We welcome you to the Via Zion Sermon podcast.
We are a church based out of Chennai, India.
We are thrilled that you tuned in today and hope that you will
be refreshed, revived, and energized by what you hear.
Our desire is that you will live life with a renewed sense of
purpose that stems from a vibrant faith in Jesus.
We have Ebenezer today with us to share practical tips on how
we can engage with God's Word and be transformed along the
way. We hope you relish knowing more
about God's Word and that it spurs you on to greater intimacy
with God. It's such a joy for me to
connect with you. Even today, I'm more than
excited to bring God's Word. As a global church.
We are all going through and observing this month as a global
Bible month more than ever before, there's a lot of focus
on the Word of God and this is all happening globally.
And today I want to talk to that one person and it's, it's for
me, it's for you, it's for us. How is the word still relevant?
How is the word still active in our life?
Because that's what we saw a couple of weeks back.
The Word of God, this book that we hold in our hand, It could be
a digital copy or in pages. The Word of God, which has 66
books written by 40 plus authors across 1500 years, has one
message, has one unified story to tell.
Isn't it a miracle? And all of it points us to
Jesus, how he's still working, how he's still alive, and how he
is still interested in you and me.
And that is more than everything for me to be excited about to
bring this word to you today. And even as we get into this
time, can we look to God in prayer?
A gracious, loving Heavenly Father, We pray and we ask of
you, Lord Father, that our hearts would be open and willing
and present at this moment to receive what you have.
For each and everyone of us, Lord Father, Lord God, this
invaluable word of God that we hold in our hand, which is still
relevant, which is still active in our life, help us to engage
with it. And even as we have that
approach, even as we get into this time with that longing to
ponder on your word, Lord Father, we pray that you would
speak to us in Jesus name. We ask him, we pray.
But today I'm going to talk about how to read the Bible.
Yes, you heard me right, how to read the Bible.
I feel it's a heavy topic, especially for me because for
me, I'm I'm a person who want a framework that sets a system in
place. And there are so many frameworks
out there and there's something called SOAP, SOAP method.
There's a real method. There are different other
methods through which you can have a systematic Bible reading.
And today we're going to see how can I get into this habit, a
pattern of getting to the Word of God as often as I can, as
often as I can, and how can I place my heart in the living
Word of God? And last week we got this chance
to hear that the Word of God is still reliable.
Still it's been preserved over a long time and it's still
relevant. And it's the week before that we
heard His Word is still active and alive.
And even in our daily life and situations, it's still relevant
to this time and age. And having known what is the
Bible and that we can trust the Bible today, we get into this
topic, how to read the Bible. I think the moment I say how to
read the Bible, it's a very practical way in which we're
going to look at it. You may be someone who already
have a framework or a set rhythm.
Good, very good. Today I would want to encourage
you to just come along in this journey even as we explore
together what it means for us as Jesus.
Follow us to read the Word of God on a systematic way.
And for our meditation today, I just want to base our discussion
today in this verse from Romans chapter 12 and verse 2.
If you allow me to read it, Romans chapter 12 and verse 2,
do not confirm to the patterns of this world, but be
transformed by the renewing of your mind.
Before I go to the next part of this verse, let's take some
time. The first part of this verse, it
says do not confirm to the pattern of this world, but be
transformed in the renewing of your mind.
Paul identifies that our minds are so fragile and it gets
conformed to every other thing that's happening around us.
Now think about situations that we face on a daily basis at
work. For some of us it could be
health related. For some of us, we may be going
through any financial crisis. The situation around us,
probably the report, the EMI bills, everything conforms us to
the pattern of this world. When I mean pattern of this
world, I I'm talking about fear, anxiety.
Sometimes it's even, it gives us a sense of worthlessness.
And all of this conforms us to the pattern of this world.
The dominant values, the priorities, the things that the
world is chasing after. Sometimes they call it success,
sometimes they call it fame. All of it conforms us to the
pattern of the world. But here Paul is encouraging.
Do not be conformed to the pattern of this world.
So what is he talking about? He's talking about a
transformation. A transformation in the renewing
of our mind. And if I may ask, what is the
need for trans? What is the need for the renewal
in our mind? Why do we need renewal in our
mind? And there are three things I
quickly want to point us towards.
Our thinking shapes are living. Our thinking shapes are living.
Most of the times our realities and decisions flow directly from
our mental frameworks. What have we been thinking
about? What is our mind captivated with
if it is confirmed to the pattern of the world?
