How can it change me?

Good morning everyone, it is great to see you all here this morning. I am so excited that we get to worship here together. I want to thank our kids teachers right now as the kids are getting up to go and join you in class. I want to thank you for the time that you put into being with them and helping them understand the Scripture. I also want to welcome those of you that are joining us online and than you for being a part of our extended Spiritual family today. And everyone that is here this morning it is such an honor to be able to come up here every week and share a little of what the Lord has shown me over this past week.

Now, we have been in a series called, The best selling book of all time”, obviously that is the Bible. Through this series we have seen some pretty cool things and we have seen how this book is actually responsible for amazing things throughout all of time. We have heard some pretty cool stories about how people choose to start reading the Bible and then after that amazing things began happening as they trusted in the Lord and lived out the truths that are taught in Scripture. We have seen how God has worked through large events and through small events. Actually I did a little research this week and I asked the question, “Is there any historical fact in the Bible?” I wanted to see what non Christian sources would say about the historicity of the Bible. Do you know what I discovered…I mean, I think we all already know, but I read that Modern archaeology has helped us realize that the Bible is historically accurate even in the smallest of details. There have been thousands of archaeological discoveries in the past century that support every book of the Bible. How cool is that! Now, do you want to know what else I was reminded about...Christianity has been intricately intertwined with the history and formation of Western society. Throughout its long history, the Church has been a major source of social services like schooling and medical care; an inspiration for art, culture and philosophy; and an influential player in politics. How is that for the influence that this book has had on history. We have looked at some specific stories, but to see that big picture of how the Bible has shaped the world is really interesting...

In this series so far we have learned a few things. For instance we learned that, The Bible is God’s gift to man. We also learned that, Reading the Bible for yourself can make your life better. Then last week we learned that our goal in reading should be to, Study, Apply, Teach, and then we practiced studying the Bible using a basic method called, Inductive Bible Study. Do you remember the three steps we looked at?

Observation: What does it say?

Interpretation: What does it mean?

Application: What am I going to do about it?

Now, you can take this method and you can study any passage in Scripture and you can at least start to think about moving through Scripture yourself, and not always relying on someone else to tell you what you are supposed to believe. That is actually what makes us as a church different from a cult, or some other false belief system. You see, we believe, becuase Scripture tells us, that you are, as a believer and follower of Jesus, have been given the power and responsibility of being a priest. IN other words, we no longer need to go to someone else to tell us what Scripture says or go to someone else to ask them to pray to God for us. Actually, I remember a conversation with a friend of mine many many years ago. This young man named Ricky grew up catholic and was in the process of learning and studying because he thought maybe he wanted to be a priest, or be in ministry in some way. So, one day Ricky went to his priest and he asked the question…Who do I need to pray to in order to make my petitions known to God. Well, the priest answered him…You can pray to Mary or any of the saints, you can come to me…or…you can pray to God yourself. It was at that moment that Ricky started down a journey of leaving the Catholic church and joining a protestant church becuase he said…Why would I pray to Mary and ask her to pray to God when I can just pray to God myself…That’s a great observation…did you know the same is true about the Bible. Why would I go to Pastor Bible to ask him what the Bible says when I can read the Bible for myself? Im not trying to talk myself out of a job here, but in a way I am…You see, I actually believe that we can each read Scripture and grow and learn and fellowship and talk together and we don’t “need” anyone else. Now, it is wise to ask others thoughts, and get others perspectives, but the bottom line is that you should be reading for yourself. Along those lines, I do want to share that I am so proud of everyone so far that we have made it through Genesis. Now, if you though Genesis was exciting, just wait as we continue through Exodus, because there are some crazy things goin on here...

So, this morning I would like to do something a little different. First of all I will ask everyone in the room right now to take out your comment card out and hold it up. On that comment card you see a place for your name, your contact info, any prayer requests that you may have. To start with, I would like to ask you to fill those out. If there are prayer concerns that you have, please write them down…put in your name, and if I do not have your contact info, put that down as well. As you are doing that, I will move on and we will come back to this later this morning.

