A PASSION FOR GOD’S WORD - Acts 17:10-15

Well, all right. Hey, if you have a

Bible or an app, open it up. We're going

to be back in Acts chapter 17 this

Acts 17 · chapter mention

morning. Acts 17,

>> verses 10-15. We have continued our

series over the book of Acts. And we've

been looking at the story, really the

birth of the New Testament church. And

the reason we are taking so long to walk

through this book is because I believe

it's essential. It's vital. It's

necessary. And plus, it is so important

for us to understand who we are as God's

children. Who has he called us to be?

What has he called us to do? What are

the expectations that God has for us as

his sons, as his daughters, as his

people, as a church planted right here

in the orange grove community who has

been called to minister not just here,

but to the surrounding areas. What does

that look like for us? And I believe

when we look at the story of the birth

of the New Testament church, the story

of God's people being saved and filled

with the indwelling power of the Holy

Spirit being put on mission, being

equipped, and regardless of oppression,

persecution,

this desire from the enemy to silence

the truth of the gospel, we see that it

continues to go forward. And I know that

I've said this countless times

throughout this series. You cannot

silence the truth of who God is and what

his word declares. And one thing that

we've learned particularly in the

passages that we've looked at over the

past couple of weeks is that there has

been this attempt to silence the truth

of God's word. And that's not an attempt

that was or is exclusive to the Bible.

That is something that continues today.

There is a desire

to silence the gospel because the gospel

is set on glorifying who God is and

resurrecting people, resurrecting you

out of death and sin to life

everlasting.

The devil and his demons hate that.

They know what their end is. They know

that they are fighting a losing battle.

And so they are going to attempt to

steal, kill, and destroy anyone and

everyone who will give them an ear, who

will lean into even the partial truths

[snorts]

that they'll attempt to claim, all with

a hope of pulling you away from Jesus.

Do you know how we combat that?

By knowing the truth of God's word.

We've said this time and time again. If

you've been uh part of the Grove here

for the last couple of years, this is uh

this doesn't fall uh on you as a

mystery. The world has an agenda.

Evil has an agenda. The world has a

truth. Quotations, a truth, which is

really not the truth at all, which is a

lie that is meant for nothing more than

to pull you away from God's plan,

purpose, and will for your life. And if

we don't know the scriptures, if we

don't know the truth of God's word, then

we'll believe anything so long as it's

palatable.

And we've also been challenged with

this.

The bestselling book of all time is

right here.

>> The bestselling book of all time. But do

you know what is so concerning today?

Not just statistically around the world,

but within the church,

biblical illiteracy rates have

skyrocketed.

What does that mean? That means people

who claim church membership, people who

have claimed to place their hope, faith,

and trust in Jesus Christ, don't know

the scriptures.

They don't know the Ten Commandments.

They don't know Psalm 23. They don't

know the story of Elijah. They don't

know the story of Daniel. They don't

know the story of Shadrach, Meshack, and

Abedneo. They don't know the creation

accounts.

And this is not just new Christians.

That would be expected. baby Christians,

but these are people who have been in

church pews their whole life, who have

spent decades going from Bible study to

Bible study, Sunday school, Sunday

school, sitting under the teaching of

faithful ministers and preachers

and at the end of the and at the end of

the day don't know their Bible.

And if we don't know our Bible, then how

can we ever combat and call out the lies

of the enemy against the truth of God's

word? I believe this is where our

passage speaks this morning. In Acts

Acts 17 · chapter mention

chapter 17, we'll look at verses 10

through 15. Fall Paul finds himself in

Berea.

I heard a brother tell me this morning

he probably went to go have the tacos.

Some of y'all are getting it. Some of

y'all will get it later.

