First of the Day | Pastor Chris Kouba

Morning, I'm on.

Good to see you.

Grab your Bibles, open them up to 2 Timothy chapter 3.

2 Timothy 3 · chapter mention

2 Timothy chapter 3.

2 Timothy 3 · chapter mention

My name is Chris Cuba.

I have the privilege of being lead pastor here at United City, and I want to take this opportunity to welcome all of the men and women at our correctional facilities, those joining us online.

Let's give them a hand and so grateful for you.

Before we get going, though, I want to just work uh mention a little bit of stuff procedural in preparation for next week.

Next week's a really big week in the life of our church.

Let me take you back to 2021, three years ago, this exact time of the year, uh middle of COVID, things were just really, really tough, really, really difficult for us as a church.

We were getting no momentum, finances were tough, all the different things that you can imagine if you think back to that time three years ago.

And so literally, not because I'm spiritual, but because I was desperate, I literally told the staff at a staff meeting, having thought nothing at all about it, and said, hey, I'm gonna fast next week, and I would love it if you guys would do it with me.

Because in my mind, I was thinking, I'd never really fasted other than maybe one or two days total.

Uh, I'd never done any kind of extended fast, but honestly, I thought I don't know what else to do.

I don't, I don't have enough leadership books and things that I can read that can kind of all of a sudden do something.

And what took place as a result of that fast three years ago changed my life.

And it only changed my life uh personally, where I began to lean upon the Lord and now I look forward to fasting.

It is something that I actually enjoy.

It is something that I know I'm gonna meet with the Lord.

But what God did in the life of our church ever since that week has been unexplainable any other way other than Him.

With the exception of maybe five or six weekends total in the last three years, every single Sunday, we have baptized at least one person here in our church, which has truly been remarkable.

Last year we had the highest number of people baptized in the history of our church.

God is moving in significant ways, and I'm just telling you, there is something directly linked by an intentional focus of trying to meet Him and how God is always faithful.

And so, what we did is two years ago, we invited the church to come alongside with the staff of what we were doing.

And we're gonna ask you to do the same thing yet again.

And the stories we hear year after year of what God does in the midst of this fast is truly unexplainable any other way from him.

So let me just go ahead and give you a heads up because for some of you, when you come next week, you're gonna have a card in your seat, and we're gonna ask you to sign up to fast.

And so I want to kind of mentally prepare you, maybe even physically prepare you for what this is gonna look like.

There's a couple of different ways that you can go and fast and participate with us.

One is with a complete fast.

This is liquids only.

This is whether you drink just water or you drink juice for an entire week.

We're starting at sundown next Sunday night, and it's gonna go through sun up the following Sunday, January 21st through January 28th.

So an entire week of not eating any solid food.

I know what some of you are thinking, aren't you gonna die if you do that?

And I would tell you, I promise you you will not die, okay?

Uh this is what I'm gonna do.

I want to encourage you to maybe do this with me.

Some of you who maybe have never fasted before and are still like, this is crazy.

You do what?

Uh let me consider, ask you to consider one meal.

So maybe all week long you don't eat lunch.

Or maybe all week long you don't eat dinner.

Okay, if you never eat breakfast, don't say it, well, I'm gonna not eat breakfast this week, okay?

That's not the goal, all right?

Uh there's something where you're starving the flesh so that you can feed the spirit, okay?

That's the whole concept.

Maybe you choose one full day where you're gonna fast.

Another one is the Daniel fast.

This is when you fast from certain types of foods.

Maybe you're like, well, I don't eat broccoli, I'm gonna fast from broccoli.

Again, not exactly the goal.

There's a lot of stuff we've got online though about the Daniel fast in particular that can be a really, really good one.

One that I want to strongly encourage all of us to consider is a media fast.

There is so much noise that is coming at us, so much more than we probably even realize.

And so consider for an entire week, what if you didn't open up Instagram?

Like for an entire week, what if you, God forbid, allowed the streak on Snapchat to be broken for the cause of the Lord?

What?

I mean, it's amazing what may happen, and you'll begin to see it'll be there when you get back, okay?

And so, therefore, it's important for us just to do something to intentionally set aside the things of the world and instead feed the spirit.

We're gonna talk about this more next week, but I don't want you to be like, well, I don't know, it snuck up on me.

I didn't hear anything about it.

You are officially warned that it is coming next week, and I'm also telling you, it is gonna be an amazing thing if you choose to do it.

We're continuing our series this morning called You.

We're trying to help you uh have a better version of you in 2024.

You may have noticed out in the lobby, we've got a bunch of old vintage technology.

When I say vintage, I mean like from like five years ago and from 10 years ago, because that's what it feels like, right?

Technology upgrades so fast.

We got an old school typewriter out there, we've got kind of an original laptop that is out there, we have an old camera that is out there, we've got the original iPod, black and white, all right, for you to kind of look at old school Kindles.

