Church 101: How To Read The Bible And Have Devotions

[Music] I'm sitting in church so of course I've got my church clothes on which raises the question what exactly are church clothes anyway we're starting a new series this week at Kings Clift and it's kind of a simple one we're gonna be asking some simple questions some basic questions and so the series is titled church 101 we'll be looking at questions like how do you study the Bible how do you worship how do you listen to a sermon and yes even how to attend church maybe you've been attending church your whole life or maybe you're new to this whole church thing whichever it is I'm sure that as we take a look from a biblical perspective at what church is and what church isn't that you'll be blessed and challenged thanks so much for joining us this week at kingscliff [Music] father in heaven we are mindful of the fact that we have already been richly blessed you have already ministered to us through the beautiful Father's Day video and the songs and that amazing cello piece father where would we be in life without the sound of the cello father surely the cello is itself a sign of your goodness and if your creativity Lord the sound of this instrument just moves us in our innermost souls father we are thrilled about the new Sabbath school classes that are starting and now as we open scripture at the end of the day that's what Sabbath school is about at the end of the day that's what coming here is about it's about connecting with you father as we open Scripture particularly as we prepare to begin a new series we just pray that your spirit will be in this room and in the hearts of the people that are in this room father it has been a thrill for us to see young people participating in the service today in the music and in the prayer and father now as we open scripture we ask that you would open us up that we might better understand you that we might better understand ourselves and that we might better understand the world around us thank you father for having heard the sprayer be with us now we ask in Jesus name let everyone say Amen excellent all right well I'm really excited about this new series that we're going to be starting today and the series is gonna be a four-part series at least that's the tentative plan it could expand into five or six parts but for the time being it's gonna be a four part series and the title of the series is Church 101 right we've just finished a series in the not-too-distant past the beautiful believable basics Thank You Carolyn god bless you for moving the front the beautiful believable basics which was sort of a theological look at at the basics of the Christian faith and we then went into our Eden everyday series and I thought you know as I was thinking about this new series and I I frankly am super excited about a series we're gonna do on marriage a little bit later in the year and we're also gonna probably do a series on the nature of suffering before the year is out I'm really looking forward to wrestling with some of those thorny issues of the goodness of God in the face of suffering but in the meantime it just sort of dawned on me particularly as in some ways the church is in a bit of a transition that we need people people like Darnell who was just up here a moment ago to say you know you can't do nothing you can't do nothing and it dawned on me that there might be some people here who have been going to church wrong for most of their church-going life they don't know how to go to church and so I'm gonna give you a four-part series on how to be a good church member right and the first they're all gonna be very practical the first is going to be titled how to read the Bible and have devotions how to read the Bible it's gonna be absolutely great the whole series I've sort of broken it down into these four parts and these are at least the four that we'll do we might add one or two later but this is what we're gonna be doing over the course of the next four weeks today how to read the Bible and have devotions next week we're gonna have an interesting sermon titled how to attend church how do attend church how many of you have been attending church for most of your life you might find out next week that you've been doing it wrong for a long time we're actually going to have a sermon on how to attend church because there is a significant number of us that come to church we're doing it all wrong we're doing it all wrong we're gonna then have a series or a sermon titled how to worship which I'm really looking forward to and then finally and I think this will be a particularly exciting one how to listen to a sermon right you might know how to listen to how many of you don't know how to listen to a sermon and so this is gonna be a super practical series you might look at that and think man is Pastor a straight trying to insult our intelligence no I'm not insulting it I'm just affirming it I'm just a from affirming your intelligence and we're gonna we're gonna take a swing at any residual ignorance that might be there I'd like to introduce you to a bit of a categorization that I've been playing around with in my own mind that I'm really excited about and I hope you can get excited about I hope will in some way help you to better understand who you are and where you are and sort of where you find yourself in the local church in this local Kings Cliff Church or if you're watching online or on on television your own local situation and your own local church and one of the things that you sort of discover when you get into pastoral ministry and I've not been in pastoral ministry for very long I pastored a church for seven years prior to coming here and then now I've pastored here for about five years and so I've only got a 10 to 12 years experience and I think I'm doing a serviceable job but there are some things that you learn really quickly when you come into a situation like a local church where everybody's basically a volunteer right in the other ministries that I've worked with I've worked like it light bearers and and everybody there you know was paid to be there and they were employees and you had jobs and there were expectations associated with those jobs but there's a bit of a culture shock of transition when you go into a local church and people are there voluntarily they already have day jobs whether they're a builder or a teacher or a nurse or whatever it is and so you're trying to accomplish things you're trying to carry out tasks and the church is getting behind these things but because you're dealing with a volunteer work force you can't leverage the hey you're paid to do this and if you don't do it there will be some punishment you have to rally you have to try to gain support and get people excited about something and one of the things I've noticed is that it's helpful to sort of help people assess themselves where they are in their own relationship to the local church and of course that as an extension of their relationship to Jesus which is what this whole church 101 series is going to be about how do we do Church right not just service ibly not just manageably but how are how are we doing Church and how can we do Church better and I want you to sort of turn the mirror of introspection in the mirror of self reflection on to yourself here for just a few moments in fact the whole series actually not just for a few moments but but for this few moments where I want to walk you through a a bit of a rubric a bit of a categorization and a continuum that I've been developing and I hope you'll find it helpful I want to talk to you about people that attend a local church whether this one or any local church whose faith is in crisis okay these are people who might attend church they might even wear the right clothes they may even return tithe but in terms of their actual faith connection to God there is almost no faith connection there's