Untitled Sermon (2)

Introduction

“What you do with the Bible will shape the trajectory of your life”- Matt Rogers.One of the favorite sermons or discussion panels that we heard over the weekend was the discussion panel with Greg Wells, Sharie King, and Jess Brock about how we should read the Bible and different ways that we can wrongly read the Bible and helpful tips to consider when reading the Bible. Most of you who went to Crossroads Winter Conference would say that was one of your favorite teaching moments of the weekend because it is something that you all struggle with right? Many of you guys feel like you just don’t understand the Bible, or you just don’t get anything out of it because you just don’t feel educated enough. You feel like you need to go to seminary or a Christian college and get a ministry degree to even understand the Bible and be able to understand and apply it to your life correctly. I mean it is pretty intimidating to be handling the Word of God the Holy Bible!!!! But that’s where I want this whole thing to shift! I don’t want the flock that I am shepherding only open the Bible when they come to church on Sundays or Wednesdays. I don’t want you to have to rely solely upon me and my teaching or Stacey and his teaching to be able to open the Bible and feel like you understood what you just read. That is what happened in the Roman Catholic church before the reformation and that didn’t go so well. I want you all to feel equipped and encouraged ( “And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherd and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. 15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.) Because that is my job I want all of you to believe that you have been taught and given certain tools so that you can read the Bible and ask the RIGHT questions! “A direct correlation exists between a person’s intake of the Scripture and his conformity to the image of Christ.”- Matt Rogers and “You and I simply will not mature as quickly, minister as effectively, or live as gloriously without immersing ourselves in the Scriptures.” -Kevin DeYoung. I want us to be like the people of Berea in who dig through the pages of our Bible diligently to discern the heart and mind of God.

Arrow 1: What does this passage say?

The Bible demands the same kind of attentiveness and enthusiasm that we invest in our favorite stories and characters.

We give so much attention to our favorite football players, favorite NBA teams, favorite tv shows, etc. but when it comes to the Bible our enthusiasm is stale and we don’t want to read it.

This first arrow’s goal of Arrow 1 is to encourage all readers to examine and to engage all readers to examine and engage the Bible with a clear goal in mind. Not having a clear goal in reading the Bible is probably why we all have frustration when reading the Bible. We need to determine what the passage says.

We have to observe the passage and what the author is trying to say.

Your pastor is not necessarily a genius. He has just developed skills for reading the Bible well.

Context is King: We have to understand the passage as it fits into a particular chapter and a particular book of the Bible.

Tip: When reading a book of the bible read the whole book before you start going through each individual passage. This will help you understand what the writer is trying to say with the whole book before you look at every little piece (like looking at the picture of the puzzle on the box before you put it all together)

TOOLS OF THE TRADE:

Repetition of Words and Themes

When a biblical writer repeats a word or phrase in a passage of Scripture it is important (Just like when a teacher repeats a word when teaching and writes it on the board and highlights it…its probably important)

Comparisons

Writers will use comparisons to help us understand a point that they are trying to make! (like Damian Lillard makes a game winning three pointer you would say that he has “Ice in his veins” obviously not actual ice he is just calm under pressure)

Figures of Speech

If you say you have a splitting headache it just means your head feels like it is splitting in two pieces…not that it is ACTUALLY splitting into two different pieces. Biblical writers can use these to prove a point and emphasize something and we need to look out for them.

Action

Look for the actions of God and the actions of other important characters.

Phrases

TIMEOUT: When you go home, sometime this week read and write down the repetition of words, comparisons made, figures of speech used, and actions used in this passage to help you come up with a 1 to 2 sentence summary of the passage and send a picture of it to me this week at some point in time over text or through instagram.

Recognize how sentences come together and

Conversations

Look for quotations in Scripture (specifically in narratives like the Gospels) and understand why the author put them in there. What meaning do they bring to this passage? (Look at Mark 4:35-41)

Lists

Look for lists in Scripture (For example: Galatians 5 or )

Tone

Look for tone within the passage to see if the writer is speaking with happiness, frustration, anger, etc. (example: and the rebuke of the scribes and Pharisees when he called them hypocrites or Paul in ) But many times there will not be a specific emotion conveyed. (DONT MANUFACTURE AN EMOTIONAL TONE JUST BECAUSE YOU THINK THERE HAS TO BE ONE ALL THE TIME)

The point of all of these little things that we should look for when first reading a passage of scripture is to help us pay attention to ways that the biblical authors have constructed passages to convey the make point they were making.