Psalm 119:105
2 Timothy 3:14-17
Matthew 4:1-4
Sermon
Many years ago I was staying at the parents of a friends house.
I arrived at the house late at night.
Was invited in and shown my room.
And went promptly to bed.
But then it happened...i needed to go to the toilet
And I had no idea where it was…
Was it upstairs or downstairs?
So I carefully made my way out the door.
And fortunately there was a night light in the passage
So headed towards this light
And even more fortunate was the fact that this light was positioned just outside the toilet door.
I am very thankful for that light.
In our Christian lives
The bible acts as God’s light for us
It is the foundational tool for each one of us
It is the tool that the Christian faith is based on
It is how we get to know and experience Christ.
Martin Luther commented that the entire bible is the cradle that holds Christ for us.
Last week I said with Jesus Christianity can not exist so Christ must be central to all our worship
And the Bible is what reveals Christ to us’
Why we need Christ
What Christ has done and is doing for us
And Christ’s affect on the church
Throughout life we all make assumptions about God,
And it is important that these assumptions be tested by scripture
2 Timothy 3:16-17
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
One example of this is that many people know God is a God of love.
And to understand what it means for God to be a God of love we need to open the pages of scripture
And discover how God sees love
In 1 John 3:16 we hear
This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.
One aspect of God’s love is that Him and us give up something so others can benefit.
In His case it was His life
And in our case it maybe our agendas, our material things, our goals so others can experience God’s love through us
The Reformation was sparked by the fact that Martin Luther identified that the church at the time had neglected significant parts of the bible and interpreted some parts incorrectly or not in relation to other parts.
In basic his concern was that the church and people were using the bible only to impose more and more unnecessary obligations and guilt on people
Rather than pointing out the truth that God was about freeing us from needing to earn our way into relationship with God because of the blood of Jesus,
And with this freedom we are free to help others develop and grow in their relationship with Christ.
Unfortunately, some people miss this last point.
Many people love having freedom.
But I keep having to remember that freedom is a gift from God for us to use for His purposes.
And the reality is when we get involved in reading and studying the bible it not only changes us,
It changes how we see and view others
And it has the potential to also change the lives of others.
When Luther read the bible it changed his life
But it also changed the life of others including me and you.
I saw this greatly a few years ago, when a former atheist presented his testimony at a Gideons conference
He mentioned that one night alone, away from home on work
He opened up the only book in the motel room, a bible.
As he flicked through the pages he was hit with the fact that despite being not right Christ died for us.
Over the next few months he gradually began changing, he wanted to discover more about this God and who God saw he was.
The truth is the more we read the bible
The more God will have an influence and affect on us.
Unfortunately though not every worshipping Christian reads the bible
In Australia in 2006
35% of all Church attenders said they read the bible privately more than once a week,
An additional 6% read it weekly
24% read the Bible occasionally, when it suited them
18% hardly ever
17% not at all.
And only around 41% of worshipping Lutherans read their bible at least monthly.
The same research also highlights that
People who say they sense a growth in faith
Are involved in small groups and other congregational activities that study the bible and life
And they read the bible privately
Something interesting for us as we head into the year of evangelism
73% of people who are actively involved in intentional evangelistic activities such as
sharing the Gospel verbally
and encouraging others to develop relationships with God
and other Christians read their bible at least weekly
Private bible reading when accompanied with regular involvement with other Christians in worship and small groups
is a powerful tool God has given us
As Romans 1:16 says
I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile
Through regular bible study God continues speaking to us about how he saves us and how he gives us the opportunity to be involved in saving others.
Are you reading the bible regularly?
There is the story of a young man who applied at a forestry firm for a job.
The foreman asked him if he could fell a tree with an axe.
The young man walked over to a tree and felled it like an old pro.
The foreman hired him.
On Monday, the young man outdid everyone else on the crew.
But, each day after that, he got slower and slower until Friday, he could barely cut one tree down.
He went through all the motions; swinging his axe, hitting the tree and repeating it, but it just didn’t work very well.
Finally, the young man laid down his axe, sat on the ground in exhaustion and wondered what was causing this.
The foreman came over and told the young man he knew what caused it.
He said he had been so busy all week doing the things that a forester does, that he had forgotten to get back to basics and sharpen his axe. It has become dull and is all but worthless today because it had not been kept in good condition.
Have you been so busy in your life, that you have forgotten to go back to the basics and listen to God through scripture?
Do you know what God is really saying….or are you just guessing?
Do you need to sharpen up your faith….with some regular bible study?
Ever week in our bulletin we have short daily bible readings and devotions related to the worship service
that I encourage everyone to read.
Using them is a way of reinforcing God’s message in our life.
Some people say they have tried reading the bible….but it is too difficult or too hard and they don’t get much out of it
I once heard a story with a neat lesson.
There was an old man on some property near the mountains and a creek.
Every year a grandchild would visit.
One day one of the old man’s grandsons approached him with a problem.
The Grandson said, "Grandpa, I read the Bible and I don’t understand it, and what I understand I forget as soon as I close the Bible covers. What’s the use of reading the Bible!"
The Grandfather ordered the grandson to get the basket they used to carry the wood to the fireplace and the ashes to the garden.
He said run down to the creek and bring back a basket of water to the house.
To please his grandfather, the grandson grabbed the basket,
ran to the river and got a basket of water.
The lad ran back to the house with the water.
By the time the lad reached the house the basket was empty.
The grandfather said try it again but this time faster.
The lad ran quickly from the river, the basket was full when he left the river, but by the time he arrived at the house the basket of water was dry.
After his third trip, the boy told his granddad, it is no use, I can not retain the water in the basket until I get here. It is useless.
The grandfather looked at the disgusted young boy, and said, "So you think it is useless?"
"Yes! Grandpa it is useless to try!" the boy replied.
The Grandfather said to the boy,
"BUT LOOK AT THE BASKET, CAN’T YOU SEE SOMETHING?"
THE SMALL BOY WAS AMAZED, AFTER THREE TRIPS TO THE RIVER, THE DIRTY Wood and ash BASKET WAS CLEAN.
Grandpa said, " See, that is what the Word of God does to you.
As you read, you say you don’t retain and understand it, but your basket is cleaned.
THE WORD OF GOD DOES THE WORK OF GOD!
Frequent reading of the bible will continually reveal God’s light,
the way He works and the path we are to take
It will help us make better decisions in our lives
But importantly it will reveal and remind us that we are God’s children loved by Him and forgiven by Him.
There are many ways people have found in studying the bible.
Here are some basic questions I ask whenever I read scripture
How is this revealing that I need God?
What has God done, is doing or will do?
As a disciple of Jesus how is God asking me to live (for my own benefit and the benefit of others, especially those who are different)?
These are not sideline questions, but questions that direct and focus my life…..
Over time regular bible study and reading will change you….
Because God’s word is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path…
And through His word God is at work moulding us an comforting us.
As Matthew 4:4 says 4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.
Keep using this wonderful tool God has given us
because Jesus and His love is the focus of all scripture and through it the Holy Spirit is guiding us.
Let us pray
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