And it was his custom as he went to city

to city, town to town to enter into the

synagogues to sit and to teach. And we

find that when Paul preaches the gospel,

people respond in faith. Praise the

Lord. We'll find again that people

respond in anger and bitterness and

oppression. And yet another attempt to

silence the gospel. And here's a pattern

that I really want us to recognize

before we dive into the text. Paul from

town to town, he's gone from Philippi

to Thessalonica

and now he's in Berea. And remember, at

one point in the beginning of Acts

Acts 16 · chapter mention

chapter 16, he had a desire to continue

into the Middle East, to continue in the

region surrounding Jerusalem and and

Galilee. And you remember every time he

tried to walk through a door, the Holy

Spirit put the brakes on him until he

had what we call the Macedonian call,

the Macedonian vision. And he saw an

outpouring of the spirit there. And so

the Holy Spirit opens this door for Paul

to now go into Europe. And so the gospel

is progressing. The gospel is moving

forward. We're seeing the ripples of

that seed of the life, death, and

ministry of Jesus begin to expand

outward. What we're seeing is the great

commission being accomplished. Acts

chapter 1:8 being fulfilled. And it's

all done through the power of the Holy

Spirit. Now, let me just bring some

clarity to us in case we're missing it.

Those ripples are still extending today.

We don't look at the gospel story. We

don't look at the great commission. We

don't look at the great call and think

that was for them.

We don't look at how the gospel has been

spread around the world through

missionaries

and churches that take time to invest in

gospel proclamation and kingdom

expansion and think, "Well, that's good

for them."

Don't remove yourself from the mission

God has called the church to accomplish.

Because if you claim to be his daughter,

if you claim to be his son, guess what?

That's your mission.

It's not just the mission for

missionaries. It's not just the mission

for paid staff. It's not just the

mission for team volunteers. It's your

mission. teachers, as you teach in the

classroom, salesmen, as you're on the

sales call, as you're sitting at the

restaurant, engaging with the server, as

you're buying groceries and greeting the

the the individual running the register.

This is your mission. This is our

mission to proclaim the gospel. And so

Paul goes into Europe. And is it easy

for Paul? Not at all. He's beaten. He's

wounded. He's thrown in prison. He's

taken before the court and he's told to

stop doing what he's doing. And yet he

continues.

Why do you think Paul continues?

Because he believes the truth of God's

word. He's experienced the truth of

God's word. He's had an encounter with

the risen Christ. And did you know that

if you call yourself a Christian here

today, it's because you had an encounter

with the risen Christ.

He's called you out of slavery and sin.

And he has set you free into eternal

life. And he's done it out of his great

and grand love for you, through his

grace, through his mercy. Not because of

anything that we've gained or merited,

but only because of who he is. So here's

a question I want to challenge us with

before we dive into the text.

What does it look like to be shaped by

God's word? Now, we'll look at this

particular instance with Paul and Berea,

but I want you to think about men. What

does it look like for your marriage to

be shaped by God's word? What does it

look like for your fathering to be

shaped by God's word? What does it look

like for you to serve this church to be

shaped by God's word? What does that

look like for you? The the same question

applies to the women in the room. What

does it look like to be shaped by God's

word? Now, attack that question

individually. And then what we want to

do is look at it corporately.

What does it look like for the grove to

be shaped by God's word? We get some

great insight here

in Acts 17, beginning in verse 10.

Here's what Luke writes.

As soon as it was night, the brothers

and sisters sent Paul and Silas away to

Berea.

Now, why send them at night? Well,

remember Paul and Silas were still

suffering oppression and persecution

because they refused to quit preaching

the gospel.

And so, they're sent away to Berea. And

here's what's interesting. Side note for

uh biblical nerds in the room, what you

see happening, and this reminds me of

what Joseph tells us at the end of

Genesis. If you're unfamiliar with the

story of Joseph, let me give you a quick

cliffnotes version. Treated badly by his

brothers, sold into slavery, ends up in

Egypt, things don't go his way for a

long time. But even through oppression,

even through darkness, even through

trial, hardships, and tribulation,

Joseph has the hand of God on him, and

he finds himself in Egypt, second in

command to Pharaoh. There is a famine

that breaks out throughout the land. His

family, his kinsmen are starving.

They're risking death. They find

themselves back in Egypt. Joseph is

there. They realize Joseph is there.

They're scared that Joseph is going to

kill them because, hey, they were mean

to Joseph. They sold him into slavery

back when he was younger. And Joseph

said, "What you meant for evil, God

meant for what?