very little time in Scripture there's very little time in fellowship there's virtually no time in ministry they might be attending church and everything might look okay from the outside there might be the sort of veneer of Christianity but but you know in your soul that there's in fact a crisis there a crisis of faith whether you're too busy or you've wound your way into some addiction that didn't foresee it whatever it might be if you had to self diagnosed with honesty and with transparency and integrity you would say you know my faith right now my journey is in crisis there may have been a time in the past where you were super on fire and and you couldn't be stopped and you're excited and you had evangelistic fervor but if you sort of turned the mirror of reflection and introspection on yourself right now you would self-identify this isn't the pastor suggesting diagnostically what you are I'm asking you to think about yourself and some people in here would say you know my faith is in crisis for a variety of reasons we'll talk about what some of those reasons might be there are others that come to church sort of a step up from crisis who you might categorize your faith experience and as an extension of that your experience with the local church as casual right not in crisis it's not like you're on the emergency room table you know so to speak and your faith is you know slowly dwindling away you know prisoner to some addiction or some struggle that you have but your casual thought you come to church maybe not super regularly you don't really come to Sabbath school your casual you show up at the right times and you know you see people and you agreed and and even in your own personal relationship with Jesus you find time for Scripture and for prayer and for ministry when it's convenient right it is a priority but it's it's not it's not at the top of the priority list right you would identify if you met somebody on a plane or in a grocery store and you got to talking about these things you would identify as a Christian you would identify as a follower of Jesus but but your face would probably best be characterized at this point in time is casual right you have a casual association with Jesus very likely a casual association with the local church as well moving up from crisis and casual getting better as we go sort of up the continuum is what we might call committed a person who's committed is somebody who is committed to Jesus and committed to the local church they're there they're in a relationship with Jesus they are regularly opening the Bible they are regularly spending time in prayer they're even taking opportunities as those opportunities present themselves to witness to minister to be involved in service projects like the one we have coming up next Sunday these are people that are committed they're committed to Jesus they're committed to the local church they're committed to scripture very likely though not in every case they were raised Christians there are generational Christians they come to church they're committed to a local church because their parents were committed to a local church and maybe even their parents parents were committed to a local church these are the kinds of people you really want to see in your local church of course you want to see everybody whether you're in crisis or you're casual you're committed you want people coming we want sinners coming to the feet of Jesus but these are the people that really make a local church they're the lion's share of the rank and file of what make up a local church but there is a step there is a place even above and beyond merely committed and that is contributor somebody who is a contributor does not have their faith in crisis they are not a mere casual associate a a mere casual association with Jesus or with the local church and they're not just committed they're not just somebody that in some sort of ethereal or even practical sense is committed now there are tangible actual measurables in a local church and in terms of a larger sense of kingdom building they see themselves as contributing to the kingdom as contributing to a local church and they insofar as it's possible they're doing what they can and they would like to do more now I don't know how you self diagnosis here but I want you to just take a moment here of introspection of sort of personal self diagnosis and assess where you are right now not where you have been in the past not the fact that you might be a generational Christian or or whatever it might be where are you today would you if a moment of total transparency and honesty not before pastor astrick but before the Holy Spirit where are you at in your faith journey are you in fact in a bit of a crisis right now or would you characterize your association with the local church and with Jesus as casual when it's convenient yeah it is a priority don't get me wrong it isn't right but it's not the priority and it certainly isn't the top priority or maybe you're committed maybe you're somebody who says you know what no I'm committed but but right now I just don't have a lot of time for the local church or to do much kingdom building well the goal of myself and of Pastor Joel and the others here that are in leadership whether in full-time leadership or in the eldership team to try and move people along that continuum if we meet somebody who's at a crisis in their faith we say hey look how can we move you from crisis to something more consistent right past casual and into committed I'm gonna draw a line up here and that line is I think an important line and I want to sort of say something here that I think it's gonna be very important for you to hear and that is the idea that above the line is where we want everybody right we want people that are committed and people that are contributors but I recognize as anybody would that's been in a local church situation that life has its seasons and life has its cycles right we we go into periods where we are more available and we have more time or or then there's a pregnancy or then there's a financial setback or you have to work more hours and you have to pull back a little bit from a local situation a local church or from your kingdom building but you're still committed so in that sort of seasonal urban flow of life there have been times in the past where you've been very involved I could point to people in this church that have been significantly involved in leadership positions in this local church but right now you're at a season where you're still committed but you're sort of we want to get everybody above the line the goal is to get everybody above the line if you're a local member now next week or the week after we'll talk about visitors visitors come in different shapes and sizes as well we're not talking here about visitors we're talking about members people that identify as members of a local church or members of a local community and as followers of Jesus how do we as a pastoral staff and how does we as a local congregation get people past crisis past merely casual and into committed and then how do we get people from committed to contributor well I think there's a lot of answers to that question and one of the things I'm going to try and do over the course of this series is give a very practical assessment of how to do some of the most basic things in church how do worship right you think well everybody knows how to worship this morning in Sabbath school I asked some of our young people I was teaching the Sabbath school class because salmonella is unwell today and I said did your parents teach you how to pray or is it just something you kind of picked up right do you teach your children how to pray did your did your parents I asked them did your parents teach you how to pray were you taught how to worship or did you just sort of pick it up and if you just sort of picked it up there's a problem