1 00:00:03,880 --> 00:00:07,440 Three years ago, we started the year with a sermon series called 2 00:00:07,440 --> 00:00:11,480 There Has to Be a Place. It included sermons like there 3 00:00:11,480 --> 00:00:13,480 Has to be a place for everyone, which is kind of good because I 4 00:00:13,480 --> 00:00:15,640 wanted to be able to come here. There has to be a place that 5 00:00:15,640 --> 00:00:17,320 gives people time. How many of you needed a little 6 00:00:17,320 --> 00:00:18,880 bit of time to get your life right with Jesus? 7 00:00:18,880 --> 00:00:20,960 Raise your hand if you're here, God bless you. 8 00:00:21,880 --> 00:00:24,280 We talked about there has to be a place for people to take their 9 00:00:24,280 --> 00:00:28,080 very first step UPS of faith. We talked about there has to be 10 00:00:28,080 --> 00:00:30,040 a place that tells people it's not over. 11 00:00:30,200 --> 00:00:33,000 We talked about there has to be a place for lost causes. 12 00:00:33,280 --> 00:00:35,760 And during that series, I introduced you to the spiritual 13 00:00:35,760 --> 00:00:38,200 spectrum. And if you were here last week, 14 00:00:38,680 --> 00:00:40,520 we talked a little bit about it. I'll, I'll do it again. 15 00:00:40,520 --> 00:00:41,800 We'll put it right up here on the screen. 16 00:00:42,240 --> 00:00:45,240 If I were to give these numbers some context, every single one 17 00:00:45,240 --> 00:00:48,480 of us were somewhere on this spiritual spectrum. 18 00:00:48,760 --> 00:00:52,120 So let's say a - 5 is somebody who doesn't believe in God. 19 00:00:52,840 --> 00:00:56,920 A - 3 is somebody, let's say they hate God. 20 00:00:57,280 --> 00:00:59,400 I mean, the good news is they kind of believe that he exists, 21 00:00:59,400 --> 00:01:02,840 but they're kind of ticked at him -1 is somebody who's not 22 00:01:02,840 --> 00:01:05,880 quite ready to live for God, but they, they at least believe that 23 00:01:05,880 --> 00:01:07,240 he exists. And they're going, all right, 24 00:01:07,240 --> 00:01:10,640 I'm, I'm trying to navigate it. Let's say that a 0 is a person 25 00:01:10,640 --> 00:01:13,120 who's ready to make a decision to make Jesus Christ the Lord 26 00:01:13,120 --> 00:01:16,800 and Savior and start an intimate personal relationship with Jesus 27 00:01:16,800 --> 00:01:19,000 Christ. You know, the zeros here at the 28 00:01:19,000 --> 00:01:21,200 crossing are kind of our heroes because we love it when people 29 00:01:21,200 --> 00:01:24,560 start taking the step to be obedient in the area of baptism. 30 00:01:24,560 --> 00:01:27,560 And then a + 3 might be somebody who believes and they're 31 00:01:27,560 --> 00:01:30,040 developing a pattern of obedience. 32 00:01:30,400 --> 00:01:32,720 They're starting to do the things that God calls them to 33 00:01:32,720 --> 00:01:34,920 do, and there's developing a track record. 34 00:01:34,920 --> 00:01:38,640 And let's say a + 5 is somebody who is all in completely 35 00:01:38,640 --> 00:01:40,360 surrendered to the lordship of Jesus. 36 00:01:40,360 --> 00:01:44,480 They are holding nothing back. Now, a couple things to note at 37 00:01:44,480 --> 00:01:47,200 the beginning of this, every single one of you, you are 38 00:01:47,200 --> 00:01:49,040 somewhere on this spiritual spectrum. 39 00:01:49,440 --> 00:01:52,040 So if you were to pick where you are, you don't have to raise 40 00:01:52,040 --> 00:01:53,800 your hand and you don't have to scream it out loud. 41 00:01:54,160 --> 00:01:57,720 But where would you say you are on that spiritual spectrum from 42 00:01:57,720 --> 00:02:01,040 a -, 5 all the way to a + 5? And for those of you who are 43 00:02:01,040 --> 00:02:04,720 interested in doing the plus five thing, just be real careful 44 00:02:04,720 --> 00:02:06,640 with that, OK? Because you know, pride will, 45 00:02:06,800 --> 00:02:10,680 you know, goes before fall. So where are you at? 46 00:02:12,200 --> 00:02:13,720 Now? I got to tell you this, no 47 00:02:13,720 --> 00:02:16,240 matter where you are, no matter where you place yourself, no 48 00:02:16,240 --> 00:02:18,040 matter where you kind of see yourself on that spiritual 49 00:02:18,040 --> 00:02:21,960 spectrum has absolutely zero to do with your value. 