Big Idea: The Word of God

It is written, “ ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ”

[Slide: Pic of the Torah]

Rd p 110 (first 4 Par: passage about competing words, Adam/Eve, Torah)

Why do we need the word of God? Let’s take a look at our world:

The world tells us how to look and think.

What we should value, what our value is,

What we ought to pursue and what will make us happy

[Slide: Pic of O.T. scroll, parchment, etc.]

We can trust the Word of God.

Rd p 110; last par to first par on p 111)

We need this Word to form and guide our passions. We need to allow Scripture to shape our soul.

The world tells us what our passions should be

- We talked about passion when we spoke about purpose last week. [Thank them for opening up and being transparent and real about God and life.. emphasize how reflection and conversation are major keys to growth]

- If we don’t take time to look at our stories, then we won’t see if they match up with the purpose that God has for our life.

- We also won’t see how our story is being shaped by the stories of others for the good or the bad if we don’t take the time to reflect and talk openly with friends about were we find ourselves and our passions. We need to check ourselves.

- Jer 17 talks about how the heart can be deceitful..

- Pastor Brent mentioned in a sermon that kids at times say to their parents, “You don’t trust me,” But the parents feel like “I trust you, it’s that heart of yours that I don’t trust. Because you have the same heart that we all have.”

- It’s imperative that we have an honest assessment of where we are mentally and emotionally or we will drift

o Anybody can drift.. from a pastor to a person in the pew if they allow their longings and passions to guide them without filtering them through the Word of God.

[Slide: Someone feeling pulled]

The world is going 100 mph in the opposite direction of God and if you are caught in the middle with the world pulling at your heart and God pulling at your heart then you are in one of the greatest struggles of your life.

[Discuss 2 min]

- Tell them to break into pairs for 2 min to talk about [click to next slide]

[Slide: Q below] 3 min

“Q: Have you ever found yourself struggling between what you know God wanted you to do and what you wanted to do. Maybe with dating, jobs, school, family, ministry, etc.)?”

[Slide: Same question but with sub-question]

“Q: Have you ever found yourself struggling between what you know God wanted you to do and what you wanted to do. Maybe with dating, jobs, school, family, ministry, etc.)?

- How do you work through those struggles?”

[Have them share what they talked about 3 min]

Do you think it’s easier to do what God wants when you have a daily habit of reading the Bible?

Q: Can you tell the difference in your attitude and mindset when have been reading your bible vs when you go through the day and haven’t read your bible?

What’s the difference?

[Slide: Dirty car or house filter]

It’s probably fare to say that when you make time for daily Bible reading then you letting the words and wisdom of God shape you and push back against the other things that are seeking to shape you. You are allowing Scripture to filter what is going into your ears, your eyes and your heart.

16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness… 2 Tim 3:16

Teaching/Doctrine: shaping your worldview. How you literally view the world around you and your place in it.

- Your professors in college are trying to shape your world view. Your career may be trying to shape your worldview as Judith has mentioned when it came to her learning about social work.

[Rd p 113; from middle of first par “when God gave Moses…” to 4th par]

Talk about standards of dress as celebration

[Rd p 114; 3rd par to 3rd Par on p. 115]

- Talk about Fundamentalism versus a reading the Bible literally.

19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

[Rd p. 116 4th Par of 116]

Emphasize “seed” vs “seeds” in Galatians and “name” vs “names” in Matt 28:19.

How the Apostles went on to Baptize in the name, not names, of Jesus

This is known throughout the history of the Church. Church historians know this is true even if they were not baptized this way. We baptize this way because we want to allow the story of Scripture to influence our story more than the story of how other Christians denominations do things. We want to observe what the Apostles observed

12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. Heb 4:12

Q: what do you think of when you hear that scripture? [2 min]

Last week we talked about how God desires for his Spirit to be present in the passionate areas of our hearts. The place were our longings and desires are formed and dwell. His word is designed to go deeper than our minds and into our affections.

v12“living and active”

1 In the abeginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was bwithout form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

3 And God said, c“Let there be light,” and there was light.

- The moment God spoke.. light appeared. When God speaks it, it happens. I’m not saying that just bc I pick up my Bible and start reading out loud that whatever I’m reading is going to start changing. (Standing at the Fox river and quoting from Exodus and expecting the water to part). If you do that long enough they might give you a straight jacket to wear and let you sleep in a nice soft padded room.