if you went into a church that wasn't doing worship right it wasn't doing Church right and he just sort of picked up worship and he just sort of picked up the culture you might have you might have caught the flu you might have picked it up wrong so what we're gonna try and do over the course of this series is take a look at what scripture says how to read the Bible how to attend a local church how to worship and even how to listen to a sermon because even though you might have been doing it for many years or perhaps your whole life it's possible that you could have been doing so wrong and so today we're gonna talk about how to read the Bible something that's right at the heart it's just so utterly foundational it's just such a central part an inexorable part of the Christian experience of course is the Bible right the Bible and we know that that's not a surprise to anybody here nobody's at what the Bible ID no no it's the Bible but what role does the Bible play in your personal journey and I'll just kind of put some of my cards right out on the table here and say that if at some level you are not regularly and in a committed fashion spending time in Scripture it's gonna be very difficult for you to be a committed or a contributing member of a local church right you might actually be in a local church you might be attending this local church but if you're not connected to God through Scripture with some modicum of regularity your faith is in crisis you might not self diagnose as your faith in crisis but in fact your faith is in crisis and I want to try to do something today to sort of help you to get your mind wrapped around how to read the Bible a book that for many of us we're never really taught how to read it our parents didn't really sit us down and say you know this is the direction of the Bible this is the trajectory of the Bible this is the purpose of the Bible we just sort of picked it up and in some cases we've probably picked it up well and in other cases we may have picked up some pathologies and we think just having the Bible in the house or bringing the Bible to church or just owning a Bible is some kind of a lucky charm that that's passable several years ago I read a book by a guy named ferry dune Batman gelik an Iranian doctors fascinating book I read it probably almost 20 years ago and the book is titled you're not sick you're thirsty you're not sick you're thirsty and and the subtitle of this one is water for health healing and life but the title of the book that I read was titled you're not sick you're thirsty your body's many cries for water now in the book is anyone here read the book by the way it's a fascinating book okay you've read it's great I loved the book I don't know what your experience was Judith I loved it you know it okay I read the book is amazing and basically what this Iranian born doctor doctor batt Mandela says is is that you actually are dehydrated he goes through a number of statistics amazing it goes through a number of statistics identifying how much water we should be taking in and all of the sort of pathologies that develop from just the simple fact of not being sufficiently hydrated in fact in the book doctor Batman Gellert says we have made the mistake of assuming that because water is so freely available and costs nothing the body cannot probably fall short of water I believe that most physical pains are signals that the body needs rehydrating and that we ignore these signals at our own peril I loved the book for a variety of reasons first of all it was right in harmony with my own desire and passion to live a healthful life one of my favorite things about it was that there could be these really simple solutions to seemingly complicated problems that I've put that up here in front of you seemingly complicated problems can have right in front of you really simple solutions I just love even the title of the book hey you're not sick you're thirsty your body's many cries for water and I was thinking about this series in terms of what it means to be a local church member and what it means to read the Bible and and I guess at the bottommost level what it means to be a follower of Jesus I suppose that that many of us are manifesting what we might regard is complicated spiritual problems like oh I'm depressed or oh I have anxiety or oh I have an addiction or oh I'm stressed out or alright whatever it might be and I'm not suggesting by the way that these are not legitimate and actual diagnoses that people can have of course but I'm going to suggest here this morning that we need God just like we need water right that you were made to need God that there is there is a an essential part of the human being that requires a spiritual component and just some general you know sort of out there airy-fairy spiritual component but you need a connection with the Living God of Scripture that made you and that created you we were created to be connected in the same way as dr. bat Mandela describes in the book you are made up of water some 90 plus percentage percent of your body is water right and so it stands to reason that you're gonna need to have a lot of water intake and that's gonna help you in all of these various physiological capacities well similarly you are not made to be a consumer you were made to be a connector and I want to talk about that next week the difference between coming to church is a consumer and coming to church as a connector and as a contributor you weren't made to be primarily a consumer and you were not made primarily to be an observer you are made to connect to connect vertically with God and to connect horizontally with those around you and so maybe there's some sense in which it looks like this you're not stressed you're disconnected you're not anxious you're disconnected you're not addicted you're disconnected now again I don't want to deny that there are actual legitimate pathologies and and diagnoses that people can fall into I'm not suggesting that but in some cases I'm suggesting here that Batman gal d's basic thesis has a spiritual component as well that these complex and difficult and seemingly insurmountable obstacles that we sometimes find ourselves up against actually have really simple solutions drink more water em I mean what I'm gonna maintain today is that for many of us it is that we are lacking a basic connection with God in Scripture we don't know how to read the Bible because we don't know how to read the Bible we are intimidated by it we're put off by it and so we we leave it to the experts we leave it to the pastor Asterix and the others and those that write the books cuz I mean the Bible is too big it's too cup I'm gonna do my best today to disabuse your mind of that idea and to try and make the Bible feel more accessible and more essential to your life I'm going to start with a passage right out of Hebrews chapter 4 verse 12 one of my favorites Hebrews chapter 4 verse 12 where the author of Hebrews says for the word of God is living and powerful what are those two words they're the Word of God is what living which is a strange thing to say about a word the Word of God is living and powerful sharper than any two-edged sword piercing even to the division of soul and spirit and of the joints and Mauro that's the author's way of saying the whole person the whole body the word is powerful it it can like a surgeon's scalpel cut right into the to the life of the believer and not just into the physical life but notice is a discerner of the thoughts and in the intents of the heart that the Word of God has some living element that that the Bible in some sense is alive it's powerfully alive and it can discern it can assess the thoughts and the intents the motivations and the attitudes of the heart notice the same verse in the New Living Translation for the word of God is alive and powerful it is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword cutting between soul and spirit between joint and marrow it exposes our innermost thoughts and desires well I think it's a safe thing to say that most of us would not want our innermost thoughts and desires put on display to ourselves or to anybody else so already just out of the gate the Bible is a little off-putting the Bible is a little scary the Bible is something that you just can't come to casually it's not sitting down I was I was watching a youtube video yesterday in an advertisement came up for I think it's NAB Bank and a person was saying oh I love video games cuz when I turn on the video game I just tune out and I just don't think I think a lot of people are looking for those opportunities to tune out in their life they watch a television program so they can tune out they'd watch sports so they can tune out they watch a movie so they can tune out they play video games so they can tune out and all I can think to myself is its life so short that you want to tune out as part of it right his life is our years and life and held such a such an on precious commodity that you just want to check out I'm not so sure I'm not so sure that that's a good idea and Scripture is not the kind of thing you can just casually associate with because scripture will put the finger of God right on the pulse of your life on the pulse of your finances on the pulse of your on the pulse of your relationships it's a scary book it's a scary book not because the story is scarier not because it's not filled with great good news of course it is but but when you read a book that's alive and powerful because it's not just words on a page what we're gonna see here is that the Holy Spirit works through these words and the Holy Spirit in his inimitable wonderful way puts his finger on your situation the thoughts the intent and the attitudes of your heart and that's scary that's a little scary and and so I suppose at times if we're given the choice to tune out and watch a movie or to open up Scripture it's easier to watch a movie write a movie is less threatening a movie doesn't put the it doesn't give God a point of access right into your innermost soul like a surgeon's scalpel reading the Bible is less about being a scholar and more about presenting yourself to God and I want to talk about that some of you are intimidated by Scripture but I'm going to tell you today it's unnecessary you do not need to be intimidated by Scripture because you do not need to be a scholar to understand Scripture there is power in the Word of God living energizing saving power in the same way that there is hydrating and health giving power in water and in the absence of water a number of pathologies develop in your body you get ulcers at all kinds of you know creaky knees and creaky elbows and a series of pathologies develop if you're under hydrated a series of spiritual emotional relational psychological familial pathologies develop if you are not connected to the source of life which is God oh there's anything man I've I'm angry I'm gossiping I'm looking at pornographic websites I'm spending my money in ways it is probably irresponsible you think that's my problem that's not your problem man that's not your problem your problem is actually a lack of a vital connection with Jesus a regular committed connection with Jesus there's power in fact several years ago I read this book called education by one of the founders of the seventh-day Adventist Church Ellen White and in that in that book I read this paragraph that's actually almost unbelievable it's just astonishing this notion this idea but it stands the test of Scripture it holds up to scriptural scrutiny no this the creative energy that called the worlds into existence is in the Word of God just let that sink into your mind well what the very power that said let there be light and there was light and let the dry land come forth and let the waters be gathered together in a heap that power that cosmic power that power is found in the Word of God that power is found right here it's a power that we were designed to be connected to to be connected to God by the Spirit through Scripture this word imparts power it brings life to continue with the analogy in the same way that water brings life and disconnecting yourself from water becoming severely dehydrated is an exercise in in futility and in fatality every command in Scripture is a promise accepted by the will into the soul it brings with it the life of the infinite one it brings life into the soul it transforms the nature and recreates the soul in the image of God friends you cannot afford to be disconnected from scripture you can't afford it spiritually you can't afford it financially you'll make a host of really bad ill-advised financial decisions if you're not connected and connected to scripture your marriage cannot afford for you to not be connected description I am sad to report to you that since my arrival here and I don't think there's a cause-effect relationship or at least I hope there's not we have had a number of marriages that have struggled and some that have even fallen apart completely okay your marriage can't afford you to be casual in your association with God through Scripture your finances can't afford you can't afford it your health can't afford it notice I'm not even talking about your salvation not even talking about your eternal destiny no I'm just saying you as a person you as a being as you were created you were designed in the same way that a plug has three prongs on it on it and is designed to be plugged in you have certain design elements Axia logical elements that are designed for certain things one of those things that you are designed for is to be connected to your father who loves you so much so I've got to say this to you and this is frankly to myself as much as to anybody because I love to read books on theology and philosophy and and I love this but I'm gonna suggest to you here that it's okay to read those books but don't just read books about the Bible and don't just read books about people who read the Bible but read the actual Bible power is found in the word that's where the real source and the real power is found again because these are not just words on a page these are living breathing powerful words and so I thought it might be a good idea to sort of teach you how to read the Bible how do we come to this source and actually tap into it how to read the Bible one more statement before we get into these seven points here I love this one a second statement here from the book steps to Christ again by Ellen White I love this she says the Bible was not written for the scholar alone I loved that it was not what's written for the scholar in fact it was but not for the scholar alone well then who wasn't written for on the contrary it was designed for the what kind of people for the common people it was designed for builders and nurses and teachers and architects and doctors and you don't have to be a theologian you don't have to be a scholastic in ordered the Bible wasn't even designed for scholastics there are certainly people that study it academically and they dive into the depths of the depths of the depths of the text both systematically and exegetically and there's a place for that but don't think for a moment that that needs that you need to have that level of qualification or of academic skill I know you you can come to the Bible and by the grace of God at the end of this presentation you will say you know what I need to start if you're not already I need to start making connecting with God in Scripture a regular part of my life so there's gonna be seven steps here really simple the first one is make time make time you've got to make time people say oh I'm so busy let me tell you busyness is the curse of the modern era right I think it was Luther that famously observed something like you're too busy you're not too busy