50 00:02:23,120 --> 00:02:26,280 It has nothing to do with your value because every person no 51 00:02:26,280 --> 00:02:29,520 matter where they are on that spiritual spectrum was created 52 00:02:29,520 --> 00:02:33,040 by God and loved by God. You guys all know this verse 53 00:02:33,040 --> 00:02:36,200 John 316 for God's to love the world that he gave his one and 54 00:02:36,200 --> 00:02:38,600 only Son, that whoever believes in him will not perish but have 55 00:02:38,640 --> 00:02:41,240 eternal life. So that it does not say for God 56 00:02:41,240 --> 00:02:44,200 so loved all the plus fives. It doesn't say for God so loved 57 00:02:44,200 --> 00:02:46,920 all the plus threes. It says for God's to love the 58 00:02:46,920 --> 00:02:49,440 world. However, as you look through 59 00:02:49,440 --> 00:02:52,880 scripture you will notice that there is a high amount of 60 00:02:52,880 --> 00:02:57,960 emphasis placed on the left side of the spiritual spectrum. 61 00:02:58,200 --> 00:03:02,360 Look what it says in Luke chapter 15 verse 7. 62 00:03:02,880 --> 00:03:06,440 I tell you this is Jesus talking that there will be more 63 00:03:06,600 --> 00:03:11,520 rejoicing in heaven over one Sinner who repents than over the 64 00:03:11,520 --> 00:03:16,160 99 righteous persons who do not need to repent. 65 00:03:16,680 --> 00:03:21,280 Heaven has an eye on the left side of the spiritual spectrum. 66 00:03:21,960 --> 00:03:25,720 Jesus himself stated in Luke chapter 19 verse 10 that his 67 00:03:25,720 --> 00:03:33,600 mission was to seek and save the lost, those on the left side of 68 00:03:33,600 --> 00:03:36,520 the spiritual spectrum. In fact, Jesus is very last 69 00:03:36,520 --> 00:03:40,720 words before he ascended into heaven was Matthew chapter 28 70 00:03:40,720 --> 00:03:43,080 verses 18 through 20. If you spend any amount of time 71 00:03:43,080 --> 00:03:45,440 in church, you know these words as well. 72 00:03:45,440 --> 00:03:48,200 Look what it says. And Jesus came to them and said, 73 00:03:48,320 --> 00:03:51,960 All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 74 00:03:52,760 --> 00:03:57,840 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them 75 00:03:57,840 --> 00:03:59,920 in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and 76 00:03:59,920 --> 00:04:02,440 teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. 77 00:04:02,720 --> 00:04:06,080 And surely I am with you always to the very end of the age. 78 00:04:06,520 --> 00:04:09,960 In order to make disciples, you are reaching people on the left 79 00:04:09,960 --> 00:04:12,640 side of the spiritual spectrum and then you are helping them 80 00:04:12,640 --> 00:04:17,040 move to the right side. And we don't get to come up with 81 00:04:17,040 --> 00:04:20,120 our own mission. Jesus starts this whole sentence 82 00:04:20,120 --> 00:04:24,560 off with all authority has been given to not me to him. 83 00:04:25,160 --> 00:04:28,560 All authority belongs to Jesus. It is his mission, our job as 84 00:04:28,560 --> 00:04:30,360 Christians. We are bound. 85 00:04:30,760 --> 00:04:33,720 If you call yourself a Jesus follower, we are bound to be 86 00:04:33,720 --> 00:04:38,680 obedient to this and we must as a church make His last words our 87 00:04:38,680 --> 00:04:42,120 first priority. So what does this look like? 88 00:04:42,560 --> 00:04:45,880 It means that every single one of us need to be in the process 89 00:04:45,880 --> 00:04:49,040 of moving on the from the left side of the spiritual spectrum 90 00:04:49,640 --> 00:04:51,640 to the right as far as we possibly can. 91 00:04:51,640 --> 00:04:54,400 And it's not just us moving ourselves, it's us doing 92 00:04:54,400 --> 00:04:58,200 everything and our power to help other people do the same. 93 00:04:58,520 --> 00:05:00,280 And so you might be asking yourself at this point in the 94 00:05:00,280 --> 00:05:05,880 message, how do I move from the left side and take steps in the 95 00:05:05,880 --> 00:05:07,600 direction of moving to the right? 96 00:05:08,000 --> 00:05:10,520 Well, the Kingdom of God is not like your job, which is kind of 97 00:05:10,520 --> 00:05:13,000 a good thing, but it's not like the Kingdom of God. 98 00:05:13,000 --> 00:05:15,240 And that the longer you stick around, the more you get 99 00:05:15,240 --> 00:05:17,040 promoted. That is not how it works. 100 00:05:17,280 --> 00:05:20,400 Christianity is not a time served religion. 