We even have a rotary phone out there.

Believe it or not, some of you may not even have any concept of this.

They used to have phones that plugged into the wall, okay?

And not only that, you didn't just push buttons, you had to dial the buttons, all right?

The little bitty things like that.

The reason that we're showing you this is because we all know when you look at that technology, you know, wow, things have upgraded significantly since those days.

And even the technology we have today, we're gonna look at it in a few years and see, wow, things have upgraded significantly, even from what we have now that we think is so cutting edge.

But here's what we've also discovered: a lot of people spiritually are still like a rotary phone.

Like you're still way back from what it used to be.

And it's like maybe you had a moment at a camp, or maybe you had a moment whenever you were at church going up, or maybe you had a moment early in your marriage, or maybe you had a moment, but you've never really progressed from there.

And what we believe is that there are spiritual disciplines that if you will put in place, you don't have to be a rotary phone anymore.

We actually believe that God can speak to you and God can can meet you and God can walk with you and help you so that your spiritual life can look like you went from a rotary phone to an iPhone 15 titanium, right?

Uh, not not an Android, that that's almost there, right?

Of an iPhone all the way, right?

Kind of a thing.

Here's what I always want you to see.

If you will be serious about this, there's a better version of you available.

Uh last week we talked about how a better version of you gives God the first day of your week.

We talked about the importance of gathering for worship.

I appreciate the fact that you took that to heart and that you are here, that you've prioritized the gathering, that you're experiencing Sabbath when you don't just work, work, work, work, work, but instead you intentionally set aside time to not work, but instead to worship.

This morning, here's the main takeaway that I want you to get from the message, and it is this a better version of you gives God the first of your day.

A better version of you gives God the first of your day.

One of our core values here at United City Church is that the Bible speaks.

It's pretty interesting that that happens to be one of our core values of all the things that we can say, these are the most important because we live in the Bible belt in Houston, Texas, where there is a Mexican restaurant and a church on every corner all around here, right?

And so, because of that, it would not, it seems odd that we would choose the Bible speaking as something significant.

Yet what we have discovered is that the issue for the most part in our area isn't that people don't believe the Bible, isn't even that people don't value the Bible, it's that they don't let the Bible speak into all of their life.

They don't let the Bible drive their decisions, they don't let the Bible drive how they process hurt and trials and difficulties.

And what we want to do is we want to elevate the Bible in such a way where it isn't just uh a voice, but it is the voice in our life.

We don't just want it to be a data point, we want it to be the data point.

Like the thing that we go to to help us determine what everything else is gonna do and how everything else is going to make sense.

Second Timothy chapter 3, uh verses 16 and 17.

2 Timothy 3 · chapter mention

Here's what it says All scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training and righteousness.

That the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

The reason why we say the Bible speaks and we elevate it as much as we do is because we actually do believe if you read this, it will change your life.

Like I'm gonna say that a lot over this series, but I'm telling you, this will change your life.

This is not just a book, we believe it is the book.

This is a book that contains wisdom and knowledge, but it also tells us the grand story of who we are and how we fit in this larger thing called life, and how God sent his son Jesus on a rescue mission to save our souls and to give glory to him.

If you were to go into my library in my office, I have a very impressive bookshelf with a lot of books on it.

And when people come to my office, they'll ask, have you read all those books?

And I've read most of the books, but 99.9% of those books I'm never gonna read more than once.

Like I've got them there for reference.

If I ever want to go back to them, then I might look into them, but they just kind of look really good on the big display there in my office.

Do you realize, though, the Bible is meant to be read over and over and over again?

The Bible says that it's living and active, which means this not only the Holy Spirit who wrote it, uh, allowed it to have life, but guess what?

The Holy Spirit also works on you when you read it, which is why you can read a verse of scripture and you see how God's saying this to you this one day, and then guess what?

Years later, you can read the very same verse of scripture.

You may be going through a number of different circumstances, and you feel like God is impressing something.

It's either the same or even something very different, and it just shows you this is a living, active word, which is why we want you to read it, which is why we want you to treasure it, which is why we want you to hold on to it.

Colossians chapter 3, verse 16 says this Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.

Colossians 3:16

The word dwell means to reside in, to live in, to immerse yourself in, to be so consumed you begin to take on the shape of that which you are in.

I've got some hot water here and pouring it into a coffee mug, and I want you to think about this image.

We desire that the word of Christ, that the word of God would dwell in you.

And I told you last week that the a better version of you is gonna give God the first part of your week.

And here's what you will see every single time that you come to United City, and one of us gets on stage and we get to this part of our service, we're gonna say the very same thing every time, which is this open your Bibles too.

We don't just say that like a transition point, we say that because we don't have anything to say other than what God's Word says, and we're hiding from that from the very get-go.