to pray you're too busy not to pray right you're too busy not to write similar with Scripture you will notice in your life that you make time for the things that are important everybody does I get such a kick out of it when people say well you know I don't anytime I'm really busy I have no time I have no time I've know you have as much time as I have breath there's 24 hours in a day there's so many minutes in a day there's so many days in a year there's somebody right we make choices those choices then make us and we are making choices whether it has to do with our income that we have to have or our lifestyle or the kind of relationship that we want to have with our we're making choices and in the choices that we're making we are prioritizing the things that are most important to us probably most of you brushed your teeth before you walked out of the room this morning before you walked out of your house this morning most of you probably took a shower right all of you fortunately got dressed this morning right you you have priority you are here you have you have already entered your life in such a way that you have prioritized certain things I'm gonna hazard a guess that many of you have looked at Facebook this last week some of you have spent maybe hours on Facebook or on Instagram or some other social you have watched movies you have watched sport not all of you but many of you so you do have time you do have time you might be more or less busy than me but you have time and the thing about making time is that you don't find time you make it you create it you create time for the things that matter most to you now don't think man I'm gonna have to start carving out 1 to 2 hours every day to script study scripture oh no no the 7 step program to studying the Bible then I'm gonna give you to read in the Bible that I'm gonna give you here you can do in 15 minutes 15 minutes so just about the time that it takes you to take a shower dry off and brush your teeth ok so you don't find time you make time so another one you're gonna have to make time am i advising to you is to do that first thing in the morning now if that doesn't work for you because you're a shift worker or some other you know elements of your schedule you know your idiocy I get it but in general it's best to do it first thing in the morning your mind is fresh you your the day has not gotten away from you etc etc number two is to turn everything off right now you you wouldn't have even had to say this 20 years ago but now we have to say you have to turn everything off and research is actually now suggesting that smartphones may actually be making you dumb right smartphone dumb person and my here's what I do I don't know if you do this or not I turn my phone off at night does anybody else do that you turn it off it's amazing it's it's like we talked about a couple weeks ago you have so many choices that all of a sudden those choices become debilitating because you you paralyzed by too many choices the phone is the same kind of way a phone is a really great thing don't get me wrong I love it I love the fact that I can take photos with my phone and I can post photos on Instagram with my phone and I connect with friends on my phone and I can get FaceTime calls on my phone and I can put out a tweet on my phone I can even check my Facebook page oh I like that here's the problem though that freedom that we have with this little personal device that we carry around with us for many has to become not freedom but it is transitioned into slavery we are now in bondage to this thing that every time we did we it's just it's Pavlovian we just are instantly to it we hear the ding where it's just we have to have it so if you're really gonna spend 10 to 15 to 20 or whatever minutes I'm not going to prescribe minutes here my advice is turn your phone off at night and don't turn your phone on in the morning until you've done this first because nobody that you have to listen to me nobody that you have to talk to in the course of that day is more important than talking to your heavenly father right there's gonna be some important you're gonna get some important phone calls you're gonna have some you know maybe even urgent meetings at work maybe there's a been an emergency I get all of that but nobody is more important than talking to Jesus right spending some time so your smartphone me making you dumb and dumb and your essential electronic connection to them whoever them is in your case may be short-circuiting your living connection to him okay which is why my personal advice to you is don't use your phone as your Bible okay you spend enough time looking at that phone and you can if you want that's your choice I realize you're a young person you're a modern you want to do that but my suggestion is get a paper Bible something that doesn't have a screen on it something that can't have a notification that can't no not just leave that thing turned off they do turn off by the way I know that will come as a surprise to some of you number three say a simple prayer of surrender so you've made a little time and you've turned your phone is in the other room your computers and the other one is just you right just you say a simple prayer of surrender the key word here key phrase here is of surrender not just a simple prayer but a simple prayer of surrender let me walk you through what that looks like John chapter 7 verse 17 jesus said if anyone is willing to do his will the will of God he will know of the teaching notice the order there if you're willing you will know so let's just sort of unpack what that looks like what Jesus is saying is that surrender proceeds seeing you want to see something you want to understand something you want to grasp something you don't grasp it so that you can surrender you don't perceive it so that you can surrender no you surrender first and the understanding the knowledge the perception follows if anyone wants to do they will no here's another way to say that willingness precedes wisdom a willing heart is far more important than a PhD when it comes to understanding scripture let me say that again a willing heart is more important than a PhD if you want to come to understand scripture coming up here Jarvis sees love and he's coming forward for the altar call already proverbs chapter 9 verse 10 many of you have heard this before the fear of the Lord is the one it's the the beginning of wisdom and the knowledge of the Holy One is itself understanding notice that that that there's a posture that precedes perception you want to understand what scriptures teaching you think man I got to know Greek I got a know Hebrew I got to get three translations I got to get a Strong's Concordance I've got to get a lexicon no no you need to get a willing heart that trust me Jesus can take care of the Greek thing in the Hebrew thing he speaks every language he speaks English - he even speaks Australian I think he speaks all of the languages so so you don't have to have if you do have your degree in Greek and you know ancient Greek and he was good good for you nothing wrong with that right there's a lot right with that but you don't have to have that the only thing you have to have if you're gonna understand God's Word to you in Scripture is a willing heart a willing heart okay so you come with a willing heart notice we've read this earlier the creative energy that called the world into existence is found in the Word of God but notice the second paragraph here every command is a promise accepted by the will received into the soul it brings with it the life of the infinite one the will right the will is not just the mind it's not just your thoughts it's not it's not just some theoretical or hypothetical no if you say God show me and change me in fact for some of you who want it super practically like pastor action or just make it as practical as can be okay I don't know how to make