101 00:05:21,400 --> 00:05:26,320 The way you move from the left to the right is in two areas, in 102 00:05:26,320 --> 00:05:32,040 faith and in obedience. The way we move from left to 103 00:05:32,040 --> 00:05:36,240 right is taking steps in the area of our faith and in the 104 00:05:36,240 --> 00:05:41,520 area of our obedience. Your Your faith will never 105 00:05:42,120 --> 00:05:47,680 outpace your obedience. Your obedience will never 106 00:05:47,760 --> 00:05:52,560 outpace your faith. Wherever you find yourself 107 00:05:52,560 --> 00:05:57,400 struggling to be obedient is an area where you are having a hard 108 00:05:57,400 --> 00:06:00,840 time trusting God. That makes sense. 109 00:06:01,320 --> 00:06:05,040 It's hard to be obedient in an area where I don't believe that 110 00:06:05,040 --> 00:06:07,320 God will come through in that area. 111 00:06:07,880 --> 00:06:11,600 So if you're having an obedience issue, you have a faith issue. 112 00:06:12,400 --> 00:06:15,240 If you have, if you're trying to figure out how to take more 113 00:06:15,240 --> 00:06:20,280 steps in the area of your faith, you will look and where you are 114 00:06:20,280 --> 00:06:23,400 not being obedient is an area where you're struggling to 115 00:06:23,400 --> 00:06:26,480 believe. Your obedience and your faith 116 00:06:26,560 --> 00:06:31,600 run at the same speed. You will never be obedient in an 117 00:06:31,600 --> 00:06:35,800 area where you don't have faith, and you won't have faith in an 118 00:06:35,800 --> 00:06:38,040 area if you're not being obedient. 119 00:06:38,280 --> 00:06:42,600 So as your faith increases, so will your obedience. 120 00:06:42,880 --> 00:06:46,280 As your obedience increases, so will your faith. 121 00:06:46,680 --> 00:06:52,240 You will never be obedient in an area where you don't have faith. 122 00:06:52,600 --> 00:06:55,200 That is why I am so glad that you are here today at all of our 123 00:06:55,200 --> 00:06:59,600 different locations, especially the thousands of you who are 124 00:06:59,600 --> 00:07:01,440 joining online because you're nervous about the weather. 125 00:07:01,440 --> 00:07:03,240 We're glad you're here. I'm going to encourage you, 126 00:07:03,400 --> 00:07:06,240 don't vacuum, just sit. Pay attention to sermon. 127 00:07:06,520 --> 00:07:07,920 OK you. There'll be plenty of football 128 00:07:07,920 --> 00:07:09,720 this afternoon. Turn off all distractions so you 129 00:07:09,720 --> 00:07:12,360 can totally dial in. I also want to issue a very 130 00:07:12,360 --> 00:07:15,320 special welcome to those of you who are part of the Crossing 131 00:07:15,320 --> 00:07:18,040 Inside, celebrating 7 baptisms last month. 132 00:07:18,400 --> 00:07:22,480 We love you guys. Now our mission as a church is 133 00:07:22,480 --> 00:07:25,560 to help people find an intimate, personal relationship with Jesus 134 00:07:25,560 --> 00:07:28,280 Christ. And we have a big audacious goal 135 00:07:28,280 --> 00:07:31,400 as a church to make this region, the region where we do life and 136 00:07:31,400 --> 00:07:34,760 ministry, the hardest place on planet earth to get the hell 137 00:07:34,760 --> 00:07:37,160 from. And here is an uncomfortable 138 00:07:37,160 --> 00:07:40,880 truth. We cannot create the place we 139 00:07:40,880 --> 00:07:45,520 want to create unless we createspace to become the people 140 00:07:45,760 --> 00:07:50,040 that God created us to become. If there has to be a place for 141 00:07:50,040 --> 00:07:52,840 lost causes, and if there has to be a place that gives people 142 00:07:52,840 --> 00:07:55,560 time, and if there has to be a place that helps people find an 143 00:07:55,560 --> 00:07:58,480 intimate, personal relationship with Jesus Christ, if we want to 144 00:07:58,480 --> 00:08:00,320 make sure that that place exists. 145 00:08:00,600 --> 00:08:04,440 As Christians, as followers of Jesus, we need to make space in 146 00:08:04,440 --> 00:08:08,040 our lives to become the people that God desires us to become. 147 00:08:08,240 --> 00:08:12,680 We have to createspace to move from left to right. 148 00:08:13,280 --> 00:08:16,760 We have to createspace for us to become the people that God 149 00:08:16,760 --> 00:08:21,160 desires us to become. Therefore, in order to make this 150 00:08:21,160 --> 00:08:24,120 region the hardest place on planet earth to get to hell 151 00:08:24,120 --> 00:08:29,280 from, every single one of us need to createspace in our lives 152 00:08:29,280 --> 00:08:34,320 to spend time in God's Word so that God's Word gets in our 153 00:08:34,320 --> 00:08:39,280 lives. The single greatest discipline 154 00:08:39,760 --> 00:08:43,960 for spiritual growth is Bible engagement. 