WEBVTT 00:00:01.520 --> 00:00:04.080 Welcome to the Awakening Church podcast. 00:00:04.240 --> 00:00:08.960 We pray this message encourages you and provides the hope and light of Jesus Christ. 00:00:09.199 --> 00:00:10.720 Thanks for tuning in. 00:00:12.800 --> 00:00:14.160 Good morning, Awakening. 00:00:14.240 --> 00:00:15.919 We're so glad you're here this morning. 00:00:16.079 --> 00:00:18.879 My name is Christina, and I'm one of our pastors here on staff. 00:00:18.960 --> 00:00:21.280 And y'all, I'm just so excited that I get to be with you today. 00:00:21.359 --> 00:00:29.839 I've got my fancy blazer going on this morning, and I'm so excited I get to bring the second week of our series, Eat This Book, to us today. 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:31.199 Chris spoke last week. 00:00:31.280 --> 00:00:32.479 It was fantastic. 00:00:32.640 --> 00:00:34.560 He talked about why the Bible is important. 00:00:34.719 --> 00:00:38.320 And if you haven't had a chance to watch it, I just highly encourage you to go back and watch it. 00:00:38.479 --> 00:00:39.679 It's really, really excellent. 00:00:39.920 --> 00:00:44.719 Today we're getting a little bit more specific, answering this question how do we feast? 00:00:44.880 --> 00:00:50.159 Like the how and the why of why we should be in the Word of God every single day. 00:00:50.399 --> 00:00:52.399 So, Church, I want to start with this. 00:00:52.640 --> 00:00:53.840 Eat this book. 00:00:54.079 --> 00:00:56.880 I gotta tell you, I love to eat. 00:00:57.119 --> 00:00:59.359 Like I like I really love to eat. 00:00:59.520 --> 00:01:04.560 It's it's my Enneagram type, it's my love language, it's my personality. 00:01:04.719 --> 00:01:06.640 It might even be like my spiritual gift. 00:01:06.799 --> 00:01:08.719 I absolutely love food. 00:01:08.799 --> 00:01:11.760 And I come from a long line of people that also love food. 00:01:11.920 --> 00:01:17.359 I have a brother, he and his wife are organic farmers, and they not only cook amazing food, but they grow it themselves. 00:01:17.519 --> 00:01:19.680 And another one of my brothers is a chef. 00:01:19.840 --> 00:01:27.840 I'm from a family that when we're together holidays, it's pretty common at one meal that we're discussing what we're gonna have at the next meal, right? 00:01:27.920 --> 00:01:29.280 I don't know if any of your families do that. 00:01:29.359 --> 00:01:30.879 We we just we really love food. 00:01:30.959 --> 00:01:35.359 If you're a friend of mine and you go on a trip, I do want to see your pictures, but I really want to hear about the food. 00:01:35.519 --> 00:01:38.480 Like, tell me about the sauce and really tell me about dessert. 00:01:38.640 --> 00:01:44.719 My camera roll and my phone is full of pictures of food and recipes, although I don't, I don't really like to cook. 00:01:44.959 --> 00:01:46.879 But food, it's a favorite of mine. 00:01:46.959 --> 00:01:52.319 And so I really love this series, and I especially love this verse that we're gonna read through just about the word of God. 00:01:52.480 --> 00:01:55.200 It says this in Jeremiah 15, 16. 00:01:55.359 --> 00:02:07.439 It says, Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by your name. 00:02:07.760 --> 00:02:08.960 I love this verse. 00:02:09.120 --> 00:02:13.120 I love the imagery, I love food, and I love the word of God. 00:02:13.199 --> 00:02:15.840 And so I love that pairing of the two of them together. 00:02:16.000 --> 00:02:20.879 And I think the way we view the word of God, it really depends on our experiences with the word of God. 00:02:20.960 --> 00:02:23.199 So I want to ask you this question just for starters. 00:02:23.439 --> 00:02:28.479 When you think about the Bible, when you think about the word of God, do you imagine this? 00:02:28.639 --> 00:02:33.199 This delight, this joy, this meal that you just like cannot wait to devour. 00:02:33.280 --> 00:02:38.159 It's so delicious that you have to lick the plate afterwards and hope no one sees you do it, right? 00:02:38.479 --> 00:02:47.039 Or when you think of the word of God, does it just feel a little bit more like the soggy broccoli that you had to eat when you were a kid because it was good for you, you know? 00:02:47.280 --> 00:02:54.080 And church, there's just no judgment on where you lie within that spectrum because we all kind of have a different experience with the word of God. 00:02:54.240 --> 00:02:58.319 But not only is it good for us, but it also sustains us. 00:02:58.479 --> 00:03:08.319 It says in Deuteronomy 8.3, man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. 00:03:08.560 --> 00:03:12.479 This first speaks to the massive significance of the Word of God. 00:03:12.639 --> 00:03:19.599 It is our delight, it is our joy, it is our bread, it is our survival for every single breath that we take. 00:03:19.840 --> 00:03:25.199 And as we survive and sustain in our physical bodies with food, right? 00:03:25.439 --> 00:03:31.039 We survive and sustain in our spiritual bodies with the nourishment from the word of God. 00:03:31.280 --> 00:03:37.039 The word of God is our joy, it's our delight, it's our bread, it's our sustenance, and it's also powerful. 00:03:37.280 --> 00:03:39.199 Check out this verse from Hebrews. 00:03:39.360 --> 00:03:47.599 It says this in Hebrews 4 12, for the word of God is alive and it is active, sharper than any double-edged sword. 00:03:47.680 --> 00:03:53.039 It penetrates even to dividing of soul and spirit, joints and marrow. 00:03:53.199 --> 00:03:57.360 It judges the thoughts and the attitudes of the heart. 00:03:57.599 --> 00:04:00.000 The word of God is alive and active. 00:04:00.159 --> 00:04:04.719 Y'all, taking this back to our food analogy for just a second, it's like the best yogurt, right? 00:04:04.800 --> 00:04:09.840 Like the live cultures in this food, it's better than like sauerkraut, kimchi, kombucha, all put together. 00:04:10.000 --> 00:04:11.759 It's alive and it's active. 00:04:11.919 --> 00:04:13.280 And it's so powerful. 00:04:13.360 --> 00:04:16.319 It divides between soul and spirit. 00:04:16.639 --> 00:04:19.600 Church, why is it that we need to be in the word every day? 00:04:19.920 --> 00:04:22.319 Why do we need to be in the word daily? 00:04:22.560 --> 00:04:26.879 Because the word of God is our spiritual nourishment. 00:04:27.199 --> 00:04:28.800 It's our spiritual nourishment. 00:04:28.879 --> 00:04:32.319 It feeds our hearts and our minds and our souls. 00:04:33.439 --> 00:04:37.279 Without physical nourishment, our bodies, we grow weak and we fail. 00:04:37.360 --> 00:04:39.680 And it's the same with our spiritual lives. 00:04:39.920 --> 00:04:46.399 Church, throughout all of history, throughout all of Christian history, the word of God has fed his people, right? 00:04:46.639 --> 00:04:48.879 Like Bibles have not always been available to people. 00:04:49.040 --> 00:05:01.199 In different times and cultures, maybe the word of God was passed down from generation to generation through stories and songs, when people couldn't read or write or hold their book, but the word of God has fed his people for generations. 00:05:01.600 --> 00:05:11.920 And now in our generation, when the Bible is so accessible to us and so easy to get into, we find that sometimes we're just not getting into it, right? 