Now, I want us to look at something pretty cool as we close out this series. You see, the book of Psalms is at the center of the Bible, and in the book of Psalms is the longest chapter of the Bible, PS.119 Now, there is something pretty cool about this chapter, and we have looked at a few verses from that chapter in the last couple of weeks, but there is something pretty cool that I would like to show you. The reason I want to show you this is becuase I want you to see how...

The Bible Changes me

You see, we have already talked about the fact that the Bible transforms our minds and our thinking, but as we close this series, I would like to get maybe a little more specific. Now, this is an interesting concept I read about from another pastor, but it is so cool, that I just have to share it with you guys. Now, in order to get started, let’s take a look at

Psalm 119:97 ESV

Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day.

Now, let me tell you a little about Psalm 119. You see, 119 is an alphabetic psalm meaning that it’s a psalm that’s laid out alphabetically, so that in the first stanza (paragraph), every sentence starts with the letter “A.” In the second stanza (paragraph) every sentence starts with the letter “B.” The third, “C,” etc. – Except that Psalm 119 was written in Hebrew, so instead of ABCD, it goes Aleph, Beth, Gimel, Daleth. If you want to learn the Hebrew alphabet, all you have to do is look at the stanza headings for Psalm 119.

So, there are 22 letters in the Hebrew alphabet, and whoever wrote this psalm decided to include eight verses under every letter. 8 x 22 = 176. So Psalm 119 has 176 verses to it. Pretty cool huh…Now, what about this, every one of the 176 verses mentions God, and 173 of the verses mention “the law,” or “the commands” or the “statues,” or some synonym for the Bible. Psalm 119 is a song, written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, to tell us how incredible the Bible is.

Now, there is no way we are going to read this entire chapter this morning, becuase we would be here forever. However, I would like us to look at a particular stanza together and hopefully be encouraged as we see how the Bible can, and does change you…Today we are going to look at “mem”. Now, in English we don’t see this…but every line here stats with the Hebrew letter mem…Follow along with me as we read together

Psalm 119:97–104 (ESV)

Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day.

Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies, for it is ever with me.

I have more understanding than all my teachers, for your testimonies are my meditation.

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

I hold back my feet from every evil way, in order to keep your word.

I do not turn aside from your rules, for you have taught me.

How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!

Through your precepts I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way.

Man…this is a person that really understood and experienced the benefits of Scripture. Check out some of these things here...

v. 97, he meditates on it all day long.

v. 98, God’s commands are always with him.

v. 99, again, he meditates on God’s statutes.

v. 100, he does his best to obey God’s precepts.

As a result, v. 98, he says he’s wiser than his enemies.

v. 99, he has more insight than his teachers. – boy, that would be a great position to be in, wouldn’t it?

v. 100, he even has more understanding than his elders.

From v. 101, we learn that as a result of spending so much time with the Scriptures, his feet have been held from every evil way. – That would be a great trade off of time, wouldn’t it? Read the Bible and it will keep you from evil ways?

Wow…apparently this guy has it together…I mean, he’s smarter than teachers, and his enemies, elders, and becuase of that he is able to keep from going down the wrong path…it’s just kind of innate in him to make the right choices and be able to recognize what is wrong....Isn’t that crazy…How did he get there though? Well, based on this passage…he got there from meditating, or reading the Word of God…in other words, he got to this point in life, by making the decision to read Scripture…or, the Bible.

Now, we have been talking about reading the Bible all month so far…What did we say last week was the appropriate thing to do with Scripture?