155 00:08:44,640 --> 00:08:48,800 If you are wanting to grow in your faith, if you're wanting to 156 00:08:48,800 --> 00:08:55,880 take moves from left to right, the number one discipline is 157 00:08:55,880 --> 00:09:00,560 Bible engagement. The problem is that survey after 158 00:09:00,560 --> 00:09:04,320 survey shows that people who kind of raise their hand and 159 00:09:04,320 --> 00:09:07,680 say, yeah, I'm a Christian, I'm a Jesus follower, do not 160 00:09:07,680 --> 00:09:11,240 prioritize engaging with the Scriptures. 161 00:09:11,760 --> 00:09:13,640 So here's just the stats. And I just want you to think 162 00:09:13,640 --> 00:09:18,240 about about, you know, where you would see yourself on in these 163 00:09:18,240 --> 00:09:20,240 stats. So other people who raise their 164 00:09:20,240 --> 00:09:22,600 hands and say, I'm a I'm a Christian, I believe in Jesus. 165 00:09:23,760 --> 00:09:28,600 45% of people spend less than once, one time a week reading 166 00:09:28,600 --> 00:09:33,200 the scriptures. 12% of people who call themselves Christians 167 00:09:34,280 --> 00:09:39,800 spend time once or twice a month reading the scriptures. 9% of 168 00:09:39,800 --> 00:09:42,280 Christians, several times a year, they're like, yeah, a 169 00:09:42,280 --> 00:09:43,840 couple times a year I open it up. 170 00:09:44,440 --> 00:09:50,960 And 33% of people who call themselves Christians seldom or 171 00:09:50,960 --> 00:09:56,760 never. What that means is that the vast 172 00:09:56,760 --> 00:09:59,760 majority of people who are saying that they are a Jesus 173 00:09:59,760 --> 00:10:03,520 follower have zero idea who they're following. 174 00:10:05,320 --> 00:10:08,600 How on earth can we create a place for people to encounter 175 00:10:08,600 --> 00:10:12,640 Jesus when most Christians don't encounter him? 176 00:10:14,200 --> 00:10:17,000 And I just don't want that to be true of us. 177 00:10:17,600 --> 00:10:20,720 The crazy thing is, I mean, this is you guys might be going all 178 00:10:20,720 --> 00:10:21,920 right. I don't know about you, Clayton. 179 00:10:21,920 --> 00:10:23,920 I think you're an idiot. The crazy thing is that 180 00:10:23,920 --> 00:10:27,040 scientific studies are starting to report, and this is going to 181 00:10:27,040 --> 00:10:29,920 catch you off guard that reading the Bible is actually good for 182 00:10:29,920 --> 00:10:33,040 you. Who would have thought if you 183 00:10:33,040 --> 00:10:34,960 were to list the problems facing our world today? 184 00:10:35,040 --> 00:10:38,680 OK, I'm just going to list some. I'm just how many of you would 185 00:10:38,680 --> 00:10:40,800 say, and this is this is group participation. 186 00:10:40,800 --> 00:10:43,080 How many would you say that people in our world today are 187 00:10:43,080 --> 00:10:49,240 are navigating loneliness? OK, How many people would say 188 00:10:49,240 --> 00:10:50,880 bitterness would be in the top ten list? 189 00:10:50,880 --> 00:10:52,400 Like there's just a bunch of bitter people. 190 00:10:52,400 --> 00:10:54,600 Yeah, everybody's everybody's gotten in laws, right. 191 00:10:55,680 --> 00:10:59,440 How many of you would say anger people are just angry trolls. 192 00:10:59,560 --> 00:11:02,960 Yeah, we've all got Instagram or Facebook. 193 00:11:03,440 --> 00:11:06,040 How many would say that self esteem is an issue that people 194 00:11:06,040 --> 00:11:09,280 are navigating and study after study shows that people are 195 00:11:09,280 --> 00:11:13,720 doing all kinds of self harm? So if we were to take all those, 196 00:11:14,640 --> 00:11:17,080 if you guys are just leaning in for a second, I would say that 197 00:11:17,080 --> 00:11:20,400 if I was to come up with a top ten list of things that people 198 00:11:20,400 --> 00:11:23,680 are struggling with, the things that I just mentioned would at 199 00:11:23,680 --> 00:11:25,600 least be in the top ten. All right. 200 00:11:26,240 --> 00:11:33,640 So they did a survey on 200,000 people between the ages of eight 201 00:11:34,120 --> 00:11:39,520 and 80, and they charted them over a period of time and they 202 00:11:39,520 --> 00:11:42,200 looked at people and they said, all right, spend 1. 