>> God meant for good." And then Paul will

reiterate this in his letter to the

Romans. He'll say, "God works all things

for the good of those who love him, who

will live their life according to his

good, pleasing, and perfect will." Now,

here's what's really cool. Here's the

connection. Paul and Silas are facing

persecution.

And because they're facing persecution,

they they go from town to town to town.

And from going from town to town to

town, because they're running from the

persecution, what's the result when they

go from town to town?

the gospel's being proclaimed.

[snorts] And so what the world means for

evil, God means for good. It's an

incredible, incredible story that we see

here.

Upon arrival, verse 10, they went into

the synagogue of the Jews. The people

here were of more noble character. Now,

that's a key phrase there because Luke

doesn't say that about the people in

Philippi, nor does he say that about the

people in Thessalonica, but he says that

about the people in Berea.

Why does Paul make that distinction?

It's not that they had more worth and

value than the people of Thessalonica or

the people of Philippi there. But yet,

there is something distinct that Luke is

drawing our attention to so that we

would gain a greater understanding of

what's happening here. And he tells us

here in the following verse, they were

of more noble character than those in

Thessalonica since

they received the word with eagerness

and examined the scriptures daily to see

these things were. So

notice that noble character is tied to

what?

Receiving the word with eagerness and

examining the scriptures daily.

My hope and my prayer as your pastor as

we go from Sunday to Sunday, week to

week, my hope and my prayer is always

the same. Is that you would be a people

who come in here with an eagerness to

hear God's word.

That you come in here with a desire to

examine God's word. We're going to dive

into this here in just a moment. This is

this is the core of the passage. What I

don't ever want is that you come in here

and you listen to a great worship set

and you listen to a great sermon, but

when you go out there, you never open up

the scriptures for yourself.

Cuz the way that you grow spiritually,

the way that you become the son and

daughter, the way that you become the

man and the woman of God, the person

he's called you to be, is by engaging in

the scriptures. And we live in a world

today sadly where so many people are

Christian by proxy. Roland, what do you

mean by that? The extent of their

Christianity is sitting under the

teaching of someone else. Nothing wrong

with great teaching. Nothing wrong with

an amazing worship set. Praise God for

the growth. Can I just brag on this

church for just a moment?

You are blessed to attend the church

that you attend

because we have leadership. We have

volunteers. We have people that give of

their time, talent, and treasures to

ensure one thing and one thing alone,

that the name of Christ is praised.

>> And when the name of Christ is praised,

guess what? That overflows into

everything that we do and everything

that we are.

And yet so many people in our world

today will sit in church their entire

life

under the teaching of someone else

without ever examining the scriptures to

see if those teachings are true. Which

is why we have so many distortions of

the gospel today.

And that creates a doorway for the enemy

to sneak in, to creep into your

spiritual life and stir beliefs,

ideologies,

and things that you hold fast to that

when compared to scripture have no

bearing on the foundation of what the

gospel is. Continue verse 12.

Consequently, in other words, as a

result, many of them believed, including

the number of prominent women as well as

men. Here's another side note for

biblical nerds in the room. What have we

seen consistently in the story of

Philippi, in the story of Thessalonica,

and in the story of Berea?

We have seen Luke specifically mention

women being saved and women serving in

the church in a culture

when women oftent times were viewed as

less than. I think it's incredible how

it is just another

nugget that the Bible shows us that the

gospel is here to turn the culture

upside down. That's what they were

accused of back earlier in Acts chapter

Acts 17 · chapter mention

17. That they are turning the world

upside down. Verse 13.

But when the Jews from Thessalonica

found out that the word of God had been

proclaimed by Paul at Berea, they came

there too, agitating and upsetting the

crowds. Then the brothers and sisters

immediately sent Paul away to go to the

coast, but Silas and Timothy stayed on

there. Those who escorted Paul brought

him as far as Athens. And after

receiving instruction for Silas and

Timothy to come to him as quickly as

possible, they departed. And all God's

people said,

>> "Amen."

>> Lord, would you bless your word? Holy

Spirit, would you stir our hearts today?