it more practical I guess I could bend your knees for you and fold your hands and close your eyes for you but this is just pray this prayer open the Bible and pray this simple prayer father show me who you are and who I am make me willing to change and change me that's it so you just sit down with the Bible in the morning you've made time you've left your phone off and you just find a little chair or a little room or wherever or even in your bed I often just my Bibles on my nightstand and before I even get out of bed I just reach over grab my Bible and I just pray a prayer like that father show me who you are show me who I am make me willing to change and change me in that posture of willingness that posture of surrender that posture of coming to God not as an academic you're not coming as a scholar to give an exegetical treatise on you know Paul's use of law in Galatians that's not what you're doing you're coming to your father you're coming to your God you're coming to the source of life itself to connect with him so say a simple prayer of surrender now number four is a big one here if you're not a theologian if you're not an academic I think you can remember this one hermeneutical point hermeneutical just means the way that we interpret ancient texts or modern text - but hermeneutics means how we interpret something how we understand something and I don't expect you to - you know to understand five points of hermeneutical soundness but I'll give you just one just one point of what the Bible is about remember that Jesus is the point can somebody say Amen when you pick up the Bible just know that wherever you find yourself and I get to that here in just a moment wherever you find yourself in the Bible Jesus is the point and I'll walk you through that in just a second it'll be helpful for you to know that the Bible is not a rulebook the Bible is not a code book or a text book it's a storybook and Jesus Christ is the hero of the story now let's walk through each of those the Bible is not a rulebook it certainly contains rules it certainly contains moral exhortation nobody denies that but those rules and those moral excitations are part of a larger narrative a larger story some people think the Bible is like a code and you have to find out what does it mean here then you compare that when they're jumping all around like you're trying to crack some kind of a Da Vinci Code or something the Bible is not written like that right that the Bible is there are senses in which there's a prophetic code and we can understand what a woman means in Bible prophecy and what water means and what a beast means there are passages of Scripture that are written in code like or or symbolic language that is certainly true but the Bible itself is the book filled with stories David and Goliath and Shadrach Meshach and Abednego in the fiery furnace and the feeding of the 5000 then the walking of the water and Peter's denial of Jesus and Daniel in the lion's den and the building of the ark by no I don't mean she's going on the story the Bible is made up of hundreds perhaps even thousands of stories it's a storybook and Jesus Christ is the hero of the story Jesus himself suggested exactly this in John chapter 5 verse 39 when speaking to the religious leaders of his day he said you search the Scriptures because in them you think you have eternal life but the Scriptures point to me so number one you've made time number two you've turned things off number three you've said a little prayer of surrender you're not a theologian don't pretend like you are now all you're gonna remember is this simple hermeneutical point Jesus is the point of the Bible he's the point he is the point that everything is about in fact I'll just give you a brief brief brief little sort of theological overview a systematic overview of what Scripture is about the Bible is divided into two parts two halves or two Testaments they're not equal halves but but two primary parts sometimes referred to as the old and the new testament or the old and the new covenant right and very simply put the Old Testament is anticipation of Christ the Greek word Christ is the same as the the Hebrew word Messiah cor Messiah there's a longing for the Jewish nation looking for a messiah longing for a messiah hoping for a messiah and so the entire Old Testament is anticipation of Messiah and the new testament is the realization of messiah i like it this way the old testament is a promise made the new testament is a promise kept the making of a promise to keeping of a promise so when you open up the bible wherever it is that you open up to to read you need to know am i in the making the promise part or mind the keeping the promise part right now for most people they find the keeping of the promise part that is to say the new testament easier to read right did they find that easier they find that more digestible and more palatable and certainly if somebody's new to scripture I direct them to the New Testament generally right but as you advance in your understanding of Scripture and as you advance in your walk with God you can go back to the promise made part right God made a promise and he kept the promise they were looking for forward to Messiah and then Messiah came now let me walk you through that in even more detail a sort of eight part division of Scripture so you can get a feel for how all of Scripture ultimately is about Jesus that's something for me to say I can say that and Jesus can say that all the Scriptures are about me but some of you are like yeah but I don't understand that explain that to me David make that super practical what do you mean scripture is all about Jesus well here you go the first five books of the Bible of what's called the law or Torah the writings of Moses and the law is the foundation for Christ it's laying the foundation for Messiah to come in fact Moses in one of his last sermons that he gave to the children of Israel said God will raise up another prophet like me and there's basically Universal feel academic consensus that he is referring to a coming prophet not just any ordinary prophet but to the Prophet that would come that Messiah will come and so the law lays the foundation for Christ number one number two you have all these Old Testament historical books you have the kings and the Chronicles and judges and Samuel these these are preparation for Christ basically showing us that that human beings got it all wrong and we've done that in this church we went through our blazing grace series took a look at the kings of Judah and the kings of Israel and showing how they consistently got it wrong they got it wrong and so all of this is basically getting us to the place where we have this sort of sense of expectation in this pregnant sense that is this ever gonna have a happy ending I mean is anybody gonna come and make this right you're supposed to feel that way so if you're if you're opening up the Bible to read and you find yourself and one of the Samuels or one of the Kings are one of the Chronicles and you're feeling this kind of uneasy tension like hey a lot of these stories are really bad news that's because you're in the preparation for Christ you're reading that hey this didn't all work out in the inimitable words in the inimitable words of the book of Judges it says that every man did what was right in his own eyes there was no king in Israel in those days and everybody just did what they wanted there they're looking forward to they're anticipating Christ to come number three Old Testament poetry we read the Psalms and the Ecclesiastes and Song of Solomon this is aspiration for Christ as as Britney read this morning in our worship service I think it was Psalm 100 was that right Brit was it Psalm 100 I think she she read through was just we it just as longing for something better for something more David crying out and the other psalmist's and crying out of an