203 00:11:42,920 --> 00:11:45,680 You know, I want you to spend time engaging in God's Word. 204 00:11:46,200 --> 00:11:50,000 And when they looked at a week, they noticed that the people who 205 00:11:50,000 --> 00:11:52,760 spent time in the Word one time a week, and they looked at 206 00:11:52,760 --> 00:11:54,720 people who are spending two times a week, they noticed 207 00:11:54,720 --> 00:11:58,120 almost no change. So if you're spending time on 208 00:11:58,160 --> 00:12:00,760 the Bible on Mondays and you're spending time in the Bible on 209 00:12:00,760 --> 00:12:03,720 Tuesdays, and then you were just kind of punting for the rest of 210 00:12:03,720 --> 00:12:09,240 the week, they saw zero change. But when they started looking at 211 00:12:09,240 --> 00:12:12,480 people who are spending time in God's Word 3 days or more a 212 00:12:12,480 --> 00:12:16,560 week, something changed. What they meant by Bible 213 00:12:16,560 --> 00:12:21,160 engagement was anybody who was spending four times or more a 214 00:12:21,160 --> 00:12:25,600 week engaged in the Scriptures. They noticed something 215 00:12:25,920 --> 00:12:28,160 different. So this is a person who goes, 216 00:12:28,160 --> 00:12:30,720 all right, I'm going to read the Bible on Monday, Tuesday, 217 00:12:30,800 --> 00:12:36,800 Wednesday, Thursday, and I might on Friday, Saturday or Sunday. 218 00:12:37,480 --> 00:12:41,440 Of the people that spent time four or more times a week, here 219 00:12:41,440 --> 00:12:45,680 is what they found. Loneliness dropped 30%. 220 00:12:47,200 --> 00:12:53,680 Bitterness dropped 43%. Anger drops 32%. 221 00:12:54,680 --> 00:13:01,320 Alcoholism drops 42%. Porn consumption drops 60%. 222 00:13:01,640 --> 00:13:04,080 Just reading the Bible helps you stop watching porn. 223 00:13:04,360 --> 00:13:06,520 Just holding a Bible in your hand makes it hard to watch 224 00:13:06,520 --> 00:13:07,800 porn. If you hold 2 bibles in your 225 00:13:07,800 --> 00:13:09,960 hand, it's almost impossible to watch porn. 226 00:13:10,000 --> 00:13:12,600 It's that powerful. Just holding the Bible will help 227 00:13:12,600 --> 00:13:16,440 you stop watching porn. Self harm drops 30%. 228 00:13:17,360 --> 00:13:26,120 Connectedness increases 30%. Self esteem rises 30% reading 229 00:13:26,120 --> 00:13:29,080 the Bible. Is that good for you? 230 00:13:30,320 --> 00:13:31,280 Some of you right now you're going. 231 00:13:31,280 --> 00:13:34,040 OK Clayton, I'm sold. You've done enough of a pitch. 232 00:13:34,040 --> 00:13:35,800 Where do I sign? You don't have to Foursquare me 233 00:13:35,800 --> 00:13:37,200 here. I'm I'm all in. 234 00:13:37,320 --> 00:13:39,480 What do I need to do? What I'm going to tell you is 235 00:13:39,520 --> 00:13:41,800 you're going Clayton. I want to make space, but I 236 00:13:41,800 --> 00:13:45,880 could use some helpful tips and tricks to become a Bible engaged 237 00:13:45,880 --> 00:13:50,000 person that this year 2025, I'm going to move from left to right 238 00:13:50,000 --> 00:13:52,600 and I want to grow and I'm going to createspace in my life to be 239 00:13:52,600 --> 00:13:55,520 Bible engaged. So here are Clayton's helpful 240 00:13:55,520 --> 00:13:59,680 tools, tips and tricks to became become a Bible engaged person. 241 00:14:00,080 --> 00:14:02,800 The first thing you need to do is you need a place. 242 00:14:03,480 --> 00:14:08,000 Find a chair, a desk, a couch, the favorite place where you are 243 00:14:08,000 --> 00:14:10,040 going to go and read your Bible. Now listen to me. 244 00:14:10,240 --> 00:14:11,560 You can read your Bible anywhere. 245 00:14:11,560 --> 00:14:13,720 You can listen to it everywhere. The other day I was making a 246 00:14:13,720 --> 00:14:16,760 drive and I just put the Bible on while I was driving. 247 00:14:16,920 --> 00:14:19,680 You can do all that, but what I would tell you is you need to 248 00:14:19,680 --> 00:14:23,920 create a space that you go to to interact with God's. 249 00:14:24,240 --> 00:14:26,840 You can do it anywhere, but when you create a space where you're 250 00:14:26,840 --> 00:14:27,960 like, you know, what are a place? 251 00:14:28,120 --> 00:14:29,920 Hey, I'm every morning, I'm going to come right over here. 252 00:14:29,920 --> 00:14:31,400 I'm going to sit down for a little bit and I'm going to 253 00:14:31,400 --> 00:14:33,560 spend time in God's word. The second thing you're going to 254 00:14:33,560 --> 00:14:34,840 need is you're going to need a time. 255 00:14:35,280 --> 00:14:38,080 When are you going to do it? You've got to where now we need 256 00:14:38,080 --> 00:14:41,160 to talk about a win. Now this is my recommendation. 