What does it look like to become people

shaped by the word? Because we can be

people who hear a lot about the Bible

without ever actually knowing our

Bibles.

You know, in our technologically

advanced society,

we can be swiping through the algorithm.

We can be listening to podcasts. We can

be hearing YouTube videos and watching

sermons all day long and following

Christian influencers and having a whole

bunch of Bible devotions, Bible apps,

and Bible commentaries. We have a lot at

our disposal that tells us a lot about

the Bible. But have you ever really

taken the time to search the Bible for

yourself? And and maybe you fall into

this category. I know often times when

I'm not careful, I do as well. I'll hear

something really good. I'll hear

something that even elicits an amen.

And I'll take it as truth and I'll take

it as fact.

And it might indeed be truth. IN FACT,

PRAISE GOD FOR THAT. PRAISE God for

faithful preachers who preach the truth.

BUT WHAT THIS PASSAGE CALLS US TO DO,

WHO the Bible calls us to be, is a

people who believe it, not because

somebody said it, but because God

declares it. Do you see the difference,

understanding what truth is and who the

truth is. So, so here's what I want to

do. As always, let's go back through our

passage. Let's draw out some scenes here

that that I believe we could apply to

our life. Things that'll help us grow

when it comes to being shaped by God's

word. We can learn a thing or two from

this instance here in Berea. Because

what we see is this pattern, this rhythm

of what it looks like to be a people

shaped by God's word. And my hope and my

prayer is that if this is you at the end

of the day, praise God. This has served

as God's way to affirm that you are on

the right path in growing in his word.

Remember that's one of the values here

at the grove. Growing in God's word

together. And growing in God's word

assumes, and maybe I need to clarify

this because maybe we don't know,

assumes that you're growing personally

in God's word. that you're taking the

time to search the scriptures for

yourself. So, if you're taking notes,

here's the first thing that we see.

When we're shaped by God's word, we

receive the word with eagerness.

Now, again, let me just clarify. When we

talk about the word, we're talking about

the word of God.

Genesis to Revelation and everything in

between. Even the things that challenge

us, even the things that leave us

scratching our head. Have you ever read

a Bible story, a Bible passage,

particularly in the Old Testament, and

thought, "What in the world is going

on?"

That's why examining the scriptures are

so important because part of examining

the scriptures is examining the cultural

context, the audience it was written to

and the time period in which these

things, these letters, these truths were

written. [clears throat]

Can you imagine, or let me phrase it

this way, one of the main things that

they do for missionaries

in regards to training when they're

going across the globe on the other side

of the world to preach the gospel, the

first thing they teach them is the

culture they're going into.

Because once they understand the

culture, then they can see the best

avenue forward, the best pathway to

connect the gospel to the reality of

whoever they're going to read. The same

is true when we're examining the

scriptures.

We have to study the context, the

culture, the history in which it was

written. And I'm not saying you have to

go to a seminary class, that you have to

earn a PhD in biblical doctrine or

theology. Praise God.

that we live in such a advanced,

technically advanced society that we

have the world's library at our

fingertips.

And it won't take long when you're doing

diligent study to examine all those

things that we're called to examine when

it comes to studying the word of God.

And so notice in verses 10- 11, this is

the first thing Luke tells us about the

Bereans.

As soon as it was night, the brothers

and sisters sent Paul and Silas away to

Berea. Upon arrival, they went into the

synagogue of the Jews. The people here

were of more noble character than those

in Thessalonica

since they received the word with

eagerness.

I think there's something incredible

that we can learn from that posture.

This demonstrates not just a posture of

leaning in. And I want you guys to

picture that. They sat in their chairs

and they heard Paul teach and they they

leaned in. They leaned in with their

mind, their ears, their heart, and their

soul. There was a genuine eagerness, an

excitement,

a underscoring passion to know the truth

of God's word. And you say, "Well,

Roland, what does that feel like?" THINK

ABOUT YOUR FAVORITE FOOTBALL TEAM.

And you're going to watch them UT fans

in the house. I'm sorry.

