SPEAKER_01: Thanks for checking out this podcast from Carterville Christian Church.
SPEAKER_01: We're so glad you're here.
SPEAKER_01: Our hope is that through these messages you'll grow deeper in your faith and experience the life-changing hope of Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: Now let's jump into this week's teaching.
SPEAKER_00: Well, good morning, C3.
SPEAKER_00: Good to be with you this morning.
SPEAKER_00: Man, last week church looked a little bit different for us.
SPEAKER_00: It's cool to hear.
SPEAKER_00: I heard several different stories this week of just you guys showing up for one another for life groups uh coming together and cleaning up uh fellow life group members' yards or for just being good neighbors.
SPEAKER_00: I saw several of you at the at the dump in Web City unloading trailers of brush and all that kind of stuff.
SPEAKER_00: And man, it was uh I don't know if it was a clearer picture of what the church is supposed to be, anyways, you know.
SPEAKER_00: Um yeah, we gather in here, and it's great that we gather in here, but it's also just an incredible opportunity we have to be a neighbor to somebody in need.
SPEAKER_00: Um, and you guys did that in very real ways.
SPEAKER_00: But none nonetheless, man, I'm glad to be with you.
SPEAKER_00: It's good to be here with you in the house of the Lord and to sing his praises.
SPEAKER_00: It's also Father's Day, happy Father's Day to all you dads out here.
SPEAKER_00: Can we just say happy Father's Day to all the dads right now?
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, we're we're super, super thankful for you.
SPEAKER_00: Um very thankful for how you how you lead and guide and provide and protect and love your families.
SPEAKER_00: Thankful that you are you're here this morning.
SPEAKER_00: And you know, it's I feel like it's my job to kind of just give you a couple, a couple, like just to refill, restock your um your dad jokes for the day, you know?
SPEAKER_00: So what do you call a fake pizza?
SPEAKER_00: A pepper phony.
SPEAKER_00: That's what you call it, you know.
SPEAKER_00: And then, hey, how do you catch a unique bird?
SPEAKER_00: Unique up on them, you know.
SPEAKER_00: But then how do you catch a tame bird?
SPEAKER_00: The tame way, unique up on them, you know what I'm saying?
SPEAKER_00: Then I had somebody tell me, like, what did Batman say to Robin when they got in the Batmobile?
SPEAKER_00: Robin, get in the Batmobile, you know?
SPEAKER_00: Never mind might be my favorite.
SPEAKER_00: That might be my favorite one, okay?
SPEAKER_00: Anyways, hey, that's all besides the point.
SPEAKER_00: Happy Father's Day to all you dads.
SPEAKER_00: We're we're super glad you're here.
SPEAKER_00: Make sure you stop in the atrium, get a donut, get some coffee, all that kind of stuff.
SPEAKER_00: We we're we're super thankful for you.
SPEAKER_00: We're continuing this series, Vital Signs, five signs that you're fully alive.
SPEAKER_00: And it comes from Jesus' words in John 10, 10 when he says, I've come that you may have life and have it to the full.
SPEAKER_00: And so what we're kind of talking about is like, what is what does it mean to have a full life in Christ?
SPEAKER_00: What does it really look like for us to be fully alive in him?
SPEAKER_00: And I'm excited about this series.
SPEAKER_00: I've been excited, I've told you that a couple weeks ago when we started it, because I really like this is the vision for where we where we want to go as a church, who we want to be as a church.
SPEAKER_00: So if you missed our first week in this series, you can go back on our YouTube page or you can go um on our podcast and you can listen to that um to that first sermon.
SPEAKER_00: You're gonna you're gonna be missing out on the rest of this series if you've missed that first one.
SPEAKER_00: It's vital.
SPEAKER_00: It's a vital sign.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, so it's vital to where we're going uh the rest of the time.
SPEAKER_00: So I hope you hope you go back and check that out.
SPEAKER_00: While you're there, also check out our podcast because we're gonna have different discussions with lining up with each of these five weeks in this series with our staff and elders surrounding these different these different discussions.
SPEAKER_00: So um, man, I hope I hope you uh go check those things out and take advantage of those resources there as well.
SPEAKER_00: But two weeks ago we talked about why we exist as a church and and who we are as a church.
SPEAKER_00: And I just want to review, just so we're all on the same page as we go forward, we talked about why we exist, and really at the simple, at the simplest form, this is why we exist.
SPEAKER_00: Our mission, C3 exists to glorify God by making disciples of Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: And we talked about this, like this is, hey, this has been our mission for 139 years.
SPEAKER_00: That's how long Carnival Christian Church has been established, been around this community, is 139 years, and it will continue to be our mission is to make disciples of Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: And it really leads us into this core realization of who we are as a people.