00:05:12.000 --> 00:05:15.839 Sometimes we just aren't in the book the way we want to be. 00:05:16.000 --> 00:05:24.319 But church, when we are being fed, when we are in the words of God and we are well nourished, this is when we're allowing God to speak to us. 00:05:24.480 --> 00:05:32.319 When we're allowing our hearts and minds and souls to be transformed by the power of his spirit, we want to be in the word. 00:05:32.639 --> 00:05:35.920 Last week, Chris shared with us this pyramid slide that I want to show with you guys again. 00:05:36.000 --> 00:05:37.839 Um, and this is from Brett McCracken. 00:05:37.920 --> 00:05:40.319 He's writing a book all about this, but this is like the wisdom pyramid. 00:05:40.399 --> 00:05:43.600 So taken, kind of like the food pyramid, but with wisdom. 00:05:43.759 --> 00:05:45.439 What we should be putting into us, right? 00:05:45.519 --> 00:05:53.920 You see the Bible at the bottom, the church, nature and beauty, books, internet, and then we have we have a little bit of social media, a little tweets, a little bit of the other stuff on top. 00:05:54.160 --> 00:05:58.000 Friends, last week Chris was telling us the great significance of this. 00:05:58.160 --> 00:06:01.199 And this week I'm gonna dive a little further into this by saying this. 00:06:01.439 --> 00:06:02.959 We are eating something. 00:06:03.120 --> 00:06:04.319 We're eating a lot. 00:06:04.480 --> 00:06:05.120 Am I right? 00:06:05.279 --> 00:06:08.639 There is a lot that we are taking in every week. 00:06:08.800 --> 00:06:22.800 And everything that we consume, we read, we watch, we listen to, everything we allow to rile up our hearts and our spirits, the things that we repeat over and over in our minds, all of that shapes our spiritual nutrition. 00:06:23.040 --> 00:06:28.160 Some of us were very well nourished, and some of us are dealing with a little bit of malnutrition. 00:06:28.240 --> 00:06:33.519 So here's what I want us to do is just to take a little minute to think through some of those things and see where we think we fall on the scale. 00:06:33.680 --> 00:06:35.120 This is a no-judgment zone, people. 00:06:35.199 --> 00:06:37.759 So I'm no way throwing stones at you or anything. 00:06:37.839 --> 00:06:39.279 I just want you to be aware of where you are. 00:06:39.360 --> 00:06:40.399 So here, let's start with this. 00:06:40.560 --> 00:06:43.040 Signs of spiritual nourishment, okay? 00:06:43.199 --> 00:06:46.240 These aren't that different than physical nourishment. 00:06:46.480 --> 00:06:47.199 But here's the first one. 00:06:47.279 --> 00:06:48.720 The first one is growth, right? 00:06:48.879 --> 00:06:50.240 The first one is growth. 00:06:50.399 --> 00:06:54.560 As we're in the word, as we're reading the word, our heart shifts towards God. 00:06:54.639 --> 00:06:55.439 It shifts towards him. 00:06:55.600 --> 00:06:58.399 Our values and our passions and our lives shift towards them. 00:06:58.480 --> 00:07:00.639 Like a newborn baby, for those of you who have had babies. 00:07:00.800 --> 00:07:01.600 I didn't realize this. 00:07:01.680 --> 00:07:03.120 Y'all, they grow so fast. 00:07:03.279 --> 00:07:06.160 When you give babies milk, they ground, they gain ounces. 00:07:06.240 --> 00:07:10.879 Like I, my children were huge, but they ground pounds like so quickly, they grow. 00:07:11.120 --> 00:07:12.160 Same with us in the word. 00:07:12.399 --> 00:07:13.439 The second is health. 00:07:13.600 --> 00:07:17.120 When we're in the word of God, we become spiritually healthy. 00:07:17.360 --> 00:07:18.160 We thrive. 00:07:18.319 --> 00:07:21.279 We grow in our awareness of like the sin in our lives. 00:07:21.519 --> 00:07:23.920 We grow in the quickness of confessing our sin. 00:07:24.079 --> 00:07:26.399 As we grow with Jesus, we're healthy. 00:07:26.560 --> 00:07:30.319 We we use our time and our energy and our money in healthy ways. 00:07:30.560 --> 00:07:36.160 We're living this abundant and beautiful life that God created for us because we're reading all about it in his book. 00:07:36.319 --> 00:07:39.759 Okay, so we're growing and we're healthy, and then we have strength. 00:07:39.920 --> 00:07:42.639 We have spiritual strength from the Lord. 00:07:42.879 --> 00:07:46.800 It's an energy and endurance that comes from his word. 00:07:47.040 --> 00:07:52.639 It's our foundation being Christ, and our power and strength coming from the truth of God's word. 00:07:53.120 --> 00:07:58.319 What this looks like is, you know, scriptures popping into our minds when we're dealing with hardships, right? 00:07:58.480 --> 00:08:04.800 It's it's when life gets really crummy and things are hard, and the first thing we turn to is it's the word of God or it's prayer. 00:08:04.879 --> 00:08:05.120 Right? 00:08:05.199 --> 00:08:07.199 That is a spiritual strength. 00:08:07.360 --> 00:08:09.920 And because of all these things, then we crave more. 00:08:10.079 --> 00:08:15.199 As we're growing, as we're feeling like we're thriving, then we crave more of the good stuff. 00:08:15.360 --> 00:08:18.399 In 1 Peter 2, 2 through 3, Peter says this. 00:08:18.560 --> 00:08:19.519 He's commanding people. 00:08:19.680 --> 00:08:29.519 He says, like newborn babies, just like those newborn babies, church, crave pure spiritual milk so that by it you may grow up in your salvation. 00:08:29.759 --> 00:08:34.720 Now that you have tasted that the Lord is good, the more we taste that the Lord is good, the more we want of the Lord. 00:08:34.879 --> 00:08:36.240 That is spiritual nourishment. 00:08:36.320 --> 00:08:37.840 That's what it looks like to be nourished. 00:08:38.000 --> 00:08:39.039 Let's look at the opposite. 00:08:39.279 --> 00:08:41.840 What does it look like to be malnourished in our faith? 00:08:41.919 --> 00:08:45.279 And this is when we're not spending the time in God's word. 00:08:45.600 --> 00:08:47.679 We're not making the effort or the time to be in it. 00:08:47.759 --> 00:08:49.679 The first one is it's stagnation, right? 00:08:49.759 --> 00:08:51.039 It's the opposite of the growth. 00:08:51.200 --> 00:08:52.080 We're stunted. 00:08:52.240 --> 00:08:53.759 We don't actually grow. 00:08:54.559 --> 00:08:56.399 Our faith kind of has like a limit. 00:08:56.559 --> 00:08:59.360 And it's not because of the Lord, it's because we're limiting the Lord. 00:08:59.519 --> 00:09:02.799 We're limiting how he can grow us and teach us and develop us. 00:09:03.039 --> 00:09:04.720 We're not growing into his image. 00:09:04.960 --> 00:09:12.320 We don't get to experience the extent of his love and his care and his conviction and his wisdom because we're not listening. 00:09:12.559 --> 00:09:13.840 So we grow stagnant. 00:09:14.080 --> 00:09:15.840 Second, we start to get sick. 00:09:16.000 --> 00:09:18.240 We can actually get spiritually sick. 00:09:18.320 --> 00:09:22.080 And the symptoms of that is that our lives don't look like Jesus anymore. 00:09:22.320 --> 00:09:27.039 We don't smell like Jesus, we don't taste like Jesus, we don't sound like Jesus, we don't act like Jesus. 00:09:27.200 --> 00:09:29.600 When people look at us, they don't say, Wow, that's Jesus. 00:09:29.840 --> 00:09:34.080 We get sick and our lives stop emanating the love and the law of Jesus. 00:09:34.159 --> 00:09:36.399 And then because of that, we don't walk in freedom. 00:09:36.559 --> 00:09:39.759 We don't walk in that abundant freedom because we become sick. 00:09:39.919 --> 00:09:41.440 And then we get really weak. 00:09:41.679 --> 00:09:42.960 We get spiritually weak. 00:09:43.120 --> 00:09:46.480 We don't have the strength from the Word of God to sustain us. 00:09:46.720 --> 00:09:48.480 And we know that life is hard. 00:09:48.720 --> 00:09:53.200 And when we don't have that with us, it's like we're ignoring this tool and this life raft. 00:09:53.279 --> 00:09:58.399 It's like we have an anchor or a manual or a playbook and we're just totally disregarding that. 00:09:58.559 --> 00:10:01.039 And so because of that, life gets crummy. 