But think about what you enjoy the most.

And you're eager to lean in. You're

eager to learn. You're eager to grow.

Men, think about when you first saw your

boo.

How eager you were to lean in. Men,

think about when hunting season rolls

around.

how eager you are to lean in. This is

the posture we're to have for the word

of God. This is the picture that's being

painted here. They're not hostile.

They're not indifferent. They aren't

sitting waiting to criticize. They're

willing to listen. their minds, their

heart, their soul is open to the

possibility THAT GOD MAY SHOW THEM

something that they didn't previously

know.

They're eager to hear the word of God.

Now, now here's here's why this is

incredible. Again, let's look at the

context here. What did Paul just preach

in Thessalonica?

Paul preached that the Messiah had to

suffer and die. And not just that the

Messiah had to suffer and die. Paul is

preaching Jesus is that Messiah. So the

message, the gospel that Paul's

preaching is challenging

all their religious and spiritual

categories,

which is tough for a Jewish individual

in this particular time, which is why

the Pharisees hated Jesus because he was

challenging what they thought. He was

challenging what they believed. But the

Bereans don't respond with hostility.

They don't respond, "Well, let's hear

what this guy has to say." No, they're

eager to learn. They're eager to lean

in. They listened not with the intent to

respond, but with the intent to

understand.

That's not just a truth that is good for

this. That's a truth that is good for

all forms of communication

that we lean in to truly understand.

This is why later in his letter to

Timothy because remember Timothy sticks

around here in Berea

he writes to Timothy and he says the

word of God is inspired.

This right here is inspired. That word

in the Greek inspired means it's God

breathed.

These are the words of God. You want to

know the God of creation. You want to

know the father of heaven. You want to

get to know the one whose words

spoke creation into existence.

The galaxies, the moon, the stars, the

planets, the ever expanding galaxy that

we live in. You want to get to know him?

He spoke to us right here. And Paul says

his word is inspired. And it's not just

inspired. It's meant for something. It's

meant to correct you, to rebuke you, to

train you up to become all that he has

called you to be and all that he has

created you to be. And to receive that,

it begins with a spirit of humility.

So when we come in here with an eager

spirit, it's because we come in here

with a desire to listen because there

may be something in my life that needs

correction. And I want to be open and

willing to the correction from my father

who is in heaven to guide me in the

right path to steer me in the right

direction.

To call out the sin

that I so pridefully cling to and refuse

to let go because it feels good.

But when we come and hear the word with

eagerness,

life changes. Here's a prayer I want us

to have. I wrote it down cuz I wanted to

get it right. I'll send this out in in

my email this week. Here's the prayer

that we should all have

when we go into a service, when we just

go into a moment with the Lord that we

would pray, "Lord, if there is something

I need to see, show it to me.

And if there is something I need to

change, then change me.

How often, how eager are we to go before

the Lord with those prayers? The Bereans

show us what that eagerness looks like.

God speaks [snorts] and I want to hear

what he has to say. Here's the second

thing that we see. To be shaped by the

word, we're called to examine the word

with discernment. which we've already

touched up on that

to examine the word with the sermon. I

think this is where Luke, he really hits

the pause button. He steps on the

brakes. He slows down because not only

do we see the Bereans

eagerly receiving the word of God. They

wanted to be taught. They wanted to hear

what Paul had to say. There was a

genuine desire to understand the gospel.

But it didn't stop there. What does the

scripture tell us here? Look at verse

11.

It says, "They examined

the scriptures daily

to see if these things were so."

They didn't believe it because a man

said it.

They believed it because God said it.

And do you know the role of any

preacher, the role of of anyone called

by God to proclaim the gospel is not to

speak their own words. Now, everybody

has a particular method, a particular

style, a particular characteristics and

tone that they're gifted with that they

use in service to the kingdom of God.

But sermons should never be man's words.

They should always be filled with the

truth of God's word. And this is what

the Bereans were examining.

Likely they had known of the reputation

of Paul.

Elsewhere in the scripture, we read that

that Paul enters into cities. He enters

into synagogues and people are fearful

because they know of Paul's past. They

know of the man he used to be.