And here's what I want you to know if you do nothing else and apply nothing else that we've talked about in this series, other than making the Sunday gathering a priority in your life, I assure you of this.

You will have God's word that gets put in you.

And what I want you to also begin to see is that not only will God's word be in you, but what I want you to see is that guess what?

You're gonna look different.

Like I promise you, if you just listen to the written word of God being spoken over you, you will look up and your life will have a different shade than it used to have.

Your life will be measurably better as a result of hearing God's word.

Here's our encouragement.

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.

Meaning this, we don't just want the word of God to be something that you hear on just Sundays, but we want the word of God to be something that actually dwells in you every single day.

We want it to be something that shapes who you are and what you are all about.

And I promise you, if you begin to do this, what you will discover is that if you give God the first part of your day, that you're gonna look radically different.

Now let's talk that through.

I don't want to be legalistic about whether it's the morning or whether it's at night.

Some of you are like night owls, like you come to life, and some of you are early morning people.

For me, it's by far early morning.

Here's what I would simply tell you what is the best part of your day, that's what you need to give to the Lord.

Okay?

Don't get hung up on the first, get hung up on the best.

That's what the idea of the first means.

You give the first of the of the produce that's the best of the produce.

The same thing I think is true when it comes to your time and you're giving those things to the Lord.

Mark chapter 1, verse 35, it says this, and rising very early in the morning while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.

Mark 1:35

This is speaking of Jesus.

It says that Jesus, I think he's on to something, by the way, very early, before the crowds of people wanted his attention and his focus, he got up, he went to a place, and he went to meet there and realign with his father to make sure that he was doing what he needed to do.

I tell you why I like that, because uh for me, I'm two weeks into 2024, and it already feels like I need a break.

Like it there was no ramp up on the treadmill to where it was like, okay, we're gonna go from one, and then we're gonna go to a two, then we're gonna go to a five.

I jumped on a treadmill going 12 already.

The schedule, the activities, all the things, taking kids all over the place.

There's no question about it.

I already feel like there are a million noises that are coming into my life already, and it's like, whoa.

Am I the only one that feels that way?

Has anybody else felt like you've already jumped in and it's like, here we go, it's crazy, okay?

Awesome.

Well, the rest of you, besides the three that raise their hand, let me know what you're doing to help that because my life's crazy already.

And what I have found is that unless I dedicate time early in the morning before all the other noises come in, then I'm not gonna give my time to hearing what God says first and foremost in my life.

Here's the question I want you to think about.

Are you meeting with God every day?

I want to spend some time giving you some practical suggestions on how to do this.

I've got six hacks, if you will, to help you give God the first part of your day.

Now, do not write these down and say, unless I do all six of these, that I am a failure in life.

That's not what I'm saying.

If you do one of these, if you do two of these, you are way better off than you do none of these.

So these are just meant to be helpful, practical, super great suggestions that are time tested and that are actually been used that can help you give God the first part of your day and it'll change your life.

Okay?

Let's walk these through.

First number one, have a plan.

Have a plan.

If you have no plan, you're planning to fail.

If you have no plan, you're planning to fail.

If you want to give God the first part of your day, then you need to have a plan so you aren't sitting down trying to figure out what you're gonna do and how you're gonna read it and what that's gonna look like.

I'm telling you, it's not gonna work.

Let me give you why a plan is helpful.

Number one, a plan can help you with context.

You ever feel like this is basically what a time with the Lord maybe looks like for you?

To where you get your Bible, you open it up, you got all these things going on in your head, you're just gonna grab it, and you sit there and say, Okay, uh, sing praises to the Lord, oh you his saints, and give thanks to his holy name.

For his anger is but for a moment, and that's actually a really good verse, actually.

So let's not do that one.

Let's do a better one.

All right, here we go.

You should actually read that verse and apply it, okay?

Here we go, here's another one.

All right, here we go.

And the king, this is 1 Samuel 22, 16, and the king said, You shall surely die, Halimelech, you and all your father's house.

And the king said to the guard who stood about him, turn and kill the priest of the Lord, because their hand also is with David, and they knew that he fled and did not disclose it to me.

Yep, that girl did lie to me.

I need to break up with her.

That's the proof, right there.

That's what it says.

Folks, a lot of us live on Instagram post of verses more than we live in terms of what God actually says.

Like we just kind of grab a verse and make it look pretty.

But here's what I would simply tell you each verse is written in a larger context.

There's like a book and chapters and verses and a larger story of what's going on in each of them.

And what I've discovered is this is that I'm gonna gravitate to what I want the word to say to me, unless I read a plan that helps me determine what my life needs to look like in light of what the word actually says.

There's a huge difference between the two.

So a plan helps you with context, so don't just rip something out, take one word and think, oh, that's a sign from the Lord.