SPEAKER_00: We are a gathering of people who realize, hey, we need Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Like at its simplest, this is who we are.
SPEAKER_00: We're a gathering of people who realize that we need Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: We need Jesus for our salvation.
SPEAKER_00: We need him to step in and do something about our sin.
SPEAKER_00: We cannot fix ourselves, we cannot save ourselves, but only he can when he steps in.
SPEAKER_00: But we also need his power to walk with us, to empower us in our daily lives as well.
SPEAKER_00: And it's out of this who we are that kind of drives what we do.
SPEAKER_00: It's our being that always drives our doing.
SPEAKER_00: And so here's what we do as a church.
SPEAKER_00: What we're gonna be doing over the next four weeks uh to finish out this series is talking about what we're gonna do as a church now, like what we're gonna be about as a church and what we do.
SPEAKER_00: And what we do is simply we make disciples of Jesus who are growing by studying and applying the word of God.
SPEAKER_00: That's what we're that's what we're uh talking about today.
SPEAKER_00: We come to this understanding, we need to grow.
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: We've we talked about this and we're gonna be talking about this throughout this whole series, is that each of these statements that we talk about, each of these vital signs, are both we need statements, but also I need statements.
SPEAKER_00: So as you're sitting here today, as we're as we're opening up the word of God, as we're talking about this this vital sign, what it means to be fully alive in Christ, I want you to come to this realization that you need to grow.
SPEAKER_00: I need to grow.
SPEAKER_00: We need to grow.
SPEAKER_00: So actually, turn to your neighbor right now and say, I need to grow.
SPEAKER_00: And now turn to your other neighbor and say, You need to grow.
SPEAKER_00: And then you can say, I know, I do, you're right, I do, you know?
SPEAKER_00: And this is the thing, like we can't stay the same.
SPEAKER_00: We need to go deeper in our understanding of God and his will for us.
SPEAKER_00: We need to discover more about him and continually be shaped into his image.
SPEAKER_00: And he does this through his word.
SPEAKER_00: Now, I don't know about you, but like there's a lot of different feelings that come whenever we talk about engaging with the word.
SPEAKER_00: Like, there's there's probably a lot of us in here who have a lot of different feelings surrounding that issue of being engaged in the word.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you feel intimidated, you're not sure where to start or where to begin.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you feel bored when you open up this word.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you open up this word and it's just worshipful.
SPEAKER_00: Every single time you you open it, it's just you've come to love it and enjoy it.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe there's guilt or shame because you know you should be in this word, but you're not.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe there's like embarrassment, or maybe there's even like pride or self-righteousness, like I know I'm in the word more than they are.
SPEAKER_00: You know, like there's there's all kinds of feelings that accompany this core value that we need to grow.
SPEAKER_00: But can I tell you, like, our prayer is that our main feeling when we come to this word would just be joy.
SPEAKER_00: That we would have just joy knowing this is a good gift from our good God.
SPEAKER_00: And we have the the privilege, not just we have to, but we get to like come to know him more through his word.
SPEAKER_00: And what a joy, what a privilege that is.
SPEAKER_00: Our oldest uh Sadie went to junior high camp for the first time a couple weeks ago.
SPEAKER_00: And man, I'm super thankful for our youth ministry staff, super thankful for uh so many volunteers who gave up a week of work and life to go and invest in discipleship.
SPEAKER_00: Um, so thankful for a community of believers she gets to be in.
SPEAKER_00: And you know, she's coming home from camp, and I'm trying to, you know, I wanna, I'm like, what's what are you gonna do?
SPEAKER_00: You know, like what's next?
SPEAKER_00: What'd you learn?
SPEAKER_00: What are the what are the things?
SPEAKER_00: But I'm trying not to force the conversation.
SPEAKER_00: So after about, you know, 24 hours, letting her have a good meal and a nice long nap, you know, all that kind of stuff.
SPEAKER_00: The next morning, actually, we had a conversation, and I said, So what'd you learn?
SPEAKER_00: What's something that you're taking from this week?
SPEAKER_00: What's what's something you feel like you need to do?
SPEAKER_00: And she goes, I don't know, I don't know.
SPEAKER_00: And then she goes, I think, I think I just need to be in the Word more.
SPEAKER_00: I think I need to be reading my Bible more.
SPEAKER_00: So we started talking about why, you know, why that's important, you know, and we're gonna be talking about that today.
SPEAKER_00: But I'm thankful, you know, she Sadie loves the church, loves to learn, loves being here, and our church has done an incredible job of partnering with us and discipling Sadie and and walking alongside of us and and providing resources and and like like helping pique her interest in in the word and all these all these kinds of things.