00:10:01.200 --> 00:10:02.879 And then, friends, you know what happens? 00:10:03.120 --> 00:10:05.759 We stop craving the good spiritual milk. 00:10:05.840 --> 00:10:07.759 And we start craving just anything. 00:10:07.919 --> 00:10:10.559 We just crave anything to fill our bellies on this. 00:10:10.720 --> 00:10:12.799 We don't crave the good and nourishing food. 00:10:12.879 --> 00:10:14.799 We don't crave the goodness of God. 00:10:15.360 --> 00:10:21.200 It makes me think of um, and this is so sad, but I think of little kids in developing countries, right? 00:10:21.519 --> 00:10:24.159 Where they're starving, they're dealing with malnourishment. 00:10:24.240 --> 00:10:28.159 And I'm sure you've seen these pictures of little kids sitting in the dirt just eating mud. 00:10:28.399 --> 00:10:32.639 Just eating dirt or mud just to fill their bellies, to take away the hunger pains. 00:10:32.799 --> 00:10:34.000 Friends, I think we do that. 00:10:34.159 --> 00:10:38.399 When we're not filling it up with good spiritual stuff, that's when our pyramid gets all out of whack. 00:10:38.480 --> 00:10:40.960 And we just take in anything that we can. 00:10:42.080 --> 00:10:47.039 So we have spiritual nutrition, spiritual malnutrition. 00:10:47.200 --> 00:10:48.879 And here's what I think is interesting. 00:10:49.039 --> 00:10:50.320 We all know what we need. 00:10:50.399 --> 00:10:54.559 And I've yet to meet a follower of Christ who says, like, I just don't really want to thrive. 00:10:54.720 --> 00:10:56.320 I just, I don't really want my faith to grow, right? 00:10:56.399 --> 00:10:57.200 I just don't really want to. 00:10:57.360 --> 00:10:58.799 That's not the hearts we have. 00:10:58.960 --> 00:11:00.559 And yet sometimes we find it hard. 00:11:00.720 --> 00:11:06.159 Now, church, I know some of you, you're in your Bible, you have a routine, you have a schedule, you have something. 00:11:06.240 --> 00:11:09.200 Maybe you've lived a long life with Jesus, and this is not an issue for you. 00:11:09.360 --> 00:11:15.679 But for I think a lot of people in our church, this isn't necessarily a pattern or an area of their faith where they're like, I've got this. 00:11:15.919 --> 00:11:16.559 So why? 00:11:16.799 --> 00:11:18.159 Why is it so hard for us? 00:11:18.320 --> 00:11:22.240 I want to kind of talk through just a couple reasons of why I think this can be hard for us. 00:11:22.399 --> 00:11:28.480 Putting a name to a couple things, maybe it will kind of help you, and then we'll talk afterwards about like, well, then how do we do it? 00:11:28.720 --> 00:11:31.600 All right, so why might it feel so hard to be in the Bible? 00:11:31.759 --> 00:11:35.200 And church, the very first reason is because you have an enemy. 00:11:35.440 --> 00:11:39.120 You have an enemy, and I have an enemy, and he wants to keep us away from God. 00:11:39.360 --> 00:11:43.039 He wants to keep us away from the word of God because he knows how powerful it is. 00:11:43.200 --> 00:11:46.799 And he will stop at nothing to keep us away from God. 00:11:46.960 --> 00:11:58.080 He will cause confusion, he will cause chaos, he will cause our lives to be busy and loud and noisy, he'll put any obstacle he can in our way to keep us from the Lord and to keep us from his word. 00:11:58.559 --> 00:12:02.159 Now I know that can sound a little bit defeating, but we will not be defeated by that. 00:12:02.320 --> 00:12:03.840 We will just be aware of that. 00:12:04.000 --> 00:12:04.879 We'll just be wise. 00:12:04.960 --> 00:12:08.000 We'll just know that that's a truth, and then we're gonna combat that. 00:12:08.159 --> 00:12:10.480 I wanna share this verse with you guys from Ephesians 6. 00:12:10.559 --> 00:12:11.840 This is 14 through 17. 00:12:11.919 --> 00:12:12.639 It's gonna be here. 00:12:12.799 --> 00:12:13.840 This is the armor of God. 00:12:14.000 --> 00:12:17.440 You might know this, you might not, but this is a powerhouse verse. 00:12:17.600 --> 00:12:30.639 It says this stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 00:12:30.960 --> 00:12:31.600 Do you love that? 00:12:31.679 --> 00:12:33.600 The foundation is peace, you guys. 00:12:33.840 --> 00:12:36.720 In addition to all of this, you're gonna take up a shield, right? 00:12:36.879 --> 00:12:42.960 Visualize your shield, and with it, you're gonna extinguish the arrows, the flaming arrows that are coming at you from the enemy. 00:12:43.200 --> 00:12:49.919 Take the helmet of salvation, pop that on your head to protect it, and then you take the sword of the spirit. 00:12:50.159 --> 00:12:51.200 The sword of the spirit. 00:12:51.360 --> 00:12:53.759 My boys are obsessed with swords and all sorts of weapons right now. 00:12:53.919 --> 00:12:55.039 I got a great visual on this one. 00:12:55.120 --> 00:12:59.120 You take out your sword of the spirit, which is the word of God. 00:12:59.759 --> 00:13:02.559 Church, everything that that verse describes is defensive. 00:13:03.039 --> 00:13:04.240 To block, right? 00:13:04.480 --> 00:13:08.159 The only thing that is the offense is the weapon, is the word of God. 00:13:08.320 --> 00:13:13.919 The word of God is the tool that we use in partnership with the spirit to combat the evil one. 00:13:14.159 --> 00:13:16.080 This is so, so powerful. 00:13:16.320 --> 00:13:17.519 So, first we have an enemy. 00:13:17.600 --> 00:13:19.519 We acknowledged him, we know how to fight against him. 00:13:19.919 --> 00:13:22.879 Next, church, maybe it's hard because maybe you're out of shape. 00:13:23.039 --> 00:13:24.639 Maybe you're just out of spiritual shape. 00:13:24.799 --> 00:13:27.440 Let's be really honest, our bodies, physical bodies get out of shape. 00:13:27.600 --> 00:13:30.080 We can also get out of shape with our spiritual lives. 00:13:30.159 --> 00:13:36.320 Like maybe the muscles that it uses to sit, read the Bible, and reflect on it, our muscles, they're lethargic. 00:13:36.399 --> 00:13:39.120 Or maybe we've never even had those muscles and we don't know how to use them. 00:13:39.279 --> 00:13:39.919 No problem. 00:13:40.159 --> 00:13:41.279 Everyone has to do this, right? 00:13:41.360 --> 00:13:42.559 Athletes, they gotta train. 00:13:42.720 --> 00:13:44.720 Amazing musicians, they have to practice. 00:13:44.879 --> 00:13:48.080 Writers, they have to write draft after draft after draft after draft. 00:13:48.240 --> 00:13:51.039 We will not be discouraged by it being hard, right? 00:13:51.200 --> 00:13:52.879 We will learn how to do it. 00:13:53.120 --> 00:13:57.120 Third, it might be hard because you just need help getting started. 00:13:57.279 --> 00:13:58.559 You just need some help, right? 00:13:58.639 --> 00:14:00.480 The questions of like, well, what Bible do I get? 00:14:00.639 --> 00:14:02.799 Like, I looked up Bible on Amazon, there's so many. 00:14:02.960 --> 00:14:04.320 What Bible do I get? 00:14:04.480 --> 00:14:05.360 Like, how? 00:14:05.519 --> 00:14:06.320 How do I read it? 00:14:06.399 --> 00:14:09.120 And where do I start and how much am I supposed to do? 00:14:09.279 --> 00:14:10.879 And it can feel really confusing. 