Or it just might be a verse in the midst of a larger chapter that you should read the whole chapter.

And it protects you on that.

A plan also does this, it helps you with comprehension.

Did you know the Bible is not written chronologically?

Meaning, if I just start in Genesis and I just keep reading, I'm gonna read and I'm gonna be like, wait a second, what just what just happened here?

They kind of went back like the Bible's written as a bunch of different books all brought together under one larger book that has one larger story.

If you didn't know that, then it's gonna be tough for you to understand it, which maybe is why some of you have struggled when it comes to reading God's word to understand it.

A plan will help guide you so that you can read for comprehension.

Let me tell you what a plan also does.

It helps you with consistency.

Maybe you're different than me, maybe you're wired differently, but if I go to a gym and I'm trying to work out and I have to go in and decide what I'm gonna do when I show up, I'm not gonna last very long.

Like I just can't stand that.

I hate it.

I instead want to go to a class with an instructor who tells me what to do, when to do it, and how many times to do it.

Like I want to have it all guided for me.

Now, please hear me.

Sometimes I like what the person that's telling me to do says, and sometimes I hate what the person that tells me to do says.

I would tell you, sometimes in a plan, as you read through God's word, you're gonna love it and you're gonna be like, man, this is perfect.

And other times you're gonna be like, why am I reading this again?

This doesn't make any sense.

And here's the beauty of a plan you got tomorrow to look forward to.

You'll be okay.

And it helps you with that consistency.

So the question ultimately is, what is your plan?

Let me walk you through what this can look like for you, okay?

Think about it working out.

When you work out with weights, you either are gonna do heavier weight and lower reps, or you're gonna do lower weights and higher reps.

Think about the same concept when it comes to reading your Bible.

What you could do is you could choose a plan that is a longer reading and shorter focus.

That doesn't mean you're not gonna read it for comprehension.

It just means if I read through the Bible in a year, I'm not gonna dive down and get really deep in specific things.

The other option might be what if I read shorter reading but had a higher focus?

This is maybe when I read really slowly, one or two chapters a day, but I'm gonna really know what it says.

I'm gonna really be able to understand it and be able to go through it.

I think you should do both over time, but I just want to encourage you.

The key is you gotta have a plan.

Let me show you a website.

I encourage you to write this down, visit it, make sure that you check it out.

UnitedCity.church forward slash Bible reading.

United City.church forward slash Bible reading.

Our staff has done the hard work for you by going and picking out a number of different plans that we would recommend, not just that we've heard are good, but that somebody on our team has actually done and said, This helped me.

Meaning there's a lot of them maybe that we've done that we didn't say help me, and so we didn't put those on there.

And so this is a great place for you to start to help you figure out a plan.

Let me also encourage you to check out the UVersion Bible app.

Everybody should have this on their phones.

The UVersion Bible app, uh, there's a number of different things that are really, really helpful about this, stuff to translations, that kind of a thing.

But it also gives you the option of having thousands, literally thousands of plans that you can sign up to, sign up for that can give you a reminder to help you.

Some are gonna be that longer reading, shorter focus, and others are gonna be the shorter reading higher focus.

Now, let me just go ahead and give you a heads up because I know what some of you are thinking.

Oh, I've done this before, and I looked up in a month and I was 43 chapters behind, and I quit.

There is grace in Jesus.

Move on, let it go.

Don't let being 43 chapters behind keep you from reading what God wants you to today and tomorrow.

Okay?

If you miss a day, that's okay, but just don't miss two.

Like just figure out a way that you can be consistent.

The goal, of course.

Is that we would do it perfectly, but none of us are perfect.

So instead, the goal is progress.

I heard about a guy this week who read his Bible for the very first time three days in a row.

Can I tell you that is a win?

That is a win.

And so for some of you, don't beat yourself up if the fact that you did a Bible in a year plan and you have not finished it and it's gonna take you two years.

You are better off in those two years than if you did nothing at all.

And so, therefore, just give yourself a break and pick it up tomorrow and meet with God at the first part of your day.

He's not up there with a tally and a scoreboard saying, Did you do it today?

Did you do it today?

No, he just wants to meet with you.

Let me give you a second hack that can help you.

Number two, have a place.

Have a place.

Did you know that I know if you don't come to church each week?

Did you guys realize that?

Did you realize the fact that because you all are creatures of habit and you all sit in the very same seat every single week, that I know when you're not in your seat.

You may think that you can get away with it.

You may think that nobody notices.

Let me just tell you something.

I notice.

Craig and Christy, you always sit right there, right next to Rick and Denise Smoot, every single week.

I know it every time, right?

So therefore I know if something's not going on and you aren't in your spot, okay?

Uh let me see here.

Uh let me think about this going forward.

All right, let's see here.

John and Maria.

John, uh, and you guys are separate.

Usually you're together, but you're separate today.

