II Timothy 3:16-17
November 20, 2011
"The Word of God" by Gretchen Lofgren
I would like to begin today by sharing a little “Holy Humor” with you. There is actually a good message in each of these two stories.
A father was approached by his small son who told him proudly, “I know what the Bible means!” His father smiled and replied, “What do you mean you know what the Bible means?” The son replied, “I do know!” “Okay,” said the father, “What does the Bible mean?” “That’s easy Daddy….” The young boy replied excitedly, “It stands for ‘Basic Information Before Leaving Earth.’
And
There was a very gracious lady who was mailing an old family Bible to her brother in another part of the country. “Is there anything breakable in here?” asked the postal clerk, “Only the Ten Commandments,” answered the lady.
The Bible is the Word of God.
Some interesting facts about the Bible:
1. It is the best history book ever written
2. There are 929 chapters in the Old Testament
3. There are 260 chapters in the New Testament
4. The longest chapter is Psalm 119
5. The centre chapter is Psalm 118
6. There are 594 chapters before Psalm 118
7. There are 594 chapters after Psalm 118
8. The centre verse is Psalm 118:8
“It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man”
9. The most comforting chapters are Psalm 23 and John 14
10. The love chapter is 1 Corinthians 13
11. The faith chapter is Hebrews 11
12. The shortest verse is John 11:35 “Jesus wept”
13. The most precious verse is John 3:16
“For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.
14. The saddest verse is Mark 15:34
“And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice: Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachtani? – which means, My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?
And, The greatest word in the Bible: JESUS!!!
The Bible is often described as our manual for life, our rule book. It is the world’s best selling book with over 44 million copies sold each year. It is translated into over 2,000 languages – 10 times more than any other book. It is the most popular and powerful book ever written. It has the power to change lives and is more precious than gold. It has supreme authority for what we believe, how we act and is full of wisdom.
We are privileged to have the freedom to read and study the Bible. In some countries, people are persecuted for owning a Bible and for believing in Jesus Christ.
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1 – the first verse of the Bible)
“The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people. Amen (Revelation 22: 21 – the last verse of the Bible)
What do we find in the many pages between Genesis 1:1 and Revelation 22:21? Stories, prayers, words of wisdom, and information to help and guide us in every walk of life. We find the Word of God.
Second Timothy 3: 16-17 states: “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
All Scripture is God-breathed. What exactly does this mean? The Bible was written by humans and is 100% the work of humans; and yet, it is 100% inspired by God. God is the architect behind the works. It is written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
The Bible is our manual for life – our rule book. It can take away or give us freedom – freedom within guidelines. God did give us the ten commandments for our own good, because He loves us.
The Old Testament is full of rich history. In its pages you will find the stories of Moses who was called by God to lead God’s people out of Egypt; Noah, whom God instructed to build an ark in order to save Noah’s family and the animals when God destroyed the earth by flood because of the people’s disobedience to Him and, at the end of the flood when God set his bow in the sky to signify that never again would he destroy the earth by flood.
Others are: Abraham, Jacob, Samuel, Esther, Ruth, Naomi and many others. You will read about God’s specific instructions for building his temple. You will learn how God spoke directly to some such as to Moses in a burning bush; Jacob, in a dream; Samuel, as a child; and Elijah, in a gentle whisper. Have you ever heard God speaking directly to you?
We learn of Judges & Kings. David was probably the greatest king in the Old Testament. He was a man after God’s own heart. Throughout his reign, he strayed and did many wrong things, but he always returned to God. And it is through the lineage of David that Jesus Christ was born.
God speaks to us through creation. Sunrises, sunsets, the sun shining on the mountains, a beautiful moon suspended in the sky, desert flowers, rain that waters our earth, a beautiful rainbow, a newborn baby, the smile on the face of a young child, the look of love between a man and woman, the gentle touch of someone who cares for you. And, most importantly God speaks to us through his son, Jesus Christ.
The New Testament is about the birth, life, death and resurrection of God’s own son, Jesus Christ. Jesus taught, healed, was persecuted, crucified and rose from the dead to sit at the right hand of the Father and He lives on in us through the Holy Spirit.
We are created to be in a relationship with God through Jesus. The Bible helps us to experience this relationship and to come to faith in Christ through the word of God. The Bible is our spiritual food and feeds our faith.
How many of you have read the Bible cover to cover? Several years ago, I decided to do exactly this. When I was finished, I realized that I really hadn’t learned or understood that much – about the only thing I could claim was that I had read it cover to cover. So, over the past several years, I have been involved in many Bible Studies and am continually learning and attempting to understand many parts of the Bible.
Participating in Bible studies is a good way of learning the word. However, Bible studies are not for everyone. Ways you can study the Bible at home are: Walking on the Word which comes directly from the lectionary and is a daily devotion that contains four different scriptures: one from the Old Testament; one from Psalms; one from the Gospels and one other New Testament reading. It is a good way to digest the Word of God.