257 00:14:41,160 --> 00:14:43,840 This is not in the Bible. This is not like a guarantee. 258 00:14:43,840 --> 00:14:46,040 Like this is how you win a Bible engagement. 259 00:14:46,040 --> 00:14:48,240 But I will just tell you that I think this makes a lot of sense 260 00:14:48,240 --> 00:14:49,920 and I think you guys are smart people. 261 00:14:49,920 --> 00:14:53,240 So you're going to agree with me now, Probably the best time to 262 00:14:53,240 --> 00:14:55,880 spend time in God's Word is one of the very first things you do 263 00:14:55,880 --> 00:14:58,200 in the morning. Why? 264 00:14:58,480 --> 00:15:01,400 How on earth do you plan to spend the entire day living for 265 00:15:01,400 --> 00:15:02,960 God if you haven't spent time with Him? 266 00:15:03,760 --> 00:15:06,840 So if you can fill yourself up before you pour out, that's 267 00:15:06,840 --> 00:15:10,520 probably beneficial. It gives you time in the day to 268 00:15:10,560 --> 00:15:12,880 actually implement what you learned. 269 00:15:13,640 --> 00:15:16,360 So the other day I got up and you might be like, hey, Clayton, 270 00:15:16,360 --> 00:15:17,600 it's not going to be the first thing I do. 271 00:15:17,600 --> 00:15:18,440 It's going to be the third thing. 272 00:15:18,440 --> 00:15:20,800 That's totally fine. I got up, went to the bathroom, 273 00:15:20,800 --> 00:15:23,560 made myself some bagels, ate the bagels because I didn't want to 274 00:15:23,560 --> 00:15:26,520 get cream cheese on my Bible, wash my hands, and then spend a 275 00:15:26,520 --> 00:15:28,600 little bit of time. Now, Speaking of that, you're 276 00:15:28,600 --> 00:15:31,520 going to need a Bible. Now, your phone is just fine. 277 00:15:31,520 --> 00:15:34,120 In fact, if you have the Bible app, the Holy Bible one, which 278 00:15:34,120 --> 00:15:36,360 is phenomenal, you can use that. It's super good. 279 00:15:36,360 --> 00:15:39,880 But what I would tell you is if you're going to use a electronic 280 00:15:39,880 --> 00:15:42,880 device, you need to turn off all the notifications because it 281 00:15:42,920 --> 00:15:45,480 you'll be like part way through a verse and then Fox News will 282 00:15:45,480 --> 00:15:47,760 send you an alert and then you're gone. 283 00:15:48,120 --> 00:15:51,320 You're off someplace else. So if you do it, you know, turn 284 00:15:51,320 --> 00:15:52,920 off all the distractions. That way you can gauge. 285 00:15:53,320 --> 00:15:55,320 Now you're going to need this Bible and you're going to want 286 00:15:55,320 --> 00:15:57,880 to pick a translation. Now, this is where a lot of 287 00:15:57,880 --> 00:15:59,680 people get twisted up. So I'm going to give you 288 00:15:59,680 --> 00:16:02,320 Clayton's tools, tips and tricks about how to figure out what 289 00:16:02,320 --> 00:16:04,920 Bible you want. There are all kinds of Bible 290 00:16:04,920 --> 00:16:06,160 versions. Well, let me back up before I 291 00:16:06,160 --> 00:16:10,080 give you the graphic. So unless you are fluent in 292 00:16:10,080 --> 00:16:13,360 Hebrew or Greek, which I would tell you is not worth it your 293 00:16:13,360 --> 00:16:19,040 time, Every every Bible that you have is a translation from these 294 00:16:19,040 --> 00:16:20,520 ancient texts. OK. 295 00:16:20,960 --> 00:16:24,480 And what people did is they made their own translation and 296 00:16:24,480 --> 00:16:26,360 they're trying to capture it to the best they can. 297 00:16:26,640 --> 00:16:29,040 And you're might, you'll hear people say this, this like if 298 00:16:29,040 --> 00:16:31,480 you're in a fight with somebody at work about all the different 299 00:16:31,480 --> 00:16:35,680 translations, if you are interpreting a, a different 300 00:16:35,680 --> 00:16:39,240 word, there's multiple words that we can use in our English 301 00:16:39,240 --> 00:16:44,120 language to put that word. So there's a connection and 302 00:16:44,120 --> 00:16:46,320 different translations have a different goal. 303 00:16:46,320 --> 00:16:47,480 And I'm going to unpack that for you. 304 00:16:47,480 --> 00:16:49,840 So here are a bunch of Bible translations. 305 00:16:50,280 --> 00:16:54,240 So all the way on the, as I'm looking at it all the way over 306 00:16:54,240 --> 00:16:59,640 here, you have what are called word for word translations. 