That's good to see you guys, all right?

Because you're always sitting right there in the middle, okay?

All right.

We basically have all of the young adults.

Good job, guys.

Good to see you guys over here all of the time.

All right, Greg Mana, thanks for being there in the back.

Sometimes you're over there, but I appreciate you sitting on this side over okay.

I know where you sit, all right?

I know where you are.

And if I had a guest and I went over to your house, you probably also have a chair that you sit in to watch TV.

If you invited me over to your house for dinner and we all kind of sat there, you probably would be very nice.

But if I sat in like somebody else's chair, everybody in the family would be like, Oh, he's he's sitting in their chair.

He's sitting in their chair.

Here's the thing our bodies and our minds are wired in such a way to where when we go to a certain place, we associate it with a certain activity.

Folks, what I want to encourage you to do is to have a place where you meet with God.

For me, in my house, it's at my kitchen table.

It's not the chair that's directly at the kitchen table, it's the one at the angle, and it's very uncomfortable, and that's why I chose it.

You want to know why?

Because I meet with God very early in the morning, and if I sat in a really comfy chair, I would fall asleep immediately.

It wouldn't happen.

And so, therefore, it's an intentionally uncomfortable chair, and that's where I go to meet with the Lord.

What is your place?

Maybe for some of you, your place is the bathroom.

Maybe some of your place is the uh uh uh your office.

Maybe some of you, your place is uh your office when you get to the when you get inside of your office.

Maybe your your your your place happens to be the car.

I don't know what the place is, but let me encourage you a couple of things about the place that you choose.

I would encourage you first of all, don't let the place that you choose be right next to the TV with the TV on.

The TV is gonna win every single time.

Meaning, find a place that doesn't isn't filled with distractions and let that be the thing.

I when I come here, I know this is what I'm gonna do, this is the place where I'm gonna go and I'm gonna meet with the Lord.

Let me also encourage you with this, don't pick the same place where you also go and scroll social media.

Because here's what I've found.

Many times, I open up my Bible, I begin to start reading, I begin to check email, I begin to check news, I begin to check ESPN, I begin to start scrolling through social media, and I totally forgot what I originally sat down to do.

So for me, what I do is I turn all of that off.

I use digital devices to do my time with the Lord to guide me, but I turn off screen time and all of that so that I'm not tempted to go and check all of those things to distract me.

Here's the thing those are already big enough distractions, and you have the enemy who doesn't want you to succeed in this.

You got no shot.

So this is not legalistic, but I do think this could be a good principle to live by.

And here it is devotion before digital.

Devotion before digital.

What if you heard from the Lord before you heard what everyone did last night?

What if you actually read what God said before you read what everybody else thinks about what everybody else did in the news?

What if you allowed God to shape the agenda of your day instead of waking up and allowing the last night's email to be the determining a factor of what your day is going to look like?

Folks, just again, I'm not trying to be legalistic, but what I am trying to tell you is this have a place.

When you have that place, it's almost like it's an appointment on your calendar.

If you ask me to have an early morning breakfast, I'm gonna say, I'm so sorry I'm not available.

Can we do it another time?

And here's the thing I've got an appointment with the Lord and I'm not gonna interrupt.

So make it like it's an appointment that you don't you're never gonna miss.

And in light of that, you guard it and you protect it.

I said last week, Sunday morning church is a Saturday night decision.

Time alone with the Lord in the morning is a night before decision.

In the same way that if you want to make sure you get all your stuff before you go out to the office or go to school, you want to set it all out.

In the same way, folks, know exactly what you're gonna do when you wake up, where you're gonna meet with the Lord, what you're gonna do when you get there.

And I promise you, he will be faithful to meet you every single time.

Let me give you another hack that can help you to meet God and give God the first of your day.

Uh, it is listen to the Bible.

Listen to the Bible.

I love doing this.

There's so many noises out there.

People wanting to tell me about what they think about Nick Saban retiring and Bill Belichick's up and down, political commentators trying to tell me all about the debate of this past week and what the year's gonna look like with all of that, music wanting to fill my mind and kind of create an earworm where I'm singing it all the rest of the day, right?

What if what if God's word was filling your mind when you started up?

Uh you realize that it wasn't until more recent human history uh that we actually have the ability to read God's word.

Now we've got multiple translations in our pocket.

But for the majority of human history, people received God's word audibly.

So what if you listen to God's word?

I'm an app guy, you're gonna see that.

Let me give you a great app to do this.

It's Dwell App is a great way to listen to God's word being spoken.

It's got some different things in the background as well that can help you with this.

Uh, there's also with the Bible app for you version, many of the plans, most of the plans, in fact, will actually have an audio component of it.

Hillary, when she's getting ready in our bathroom, she listens to the Bible.

This is how she does, that's her place, that's where she does it.

She listens to the Bible being read.