SPEAKER_00: And so we did, I said, let's do some math, Sadie.
SPEAKER_00: And Sadie's involved in everything this church has to offer.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, it's kind of kind of what you're you're gonna be forced to do that, okay?
SPEAKER_00: You're the pastor's kid.
SPEAKER_00: You're gonna be forced to be involved in everything that's happening here, okay?
SPEAKER_00: But like she's involved in everything here.
SPEAKER_00: I said, let's so let's just do some math and think about how many hours are in your week and how many hours you're at you're at the at the church.
SPEAKER_00: And so we did, you know, it's like a 168 hours in a week, and I said, if you sleep 10 hours a day, you know, which sounds nice, right?
SPEAKER_00: Anybody go for 10 hours of sleep, you know?
SPEAKER_00: Sounds nice, right?
SPEAKER_00: If if we take out those 10 hours of sleep, then that means you're gonna, at most, you're gonna spend four hours, even if you're at everything that the church has to offer, you're gonna spend about four hours on average at the church.
SPEAKER_00: It's about four percent of your week.
SPEAKER_00: And then I asked Sadie this question you think four percent is enough for you to continue to be formed into the image of Jesus?
SPEAKER_00: Is it is it enough for you to grow to be more like Christ?
SPEAKER_00: And her answer, the answer was obvious to my sixth grader, and I think it's obvious to us as well.
SPEAKER_00: Well, no, it's not.
SPEAKER_00: Like four percent is just not enough.
SPEAKER_00: It's a good start, by the way.
SPEAKER_00: Like uh, we're glad you're here, and this is a good start for you, okay?
SPEAKER_00: And like this is this is part of it, but this cannot be the end of it.
SPEAKER_00: Like, there's there's gotta be more, and yet so many of us settle with four percent.
SPEAKER_00: You know, actually that's what the stats show.
SPEAKER_00: Barna and the American Bible Society showed that only about 25% of all US adults engage with scripture more than one time a week.
SPEAKER_00: That includes when their pastor says, Hey, why don't you open your Bibles to this?
SPEAKER_00: Only 25% of US adults leave the church and then engage with scripture any other time throughout the week.
SPEAKER_00: Like, so we this shows me that we're that we're settling for 4%.
SPEAKER_00: And here's the deal: our vision as a church is for us to become a people who realize that we need to grow.
SPEAKER_00: And we do this by engaging with and applying scripture regularly, and it really comes down to what we believe to be true about this word.
SPEAKER_00: Because we believe this word has power to change our lives.
SPEAKER_00: And if we really believe this word has power to change our lives, then it will it will affect how we interact with it and how often we interact with it.
SPEAKER_00: So that really what we're gonna talk about today is kind of what's available to us in this word.
SPEAKER_00: That's what we want to talk about the rest of the time this morning is what is available to us here.
SPEAKER_00: And so here's what we believe.
SPEAKER_00: We believe that the word of God is helpful, first of all.
SPEAKER_00: That's what we that's what we believe.
SPEAKER_00: The word of God is helpful.
SPEAKER_00: Out of his goodness, God wants to help his people.
SPEAKER_00: And God helps in many ways, but in one of the most profound ways he helps us is by giving us his word to reveal his character and to reveal what we need to know about our world and how we walk this life.
SPEAKER_00: I love what Paul says in 2 Timothy when he says, all scripture is God breathed, and it's useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you've heard Psalm 119, 105, your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.
SPEAKER_00: Like this, you can see it right here.
SPEAKER_00: The word is useful.
SPEAKER_00: Teaching, correcting, rebuking, training in righteousness, a lamp to our feet, a light for our path.
SPEAKER_00: It's a gift given from God to help his people understand him and understand the world around us.
SPEAKER_00: The question I think is like, are you going to it as help?
SPEAKER_00: Like this is an honest question I think we need to ask ourselves.
SPEAKER_00: Is this word is helpful to us?
SPEAKER_00: It says of itself that it's helpful to us.
SPEAKER_00: The question is, are you going to it in order to receive help?
SPEAKER_00: Because in order to receive the help from the word, you will need to humble yourself before it.
SPEAKER_00: It's kind of like, I don't know, like kids growing up.
SPEAKER_00: We've had four kids grow up and they all go through the stage.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know where it is.
SPEAKER_00: It's like somewhere between two and four years old where they start just saying, I got it.
SPEAKER_00: I do it.
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: Like they're they're just all like so self-reliant, you know.
SPEAKER_00: Even whenever I'm sitting there saying, Can I help?
SPEAKER_00: And they're like, No, I'm gonna do it.