307 00:17:00,240 --> 00:17:03,280 So when you're reading an NASB, the New American Standard Bible 308 00:17:03,280 --> 00:17:07,520 or the ESV, the English standard version, you are reading a word 309 00:17:07,760 --> 00:17:11,160 for word translation. So when you're reading it, it 310 00:17:11,160 --> 00:17:15,720 will be clunky, but it is in the same order as it was in the 311 00:17:15,720 --> 00:17:18,960 Septuagint. So however they said it in the 312 00:17:18,960 --> 00:17:21,680 Septuagint, it's how you're going to read it in English. 313 00:17:21,880 --> 00:17:26,880 And so when you're reading it, it will feel clunky, but it is 314 00:17:26,880 --> 00:17:30,600 as close as you can get to the original text. 315 00:17:31,000 --> 00:17:35,080 And then all the way over here you have thought for thought. 316 00:17:35,600 --> 00:17:39,400 So they are taking the sentence or the paragraph and they are 317 00:17:39,400 --> 00:17:44,840 putting it together in this to give you the thought for thought 318 00:17:44,840 --> 00:17:46,840 translation. So that's why if you're sitting 319 00:17:46,840 --> 00:17:48,880 next to somebody and they're reading out of the ESV and 320 00:17:48,880 --> 00:17:51,400 you're reading out of the NIV and you're going, these two 321 00:17:51,400 --> 00:17:54,360 things say a different thing. They are both saying the same 322 00:17:54,360 --> 00:17:59,120 thing in a different way. Now I also put on there those 323 00:17:59,120 --> 00:18:00,760 little numbers at the bottom. You might be, what are those 324 00:18:00,760 --> 00:18:02,480 numbers? Those are reading levels. 325 00:18:03,400 --> 00:18:06,400 So if you're going, hey, Clayton, I read, I'm I'm so 326 00:18:06,400 --> 00:18:09,160 smart. I've got so many degrees. 327 00:18:09,360 --> 00:18:12,640 You might love yourself a good You know, you don't need a 328 00:18:12,640 --> 00:18:14,400 thesaurus. You are a thesaurus. 329 00:18:14,640 --> 00:18:17,280 And if you don't get that joke, I would encourage you to 330 00:18:17,280 --> 00:18:19,960 leverage the 6th and 7th grade reading levels. 331 00:18:20,240 --> 00:18:21,800 And there is nothing wrong with those. 332 00:18:21,800 --> 00:18:25,200 In fact, as a church, what we leverage here at the Crossing is 333 00:18:25,200 --> 00:18:27,960 the NIV. It is right smack dab in the 334 00:18:27,960 --> 00:18:30,280 middle. It is a hybrid between word for 335 00:18:30,280 --> 00:18:33,080 word and thought for thought. And it is at a what is it? 336 00:18:33,080 --> 00:18:35,600 A 6th grade, 7th grade reading level. 337 00:18:35,880 --> 00:18:37,320 Easy. Now you might be going, but 338 00:18:37,320 --> 00:18:40,400 Clayton, I've been reading the NIV and I still don't get it. 339 00:18:40,680 --> 00:18:42,120 At least you understand the words. 340 00:18:42,120 --> 00:18:45,240 You may have a struggle with the content, but you at least have a 341 00:18:45,240 --> 00:18:47,240 way to make sure that you can read it. 342 00:18:47,560 --> 00:18:51,160 I want you when you engage in God's Word to enjoy it. 343 00:18:51,480 --> 00:18:54,640 And if you go after a 11th grade reading level, you might be 344 00:18:54,640 --> 00:18:57,920 going, I need a thesaurus because I'm struggling. 345 00:18:57,920 --> 00:19:01,080 All right, now you're going to need a place to start. 346 00:19:01,640 --> 00:19:04,240 And here is one of the biggest blunders that happens when 347 00:19:04,240 --> 00:19:05,760 people try to start reading the Bible. 348 00:19:06,040 --> 00:19:08,600 They start in the Old Testament. So they're reading Genesis, 349 00:19:08,600 --> 00:19:11,360 which is a killer book. They're reading majority of 350 00:19:11,360 --> 00:19:12,520 Exodus. They're like loving it. 351 00:19:12,760 --> 00:19:14,800 And then you get into some stuff and you're like, how did I get 352 00:19:14,800 --> 00:19:16,920 here? Now what I want you to know is 353 00:19:16,920 --> 00:19:20,480 that the way the Bible is set up is the Old Testament is the old 354 00:19:20,480 --> 00:19:22,720 covenant that God made with Israel. 355 00:19:23,280 --> 00:19:27,200 The New Testament is the new covenant, the new agreement that 356 00:19:27,200 --> 00:19:30,160 God made with us. So if you are going to start 357 00:19:30,160 --> 00:19:32,600 reading the Bible, you should start reading about the 358 00:19:32,600 --> 00:19:35,200 agreement that God has made with you and me. 359 00:19:35,400 --> 00:19:37,360 And I would start in the New Testament. 