aspiration for Christ we get to Old Testament prophecy especially prophecies in Jeremiah Ezekiel particularly Isaiah and Daniel these are these are anticipations of Messiah Jesus is coming Isaiah 53 of course who has believed our report and to whom is the arm of the Lord been revealed that beautiful prophesy of a suffering Messiah all of this is expectation of Christ so that's the first four parts now we transition to the New Testament and and this is where we get to the promise kept apart this is much easier for many people to read now we're into the Gospels which is now the manifestation of Christ here he is here's messiaen so if you open up the Bible's I'm going to read John well now you know where you're at you're in that promised kept part so a lot of the enigmatic things that Jesus says and does are in reference to the fact that a promise had been made so when John the Baptist for example says behold the lamb of God if you're like what does that mean well that's a reference to the promise that had been made a promise of a sin bearer the promise of someone that would take away sin and guilt and shame and even death itself and so you're finding this language and this the these words in these phrases and these parables in the old in the New Testament this is a part of the outflowing of the fulfillment fulfillment of the promise then we get to the book of Acts which is the preaching of Christ hey if that's where you open the block up open up the Bible you know where you're at now you're in that phase of scripture where Messiah has come and he has died and he has been crucified and he's raised and he's ascended to heaven and now the early church is preaching that the promise has been kept and now you know that or maybe you decide you want to read some of the epistles of Paul or of Peter the letters which is much of the New Testament is made up of letters well this is the interpretation and the application of Christ oh Jesus has come what did it mean that he came how do we apply the teachings of his life how how do I interpret the coming of Jesus how do I apply the coming of Jesus and then finally if you're like Andrew weeks who told me just this morning wherever you are Andrew he told me just this morning he's reading the book of Revelation well I'm Anthony said it's a nightmare and I think that's literally what he said and he said I'm reading this at least that's what you said you know I'm reading the book of Revelation right now it's a nightmare and well and truly it's the stuff of which nightmares are made there's no question beasts and dragons and crazy stuff right there's no but here's the point it's actually it's actually the conclusion of the nightmare of the world without Jesus because in Revelation what we see is consummation in Christ the hero of the book of Revelation is the lamb the very Lamb that we encountered back in the Gospels in the land that we encountered all the way back in the law the writings of Moses which was the foundation so where do you find yourself are you in the foundation for Christ you in the preparation for Christ are you in the aspiration for Christ are you in the expectation of Christ are you in the manifestation of Christ are you in the preaching of Christ are you in the interpretation and application of Christ or are you in the in the conservation in Christ knowing that just in and of itself will help you to know Oh so Jesus is the point and this is how he is the point in this passage of Scripture that I'm in or this book no wonder the Apostle Paul could say in one of my favorite passages in the New Testament 2nd Corinthians chapter 1 verse 20 and I love the New Living Translation here for all of God's promises have been fulfilled in Christ with a resounding yes all of God's promises are a yes God didn't say no he said yes he said yes he said yes in Christ I love that and so remember that Jesus is the point number five now put yourself into the text right yeah this is like a full two minutes of I I've passed now you've made a quiet space you've turned off your phone you've said you a little prayer you've opened up the Bible you've oriented yourself where am I at in the story of Jesus here and so you're only two minutes in we're not talking an hour that you've got a carve-out of your day because you're so busy I am too I get that you're busy I get that life has its pulls and it's tugs and you might have a long commute or this is a period of significant busyness or you know a birth of a child I get that I get I got two sons and and we're a single income family I know about about all of the stresses that you know about okay I get that so sometimes you're gonna have a little more time sometimes you're gonna have a little less time but at this point you're only two minutes in here's two minutes in and now you're just gonna put yourself into the text whatever this text is that you read I love second Corinthians chapter 10 in sin Corinthians chapter 10 in the first ten verses there the Apostle Paul tells the story of Israel he says that Israel came out of Egypt and they passed through the Red Sea and man came down it's fascinating he's sort of telling the story of the Exodus and then he says this a lot of people missed this he tells the story of the Exodus and then he says these things happen to them the Israelites as an example but all that stuff was written down for our instruction on whom the end of the ages have come fascinating you know what Paul is saying here Paul is saying when you read the story of the Israelites put yourself in the story put yourself making your way out during Passover or in receiving the manna as it falls from heaven put yourself into the story read yourself into the story is it the time of David where David's fleeing from Saul put yourself into the story what are the lessons what are the points what are the applications there and they're not they don't have to be these profound in-depth theological insights they can be really simple things like God comes through in a pinch that could be your takeaway in fact notice what I've got here look for that one personal takeaway I realize it in a day and age of smartphones and you know things it's a choo-choo-choo-choo just so fast so quick we just need whatever we need we need it right now and our attention spans are suffering but there's a lot of research on this our attention spans are suffering and so probably you're not gonna say here's the five things I got from my reading of Scripture than one just look for one just one and this could take you five minutes a full five minutes and you're like well that's a great point now here's the test here's the litmus test that night when you tuck yourself into bed and you just get ready to turn off the light and go to sleep ask yourself if you remember what it is that you read this morning okay do your best to get one point one salient point that you can just that's the thing that was the idea the idea was to treat others like I want to be treated the idea was that God comes through in a pinch the idea was that God deserves my bet whatever it is whatever that thing is just look for one point and for some of you if you get that one point this happens to me I do this in my own personal emotions I sit down I might have 45 minutes but I'm reading and I'm praying and I come across something and I say you know what I don't want to crowd that point out that thing that Jesus just told me which he told me in in a minute and 45 seconds do nothing I don't have time and it's not that I'm not devoted but is God's Word to me today now there are other times from in scripture for 20 30 40 minutes or an hour or more but there are times where I can get whatever I need to get and Jesus knows you're busy by the way he knows your schedule he knows that you've got a busy time and he knows that so if you come to Jesus and you're just really open and honest and say you know Jesus I'm really busy this