The Upper Room daily devotional is also a good resource. Each day’s devotion is written by people just like you and me usually relating something of great faith that has touched their lives. Reading it and discussing what it means with someone else is helpful.
It is our responsibility to study the Bible and to spread the Good News. What is the good news? God loves you and me – He loves all of us now and forever and will always be with us through every walk of our lives. God freely gives grace to everyone in Christ Jesus (you can’t earn it, it is a gift). Seek an ever-deepening understanding of this mystery. Learn to share your faith in a way that is authentic and true.
We study the scriptures to know the heart and the will of God. The central purpose of scripture study is not religious information or doctrinal purity for its own sake, but to change us from the inside out.
We need to build a solid and firm foundation and follow the teachings of those who teach God’s word. In a time when reflection and thought are often given low priority, we ought to give high priority to reflecting on Jesus’ teaching.
The more familiar we are with scripture, the more we can help ourselves and others find God’s way in our complicated world.
Looking for some wisdom? Try the book of Proverbs. Looking for answers and comfort to just about any problem? Try the Book of Psalms. Want to know how to keep your faith in times of trials? Read the book of Job.
Jesus did a great deal of his teaching with parables. These parables could be applied to life at that time and can be applied to our lives today.
In our Scripture reading today from the book of Luke, Jesus tells us that when we go to his word, hear his words and act on them – we are like a man building a house who dug deeply and laid a solid foundation for his house. If we build our lives on the solid foundation of the word of God, and turn to His word daily, we are able to then share the good news of God’s love with others.
In our Scripture today from the book of James, we learn that in addition to hearing the Word, we need to be doers of the Word. Being a hearer only is an act of self-deception. We may say we believe in the authority of Scripture; but often we may say: “It may be right for you, but not for me”. Then when we read the word of God, it falls on ears that hear, but do not respond with action. There is no solid foundation.
The following is taken from the introduction to the book of James in the New International Version of the Bible.
Miraculous! Revolutionary! Greatest ever! We are inundated by a flood of extravagant claims as we channel surf the television or flip magazine pages. The messages leap out at us. The products assure that they are new, improved, fantastic and capable of changing our lives. For only a few dollars, we can have cleaner clothes, whiter teeth, glamorous hair, and tastier food. All these materialistic things are guaranteed to bring happiness, friends and the good life. And just before an election, no one can match the politicians’ promises. But talk is cheap and too often we soon realize that the boasts were hollow, quite far from the truth.
The following commercial is the one we need to pay attention to: Jesus is the answer! Believe in God! Read God’s word! Share His word with others! Come with me to church! However, Christians also make great claims, but are often guilty of belying them with their actions. Professing to trust God and to be his people, they cling tightly to the world and its values. Possessing all the right answers, they contradict the gospel with their lives.
James confronts this conflict head on. It is not enough to talk the Christian faith, he says, we must live it. “What good is it, my brothers & sisters, if a man or woman claims to have faith but has no deeds?”
Genuine faith will inevitably produce good deeds. James distinguishes two kinds of wisdom – earthly and heavenly. He encourages us to turn from evil desires and obey God. He also asks us to be patient with each other, to be honest in our promises, to pray for each other and to help each other remain faithful to God.
The word of God is certainly intended to affect our emotions. Jesus himself told his disciples that he spoke his words to them so that they might not fear, but instead have joy. We should read the word with the goal of doing the will of God.
We can afford to leave our mirrors behind because our reflections are useless. The word of God is another matter. We NEED it in our daily lives. We will take the Word of God into our thinking, submit our minds to it and formulate our beliefs by what it says. We will make decisions by God’s word - about how we will respond to trials, what goals we will pursue, how we will spend time and money and how we will formulate our thoughts into words. We need to DARE to live by the word of God.
Our children start learning about the Bible and the many stories in it in Sunday School. Sunday School is a wonderful foundation for our children to learn about God & Jesus. I grew up attending Sunday School and hearing and learning the wonderful stories about people in the Bible and about Jesus . However, when I became a young adult, I fell away from the church and God for a few years. Jesus was pushed to the back recesses of my mind. When my youngest son was 5, my mother-in-law insisted (thankfully) that we take him to Sunday School so he could learn about Jesus. A year later I began to teach Sunday School and pulled those stories to the forefront of my mind and started learning again right along with my first graders. Soon after I fully gave my life to Jesus and have never looked back.
Today our 3rd graders received their Bibles – something they will treasure for the rest of their lives. We pray that when they read them in the years to come that they will remember the lessons they learned in their Sunday School here at Christ Church.
What exactly is the importance of the Word of God in our lives? To know that God loves us, will always be with us and that we share this love and caring with others.
There is another story about a young boy who got up to recite the 23rd Psalm – which they had been assigned to memorize in Sunday School. When the boy got up to speak, he couldn’t remember what he had memorized. So he said:
The Lord is my Shepherd and that’s all I need to know.
Is God speaking to you?
Will you let Him?
Amen