00:14:11.120 --> 00:14:15.919 Church, we are here for you, and we have two things I want to tell you about that will help you with this. 00:14:16.159 --> 00:14:18.080 The first is our school of faith, okay? 00:14:18.240 --> 00:14:21.919 We have a school of faith class that is called What is the Bible? 00:14:22.080 --> 00:14:22.960 It is three weeks. 00:14:23.039 --> 00:14:29.279 It's led by Chris and I, one of our pastors, some other of our amazing staff, and it's three weeks teaching you history of the Bible. 00:14:29.440 --> 00:14:30.159 How do you read it? 00:14:30.240 --> 00:14:31.279 How do you know it's valid? 00:14:31.440 --> 00:14:34.480 All those really important questions that I can't totally get into right now. 00:14:34.639 --> 00:14:36.320 We want to invite you to join us on Zoom for that. 00:14:36.480 --> 00:14:38.879 All the information is on our website, it's gonna be awesome. 00:14:39.120 --> 00:14:44.240 And then, second, maybe you maybe you know all of that, you just need a little help getting into the word. 00:14:44.480 --> 00:14:46.960 We're gonna do a Bible reading plan together as a church. 00:14:47.120 --> 00:14:52.240 Starting tomorrow, February 1st, we are reading through the book of Acts and some supporting gospels as well. 00:14:52.399 --> 00:14:55.759 And the Bible reading plan, Burger's already told us about it in announcements. 00:14:56.000 --> 00:14:57.039 It is on our website. 00:14:57.120 --> 00:14:58.879 It is going out tomorrow morning in an email. 00:14:59.039 --> 00:15:02.879 Print it out, pop it in your Bible, take a picture of it, do whatever you have to do. 00:15:03.039 --> 00:15:05.919 But there's two ways that we wanna help you get into the Word. 00:15:06.159 --> 00:15:09.840 Maybe another obstacle is that you have kind of the wrong expectations. 00:15:10.080 --> 00:15:10.399 Okay? 00:15:10.799 --> 00:15:11.679 Hear me on this. 00:15:11.840 --> 00:15:15.759 But maybe you have the wrong expectations of what it looks like to be in the Bible. 00:15:15.840 --> 00:15:23.360 And I wanna say this: not every meal we have in our lives is memorable, but every meal we have in our lives is nourishing, right? 00:15:23.600 --> 00:15:25.440 Physical meal, same as spiritual meal. 00:15:25.519 --> 00:15:30.399 So for instance, the crock pot chicken that I fed my family on Monday, and you're welcome. 00:15:30.559 --> 00:15:34.240 They did not love it, it was not memorable, it filled their bellies, right? 00:15:34.559 --> 00:15:36.159 Same with the word of God. 00:15:36.399 --> 00:15:38.559 Now, my best meal of my life. 00:15:38.720 --> 00:15:44.639 I I love food, so this is hard, but the first thing that pops to my mind is this meal in Paris. 00:15:44.879 --> 00:15:51.200 I know, I know I sound so bougie, but we visited family in Greece a couple years ago, and we got to stop in Paris on a little layover. 00:15:51.360 --> 00:15:53.279 We went to the Eiffel Tower one day. 00:15:53.440 --> 00:15:55.279 There's a massive heat wave in Paris. 00:15:55.360 --> 00:15:56.399 It was so hot. 00:15:56.559 --> 00:16:01.519 I don't want to say there was a lot of disorganization at the Eiffel Tower, but let's just say there was. 00:16:01.679 --> 00:16:07.679 We waited in line for hours with our prepaid tickets and security and this and that, and finally we got to the top, and it was amazing. 00:16:07.840 --> 00:16:14.080 And we were dripping in sweat and we were out of water and we were so hungry, and we realized the line to get back down would be hours long. 00:16:14.240 --> 00:16:15.600 So we walked the stairs. 00:16:15.759 --> 00:16:17.200 It was absolutely fantastic. 00:16:17.279 --> 00:16:20.320 And then we get to the level where there's the restaurant, I look at my children, okay? 00:16:20.639 --> 00:16:24.080 Five, eight, and ten, total troopers, we're all just dripping. 00:16:24.240 --> 00:16:24.960 We're just a mess. 00:16:25.039 --> 00:16:27.279 And I say, Steve, let me just look at the menu at the restaurant. 00:16:27.360 --> 00:16:28.159 I'm sure it's too expensive. 00:16:28.320 --> 00:16:29.519 You know, let me just look. 00:16:29.759 --> 00:16:31.840 The lunch prices, they were doable. 00:16:32.000 --> 00:16:34.639 So, y'all, best meal of my life, maybe. 00:16:35.039 --> 00:16:37.200 Sitting in the restaurant in the Eiffel Tower. 00:16:37.279 --> 00:16:39.200 You guys, I remember how cold the water was. 00:16:39.360 --> 00:16:44.000 I remember the taste of the butter on the bread and the truffle raviolis I had and the chocolate. 00:16:44.559 --> 00:16:45.519 It was phenomenal, right? 00:16:45.679 --> 00:16:47.200 Okay, so memorable. 00:16:47.679 --> 00:16:50.320 In the same way, reading the Bible every day. 00:16:50.399 --> 00:16:56.159 I don't remember what I read every day, but you know, I have memories of times in my life when I sat in the Word and the Lord showed up. 00:16:56.559 --> 00:17:02.080 When I was 15 and I felt like the world was ending, life was hard and it was struggling. 00:17:02.320 --> 00:17:08.319 I remember crying, crying out to the Lord and the Word of God encouraging me and me hearing from the Lord. 00:17:08.960 --> 00:17:10.240 So here's what we need to do. 00:17:10.319 --> 00:17:13.039 We need to make sure our expectations are in line. 00:17:13.359 --> 00:17:16.319 The word's not not gonna feel like fireworks every time we read. 00:17:16.559 --> 00:17:17.119 It's okay. 00:17:17.359 --> 00:17:18.400 We still eat every day. 00:17:18.559 --> 00:17:21.920 We eat our breakfast every day, we get up, and we do life. 00:17:22.160 --> 00:17:24.240 Same with the word of God. 00:17:25.839 --> 00:17:29.920 There's another reason why it might be hard, and it might actually be because we're doing it wrong. 00:17:30.480 --> 00:17:33.519 I know that sounds a little mean, but let's call it what it is. 00:17:33.680 --> 00:17:35.039 We might actually be doing it wrong. 00:17:35.200 --> 00:17:36.960 Isaiah 55, 10 through 11. 00:17:37.119 --> 00:17:37.680 I love this. 00:17:37.920 --> 00:17:44.559 It's an analogy of like rain and snow falling from heaven and nourishing the earth, and comparing that to the word of God. 00:17:44.640 --> 00:17:50.480 And the word, God says, so is my word, like the rain is that grows up the flower, so is my word that goes out from my mouth. 00:17:50.640 --> 00:17:58.240 It will not return to me empty, but it will accomplish what I desire, and it will achieve the purpose for which I sent it. 00:17:58.480 --> 00:18:02.720 So we know there's nothing wrong with the word, but sometimes we don't quite receive it right, right? 00:18:02.880 --> 00:18:09.119 And this is what I'm gonna say, friends, you can buy the most expensive steak, but if you don't cook it right, it's not gonna taste good. 00:18:09.279 --> 00:18:10.160 Do you know what I'm saying? 00:18:10.240 --> 00:18:12.799 So let's figure out the best way to consume the word. 00:18:13.039 --> 00:18:15.440 Here's some ways that we're not, we're we really shouldn't. 00:18:15.519 --> 00:18:17.279 Here's what it could look like to be doing it wrong. 00:18:17.440 --> 00:18:19.440 Okay, the first one is reading it like a textbook. 00:18:19.599 --> 00:18:20.799 I don't know if y'all have ever done this. 00:18:20.880 --> 00:18:22.079 I remember this in college. 00:18:22.240 --> 00:18:24.400 Reading a whole chapter, getting to the end. 00:18:24.480 --> 00:18:26.240 I know I read every word, I have no clue. 00:18:26.400 --> 00:18:27.279 No clue what I just read. 00:18:27.359 --> 00:18:28.720 Okay, we don't want to read the Bible that way. 00:18:28.880 --> 00:18:31.039 Also, we don't want to read it like an inspirational quote. 