We may fall into fear, but the moment we are moving into the
renewal of our mind, it's, it's not, it's not a immediate
process. It's, it's, it's, it's a
transformation which takes time. As we as we are in the journey
of renewing of our mind, God does a deeper work.
Our frameworks from where we make decisions get to change.
And then there's a reason, because transformation requires
more than willpower. It's not from my own strength.
It's not something that I can gather all the strength that I
have and put it all in a box and talk transformation.
Nothing's going to happen. This is not by our willpower.
We need God to breathe into it and that's why we need His word
to renew our minds. Now think about this word
transformation. It comes from Greek word called
metamorpho. If you're a biology student,
probably you know about metamorphosis, right?
Where a Caterpillar changes to a butterfly, it's a complete
transformation. And here Paul is talking
something like that. By by nature, by by human
nature, our mind, our mind is very conformed to the pattern of
the world, like how a Caterpillar would change into a
butterfly which has wings and flies.
God's calling us into that space, into that place where our
minds are renewed to see His will.
And that gets me to the third reason why we need renewal in
our mind, which is discernment depends on it.
Now let's go back to that verse and read the second part of that
verse. It says then you will be able to
test and approve what God's will is, His good, pleasing, and
perfect will. For us to test and approve what
God's will is, we have to be transformed in the renewal of
our mind. Where else can we go for this
renewing in our mind but to the Word which is active in our
life? If it's not for the Word of God,
where can we place our transformation?
Because it it is. It is.
This word of God points us to Jesus.
Every every conformities that we are caught up into, the Word of
God challenges us. The Word of God encourages us to
move more closer to God Himself, and with that as the foundation
that we have to grow in the renewing of our mind.
And for that we need to read the Word of God.
And if this is the foundation, let's get into the practical
pieces of how we can get this going.
Because many a times after a very convicting message on a
Sunday afternoon, I'm like so pumped up.
I'm so pumped up. Yes, I do all the plan
preparation and all of that. When the reality sets in,
sometimes it's a little hard. And that's where some of these
frameworks, some of these systems help us to
systematically go back to the word of God and to read from the
word. It encourages us for our
everyday living. And today I'm not going to talk
about any other framework, but I, I thought I will take you on
a journey. Are you excited about it?
I want to take you on a journey where we're going to explore
something together. And for a very long time I've
heard about Sri Lanka, OK, in history books, in lot of news,
things that happen in Sri Lanka and all of that.
It's very recently I got a chance to visit the country.
And if you're like me, I'm not an explorer.
I like to spend time in the comfort of the room, relax, and
that's my type of a vacation. But when I went there, God, out
of His grace and mercy, showed how beautiful that land is.
It's from just I open up my room's big window, I could see
on one side a railway track, on the other side a seashore, a
beautiful land. And if you've ever been to these
vacations that you have taken to any of these scenic places,
there's so much of preparation that goes in right.
And I just want to take you on a journey where we're going to see
how to read the Bible, like a journey that we can explore
together. And if you have your pen paper,
just take it so that we can take some notes alongside, because
I'm going to talk about four stations.
The journey that we're going to take is going to stop in four
stations. And if we go through 1 by 1.
And I believe God's inviting us in, in the most exciting journey
that we can ever take to go to the word of God to hear for
ourselves what he has for us. And the first station that I
want to talk about is the station of preparation.
Yes, we all want to. We all know that this word is
active and alive. And we all know there's power,
his word. And I want to internalize it
because it renews my mind. It renews the patterns that are
formed in my mind. The truth is something that I
know. But in that place, our first
station is preparation. And what do I mean by that?
What do I mean by that? Like like no, no, just think
about again, coming back to the story that I'm talking about,
right? A vacation or a journey that we
are all taking together. Like the first thing that we
would do is block our calendars and start preparing.
Start preparing. Probably we might want to take
some warm clothes if you're going to a place which is a
little cold, right? And if the like, for many of us,
we may not like the food S probably we might have certain
other substitutes for it. So we get that together.
So it's clothes, food, anything. Some of us, we get our shoes,
everything ready, we get ourselves prepared, we book the
flight tickets, we get the hotels booked, everything is
set. And I just want to parallelly
draw our attention to come back to our topic, what we're doing
right now. Even while we get set our minds
to ponder in the Word of God, I want us to internalize it and
ask to ourselves. Am I excited about getting to
read the word of God? Am I planning enough?
If I ask you this question as my wife does it at our home, she
plans the next day. What is the breakfast going to
be? What's the lunch going to be?
Do we have everything? Because morning our cook is
going to come and we got to have everything ready for her and so
she gets it all prepared the previous night and today.