SPEAKER_00: And they're putting their shoes on the wrong feet, you know, and I'm like, I can help, you know.
SPEAKER_00: But they're like, no, I do it.
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna do it.
SPEAKER_00: Or like they're trying to reach that snack, you know, and so they got three different boxes stacked on top of each other.
SPEAKER_00: It's wobbly, they're about to bust their head open, and you're like, hey, I can grab that.
SPEAKER_00: That's about this high on me, you know.
SPEAKER_00: I can grab that right now, and you're struggling to reach it.
SPEAKER_00: You want me to help?
SPEAKER_00: No, I do it, I'd do it, right?
SPEAKER_00: And I don't know if the problem for my kids at two years old, three years old, four years old is humility necessarily.
SPEAKER_00: You know, I don't know if they like lack humility, that might be what it is.
SPEAKER_00: But what I do know is that there is a better way available to them if they would just allow somebody else to help.
SPEAKER_00: I heard a preacher say it this way that so much of our spiritual growth doesn't happen because we already know.
SPEAKER_00: So much of our growth doesn't happen because we think we we don't think we need any help.
SPEAKER_00: Like we know the right answer, we can figure it out on our own, we know what to do, we or we know someone who does.
SPEAKER_00: Like we trust in ourselves more than we trust in this book.
SPEAKER_00: We trust in ourselves to get our own help, to help ourselves, right?
SPEAKER_00: And so many times, if that's the way that we the way that we view this book, we'll come to this book really flippantly.
SPEAKER_00: Kind of like almost like, well, I like I'll I guess I'll halfway listen to what this what this book has to say.
SPEAKER_00: See if it has anything interesting, but if it doesn't, I'm fine.
SPEAKER_00: I can I can figure it out on my s on my own.
SPEAKER_00: I can pick myself up by my bootstraps, you know, and just you know, figure it out, right?
SPEAKER_00: Dust myself off and figure it out.
SPEAKER_00: But we need to understand, like this book is some is a good gift from God that you and I desperately need if we want to continue to be more like him, if we want to continue to be shaped into his image.
SPEAKER_00: There's an interesting study uh from Life Way a few years ago, and they pulled 40,000 people from ages eight to eighty to see how they were engaging in scripture.
SPEAKER_00: I've shared this before, but what they found was pretty crazy.
SPEAKER_00: They found that if somebody engaged with the word one time a week, that includes pastor saying, hey, open up, would you turn to this?
SPEAKER_00: Then there was marginal change, marginal difference.
SPEAKER_00: Like you could barely see it.
SPEAKER_00: Blip on the radar, like nothing.
SPEAKER_00: And they said what was interesting is they said that also if somebody engaged with with scripture two or three times a week, that it was actually like the same results, like marginal difference, like not really any impact, right?
SPEAKER_00: But then they said something was crazy whenever we saw, when they pulled these 40,000 people from ages eight to eighty, when they engaged with scripture four or more times a week, that's the majority of your week if you're if you're counting right now, four or more times a week, that something crazy happened.
SPEAKER_00: And the results are nuts.
SPEAKER_00: This is what this is what they found is that when someone engages in scripture four or more times a week, feeling lonely drops 30%, anger issues drop 32%, bitterness in relationships drops 40%, alcoholism drops 57%, sex outside marriage drops 68%, feeling spiritually stagnant drops 60%, viewing pornography drops 61%, sharing your faith jumps 200%, discipling others jumps 230%.
SPEAKER_00: That's what they found whenever we spend the majority of our days in scripture.
SPEAKER_00: And I know these are just numbers on a screen, right?
SPEAKER_00: Ultimately, like that's what you we could write it off, and we can just say they're just numbers on a screen.
SPEAKER_00: But what those numbers point to is something that we believe wholeheartedly as a church.
SPEAKER_00: And it's that the the word of God has the power to change our lives.
SPEAKER_00: It is helpful for you.
SPEAKER_00: The question is, are you going to it for help?
SPEAKER_00: And let's let's take heed of the warning from James in James chapter 1 when he says, Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness, receive with humility the word that is implanted in you, which is able to save your souls.
SPEAKER_00: It is able to save you.
SPEAKER_00: It's helpful.
SPEAKER_00: We also believe this to be true about about the word is that the word is truth.
SPEAKER_00: We believe the word is absolutely true.
SPEAKER_00: We believe every word in this book is inspired by God, breathed out by God, and absolutely true, and has implications for our lives.
SPEAKER_00: I love how the writer of Hebrews says this in Hebrews chapter 4.
SPEAKER_00: For the word of God is alive and active, sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even the dividing soul and spirit, joins a marrow, it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.