00:18:31.119 --> 00:18:36.160 It's not just like a little feel good moment for the day, glance at a pretty little picture with a verse on it. 00:18:36.240 --> 00:18:36.960 Oh, that's nice. 00:18:37.279 --> 00:18:38.000 Met the quota. 00:18:38.079 --> 00:18:39.519 Not quite, not quite enough. 00:18:39.759 --> 00:18:44.000 And a third, we um we don't want to have it just be something on our to-do list. 00:18:44.240 --> 00:18:44.640 You know? 00:18:44.799 --> 00:18:50.559 We don't want it just to be something that we go check, check on our list and it's done, and we've got it. 00:18:50.799 --> 00:18:53.759 That's not what engaging with the word of Jesus is. 00:18:54.559 --> 00:18:58.880 We also we don't want to ever do the Bible drop. 00:18:59.039 --> 00:19:00.160 Have you seen the Bible drop? 00:19:00.400 --> 00:19:02.319 The Bible drop is when you go like this. 00:19:02.960 --> 00:19:06.160 And wherever it lands, oh, that must be what I'm supposed to read. 00:19:06.240 --> 00:19:07.519 And then we just read it. 00:19:08.079 --> 00:19:12.160 I mean, I know we want this to be like this mythical, magical book. 00:19:12.400 --> 00:19:16.000 But church, that's not how it was intended to be, to be read, right? 00:19:16.319 --> 00:19:18.799 It is a book made up of so many books inside of it. 00:19:18.880 --> 00:19:25.359 It has history and genealogy, it has psalms and poetry and proverbs and the words of Jesus. 00:19:25.519 --> 00:19:39.680 And in the same way that we wouldn't just like walk into a library, not that we can walk into a library, but when we can walk into a library, you don't just walk in and pluck a book and just read anything, a couple a couple verses or a couple words and hope that it makes sense. 00:19:39.920 --> 00:19:42.720 The word of God is not meant to be read that way. 00:19:43.359 --> 00:19:47.759 Also, church, you don't want to read the Bible according to someone else's plan. 00:19:48.160 --> 00:19:48.559 You know? 00:19:48.720 --> 00:19:51.039 You don't want to read it according to someone else's plan. 00:19:51.279 --> 00:19:52.480 Let me explain this to you. 00:19:52.640 --> 00:19:57.359 We all eat differently, but we all need to eat. 00:19:57.599 --> 00:19:58.640 Does that make sense? 00:19:59.359 --> 00:20:01.680 When I wake up in the morning, I just want my coffee. 00:20:01.839 --> 00:20:03.119 Don't I even want to look at food. 00:20:03.200 --> 00:20:04.640 It doesn't even smell good to me. 00:20:04.799 --> 00:20:08.000 But come 10 o'clock, I just really want some fried eggs. 00:20:08.240 --> 00:20:08.880 I want three. 00:20:08.960 --> 00:20:09.839 It's what I have every day. 00:20:09.920 --> 00:20:11.039 Three fried eggs, I love it. 00:20:11.119 --> 00:20:12.000 It makes me feel good. 00:20:12.160 --> 00:20:13.119 It's so nourishing. 00:20:13.279 --> 00:20:14.720 That's my breakfast routine. 00:20:14.880 --> 00:20:16.480 Some of you, you might be up at five. 00:20:16.640 --> 00:20:20.079 You might need your oatmeal and your yogurt and your fruit by 5 30 to feel good. 00:20:20.240 --> 00:20:20.480 Right? 00:20:20.559 --> 00:20:21.599 We eat differently. 00:20:21.759 --> 00:20:26.880 Some of us, we wouldn't imagine having dinner if we didn't sit down at the table and have a cloth napkin. 00:20:26.960 --> 00:20:30.960 And some of us cannot think of the last time that we sat down at a table for a meal. 00:20:31.039 --> 00:20:33.279 We don't we just, it's just not how we do it, right? 00:20:33.440 --> 00:20:36.079 Some of us are like, three meals a day, that's what I do. 00:20:36.240 --> 00:20:38.160 And some of us are like, I just like to snack. 00:20:38.319 --> 00:20:40.799 I just kind of like to have a little bit here or there. 00:20:41.359 --> 00:20:45.440 We all eat differently, but we all need food. 00:20:45.680 --> 00:20:47.279 It is the same with the word of God. 00:20:47.440 --> 00:20:53.039 So if you are trying to ingest the word of God according to someone else's plan, it's not gonna feel right. 00:20:53.119 --> 00:20:55.599 It's gonna be like me having a ham omelette at 5 a.m. 00:20:55.839 --> 00:20:56.799 It does, it's not right. 00:20:56.880 --> 00:20:58.240 It just doesn't work for me. 00:20:58.400 --> 00:21:00.079 So so what does this look like? 00:21:00.240 --> 00:21:05.279 Um, you have to figure out when are you the most awake, the most alive, the most alert? 00:21:05.440 --> 00:21:07.119 When do you have energy to invest? 00:21:07.359 --> 00:21:09.279 And then how do you process, right? 00:21:09.599 --> 00:21:10.799 Some people love to read. 00:21:10.880 --> 00:21:13.599 They can sit and read for hours the word of God. 00:21:13.759 --> 00:21:16.720 Some people are just not readers, and I'm not dissing you. 00:21:16.880 --> 00:21:18.960 You just five or ten minutes, and that's all you've got. 00:21:19.200 --> 00:21:19.920 So find a way. 00:21:20.000 --> 00:21:21.839 Let me listen then to the word of God too. 00:21:22.000 --> 00:21:23.440 Let me, you know, figure out what it is. 00:21:23.519 --> 00:21:25.519 Some of us love to journal, some of us don't. 00:21:25.839 --> 00:21:36.000 You have to cater your walk with Jesus and cater your time in the word to when it's best for you, when you can show up and when you can receive. 00:21:36.880 --> 00:21:45.440 Your time in the word looks different based on who you are, how you were wired, the life stage you are in, right? 00:21:45.599 --> 00:21:47.680 For instance, we have families in our church with tiny kids. 00:21:47.839 --> 00:21:49.039 You guys don't might not know this. 00:21:49.119 --> 00:21:54.000 We've had 16 babies during COVID, either born or about ready to be born. 00:21:54.160 --> 00:21:55.920 We have a lot of tired people, right? 00:21:56.319 --> 00:21:59.759 If you're in that season of life, you're exhausted day and night, it's hard. 00:22:00.480 --> 00:22:01.200 To find time in the word. 00:22:01.359 --> 00:22:03.759 I have a sweet girlfriend who has like a million children. 00:22:03.839 --> 00:22:13.279 And I remember her saying that the way she received the word when her kids were just tiny and she was exhausted was that when she would go to a mama's group and other people talked about the word, she would receive it that way. 00:22:13.440 --> 00:22:14.000 That works. 00:22:14.160 --> 00:22:14.559 That works. 00:22:14.640 --> 00:22:15.599 There are seasons of life. 00:22:15.680 --> 00:22:17.440 Maybe you're working the night shift. 00:22:17.519 --> 00:22:19.039 And it just it's trickier. 00:22:19.279 --> 00:22:24.400 Maybe you're dealing with some physical health concerns or maybe some mental illness problems that are exhausting you. 00:22:24.559 --> 00:22:26.960 Your life season affects the way you're in the word. 00:22:27.200 --> 00:22:29.359 And Church, so here's what I'm gonna ask you to do. 00:22:29.599 --> 00:22:31.839 Instead of saying as an excuse, I just can't. 00:22:31.920 --> 00:22:33.039 I just can't right now. 00:22:33.200 --> 00:22:36.960 The question is, then how am I ingesting the word? 00:22:37.279 --> 00:22:37.680 Right? 00:22:37.839 --> 00:22:40.559 Because when we get busy, we don't stop eating food. 00:22:41.119 --> 00:22:43.200 We just do it in a way that works different. 00:22:43.519 --> 00:22:45.359 I'm working the night shift, I'm exhausted. 00:22:45.440 --> 00:22:45.839 I get it. 00:22:45.920 --> 00:22:47.279 So how are you ingesting the word? 00:22:47.599 --> 00:22:49.279 Can you listen to a sermon? 