My question is do we prepare for our time of Bible reading?
I quickly want to press in before you 3 people, David in
Psalms chapter 119 and verse 11 it says I have hidden your word
in my heart that I might not sin against you.
If you're underlining, you can underline the word hidden.
Daniel in chapter 1 and verse 8, it says, but Daniel resolved not
to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the
chief official for permission not to defile himself.
This way. If you're underlining, underline
the word resolved and both the places we could see there is an
intentionality. There's an intentional
intentionality in the preparation.
Here's one person who resolved within himself that he's not
going to do certain things. There's David, who has hidden
the word of God in his heart. And when we come to the New
Testament, we see Jesus himself in multiple places.
In Mark chapter 1 and verse 35, it says very early in the
morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the
house, and went off to a solitary place where He prayed.
In Matthew chapter 6 and verse 6 we read But when you pray, go
into your room, close the door and pray to your Father who is
unseen. Then your Father, who sees what
is done in secret, will reward you.
I know these verses very clearly mentions about prayer, but here
Jesus the Word himself needs that time of solitude.
He was intentional to spend that morning with the Father if Jesus
himself needed it. How much more do we need?
How much more do we have to prepare for that time?
I want to like quickly, practically break this down.
You can do it anytime during the day, but do you plan, do you
prepare yourself for that time? You're going to where you're
going to sit with the word of God.
Quickly, we'll move to the next station.
From the preparation station, we move on to the journey.
Yes, the journey is exciting. It's like navigating to a new
terrain. We we read attentively.
We face challenges in the text and follow the Spirit to lead us
through this because I quickly want to get our attentions
towards this verse. Probably we all know it.
Psalms 119 and verse 105. It says your word is a lamp for
my feet, a light on my path. There are various culture.
The times are changing and that God's inviting us to his word
where he's going to speak truth into our life because his word
is going to be that lamp for my feet.
It's going to light my path when uncertainties, when things are
like difficult for us to discern and move forward.
His word is a light and now think about this, that you have
a light with you that shows the way for you.
How clear is your next step going to be?
How clear you would clearly see your next step.
And when we have clarity in our next steps, just think about the
joy that fills our heart and that is where Jesus is inviting
us. Jesus is inviting us for us to
soak into His Word, to enjoy the journey, to enjoy going through
the verses and internalizing it. I want to read a couple of
verses, Psalms 119 and verse 130.
It says break open your word within me until revelation light
shines out. Those with open hearts are given
insight into your plans. The moment you have an open
heart, you read from His word. He's going to give you His plans
for your life. You're going to walk with a
blueprint of your life. Would that journey be exciting?
And then we read John chapter 16 and verse 13.
It says, But when the truth giving Spirit comes, He will
unveil the reality of every truth within you.
He won't speak on his own, but only what He hears from the
Father, and He will reveal prophetically to you what is to
come. We heard Bible was written by 40
authors, but every one of them were inspired by the Holy
Spirit. And today when we get into this
journey, the author himself is by our side as the guide.
Like when you're taking a vacation, probably some of us
would have a guide, right? They would take us to all the
monumental, all the the spots in that city which is worth
sightseeing. And here the author himself,
Holy Spirit himself, guides us and walks by us while we read
his word. What a privilege, what a honour.
And that's the journey that He is inviting us to and that's my
second station. So the first station is for us
to prepare, the second station is where we journey with Him and
that gets us to the third station which is to enjoy, enjoy
and cherish the word that He has given us.
Like savouring, let's taking views and experiences.
That's what I've written here. But if I want to give you a very
quick glimpse of what it would look like, just think about all
of us getting to a place where it's a mountain top.
We are seeing this beautiful picture in front of us.
It's mountains, valleys, clouds, trees, birds, and the chill
breeze. Would we want to freeze that
moment in life? And that's exactly God's calling
us into. And that's exactly what God's
calling us into. Because when we get into His
word and meditate on it day and night as we treasure it, as we
as we treasure it as sweeter than honey.
When world is throwing challenges at us, every moment
becomes a testimony. Every moment becomes a testimony
in our life. And these moments becomes worthy
to take a snap, take a shot. And that's what this station is
all about is to enjoy is to enjoy in his presence.
There are a couple of verses that I would want to read,
Psalms 119 and verse 97. It says, oh how I love your law.
I meditate on it all day long. When your words came, I ate
them. They were my joy and my heart's
delight by I bear your name, Lord God Almighty.