Study//Apply//Teach

This is how we can move into a place where our lives are being transformed into what God has created you to be. Last week we had our church meeting, and I shared with everyone the big goals that we have as a church…the thing we are working towards this year from a church perspective. One of the things on that list was to work on reading the Bible together. Now, I shared that I was trying ot get a group of 10 people to stick with me through the year and have us all read together. Commenting on what we learn, encouraging each other to stay focused and keep going when it feels hard, and ultimatly enjoying what God is going to do in our lives and in the lives of the church as we focus on Scripture together. So we are up to, I think, 9 people that have joined and we are busy reading daily. Some don’t respond every day, but that’s ok…However, there is something more that I am wanting to accomplish as a church in regards to this topic of Bible reading. You see, I know that there are many who are reading the Bible daily and are staying on track with us all, but just aren’t a part of the group that is chatting about it. However, there are others who feel that reading the Bible is a bit to much…I get it, I really do. Honestly, I can remember in my own life when I thought the Bible was super important, but it was more for reference, not really for reading…Like, if there was a problem then I can go through and find the answer…But…what if the Bible was more than a reference book that we can find the answers to our problems when they occur? What if the Bible was meant to be a book that would prevent those problems from ever occuring in the first place?

You see, I know that there are a number of you that are struggling as a parent…or you are struggling with your finances, or maybe with your attitude at work. I know that there are people who are not delighting in the Lord through their circumstances…maybe even while they are serving others. What I mean by that is that you are walking through life and you are frustrated, or depressed, or angry becuase you are looking for answers to all of life’s problems…however, the places you are looking are not meant to solve your problems…so, when they fail, and they always fail, you respond in a way that is sinfully angry, or sinfully rebellious because things are not working the way that you want them to. Maybe your rebellion has convinced you that you are the only one who is right and everyone else has it wrong. Now, what if there was a way to avoid ever falling into that trap of looking to the wrong place. What if there was a way to train your mind to respond in a way that is pleasing to the Lord?

Well, I think that way does exist. I was watching something that happened earlier this week, and then I heard a little more and I have to tell you something kind of hit me. You see…if we want to respond in a way that is different, then we have to train our brains to respond differently so that we don’t even have to think about it. For instance, we all know that Jim had a stroke last year. Well, we have all seen how he has struggled and had a hard time, especially in the beginning, but that over time there are things that are getting easier and easier for him. For instance, last year when I first visited him at his house after he came home, he was unable to get out of bed without alot of help from Cheryl or whoever was there, and there was no way he was gonna take a step…Well, just this last Monday, and Im not sure if Im supposed to share this, but just this last Monday after we met for prayer, Jim walked down this aisle and over and back up this other aisle. Guys…he did this completely on his own. Now this has taken a year of work and training his brain what needed to happen. Have there been times that Jim fell and was discouraged…absolutely…but then the next day Jim picked up and continued to train his brain.

You and I need to do the same things…We need to train our brains how to respond to various situations. The only way we do that is by reading…that leads to studying, applying or exercising and, then teaching others to do the same. You see, when we teach, we actually are still learning and excel sizing. So, where do we start? Well, the best place to start is to pick up your Bible and either link to the Bible reading plan through the QR code, or pick up the reading Schedule and just start reading daily. Now, I know I have said to start somewhere and if you are truly struggling then start with at least 1 day, but within 6 weeks you should strive to be up to daily reading, by simply adding 1 day every week. Listen, if you will commit to doing this, I will guarantee that your life will change..

Let me close this series with one more story of what the Bible has accomplished. This is a story that is really a snippet of a court hearing that you will want to pay attention to. You see, there is a guy that was arrested for talking about Jesus and what it means to follow Jesus…this is what happened at his hearing.