SPEAKER_00: Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight.
SPEAKER_00: Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give an account.
SPEAKER_00: This is what the word does, and this is what truth does.
SPEAKER_00: It reveals the thoughts and intentions of our hearts.
SPEAKER_00: And this is what the word will do in our lives if we really engage with it, if we really study it, if we really apply it, which is why it's true that even if you've been studying this word for 50 years, every time you open it, there's something new for you.
SPEAKER_00: Like every single time you open up this word, there's something new and fresh to discover about who God is because it's alive and active.
SPEAKER_00: It's continuing to reveal him to you.
SPEAKER_00: It's continuing to reveal his character to you, it's continuing to reveal his will for you in these in the pages of these scriptures.
SPEAKER_00: But did you see the warning there in verse 13?
SPEAKER_00: Like sometimes we're really familiar with verse 12 of Hebrews chapter 4, and not so much with verse 13.
SPEAKER_00: He says, And nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight.
SPEAKER_00: Like all is laid bare before the one of to whom we must give an account.
SPEAKER_00: See, the word of God is truth.
SPEAKER_00: And the writer of Hebrews seems to be saying here that either you submit to this truth, either you submit to this truth and live by it daily, and it will reveal the intentions of your heart, or a day is coming when you will stand before the one to whom you must give an account, and everything's gonna be laid bare.
SPEAKER_00: It's an either-or.
SPEAKER_00: Do you see that?
SPEAKER_00: Like it's either we submit to this and say, yes, this is absolutely true, this is what I'm gonna build my life upon, or everything's gonna be laid out in the end.
SPEAKER_00: All the good and the bad, all the all the ugly, all the in-between, it's all gonna be laid out in between.
SPEAKER_00: And you can either live by this truth or you can live by your own truth.
SPEAKER_00: And it seems like that's the way our world is continuing to go, right?
SPEAKER_00: It's just live by their own truth.
SPEAKER_00: I heard one preacher say it this way, and it really just stuck with me.
SPEAKER_00: We kind of have these two options here.
SPEAKER_00: It's either we let the word of God, let the word of God interpret the world around us, or we let the world interpret the word.
SPEAKER_00: And so many times some people are coming from the world, and the world as that they live in, that they experience, that they feel be their ultimate reality, and then they come to the come to the word and they're like, well, something's off here because that's different than what I'm experiencing or what I'm feeling.
SPEAKER_00: That's different than what I than what I've what I've lived and what I've walked through.
SPEAKER_00: And you know what?
SPEAKER_00: Like, I I think this out here in the world is more true than what I'm reading right here.
SPEAKER_00: So many times we're discounting what the word says because we're letting the world interpret the word rather than the opposite.
SPEAKER_00: Like we're we're kind of we're coming to the word like looking for justification for how we're living in the world.
SPEAKER_00: And so if the word says anything that we that confronts us or that we disagree with, or that just like seems like, I don't know, that seems a little bit off, then it can't be the world that's that's off.
SPEAKER_00: Like it's gotta be the word that's off.
SPEAKER_00: This is just an ancient book that's kind of outdated, doesn't really have anything to say to me.
SPEAKER_00: No, instead, we need to be coming to the word to reveal what's true about our world.
SPEAKER_00: Like this word, this word is what reveals everything that is true in our life.
SPEAKER_00: What was true about our feelings, what's true about our longings and desires, what's true about our sin.
SPEAKER_00: Like this this word needs to be the lens through which we view all of our life, every single aspect of our life.
SPEAKER_00: And here's what's true like the Bible is true even when you ignore it.
SPEAKER_00: And the Bible is true even when you disagree with it, and the Bible is true even when it makes you uncomfortable, and the Bible is true even when it offends you, and the Bible is true even when the world around you completely rejects it.
SPEAKER_00: Like, listen, all of those things are happening in our world today.
SPEAKER_00: All of those kinds of things are happening.
SPEAKER_00: The Bible's ignored, it's in disagreement with people, it makes people uncomfortable and offends them, and a lot of people reject it, but just because it's ignored or rejected or offensive to some doesn't make it less true.
SPEAKER_00: It is absolutely true.
SPEAKER_00: It's the lens by which we look and view every other thing in our life.
SPEAKER_00: We need to let the word of God interpret the world around us, not the other way around.
SPEAKER_00: And a question for us this morning how do we expect to do that if we're not even acquainted with it?
SPEAKER_00: If we're settling for 4%?
SPEAKER_00: Like, how do we expect to do that?
SPEAKER_00: Like, we need to understand this word is helpful and it's true.
SPEAKER_00: But we also need to understand, like, this word is necessary.
SPEAKER_00: This is necessary for us.