And the Bereans likely knew that as

well. But they still leaned in to hear

the word. And upon hearing the word,

they examined

the scriptures. That word examining it

carries this idea of careful

investigation.

I really want to get underneath the

surface. I want to understand what he is

saying. And with any sermon that you

hear, any Bible that you sit in on, any

service that you are a part of, you have

the truth at your fingertips,

to be able to open it up and to say,

"Oh, yeah, that is true." Or to open up

and to say, "Preacher, you're way off

base cuz that's not what the Bible says.

That's not what God's truth is

declaring."

And that can't be known unless you are

examining the scriptures for yourself.

And let me just say this, we've

mentioned this before. If you're ever in

a church service and the preacher never

opens up his Bible, he never says,

"Let's read the text. Let's preach the

text. Let's live the text."

Then you need to not be under that

preacher's teaching

because it must be the truth of God's

word. So there must be careful

examination. That's what we see the

Bereans doing. They weren't casually

glancing through scripture. They weren't

taking the time to study. And often the

rebuttal against something like this is,

"Well, they likely had time, Roland."

Yes, they likely had more time than we

have, but only because we're distracted

by so many things.

John Piper,

he is uh one of the uh more famous

theologians of our time. He'll go down

in history, I think, as being listed

among uh the people like the Wesley

brothers or or Charles Spurgeon. He

said, "One of the things social media

will prove in these last days is that

prayerlessness

was not due to a lack of time."

What does he mean? What he means is we

have the time. We just choose to spend

it on things that compared to eternity

have no value.

If I haven't been clear already, you

have the time to study the scripture.

Everyone in here has the time to study

the scripture. Whether it's for 10

minutes a day, whether it's for three

hours out of the day, you have the time

to study the scriptures. We're called to

be a people that examine it. And so Luke

praises them for it. And as they're

studying the scriptures, one thing I

also want us to notice, the Bereans are

asking a question. Did you pick up on

that?

They examine the scriptures daily to see

what

if these things were true.

There is purpose in examining the

scriptures. Now, I'm all for opening up

the scriptures to be encouraged. I'm all

for opening up the scriptures to be

filled with God's word. But what should

always take precedent and what should

always be central is not let me hear

God's word so that I would feel good is

let me hear God's word so that I would

know what's true.

Because an examination, a deep

examination of God's word at some point

in our spiritual walk is not going to

feel good because it's going to bring

accountability to our life.

It's going to sting. It's going to hurt.

And there's going to be moments, okay,

Holy Spirit, I got it. That's where I

need to change. That's where I need to

repent. That's where I need to do

better. This is what examining the word

does with discernment.

And so may this may be one of the most

important, if not the most important

habits that we can develop as

Christians.

We are called to be a people who open

our Bibles. Now whether you do that

through an app or whether you do that

through a printed copy, the point is

that you would take time to examine the

scriptures. Don't just listen.

Examine,

search the scriptures. And don't just

ask, "Will this encourage me?" Ask, "Is

this true?" And here's the last thing

that we see. We've seen it over the last

couple of chapters that we've been to. A

people shaped by the word are a people

who respond to the word in faith.

Now, now let me bring some clarity to

that.

There is power in the word of God.

There's there's no doubt about that.

Every Christian can point to the power

of God's word, the power of the truth to

bring transformation and change to our

life. But a reading of the Bible doesn't

guarantee change and transformation.

Roland, what do you mean? The only

person who can change your life is

Jesus.

Knowing the Bible doesn't necessarily

transform your life. How do I know that?

The Pharisees knew the Bible.

THE DEVIL AND his demons know the Bible,

but their life is far from the Lord. So,

I don't want you to leave here thinking,

"Oh, the preacher just wants me to know

my Bible better." I do, but I want you

to know its author better.

Because when you know him better, then

your life is transformed and your life

is changed. And what the word does, the

written word pointed to the living word.

And so often people will only focus on

the written word without ever paying

attention to the living word. And if you

don't know who the living word is,

John's gospel chapter 1 shows us that

the living word is Jesus Christ. Go with

me to verse 12. We'll close on this.