Folks, let me just encourage you.

This can be a great way for you to redeem your commute.

For some of you, it may be a commute downtown to the office or somewhere else.

For some of you, it may be a commute going through all the different places to do carpal and it feels like it takes half your day.

Whatever it is, listen to the word and redeem that commute.

Listen to sermons, listen to God's word being spoken.

I promise you, the very act of hearing God's word is a great way for you to be able to get God's word and give him the best of your first of your day.

Number four, memorize the Bible.

Memorize the Bible.

This one, you pick a verse from your reading, maybe a verse, take the verse of that day from the Bible app and you meditate on it.

Psalm 119, verse 11, I have stored up your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.

Psalms 119:11

Memorizing God's word is helpful to keep you from sin.

It's helpful to encourage you when you need it.

It helps you to guide when you need wisdom.

Again, I'm an app guy.

Let me give you two apps to help you with this: fighter verses and the Bible memory app.

I think both of these are great tools and resources to help you not only pick verses to choose to memorize, but also gives you fun and creative ways to kind of rehearse and go over them.

So maybe when you're waiting in line, instead of just scrolling through social media or doing whatever, what if you pull this app out and you began just to walk through a few things and began to memorize God's word?

I promise you you'll see an incredible difference as you begin to see how God's word comes into your mind.

Let me give you this idea too.

Maybe you're reading God's word specifically if you do it digitally and you hear a verse that you really resonate with, you highlight it.

What if you screenshot that?

And what if you put that as your lock screen?

Do you realize how many times you pick up your phone every single day?

Like I promise you, you'd be shocked by it.

What if you did this?

That was your lock screen.

You read and you went over that verse before you actually opened up the phone every single time.

Can you imagine how much memory of God's word you would have with very little effort?

You would just have it in front of you.

Just memorizing God's word is a great tool to help you to give God the first part of your day.

Let it be like a cough drop, which gives immediate relief, but then as well, it begins to take a long time and it gets inside of you to where you can always be able to have the benefit from it.

Fifth hack for giving God the first part of your day, practically speaking, is write it down.

Write it down.

You guys are lucky, it's a big day.

I I did not use my preaching Bible today, I brought my reading Bible today.

This is the Bible that I use at my house.

I very rarely uh leave and bring it up here to preach with because I kind of want to protect it and guard it.

Uh, it is a Bible that I've had for many, many years.

Did you know uh if you use a paper Bible, it is not sacrilegious for you to write in your Bible.

I wanted you to know that.

It's okay.

Like I promise you, nothing's gonna happen.

And so I want to encourage you to underline verses along the way, write out notes in your Bible, uh, write out prayers in your Bible, write dates in your Bible.

In my Bible reading plan this morning, I wrote on there and I noted that this day, one year ago, Amos and Rachel Rivera were over at our house with the staff on an interview weekend.

And so this morning turned into a prayer time, thanking God for Amos and Rachel Rivera.

Just because I had their name and that date written in my Bible.

I was able to recall that and to give thanks to the Lord for what he has done.

Let this be almost like a prayer journal.

Let me tell you what I do a lot in my Bible.

I will write in the margins uh K M H G.

Those are the initials of my kids.

What that means is that this specific verse, I'm praying that verse over my kids.

It just reminds me to begin to speak God's word over them.

Or I will oftentimes write H.

And this is a prayer that I'm praying for Hillary, or a prayer that I'm praying for us as a couple.

I will write these things down.

I'm telling you, it is so important to capture what God may be impressing on you in your life.

When I was growing up, I used to literally get a notepad and I would literally write the date, what I just read, and one sentence that I felt like God was telling me.

Now I'm doing it digitally.

And here's two questions I always try to answer, whether it be both of them or at least one of them.

And here's the questions What does this say about God?

What does this say about me?

What does this say about God?

And what does this say about me?

Sometimes when I read, it's not about me.

It may just be that God wants me to know more about Him.

But if God shows something to me about Himself, I want to write that down.

These are great ways to help you and to begin to do this.

Let me just tell you a little marriage hack, a little side note.

Hillary and I, 21 years, lover to death, more than I ever have in my entire life today.

And I would tell you a large reason why God's protected our marriage in big, big ways, is because every week we have a date.

And this date right now happens to be on Fridays at lunch.

It's been at different times and different seasons of our life.

But this date, we go on a date, and here's what happens.

Sometimes it's great.

Like it's really, really impactful.

We're talking a lot, we're connecting, it's really, really great.

Other times we just go and we just kind of have lunch.

I don't want to talk about a whole lot.

It's not real super deep.

We're just together.

The same idea is gonna be the case when it comes to writing down what God tells you in His Word.

Certain days you're gonna be like, man, you can't write fast enough.

Like it's amazing.

Man, God just begins to pour out and begin to tell you various things.