00:22:50.319 --> 00:22:52.799 Can you what can you do that works for you? 00:22:55.279 --> 00:22:56.720 Does it have to be the morning? 00:22:57.279 --> 00:22:58.000 The famous question. 00:22:58.079 --> 00:23:02.799 I always have felt like real spiritual people, like the real spiritual people, they get up and they read in the morning. 00:23:02.880 --> 00:23:03.680 You know what I'm saying? 00:23:03.839 --> 00:23:04.960 And Psalms talked about this. 00:23:05.039 --> 00:23:06.720 The Bible talks about this in a few different places. 00:23:06.880 --> 00:23:11.039 Like Psalm 119 says, I rise before the dawn and I cry for help. 00:23:11.279 --> 00:23:13.279 I have put my hope in your word. 00:23:13.519 --> 00:23:15.680 So here's the thing about mornings, friends. 00:23:16.000 --> 00:23:18.720 Our mornings set a tone for our day, right? 00:23:19.279 --> 00:23:24.240 I am not gonna be one that does deep Bible study in the morning because my brain is not alert in the morning. 00:23:24.480 --> 00:23:26.400 It's not my time to study. 00:23:26.799 --> 00:23:36.160 But to start the day with a verse or two before you see and get bombarded with the stuff of your day, it's an awesome way to set your hearts and minds on things above, right? 00:23:36.240 --> 00:23:37.759 From our 21 days of prayer. 00:23:37.920 --> 00:23:39.680 It's a wonderful way to start your day. 00:23:39.759 --> 00:23:46.480 Just like the food you eat first thing in the morning nourishes your body, what you put into your mind spiritually also nourishes you. 00:23:46.799 --> 00:23:53.839 Friends, another reason why it might be hard to get in the word is because life's really hard. 00:23:54.079 --> 00:23:56.319 And right now, life is really hard. 00:23:56.559 --> 00:24:06.079 And one thing we've been hearing as a staff, we, you know, we chat about how people in our church are doing and always keeping in anonymous and honoring and respecting people, but we're just hearing this trend. 00:24:06.240 --> 00:24:07.680 People are saying, I'm exhausted. 00:24:07.759 --> 00:24:10.559 I'm just so worn out, I'm feeling so discouraged. 00:24:10.720 --> 00:24:15.599 And it feels like almost too much to even just pray or to just get into the word. 00:24:15.839 --> 00:24:17.759 It just feels overwhelming to me. 00:24:17.839 --> 00:24:19.759 And here's what I want to say, church. 00:24:20.000 --> 00:24:22.160 It's okay to not be okay, right? 00:24:22.319 --> 00:24:26.400 Ryan said it a couple weeks ago in his message, and it was so powerful to be reminded. 00:24:26.559 --> 00:24:29.680 It's okay to not be okay, but don't do it alone, right? 00:24:29.839 --> 00:24:33.119 This is the time that you need to lean into community. 00:24:33.440 --> 00:24:36.640 Borrow from the community the strength that you need. 00:24:36.880 --> 00:24:40.160 Bearing each other's burdens is what God has told us to do. 00:24:40.319 --> 00:24:41.599 And I love this analogy. 00:24:41.680 --> 00:24:46.640 Actually, Roland, our youth director, gave this to me yesterday, but he said, the word of God, maybe it's like a family meal. 00:24:46.799 --> 00:24:58.079 And sometimes you cook the food, and sometimes you set the table, and sometimes you serve the food, and sometimes you need someone to like carry you and place you at the table and put the fork in your mouth, right? 00:24:58.160 --> 00:24:59.440 That's just how it is. 00:24:59.599 --> 00:25:02.319 So we want to lean into the power of our community. 00:25:02.559 --> 00:25:05.519 Felicia's gonna get into this a little bit more next week, church. 00:25:05.680 --> 00:25:09.759 So those are some of the ways that why we're not in the word, some of the things that are hard. 00:25:09.839 --> 00:25:10.720 Here's what we wanna do now. 00:25:10.799 --> 00:25:18.480 We want to shift to what we can be doing within the season of life we're in, within all of the things, how can we be in the word of God? 00:25:18.559 --> 00:25:20.880 And you guys, I wanna go to Psalm 119 for this. 00:25:21.200 --> 00:25:25.440 Psalm 119 was written by Ezra, who was a priest. 00:25:25.599 --> 00:25:29.359 It is the longest psalm in the whole book of Psalms. 00:25:29.680 --> 00:25:33.200 It's also the longest chapter in the whole Bible. 00:25:33.359 --> 00:25:37.279 And the focus of Psalm 119, it's all about the Word of God. 00:25:37.440 --> 00:25:40.400 Almost every single verse talks about the Word of God. 00:25:40.559 --> 00:25:45.759 Psalm 119 is it's divided into 22 different sections, you guys, and I just think this is so cool. 00:25:45.920 --> 00:25:54.240 But each section has a corresponding letter in the Hebrew alphabet, and then the first verse of that section also starts with that same letter of the alphabet. 00:25:54.319 --> 00:26:07.839 I mean, Ezra took so much time to create a beautiful psalm that people would recite and read to each other and memorize it, and I think this is a perfect place for us to go as we look at how do we get into the word? 00:26:08.079 --> 00:26:10.640 Like, how do we know more about the word of God? 00:26:10.799 --> 00:26:14.319 So we're gonna start with Psalm 119, 9. 00:26:14.880 --> 00:26:20.400 How can a young man keep his way pure by living according to your word? 00:26:20.880 --> 00:26:23.359 I seek you with all my heart. 00:26:23.599 --> 00:26:26.319 Do not let me stray from your commands. 00:26:26.480 --> 00:26:33.200 Friends, the first way that we can learn from Psalm 119 to engage with the word of God is that we pray the word of God. 00:26:33.440 --> 00:26:34.559 We pray the word of God. 00:26:34.720 --> 00:26:36.240 I love this, this cry of Ezra. 00:26:36.400 --> 00:26:38.079 He's saying, Lord, I seek you. 00:26:38.319 --> 00:26:39.920 I seek you with all of my heart. 00:26:40.000 --> 00:26:41.279 This is his prayer to him. 00:26:41.599 --> 00:26:43.440 Do not let me stray from your command. 00:26:43.519 --> 00:26:45.119 Can you just hear him pouring that out to the Lord? 00:26:45.279 --> 00:26:53.759 Lord, don't let me stray from you, fully seeking and searching and begging the Lord to keep his hands on him and to guide him on his path. 00:26:54.000 --> 00:26:56.319 From the depths of our hearts, we pray. 00:26:56.640 --> 00:26:59.200 Prayers come from the deepest part of us. 00:26:59.440 --> 00:27:02.240 And sometimes those deepest parts, we don't even have words. 00:27:02.400 --> 00:27:03.599 We don't even have words. 00:27:03.759 --> 00:27:04.960 The Bible has the words. 00:27:05.039 --> 00:27:15.920 The Psalms is full of beautiful prayers of lament, of grief, of even anger towards the Lord, and the beautiful Psalms of rejoicing and gratitude and thankfulness. 00:27:16.160 --> 00:27:20.000 Friends, sometimes we just pray the word of God. 00:27:20.319 --> 00:27:24.960 I say our prayer life and our word life are so interconnected and they're so beautiful. 00:27:25.119 --> 00:27:30.240 The second way that we engage with the word of God is to study the scripture. 00:27:30.400 --> 00:27:37.440 He goes on in verse 11 and 12 and he says this, I have hidden your words in my heart that I might not sin against you. 00:27:37.759 --> 00:27:39.680 Praise be to you, Lord. 00:27:40.000 --> 00:27:41.680 Teach me your decrees. 00:27:41.839 --> 00:27:42.319 I love this. 00:27:42.400 --> 00:27:44.160 I've hidden your word in my heart. 00:27:44.319 --> 00:27:46.720 Friends, he knows the word so well. 00:27:47.359 --> 00:27:53.440 He's put it in his mind, he's ingested it, it's in transformed his heart, it's hidden in his heart. 00:27:53.599 --> 00:27:56.319 So he will not fall away from Jesus. 