SPEAKER_00: Like, in this is our topic today, right?
SPEAKER_00: We need to grow.
SPEAKER_00: It's a necessity for us to study and apply the word of God, and we see this in scripture so many ways that the word is needed for us.
SPEAKER_00: The early church in Acts chapter 2 is described as devoted to the word, like figuring out how to live.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus says, as he's praying for his disciples in John chapter 17, he says, Sanctify them by truth.
SPEAKER_00: Your word is truth, is what he says.
SPEAKER_00: Psalm 119 says, How can a young person stay on the path of purity by living according to your word?
SPEAKER_00: And then he says later, like, I've hidden your word in my heart.
SPEAKER_00: That I might not sin against you.
SPEAKER_00: Moses in Deuteronomy chapter 8, as he's speaking to the people, he's giving them like a history lesson, and he says, Hey, remember whenever we came through the wilderness and God provided manna?
SPEAKER_00: When he provided manna, he was giving you a lesson by providing manna each day that you would learn that you don't live by bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.
SPEAKER_00: That's what Jesus quotes to the devil when he's being tempted.
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: We read 2 Timothy chapter 3, verse 16 earlier, but we didn't read verse 17.
SPEAKER_00: He says, All scripture is God breathed and useful for teaching and rebuking and correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
SPEAKER_00: Like, listen, the word of God sanctifies us and forms us into the image of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: It encourages us in community, it helps us live lives of purity.
SPEAKER_00: It's our strength and it equips us and enables us to carry out every good work that the Lord has for us.
SPEAKER_00: We need to grow.
SPEAKER_00: And we do this by being devoted to this word, by being rooted and established in this word above all else.
SPEAKER_00: By studying and applying this word, it's helpful, it's true, it's necessary.
SPEAKER_00: And what's incredible about this word?
SPEAKER_00: What's incredible is that the word of God reveals the heart of God.
SPEAKER_00: The word of God reveals the heart of God.
SPEAKER_00: Like that's at the core of what this word is.
SPEAKER_00: It's a revelation of who God is.
SPEAKER_00: Like this is this is revealing the God who made you and who has formed you and who's continuing his powers at work within you if you're in Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Like this is it's revealing who he is and how he works and how he thinks.
SPEAKER_00: Like this is this is revealing him to us.
SPEAKER_00: And what excites me most about this whole idea of that we need to grow and we need to do this by studying and applying the word of God is because the more that we do this, and the more that this church kind of embodies this and comes to this realization collectively together that, hey, we need to grow, we need to be in the word, like the more the heart of God is gonna be present in this place, the more the heart of God is gonna be visible in your life, the more the heart of God is gonna be present in your families.
SPEAKER_00: Like, can you just imagine?
SPEAKER_00: Imagine the impact of this.
SPEAKER_00: Like, think about it.
SPEAKER_00: Like children being discipled in their homes, marriages overflowing with selfless love, like friendships that go beyond the surface level and really care for one another, a community that's meeting every need, like a people who are using their gifts to serve one another, and it would be a church with a heart for the lost, one who welcomes the outcast and a passion to help those in need.
SPEAKER_00: Like it would be a community that is equipped for every good work that the Lord has for us.
SPEAKER_00: If we would devote ourselves to this word.
SPEAKER_00: I love how John Ortberg kind of sums up the end goal of the word.
SPEAKER_00: He says it this way: if the Bible were to completely fulfill its mission, our minds would be so transformed, so filled with thoughts and feelings of truth, love, joy, and humility that our lives would become one uninterrupted series of acts of grace and moral beauty.
SPEAKER_00: Every moment would be a miniature reflection of life in the kingdom of God.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know about you, but that sounds like the kind of church I want to be a part of.
SPEAKER_00: Like what an opportunity we have to grow in the Lord and reflect his kingdom.
SPEAKER_00: My cousin is a campus minister in at Oklahoma State University down in Stillwater, and he made this observation in a sermon years ago, and it's kind of stuck with me.
SPEAKER_00: He said, you know, like the the Bible actually refers to itself more as food than anything else.
SPEAKER_00: You know?
SPEAKER_00: Like milk to spiritual infants and solid food to growing disciples, and bread and honey to our lips, and food.
SPEAKER_00: What I would have come to realize, right, like is that, hey, food isn't just something that I need, but it's also something I can crave.
SPEAKER_00: You know what I'm talking about?
SPEAKER_00: You know exactly what I'm talking about, right?
SPEAKER_00: Some of you.
SPEAKER_00: Some of you dads in the room are craving that donut down there.
SPEAKER_00: You didn't stop by the atrium on your way, and you're craving that donut down there.