morning but I need a word I need a word show me something about yourself show me something about myself make me willing to change and change me room you find out where you're at you orient yourself you begin to read and you know what Jesus will give you a word Jesus will give you a word and then close it and then number seven asks God to make it a part of your life whatever that thing is that it not just be theoretical or intellectual or academic but whatever that thing is now friends what you're doing is you're not just reading the writings of some sage or some rabbi it's not what you're doing you're connecting with the Living God the power that brought the world into existence is in the word and many of us suffer from a series of emotional relational spiritual pathologies and we think man I got problems you might have problems but you might have a really simple solution that's right in front of you between two pieces of leather on your kitchen counter or on your nightstand or on the bookshelf it literally could be that simple because exposure to God in the same way that drinking water just starts to take care of pathologies I love the way that Paul says it in 2nd Timothy chapter 3 verses 15 to 17 he's speaking to Timothy and he says Timothy you were taught the Holy Scriptures from 1 that time you were a boy they have given you wisdom notice that wisdom to receive the salvation that comes by trusting in Christ Jesus let me translate that for you you read the Old Testament there is no old there is no new Testament when Paul's writing this to Timothy so he says you read the Old Testament and you saw that Jesus was the point and you received Jesus he's that's what he spent that's what he's saying then he says in verse 16 not Timothy all Scripture is inspired by God literally God breathed it's useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what's wrong in our lives it corrects us when we're wrong and it teaches us to do what is right well how does it book do that because it's not a book only yes it is a book in fact it's a series of books um sixty-six books but it's it's it's God's Word and by his Spirit works through that word and energizes in a way that frankly is supernatural and if you've had that experience you know exactly what I'm talking about you think you're sitting down with with paper and leather and all of a sudden in in just a moment in a stroke in a sentence in a verse in a passage in a word in a verb you are face-to-face with the Living God can somebody testify you're like whoa Jesus just showed up in my life Jesus showed up in my morning devotions Here I am I'm not looking at words on a page only I'm not looking at ink on a page I'm face-to-face with the Living God let me tell you something when you get regularly face-to-face with the Living God you can face anything that life will throw at you I had a really moving conversation Graham I didn't tell you I was gonna say this but it was I think it was last night that the Sabbath before us chatting to Graham just outside here and he said something I won't go to detail till I didn't ask for his permission to do so but he said something to me and if you know Graham and the road share family you know the adversity that they're in he said something to me that was so salient so moving I shared it with probably two dozen people throughout the week I said I heard something today that just grandma just touched my heart it just it just moved me in my soul and I thought that's a man who's been with Jesus you get adversity you get difficulty you get what all of us would think would be the worst possible situation a loved one suffering from a serious illness and somehow in that Jesus can carry you through that Jesus can carry you through that Jesus can carry you through anything he can you lost your car keys he can deal with that okay you had your identity taken Jesus can take it Jesus if Jesus can go into the grave and come out of the grave he's got this he's got this so these amazing things happen when you when you come and meet with God in Scripture all of a sudden you're face to face with the Living God you're face to face with Jesus God has meant you in the text and I tell your friends that happens a few times and double-oh-seven can't hold anything to it God uses Scripture to prepare and equip his people to do every good work friends you need scripture like you need water you might be walking around severely dehydrated you think man I got all these problems you know you don't have a bunch of problems you've got one problem you just got one problem that one problem is connection it's connection with the Living God it's connection with Jesus friends if you want to make the leap from crisis to casual into committed and by the grace of God even contributor to the kingdom and contributed to the local church that is not gonna happen while you're spending hours playing video games she's not gonna happen it's not gonna happen well you have plenty of time to watch movies and and sitcoms and you don't have time for Scripture there is a time in a place for some of these things but but you have to orient your life the sun is shining the birds are calling the waves are breaking what are you doing what are you doing go take a walk go hold your wife's hand get a dog you just take up a hobby I mean come to me I I wish I had four lives to live in if you're gonna waste your life playing video games coming I'll tell you something that I really wish I had time to get into you can get into it for me take the photos and then town your life will be better your life will be better friends I just urge you Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus is the point connection to him will make your life better it will make your family better it will make your health better it will make your finances better you were designed to be connected hey men that's why you read the Bible it's not rocket science right it is a kind of science but it's not rocket science you just open up the Bible and meet your maker and I'll tell you if we have a spirit-filled on fire committed contributing Church there well people will come and they will stay and they will be converted and the Holy Spirit will be out port and amazing things will happen and nothing will be able to hold a candle to it yes it's possible hey man that's Church 101 let's pray father and him how to read the bottle how to be connected the father at the end of the day I suppose this is just a sermon that could have been titled how to prioritize your life Father forgive us where distress and things come up and we find ourselves thinking man how did I get here how did I end up here we don't know how we ended up there but we did and there we are father help us especially those of us that really need to hear this message help us to find ourselves getting up in the morning opening up our Bible and meeting you being in filled by the spirit and coming face to face coming into partnership with our Lord and Savior father surely there is no greater joy there is no greater happiness then fulfilling the purpose for which we were made and created father I pray that this church every member of this church would move from crisis to casual lada I know I got tons of contributed contributor and committed people in this church I love that but Lord we got we got some people that need to move they need to move up they need to move up from crisis to casual and from casual right into committed and from committed right into contributor father help us to wake up in the morning and say how can i connect with my god and how can I advance his kingdom is my prayer in Jesus name let everyone say Amen [Music] [Music]

Channel: Kingscliff Church

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Keywords: David Asscherick, KSDA, This Week At Kingscliff, church, Christianity

Id: etMwuWB609E

Length: 58min 30sec (3510 seconds)

Published: Fri Sep 07 2018