Consequently, this means as a result

because of well, as a result of what?

Because of what? Because of receiving

the word with eagerness and examining

the scriptures daily to see if the

things were true. The result is many

people believed.

They realized Jesus is the Messiah.

That all the law, all the prophets

weren't there to terminate on

themselves. And it wasn't exclusive to

the time period of the Old Testament,

but it was this arrow pointing forward,

pointing to Christ, the Messiah, the

lamb of God, who's come to take away the

sins of the world. And yes, he had to

suffer. Yes, he had to die. And yet, he

didn't stay dead. He rose from the

grave. And they respond in

faith.

Their examination of the scriptures, it

didn't lead them away from Jesus. It

brought them closer to Jesus.

This is why in Romans chap 10:1 17,

here's what Paul will write.

Faith comes from what is heard.

And what is heard comes through the

message about Christ.

The Bereans didn't receive salvation

because they became excellent Bible

students.

They searched the scriptures. They

encountered the truth about Jesus and

they responded in faith. And that's the

goal.

The goal of the scripture is not just

more Bible information. The goal of the

scripture is Jesus Christ himself

to walk with him to grow with him to

live a life that is always being

transformed by his truths. You and I

will always be a work in progress. This

side of heaven, we are a work in

progress. From the youngest of us to the

oldest of us, from the most immature of

Christian to the most mature of

Christian, we are a work in progress. We

are always being held accountable for

areas in our life where we need to

repent and where we need to get

sharpened. And the word of God exposes

that to us. Which is why to be a people

shaped by the word,

let us hear. Let us receive the word

with eagerness.

Let us examine the scriptures

diligently.

And at the end of the day, a response

needs to happen. We say this so often.

When the gospel is proclaimed, a

response is required. There is no middle

ground when it comes to responding to

the gospel. You either are in or you are

out. We like to play this game where

we're halfway in, halfway out. We'll be

in when we're around one crowd. We'll be

in on a Sunday morning back in the

office. We'll be out around a certain

group of people. We'll be out. You're

out. You're not in. You're either all in

or you're all out. There's no middle

ground. And I think one of the biggest

deceptions in our world today is the

devil making people believe that they're

in when they're not. That they can be

one way around one group of people and

another way around another group of

people. And as long as they check church

off the box, as long as they can

memorize John 3:16, and they might even

John 3:16

know the process of grace and mercy in

regards to the gospel, but their hearts

are still far from the Lord. Maybe

that's you today.

If that's you, today is the day of your

salvation.

The day that you call upon the Lord in

faith, that you repent of your sins, and

that you walk in a changed and

transformed life.

You can leave here this morning knowing

where you will spend eternity because of

the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Romans 10:9 says that if you confess

Romans 10:9

with your mouth that Jesus Christ is

Lord and believe in your heart that God

raised him from the dead, you shall be

saved. Let's pray.

Lord, thank you for your word. Thank you

for your truth.

Thank you for the transforming power

of the gospel.

Lord, we pray that you would continue to

stir hearts and lives, bring change and

transformation,

and perhaps today for some is a day of

their salvation. Jesus, we ask these

things in your holy name. All God's

people said, "Amen." Hey, let's stand

together. Let's sing together. Let this

be our prayer, our declaration of who

our savior is. Our altar is going to be

open. We're going to enter now into a

time of response.

But even beyond the stage, even beyond

the conclusion of this service, your

response to what you just heard today

continues into your Monday. [music]

And so if you'd like to pray about that,

our altar is open. You can bring your

family. You can pray together. Pastor

Eric and myself will be available to

pray with you. If you have a need, you

have an appointment coming up, you'd

like to pray on behalf of someone, you'd

like to celebrate a victory, [music]

or maybe you prayed that prayer that

Paul wrote uh and wrote in Romans 10:9,

Romans 10:9

and today you are confessing with your

mouth that Jesus is Lord, and you're

believing that he rose from the dead,

and you're experiencing salvation. We'd

love to celebrate that with you. Come

and tell Pastor Eric or myself. I love

you, church.

>> [snorts]