Other days you're gonna be like, eh, yeah, yeah, I don't really know what I got.

That's okay.

The goal is that you're together.

It's not that you have a novel every time.

The goal is that you have spent time with the Lord, and I'm gonna show you're gonna see as that happens, He will begin to do great and mighty things in your life.

Number six, last one is this have your people.

Have your people.

Everything is easier, better, and more enjoyable when you are doing it with a group.

This is why we have groups here at United City.

This is why they have group classes that they offer at the gym.

This is why serving together with others is so effective.

We were made to relate to each other and to push and to help each other.

So, in the same way, ask yourself who can I get to read with me?

Maybe these are people in your group here at the church, maybe these are coworkers, maybe these are classmates, maybe these are family members.

Who can you get together with and say, hey, I'm gonna do this plan, would you do it with me?

And what you will discover on the UVersion Bible app, it makes it super easy.

You can actually be on a group together, or you can just all say you're gonna read, and you can basically get on a text group separately, and you can just basically reply, Hey, I read this today, this is what I got out of it.

Here's what I've discovered, it happens all the time.

Is that whenever I read something, God speaks to me in one way, somebody else reads the very same passage, God speaks to them in a different way, and I hear what God says to them, and I think, I needed that.

I needed what they said.

God uses the community of believers to come together to help us when it comes to reading God's word.

Let me close by speaking to you as your pastor.

I get it.

This is hard, it may feel overwhelming, you may have tried and failed, and you may feel stuck.

I promise you.

Better version of you is available, and with God's help, you can do it.

Take a look at the screens.

My name is Rick, and uh I've been a Christian for over 40 years.

But one thing in 40 years I've never done, I've read a lot about in the Bible, but I've never read the entire Bible, and I've never read it in a year.

I've heard about it, but it kind of seemed impossible.

I'm not a natural reader, and I just thought there's no way you can read the Bible in one year.

But then we were in Israel, and Pastor Chris gave out a challenge.

He was like, you know, I want to challenge you guys to read the Bible through this year.

He introduced a plan called the Bible recap, and I decided, you know what, I'm gonna give it a try.

Pastor Chris challenged me, so I'm gonna take the challenge.

And so in 2023, I read through the Bible in one year for the first time ever in my life.

So one of the things I learned reading the Bible through this past year is how the Bible is one giant book with one giant story.

God's story for us and how he wanted to redeem us.

Once I downloaded the app and saw how simple it was to follow and give you manageable bites to bite each day, it was a lot easier for me to grasp this concept and uh make it through quite easy.

A lot of people are like me, they think this is an impossible task.

And the truth is, I'm not a natural reader, I hate reading.

I don't even read books, I just uh mostly just read sports and highlights, and that's it, mostly videos.

So if you're like me and you've never read through the Bible before, but you're kind of intrigued by it, I would give you the same challenge Pastor Chris gave me.

It's really the only way you're ever gonna fully understand the gospel story and fully understand what God means to you and what his plan is for you, is by reading the whole book.

So I'm Rick, and I read the Bible through in 2023 using the Bible recap.

And this is my Bible I used.

I'm gonna take the challenge again for this next year in 2024.

I have a new Bible for 2024, a different translation to keep everything fresh for me, and I'm ready to go.

And I'm asking you to join me as well.

I have about 10 to 15 guys that have joined with me and with the pledge, and we are ready to read through the Bible again in 2024.

So let's go.

Colossians 3, 16 says, Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.

Here's what happens.

Rick can attest to it as well.

If you allow the word of God to be able to get into you every single day, not just on the weekends, again, it's gonna bring change, it's gonna look different.

If you allow the word of God to dwell in you every single day, what you're gonna begin to discover is you didn't really see it, and you don't really know when the moment happened, but you're different.

You talk different, you think different.

Yeah, you certainly go back and do some things you used to do, but you feel different about it.

You begin to understand forgiveness, you begin to understand grace, you begin to have a different aroma to you.

And I'm just telling you, my goal in this message is not to make you guilty, it's not to try to judge you, it's not to try to say, hey, if you don't read the Bible through in the year, then you are not gonna be a better good Christian.

That's not what I'm trying to say.

What I do want is I want transformation in your life.

I long for you to be different.

I long for you to be able to see how God's word, when it gets into your life each and every day, will allow you to be radically transformed.

Some days it's gonna leap off the page and it's gonna make so much sense, and you're gonna feel like that chapter that you read was given for you for that day.

And other days it's just gonna feel normal.

But here's what you're gonna discover every day it's working.

Every day as God's word is in you, every day as you begin to learn to get closer to Him, you are being transformed day after day into the image of Christ.

Would you bow your heads and would you close your eyes all across this room?

Let me invite you to make a commitment right now.

