need to have a transformed life, and I pray that as I turn and put my faith in you and believe that you will change me, and I confess you as my Lord.

It's in Jesus' name we pray.

And everybody said together, Amen.

Would you be free and willing to come to the table of the Lord this morning?

So come make your way as God leads.