King Agrippa said to Paul, “You have permission to speak on your own behalf.” Paul stretched out his hand and defended himself as follows: “King Agrippa! I consider myself fortunate that today I am to defend myself before you from all the things these Jews accuse me of, particularly since you know so well all the Jewish customs and disputes. I ask you, then, to listen to me with patience. All the Jews know how I have lived ever since I was young. They know how I have spent my whole life, at first in my own country and then in Jerusalem. They have always known, if they are willing to testify, that from the very first I have lived as a member of the strictest party of our religion, the Pharisees. And now I stand here to be tried because of the hope I have in the promise that God made to our ancestors— the very thing that the twelve tribes of our people hope to receive, as they worship God day and night. And it is because of this hope, Your Majesty, that I am being accused by these Jews! Why do you who are here find it impossible to believe that God raises the dead? “I myself thought that I should do everything I could against the cause of Jesus of Nazareth. That is what I did in Jerusalem. I received authority from the chief priests and put many of God’s people in prison; and when they were sentenced to death, I also voted against them. Many times I had them punished in the synagogues and tried to make them deny their faith. I was so furious with them that I even went to foreign cities to persecute them. “It was for this purpose that I went to Damascus with authority and orders from the chief priests. It was on the road at midday, Your Majesty, that I saw a light much brighter than the sun, coming from the sky and shining around me and the men traveling with me. All of us fell to the ground, and I heard a voice say to me in Hebrew, ‘Saul, Saul! Why are you persecuting me? You are hurting yourself by hitting back, like an ox kicking against its owner’s stick.’ ‘Who are you, Lord?’ I asked. And the Lord answered, ‘I am Jesus, whom you persecute. But get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as my servant. You are to tell others what you have seen of me today and what I will show you in the future. I will rescue you from the people of Israel and from the Gentiles to whom I will send you. You are to open their eyes and turn them from the darkness to the light and from the power of Satan to God, so that through their faith in me they will have their sins forgiven and receive their place among God’s chosen people.’ “And so, King Agrippa, I did not disobey the vision I had from heaven. First in Damascus and in Jerusalem and then in the whole country of Israel and among the Gentiles, I preached that they must repent of their sins and turn to God and do the things that would show they had repented. It was for this reason that these Jews seized me while I was in the Temple, and they tried to kill me. But to this very day I have been helped by God, and so I stand here giving my witness to all, to small and great alike. What I say is the very same thing which the prophets and Moses said was going to happen: that the Messiah must suffer and be the first one to rise from death, to announce the light of salvation to the Jews and to the Gentiles.”

What an amazing story! This is found in Acts 26…This this story is in the Bible, so does it really fit in this series about how the Bible can change us? Yeah, I think so…You see, I put this in the category of how the Bible can change our lives, becuase its literally the words of Jesus that changed this mans life, and it is the words, and actions of Jesus that can change your life through reading the Bible.

Ok, so earlier I had you all grab your comment card and start to fill it out. We are gonna do something a little different this morning. You see, we are ending this series this morning and I would like to ask everyone that is here this morning to give me a response of some sort. Earlier you wrote down your name and contact info as well as any prayer concerns…Now I would like you to fill in the comment portion. I would like you to write down something that you have been encouraged by during this series, or some way that this series about the best selling book of all time has stretched you or impacted you…Maybe that is through encouraging you to read the Bible this year…Maybe it is how hearing some of these stories caused you to see hope that you have not seen for a while. Maybe you would say that this series was not impactful in any way and you are going to continue life as normal…thanks ok, I want you to be honest…More importantly though, I want to ask you to make a commitment, if you are ready. That commitment is to reading the Bible. Now, this is a commitment that is between you and God, but I want you to write down how much you are committing to engaging with the Bible each week. Can you commit to 5 minutes every day…Can you commit to 3 days per week…Can you commit to 1 chapter each day…Whatever it is that you are willing to commit to engaging with Scripture with this morning…Those of you online, I would love to hear from you as well. Please send a message with this same commitment and comments about this series to [e-mail], or send me a message on social media. Now, and this is important, if you are joining in on the Bible through a year this year, either through the Bible app, or through the printed schedule, I want you to write that on your card…Simply put, “I am joining in the plan!”

Now, while you fill that out for a moment, there will be music playing, and as you are ready…bring that card to the alter and drop it in one of these plastic boxes here signifying your commitment to Christ this morning. Everyone will drop a card up here so there is no awkward feeling for anyone, ok. Now, We will spend about 5 minutes and then the band will close us out with a final song.

Let’s pray...