- But, if I am reading from Psalm 19:14:

14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart

be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.

Then I am asking God to move in my affections, desires, will, passions and longings to make sure that deep within me is a desire to please Him. God does not force himself. Nor will he violate our will. So, by submitting to his word and saying that what the Psalm wrote centuries ago, I want to take place in the center of my heart here and now, allows God to begin transforming thought patterns (basically how I think about myself and him and others), to begin removing wayward passions, and distracting desires, and to help me think and feel and live as you designed me to. He won’t just take all the bad stuff out. There is a good chance that he will say, “hey really want to be holy and acceptable in my sight.. here is all of the unacceptable stuff that you need to get change if your serious about honoring me with your heart.” Then it’s up to us to apply it.. and reap the benefits of doing so.

[Slide: Pic of Butterfly in a Cacoon w/ the word Growth]

[Mention Elisia's 5 spot at Youth week]

It stood out to me bc she honestly acknowledged how hard change and the transitions of life can be. Yet, how in the end with God the journey is always worth it.

In the presence of God, take note that Moses didn’t ask “Lord, how can I make your word more palatable to the people or how can I make you more relevant.” Moses said to God, “Now therefore, if I have found favor in your sight, please hshow me now your ways, that I may know you in order to find favor in your sight”

He cared more about growing closer to God than fitting in

The result: He walked down from the mountain with two tablets of stone. Moses had encountered God’s presence, his face shined with the glory of that encounter, but above all he walked away carrying the Word with him.

Moses had been shaped by his walk with God. Are you still being shaped by yours?

- If I were you, I would write that down. I would ask myself if I am still being changed by my walk with God. You should write this down ask yourself this question every year.. on your B-day, or during our New Year’s service, etc. We can start going through the motions and not realize that we are no longer growing. We could be in church 5-10 years and have stopped learning about the Bible, about Christianity, our faith a long time ago.

Lesson here - The Word will change you if you let it.

It will take you to deeper places in God. It will call you out. Some of us may fear standing out

[Slide: Pic of pen writing on paper]

My former socialistic view of spiritual growth

Do you really want to limit who you are in order to fit in with people? Is it worth it? What if your purpose is worth more than that? You read the stories of others as you get to know them and befriend them. That’s natural and normal, but what if your story wasn’t meant to fit in with their story? What if God designed your story to fit into the larger story – His Meta Story – that He is writing?

Conclusion:

[You]

[What do they need to know?”]

[Hold up Bible]

This is the story that is designed to shape your story

As you read it and just as importantly – apply It?

[Why do they need to know it?”]

Because there are other stories that are seeking to shape your story.

There are other influences seeking to shape your story: friends, family, professors at school, classmates, coworkers and colleagues… All working to shape your worldview.

[What do they need to do?]

You need to read the Scriptures daily

- Use your calendar app. Don’t just let your phone be something full of apps that can distract you from reading. Make it work for you.

[Why do they need to do it?]

How much better would our church be if everybody in it actually read their bible regulalry? What would your home life look like if everybody in it spent time studying scripture? What would the attitudes be like there? How many of you want to one day end up with someone who makes room in their daily and weekly schedule to consume the Word of God. They don't just read it to check a box, but they let it shape them so the heart that they give you is full of God's wisdom and truth.

Who would trust that kind of heart? Who would trust building a family with that kind of heart?

Then work on having that kind of heart.

[Rd. p. 117 4th and 5th Par]