SPEAKER_00: Like, I think about if I just started putting pictures up here, it would be like a perfectly cooked ribeye steak and a loaded baked potato up there, you know?
SPEAKER_00: Like I can crave that basically any any day of the week, any time, you know?
SPEAKER_00: Or I think about, you know, it's like 55 degrees, it's a fall after Saturday afternoon, and just a good bowl of chili and some cornbread watching some college football, like sounds so good, you know?
SPEAKER_00: Or I think about the Lord's chicken, you know, Chick-fil-A.
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't matter what day of the week, what time, like I'm always craving that all the time, you know what I'm saying?
SPEAKER_00: But there are times that I that I don't crave those things, right?
SPEAKER_00: And there's times that that we don't crave what the word has for us.
SPEAKER_00: And so maybe it's like you haven't, you haven't, you don't come, you haven't appreciated it yet.
SPEAKER_00: Like if you're if you're honest with yourself, like this is this is why you don't you don't want that food that's in front of you, is because you don't you don't appreciate what it has to offer you.
SPEAKER_00: I my brother said this a long time ago that he doesn't trust my kids my kids' opinion on food because they still like craft mac and cheese over shells and cheese, you know what I'm saying?
SPEAKER_00: Like they haven't acquired the taste, right?
SPEAKER_00: So he's like, I'm not gonna trust anything they say about food because they still think craft mac and cheese is better than shells and cheese, you know what I'm saying?
SPEAKER_00: And here's the thing like so many times this is us with the word.
SPEAKER_00: We haven't we haven't been acquainted with the word long enough to really come to enjoy it.
SPEAKER_00: We haven't acquired the taste.
SPEAKER_00: And I heard this a long time ago.
SPEAKER_00: Somebody said, hey, if you want to be good at anything, you're gonna have to be bad at it for quite a while.
SPEAKER_00: And sometimes, like, this it might feel intimidating, it might feel like I don't understand a third of the words that were said in that verse right now, you know.
SPEAKER_00: But keep going to it.
SPEAKER_00: Like, keep keep going to it.
SPEAKER_00: Don't don't just throw it to the side because you find it difficult.
SPEAKER_00: Don't don't just discard it because it's not exactly what you thought it would be, or it's not making you feel a certain way.
SPEAKER_00: Like oftentimes, some this is how it comes to studying scripture is we we get we get stuck whenever the first time doesn't like automatically make us a mature and complete disciple.
SPEAKER_00: But anybody who's maturing and growing in the Lord will tell you, hey, this is a process.
SPEAKER_00: And this is taking its time for me.
SPEAKER_00: I've been following Jesus for years, and I'm still messing up and I'm still still falling short, but I'm still turning to his word because I believe it to be helpful, I believe it to be true, I know it's necessary if I want to grow.
SPEAKER_00: Like I'm still gonna go to it.
SPEAKER_00: So stick with it.
SPEAKER_00: Like create a habit of being in this word.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe this week is just start with Psalm 119.
SPEAKER_00: We've already read several passages from it.
SPEAKER_00: It's a really long chapter in the Bible, but maybe just start like meditating on those words.
SPEAKER_00: It's really all about the goodness of God and of his word.
SPEAKER_00: And maybe maybe just start there.
SPEAKER_00: Let yourself be acquainted with the word of God.
SPEAKER_00: Like acquire the taste.
SPEAKER_00: So maybe we don't, like I don't like food because I don't appreciate it sometimes.
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes I don't want food because I'm just too full.
SPEAKER_00: Anybody else there?
SPEAKER_00: You know, like if I've already gorged myself on the chips and salsa from the Mexican restaurant, right, when the main course gets there, you know, sometimes I'm just like, oh, I don't know if I can eat that.
SPEAKER_00: You know, I take one bite, I don't know if I can eat the rest of it.
SPEAKER_00: I still do, okay?
SPEAKER_00: That's just what I power through.
SPEAKER_00: You know, I can do all things.
SPEAKER_00: No.
SPEAKER_00: Anyways.
SPEAKER_00: Or it's like, you know, they bring out, they just keep bringing out the endless rolls of Texas Roadhouse.
SPEAKER_00: You know, that cinnamon butter is just really good, you know what I'm saying?
SPEAKER_00: You know?
SPEAKER_00: So it's just like you you finally get the main course, it's like I'm just too full by the time that by the time it gets there.
SPEAKER_00: And maybe that's what it is with you in the word, if you're honest with yourself.
SPEAKER_00: You've already gorged yourself on lesser things.
SPEAKER_00: So when the main course gets here, you're it's like I don't really have an appetite for that.