Jeremiah says in Jeremiah 15 and verse 16 and again in Psalms 119
verse 72, it says the law from your mouth is more precious to
me than thousands of pieces of silver and gold.
In Psalms 19 and 10 it says there are more precious.
They are more precious than gold than much pure gold.
They are sweeter than honey, than honey from the honeycomb.
If we are bored of reading the Word, God's calling us to a
station where we can prepare ourselves, journey into the
world and put our dwelling place there and enjoy.
Enjoy His Word because His promises are as an Amen He is.
He's constantly encouraging you. He's constantly holding you,
times when we slip, times when we fall.
His word encourages us. Isn't that the reason why I
would go back to His word and enjoy in His presence what He
would want to speak to me? And finally we get to another
station and this station is called Return and Live.
And it's, it's more like when you go to a like I was talking
to you about Sri Lanka and I'm, I'm like many of us get
souvenirs and different other things when we are coming back,
right? And my mom called me and she
said she wants tea from Sri Lanka.
So I went, I saw I was browsing through what what's the good tea
that where I can get that and all of that.
And I did all of that to finally come back to the airport and I
got a tea back tea from there. And I said all of this to just
to give us a glimpse of what it is for us to journey to a place.
If someone is going to US, probably we want to get some
electronic goods from there, right?
Like many of us have different things that we would want to get
from people who journey to different places.
And today God's inviting us to this station where many of us
for a very long time have gone on this journey and have stayed
there. And we we are getting more
deeper in our theology, deeper in our understanding of the
word. Probably we can get into any
argument and win that over. But if we come back, if we fail
to come back to reality and live that out, we miss the whole
point. We miss the whole point.
And for that I would want to base it on James chapter 1 and
verse 22. It says do not merely listen to
the word. And so deceive yourself.
If I can ask you a question, do not merely listen to you to the
word, and so deceive yourself. Do not merely listen to the word
and so deceive yourself. Listen to the word, deceive
yourself. It doesn't get along right?
It doesn't get along, but it's complete.
When you read do what it says, it's complete.
When we read, do what it says And today, God's calling us to
that place to do what it says to to journey with Him to, to get
on this adventure with him every single day.
Would we enjoy His word? Would we prepare?
Take time to read from His Word. Would we enjoy the journey
Because he, the author himself, is willing to hold His by our
hand? And if these four stations are
active in our life, if we are planning, If we are preparing
ourselves to read the word, if we station ourselves in a place
where we could journey. Because many of the context in
which the authors have written sometimes might not be directly
speaking to our situation, but it's very relevant to the times
that we are living in. And for that, we need the Holy
Spirit to help us understand. And that's what I would want us
to do in that station of journeying.
And as we allow Holy Spirit to stir our hearts to move closer
to him, then we move into the station where we get to enjoy.
And then there's this station where we get back and live, live
out what He had called us in this world.
And with that, I would just want to picture us getting on a
journey. If I may ask you, whatever the
situation that you're going through, if you can put your
mind into any passage from the word of God, set aside a time
where you would want to go meditate on it.
Probably if, if, if this challenge, if you have a
challenge over there, there's a 30 day plan that through this
month. You can find that in the Bible
app, which can help you take one step at a time, but get into a
rhythm that sets you into this journey.
And when we get on this, our minds get renewed.
Our minds get renewed as we as we journey as often as we can,
as we get into these places where we read about Moses, we
read about Daniel, we read about Ezekiel, we read about Jesus
himself from the word. It comes alive in our life to
our homes and He would dwell among us.
And as we get into this, I just want to encourage you to take
this journey as often as you can.
And if I may ask you then put your mind to get started with
the first station. It starts from preparing
yourself, preparing, setting aside a time, a loving God, the
Holy Spirit to help you journey through it, enjoy and to live
what you read. And for that, even I'm growing.
And I would invite you to our love God, to help us in the
renewing of our mind so that we would be transformed in His
likeness, so that we would be able to know what God's will is,
His plans are, and enjoy Him the rest of our life.
If you want to close your eyes and look to God in prayer, I
invite you to do that. We're going to ask him.
Lord, in this journey, we've been so conformed to the
patterns of this world. Would you help us take this step
of faith from this day onwards? Lord Father, we're going to, we
want to get into this journey with you where we would prepare
journey. Enjoy your word and live it out,
Lord God. And we pray that in our weakness
may our strength be sufficient for us.
Lord, Father, Lord, be with everyone of us.
Lord Jesus, guard us. Guide us in your own sweet way.
May these words be a blessing for us.
In Jesus name we ask, can we pray?
Amen. Amen.
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