You perhaps in your mind are coming up with all the different excuses and all the different things that why it didn't work in the past, or you feel guilty because you didn't finish it last year or whatever, and the enemy wants nothing more than for you to take whatever commitment you're wanting to make right here in this moment and to tell you not to do it.

I'm gonna ask, would you, and in the direction of the Holy Spirit, would you commit to him to meet with the Lord?

Would you figure out what that plan is and would you say, I'm gonna do this, I'm gonna make this choice, I'm gonna ask somebody else to join me, I'm gonna put one of these hacks in place.

Begin to seek his face.

Would you just make a commitment?

It starts with you making a commitment to meet with him.

Some of you are here, and here's the commitment you need to make is you need to realize the goal is not just that you read the Bible, the goal is that you would know the God of the Bible.

See, the Bible tells us about a story of how God sent his one and only son to do what we could never do on our own because of our sin, which caused separation between us and God, but he sent his son Jesus on a rescue mission.

He died a death on a cross in our place.

He rose from the dead and he gives us the opportunity to have eternal life.

For some of you, you need to make that very first important decision to give your life to Jesus, to receive him as your Lord and as your Savior.

In just a moment, we're gonna stand up and have a time of response, and I'm gonna ask you if that's you today, if you've got questions or you want to receive Jesus, would you come forward and would you let us pray a prayer of salvation with you today?

Where you can leave here knowing with certainty that you have a relationship with Jesus.

Others of you need to come and join United City Church.

We're gonna be a church that the Bible is gonna speak louder than anything else.

If that's the type of church you want to be a part of, where we prioritize and let God's word speak above whatever culture tells us we're supposed to do and think.

Would you come and would you join United City?

Others of you need to come and be baptized.

We saw three that step forward in public expression of their faith in obedience to what God's word says.

If that's you today, you know that's your next step.

But you come and let us schedule your baptism.

Maybe some of you just need prayer today.

Financial need, relational need, emotional need, family need, whatever it may be.

We want you to know you're not alone.

Bible tells us that we can lift up those needs to the Lord.

He will hear our prayer, he'll be faithful to respond and to walk with us and to guide us as we seek his face.

Let us do that with and for you today.

Father, I pray you take these moments we have left and that you would use it to call people to yourself.

Thank you for the beauty of your word.

Thank you that it doesn't fade or go away, but instead, Father, we know it will last forever.

It is the truth.

And so, Father, in submission to your word today, we now give this time of response to you.

We ask God that you would move and stir in hearts and call us.

People to have the boldness and courage to respond.

It's in Jesus' name that I pray.

Amen.

Would you stand that as you stand?

You come right now as God is in you to respond.

Come on.

Praise God for you.

Who else?

So we bought a place.

So we bought a praise you pray.

So we bought a place.

So we bur a place.

We pour out of praise.

We pour a praise you.

Praise God.

I'm just continuing to move.

We've got many people to come forward today.

We're so grateful for how his word never returns void.

That's a scriptural promise.

It's a promise that we hold on to.

The fact that God's word is not going to be wasted in your life.

God's going to use it to perfect you.

God's going to use it to shape your character.

God's going to use it to lead you to repentance.

I hope that as you read God's word this week, you will experience that and that you will allow it to be a breath in your lungs as we hear from our Lord.

I'm going to ask Pat Michael if he would come on up here and close our services today.

Hey, yeah, can we just thank God for a senior pastor who preaches his word?

I love that sometimes the sermons are super creative, sometimes they're convicting and they hit you right in the stomach.

And sometimes they just make sense.

And I don't know about you, but that was a sermon that just made sense.

I really do believe, yeah, I mean, that's okay.

Yeah.

Y'all are always so hesitant.

You're like, can we celebrate?

I don't know.

Yeah, it makes sense.

And I do think if 2024 is going to be your best year, it's got to start with God.

Um, I couldn't be any more excited about next week.

If you thought this week was good, next week is going to be incredible as we begin to launch our uh week of prayer and fasting and have a special guest speaker with us.

It's gonna be awesome and out of this world.

We love you so much.

If you haven't signed up for Encounter Weekend, man, sign up.

We'd love to talk to you, get you connected.

Uh, host homes and it'd be awesome.

Host homes and it'll be a great weekend.

Host homes, and so come see me in the lobby.

We love y'all so much.

Y'all have a great holiday weekend.

You're dismissed.

Wow, what an amazing message we got to hear this morning.

I hope the Lord showed himself to you in a fresh, new way.

Hey, if you made a decision today to follow Jesus or a decision for Christ, we would love to process that with you.

And so text the word next to 55498, and someone from our team will be more than happy to reach out and process that with you.

If you missed the message or you missed a note or two and you want to go back, don't worry.

We've got the option for that as well.

It's gonna be available on Spotify as well as Apple Music.

This has been an amazing morning.

We love you guys so much, and we hope to see you next week.

Bye-bye.