SPEAKER_00: Because I've already filled myself with, I don't know, doom scrolling on social media or binge watching on Netflix or whatever, filling my schedule brim to brim so I don't have any, so I don't have any room to move or breathe or accomplish anything else.
SPEAKER_00: Here's the thing, like, are you so full on on the things of this world that you don't have an appetite left for the main course?
SPEAKER_00: So maybe, maybe the application this morning is like, what do I need to cut out of my life?
SPEAKER_00: So I can really come to the word, realize this is helpful, this is true, this is necessary for me.
SPEAKER_00: I can come to the word and I can find joy.
SPEAKER_00: Find joy in this word, this good gift that God has has given.
SPEAKER_00: Ma'am, sometimes I don't I don't like food because I don't haven't acquired the taste, sometimes I haven't, I'm just too full.
SPEAKER_00: And the other time, like the the only reason I don't like food, the other only reason I don't like food is when I'm just sick.
SPEAKER_00: You know, like it can be my favorite home-cooked meal sitting right in front of me.
SPEAKER_00: But if I've got a, if I've been throwing up all day, yeah, I don't want anything to do with that.
SPEAKER_00: You know, like I don't want, I don't even want to smell it.
SPEAKER_00: You know, it's gonna make me make me sick to my stomach.
SPEAKER_00: And so many times that's maybe maybe that's where we need to evaluate ourselves this morning.
SPEAKER_00: Is if you're if you haven't developed this habit of of studying and applying the word of God, maybe it's because there's something off inside of you.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's because like there's there's something deeper that's that's wrong, there's an unconfessed sin, there's a struggle that you're going with, you're trying to just shoulder yourself.
SPEAKER_00: There's there's something going on.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's the fact that you haven't even turned to the Lord in the first place and received his gift of salvation.
SPEAKER_00: And maybe the response today is just by saying this out loud to somebody, hey, I'm sick and I need help.
SPEAKER_00: We've got people who are in the back who would love to love to pray with you if that's you.
SPEAKER_00: If you're just like, hey, there's something off here, and I don't even know where to start, I don't even know where to begin.
SPEAKER_00: Man, would you go and would you ask for prayer this morning?
SPEAKER_00: Because there's help to be found.
SPEAKER_00: There's help to be found no matter where you are.
SPEAKER_00: Here's our desire.
SPEAKER_00: Our desire, our vision, our hope for our church is that we would come to this realization that we need to grow.
SPEAKER_00: And this comes from studying and applying the word of God into every area of our lives.
SPEAKER_00: It's helpful for you, it's absolutely true, it's necessary for you to become the person that God has created you to become.
SPEAKER_00: Let's pray.
SPEAKER_00: God, we love you, and we're thankful for the gift that we have in your word.
SPEAKER_00: Thankful for the fact that you have chosen to reveal yourself in this way to us.
SPEAKER_00: We wouldn't take advantage of what's of what's available to us right now.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, I pray that we would engage in your word.
SPEAKER_00: Ultimately, Lord, so that we can we can get more of you.
SPEAKER_00: So we can come to know you more, come to understand you in a more personal and intimate way, and Lord, that that as a result, it would be your heart that is shining through our lives.
SPEAKER_00: Well, we pray that that as we as we come to your word, Lord, would you give us your spirit to help us to help us as we as we try to discern what you're trying to tell us, what you're trying to teach us, how you're trying to guide us.
SPEAKER_00: Would you give us perseverance?
SPEAKER_00: Would you give us a steadfastness, a faithfulness to your word?
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't just last for a week, but just lasts exponentially.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, it lasts for our lifetime, that as we continue to come to your word, we will continue to find you and as a result find joy in you.
SPEAKER_00: I want to pray right now that if anybody in this room right now just feels burdened by this responsibility.
SPEAKER_00: I want to pray that they would they would be freed from a burden and it wouldn't be a an I have to read the word, but it would be I I just a joy.
SPEAKER_00: I get to I get to commune with my Lord and Savior through his word as he reveals himself to me.
SPEAKER_00: Release us from from any any any bit of uh trying to earn favor with you by coming to your word.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, help us just to help us just to receive what you have freely given by continuing to come to your word and humble ourselves before you to receive the help that we need.
SPEAKER_00: We love you.
SPEAKER_00: I pray that this morning you would just continue to be glorified as we lift our voices to you.
SPEAKER_00: In your powerful name that we pray.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: Thanks again for listening to the Carterville Christian Church podcast.
SPEAKER_01: Our prayer is that today's message has encouraged you and drawn you closer to Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: To learn more or get connected with our church family, visit Carterville Christian.com.
SPEAKER_01: We'd love to walk alongside you in your journey of faith.