00:27:56.480 --> 00:27:58.319 And then he says, Praise be to you, Lord. 00:27:58.400 --> 00:28:00.319 And he says, Teach me your decrees. 00:28:00.480 --> 00:28:04.480 This attitude, this heart of teachability, this desire to know the Lord. 00:28:04.640 --> 00:28:09.839 Because, church, to fully understand a digestive scripture, we need to study it. 00:28:10.079 --> 00:28:15.839 To know it so well that it can be hidden in our heart and to have the same posture of Ezra of like, Lord, just teach me. 00:28:16.000 --> 00:28:17.759 I want to follow after you. 00:28:18.240 --> 00:28:22.880 Sometimes to study the word, we might need some additional tools or we might need to learn how to study the word. 00:28:23.119 --> 00:28:26.240 This is one of the things that the School of Faith class will be amazing for. 00:28:26.480 --> 00:28:30.720 But one thing I love for studying the word, friends, this is my study Bible. 00:28:30.960 --> 00:28:34.400 And if you don't have a study Bible, I just really encourage you to look into getting one. 00:28:34.480 --> 00:28:37.519 Whether it's NIV or ESV, I use the Life application. 00:28:37.599 --> 00:28:38.640 I've had this one for years. 00:28:38.720 --> 00:28:41.440 But here's what's different about a study Bible over other Bibles. 00:28:41.920 --> 00:28:46.720 The bottom part of it has notes that correspond with your verses. 00:28:46.880 --> 00:28:50.160 So as I read this verse, and I'm like, well, what is he saying? 00:28:50.319 --> 00:28:51.119 What does that mean? 00:28:51.279 --> 00:28:54.319 The note on the bottom, it's gonna give you some historical context. 00:28:54.480 --> 00:28:56.559 It's gonna help understand some of the language. 00:28:56.720 --> 00:29:02.400 It might even throw you to another place in the Bible, like a cross-reference to help you understand. 00:29:02.559 --> 00:29:10.640 Like maybe it's it's some a prophecy that's being fulfilled from the Old Testament, or maybe it's the same story that actually was told in another book, and you can understand more. 00:29:10.880 --> 00:29:15.839 If you want to study the Bible, sometimes you need to get the right tools for it. 00:29:16.079 --> 00:29:22.720 You know, one thing that we do here often, and you if you've been around, you've heard this before, you also get this in the class, but one way to study the Bible is the soap method. 00:29:22.799 --> 00:29:27.920 I don't know if you've heard of this, I'm gonna throw it up here really quickly, but before I study the Word of God, you guys, I always pray first. 00:29:28.079 --> 00:29:31.599 I always just say, Lord, I'm coming before you. 00:29:31.680 --> 00:29:34.160 Please help me have knowledge and insight, please. 00:29:34.319 --> 00:29:36.000 And then soap is this scripture. 00:29:36.160 --> 00:29:39.759 You read it, you reread it, maybe you read it a third time, then you observe it. 00:29:39.920 --> 00:29:42.559 The who, what, where, why, what is this genre I'm reading? 00:29:42.640 --> 00:29:45.759 Am I reading poetry or am I reading instructions on how to live life? 00:29:45.839 --> 00:29:46.720 It's very important. 00:29:46.960 --> 00:29:52.000 And then the application process, when you ask yourself, what is this telling me to do? 00:29:52.240 --> 00:29:53.920 What is this telling me about God? 00:29:54.079 --> 00:29:56.799 How do I apply this directly to me? 00:29:57.119 --> 00:29:59.839 And I want to just spend a second on this because application is so important. 00:29:59.920 --> 00:30:02.559 Because, church, we don't want to read and then turn and forget, right? 00:30:02.720 --> 00:30:04.880 We want the word of God to transform our lives. 00:30:05.119 --> 00:30:09.759 I know I said earlier that if you're not a journaler, you have like, okay, don't you don't have to worry about journaling, right? 00:30:09.839 --> 00:30:10.640 Some people love it. 00:30:10.799 --> 00:30:17.839 But here's what I do think there needs to be a process by which we study and we apply, and then we remember what we apply. 00:30:17.920 --> 00:30:20.160 For some people it's journaling, for other people it's other things. 00:30:20.240 --> 00:30:29.759 But here's my question for you is when you need to remember something in life, like to get shampoo at Target, to pay a bill, to walk the dog, I don't know, what do you do to remember it? 00:30:29.920 --> 00:30:31.119 Do you pop it in your planner? 00:30:31.279 --> 00:30:32.640 Do you set a notification on your phone? 00:30:32.880 --> 00:30:34.079 Do you put it into your calendar? 00:30:34.160 --> 00:30:34.799 Like what do you do? 00:30:34.880 --> 00:30:36.559 Do you write it on a post-it note? 00:30:36.799 --> 00:30:41.359 Whatever it is that you do, church, I encourage you to do that with the word of God. 00:30:41.519 --> 00:30:52.079 If it's posting stuff visibly in your house, if it's putting it in your phone, use your applications from scripture to transform your life so you don't just walk away and forget what you've done. 00:30:52.160 --> 00:30:53.359 And then last is prayer. 00:30:53.440 --> 00:30:56.880 And this is when you just say, Lord, please, please cement this in my heart. 00:30:56.960 --> 00:30:57.519 Please help me. 00:30:57.599 --> 00:30:59.440 Maybe you've read something that's just so challenging. 00:30:59.519 --> 00:31:02.079 And you're like, Lord, there's just, there's no way I can do this. 00:31:02.400 --> 00:31:04.079 Prayer is your time that you're like, Lord, help me. 00:31:04.240 --> 00:31:04.559 Help me. 00:31:04.640 --> 00:31:05.440 I don't know how to do this. 00:31:05.599 --> 00:31:08.480 This is also where you say, Lord, maybe I'm, I don't understand what I've read. 00:31:08.640 --> 00:31:10.160 Taking it back to the Lord. 00:31:10.319 --> 00:31:14.799 So we pray the word, we study the word, and the next we memorize the word. 00:31:14.960 --> 00:31:16.240 This is verses 13 and 14. 00:31:16.319 --> 00:31:21.119 And Ezra says, With my lips I recount all the laws that come from my mouth. 00:31:21.279 --> 00:31:26.559 I rejoice in following your statutes as one rejoices in great riches. 00:31:26.720 --> 00:31:28.079 With my lips I recount. 00:31:28.240 --> 00:31:29.039 I know these things. 00:31:29.200 --> 00:31:31.279 I know it so well because I've memorized it. 00:31:31.440 --> 00:31:40.640 A line that Ryan has said so much through the years that I have like ground into my head is this meditation is for transformation, whereas memorization is for preparation. 00:31:40.960 --> 00:31:45.119 We memorize scripture to prepare for life because life happens. 00:31:45.279 --> 00:31:46.160 Am I right? 00:31:46.400 --> 00:31:50.400 There are a few verses from my childhood that I memorize that just pop in my head right away. 00:31:50.640 --> 00:31:58.720 Like uh Philippians 4, 6 through 7, do not be anxious for anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your request to God. 00:31:58.799 --> 00:32:03.519 And the peace of God that transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 00:32:03.680 --> 00:32:06.400 Friends, I've returned to that over and over and over and over. 00:32:06.559 --> 00:32:08.880 Romans 8, 38 and 39, right? 00:32:09.200 --> 00:32:23.759 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, no height, nor depth, nor anything else created will be able to separate me from the love of Christ, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. 00:32:24.000 --> 00:32:26.960 Friends, I think I was 11 when I memorized both of those verses. 00:32:27.119 --> 00:32:31.039 They are just in me, and I return to them because I've memorized them. 00:32:31.279 --> 00:32:32.480 I hope the same for you. 00:32:32.559 --> 00:32:35.119 Our staff memorizes verses, our protest memorize verses. 00:32:35.200 --> 00:32:38.240 It's something that we do because it helps prepare us for life. 00:32:38.480 --> 00:32:40.240 Next is meditation. 00:32:40.400 --> 00:32:47.680 In verse 15, Ezra says, I meditate on your precepts and I consider your ways. 00:32:47.920 --> 00:32:48.640 I meditate. 00:32:49.200 --> 00:32:54.880 Spiritual meditation when it comes to the Bible is a little different than maybe what you've heard in meditation in other places. 00:32:55.200 --> 00:32:58.160 In other places, I've heard meditation, it's more, it's like freeing your mind. 00:32:58.240 --> 00:33:01.519 It's having an empty mind and sitting in that beautiful emptiness, right? 00:33:01.680 --> 00:33:05.519 But when we meditate on the word of God, it's actually filling our minds. 00:33:05.680 --> 00:33:11.759 It's reading a passage or something and chewing on it and chewing on it and praying on it. 00:33:12.000 --> 00:33:13.359 That's the meditation. 00:33:13.440 --> 00:33:17.200 And meditation is for transformation, right? 00:33:17.519 --> 00:33:29.200 As we sit in a passage for a long time, kind of like our reset when we did our 21 days of prayer in January as a church, we sat in this passage for a whole month and we looked at it from this way and that way, and we prayed it and we applied it. 00:33:29.359 --> 00:33:33.200 That's meditating on the scripture to get it deep into you. 00:33:33.519 --> 00:33:38.960 And then lastly, church, we pray it, we study it, we memorize it, we meditate on it. 00:33:39.039 --> 00:33:40.480 And last is we preach it. 00:33:40.559 --> 00:33:45.119 And in verse 16, Ezra says, I delight in your decrees. 00:33:45.440 --> 00:33:47.599 I will not neglect your word. 00:33:47.759 --> 00:33:49.359 There's three ways we preach scripture. 00:33:49.519 --> 00:33:51.440 The first is we sit underneath the preaching. 00:33:51.599 --> 00:33:54.240 We sit underneath the preaching and the teaching of scripture. 00:33:54.480 --> 00:33:57.279 And this is not just anyone that has something to say about something, right? 00:33:57.359 --> 00:34:01.599 These are people that are trusted people in our lives that we believe are teaching the truth of God. 00:34:01.759 --> 00:34:02.880 And we sit under that. 00:34:03.039 --> 00:34:09.760 That could be sermons, that can be podcasts, that can be other people, their take on scripture that we listen to, right? 00:34:09.920 --> 00:34:11.679 But that's not enough, right? 00:34:11.840 --> 00:34:13.119 We don't just eat once a week. 00:34:13.199 --> 00:34:16.159 We don't just eat Sunday morning and then, like, okay, we'll just be hungry all week, right? 00:34:16.239 --> 00:34:16.480 Nope. 00:34:16.639 --> 00:34:18.239 We got to get into it to ourselves. 00:34:18.400 --> 00:34:21.039 Church, we preach the word to ourselves. 00:34:21.199 --> 00:34:23.119 We preach the scripture to ourselves. 00:34:23.280 --> 00:34:27.840 We read the word and then we speak it into our hearts and our minds throughout the day. 00:34:28.000 --> 00:34:32.000 Today, the word that just kept coming back to me was I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. 00:34:32.159 --> 00:34:37.440 It was a day that felt rough, and I kept just being like, nope, Christina, no, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. 00:34:37.519 --> 00:34:38.880 Lord Jesus, please be with me. 00:34:39.039 --> 00:34:41.599 You preach the word to yourself until you believe it. 00:34:41.760 --> 00:34:45.599 And then last friends, we preach the scripture with our lives. 00:34:45.840 --> 00:34:47.599 We preach scripture with our lives. 00:34:47.760 --> 00:34:54.800 Our understanding and our digestion of the word affects how we live and it affects what our lives look like. 00:34:55.039 --> 00:34:58.480 Our lives become a beautiful sermon for the Lord when we are in the word. 00:34:58.639 --> 00:35:01.599 And I I love when he says, I will not neglect your word. 00:35:01.920 --> 00:35:04.480 He's saying, I won't forget what I've read, I will do it. 00:35:04.559 --> 00:35:09.360 And my life is going to preach the good news of God because of that. 00:35:10.480 --> 00:35:12.719 Church, that's just a few ways to pray. 00:35:12.960 --> 00:35:18.639 Pray the scripture, study the scripture, memorize and meditate and preach the scripture. 00:35:18.960 --> 00:35:22.719 Church, I recognize that the season we're in right now feels rough for a lot of people. 00:35:22.880 --> 00:35:25.039 There's a lot of hope in 2021. 00:35:25.360 --> 00:35:28.239 There's still a lot of people that are hurting and that are suffering. 00:35:28.320 --> 00:35:32.639 And you know, as as a staff, we sat, a few of us to brainstorm this series. 00:35:32.800 --> 00:35:34.880 Like, what does our church need right now? 00:35:35.039 --> 00:35:38.320 And what we just keep coming back to is we we need the word of God. 00:35:38.559 --> 00:35:40.320 We need our people to be in the word. 00:35:40.639 --> 00:35:43.119 We need people to be developing their relationship by Jesus. 00:35:43.199 --> 00:35:44.719 We need people to hear truth. 00:35:44.880 --> 00:35:46.159 There's so much noise. 00:35:46.239 --> 00:35:47.519 We need to hear truth. 00:35:47.840 --> 00:35:49.599 So I want to leave you with this verse. 00:35:50.159 --> 00:35:59.760 When life feels confusing, when it feels dark, when we feel like we're grieving and hitting obstacles just at every corner, I leave you with this verse. 00:35:59.840 --> 00:36:01.840 This is Psalm 119, 105. 00:36:02.239 --> 00:36:09.199 And it says this your word is a lamp for my feet and a light to my path. 00:36:10.159 --> 00:36:12.800 Your word is a lamp for my feet. 00:36:13.039 --> 00:36:17.840 So that as I'm going through life, I'm not stumbling and tripping and falling flat on my face. 00:36:18.159 --> 00:36:26.079 It's a light to my path, the word of God lighting up our pathway so that we can see which way to go. 00:36:26.639 --> 00:36:29.840 Proverbs 3, 5, and 6 tells us, trust in the Lord with all your heart. 00:36:30.320 --> 00:36:32.000 Lean not on your own understanding. 00:36:32.079 --> 00:36:36.400 In all your ways, acknowledge him, and he will direct your path. 00:36:36.719 --> 00:36:50.480 Friends, if you're needing direction, if you're needing hope, if you're needing light, if the world is feeling dark and confusing and noisy, may I suggest the word of God daily in your life. 00:36:51.039 --> 00:36:52.159 Please pray with me. 00:36:53.199 --> 00:37:00.880 Lord Jesus, it is my prayer for my brothers and sisters in our church that we are a people of the word. 00:37:01.760 --> 00:37:04.960 Lord God, would you put inside each of us a hunger? 00:37:05.920 --> 00:37:07.360 A hunger for your word. 00:37:13.360 --> 00:37:19.519 That no dirt, that no mud, that no anything else other than you would satisfy. 00:37:19.920 --> 00:37:24.639 And God, will you make us a people that eagerly search after you? 00:37:24.960 --> 00:37:26.480 Thank you, Jesus. 00:37:27.360 --> 00:37:29.760 We hope you are blessed by this message. 00:37:30.000 --> 00:37:34.960 Please subscribe to our podcast for access to every episode as they're uploaded. 00:37:35.199 --> 00:37:37.440 And hey, we'd love to connect with you. 00:37:37.679 --> 00:37:43.599 Take a next step by filling out our virtual connection card at awakeningchurch.comslash card.