360 00:19:37,680 --> 00:19:40,000 Now, I know that there are some of you who are going, hey, I 361 00:19:40,000 --> 00:19:41,280 want to read through the Bible in a year. 362 00:19:41,280 --> 00:19:43,560 And I want you to know that that's an admirable goal, but 363 00:19:43,560 --> 00:19:47,120 that is should not be like a priority for you as a Christian. 364 00:19:47,120 --> 00:19:50,560 And I'll tell you why. The goal is not to consume a lot 365 00:19:50,560 --> 00:19:54,920 of biblical content. The goal is to obey the content, 366 00:19:55,840 --> 00:19:57,920 to allow the word of God to get into you. 367 00:19:58,640 --> 00:20:03,480 And so I would tell you, start in the New Testament and start 368 00:20:03,480 --> 00:20:06,320 in the Gospels. When you read the Gospels, which 369 00:20:06,320 --> 00:20:08,960 are the first four in the New Testament, Matthew, Mark, Luke, 370 00:20:08,960 --> 00:20:10,720 John, pick one of them and start reading. 371 00:20:10,960 --> 00:20:16,560 I just finished Luke and now I'm in First Corinthians but start 372 00:20:16,560 --> 00:20:19,640 in the New Testament. And if you're going, I'm going 373 00:20:19,640 --> 00:20:22,720 to read through the New Testament this year, check this 374 00:20:22,720 --> 00:20:24,920 out. The New Testament only has 260 375 00:20:24,920 --> 00:20:27,640 chapters, which means if you do 1A day, you're going to get 376 00:20:27,640 --> 00:20:31,720 through it with relative ease. It's only got about 8000 verses 377 00:20:31,720 --> 00:20:33,720 in it. So if you read 22 a day, you're 378 00:20:33,720 --> 00:20:34,760 going to get all the way through it. 379 00:20:34,760 --> 00:20:37,440 If you take it out over the whole year and while you're 380 00:20:37,440 --> 00:20:39,920 reading your chapter, you can read a bunch, You can read 5A 381 00:20:39,920 --> 00:20:42,520 day, which is a good discipline. But if you're just I'm just 382 00:20:42,520 --> 00:20:44,480 going to open up the Bible, I'm going to spend time in this 383 00:20:44,480 --> 00:20:46,520 chapter. When you're reading it, you want 384 00:20:46,520 --> 00:20:50,480 to find something to highlight. So you're going to want to get 385 00:20:50,480 --> 00:20:51,880 yourself, in my opinion, a highlighter. 386 00:20:51,880 --> 00:20:54,360 If you're on a phone, you press a little button and it should 387 00:20:54,360 --> 00:20:56,360 highlight for you. If you're looking for a real 388 00:20:56,360 --> 00:20:58,320 highlighter, I'll tell you the highlighter that I use the 389 00:20:58,320 --> 00:21:01,360 highlighter that I use is Mr. Pen. 390 00:21:02,080 --> 00:21:04,360 It's a Mr. Pen highlighter. Am IA dork. 391 00:21:04,480 --> 00:21:08,640 Yes, he has a mustache. The little the little Mr. Pen 392 00:21:08,640 --> 00:21:10,440 highlighter. I got like 20 of them. 393 00:21:10,560 --> 00:21:12,760 OK, here's why I like the Mr. Pen highlighter. 394 00:21:12,760 --> 00:21:15,080 If you're reading in a Bible, when you highlight, it doesn't 395 00:21:15,080 --> 00:21:17,480 bleed through really hard on your Bible pages. 396 00:21:17,720 --> 00:21:20,200 So you end up highlighting one thing on one side, then you flip 397 00:21:20,200 --> 00:21:22,120 it over and then you know somebody else would bring your 398 00:21:22,120 --> 00:21:23,160 Bible. Why'd you highlight that? 399 00:21:23,160 --> 00:21:24,440 I didn't. It's on this page. 400 00:21:24,440 --> 00:21:28,160 OK, so it's a great highlighter. And what are you going to 401 00:21:28,160 --> 00:21:29,280 highlight? Let me tell you what you're 402 00:21:29,280 --> 00:21:30,960 going to highlight every time you're reading the Bible. 403 00:21:30,960 --> 00:21:33,520 These are the four things you need to look at here at the 404 00:21:33,520 --> 00:21:36,840 crossing. When you do a DBS, we talk about 405 00:21:36,840 --> 00:21:44,400 the speck SPEC there. Yeah, SPECSA sin to avoid. 406 00:21:45,080 --> 00:21:47,360 So when you're reading your Bible and you're like, Oh my 407 00:21:47,360 --> 00:21:50,360 goodness, I need to stop doing that. 408 00:21:50,440 --> 00:21:53,080 Highlight that. I want to stop doing that. 409 00:21:53,160 --> 00:21:58,560 OK, then the P is a promise to claim. 410 00:21:59,560 --> 00:22:03,200 A promise to claim. You're going to want to cling to 411 00:22:03,200 --> 00:22:05,880 these promises when you're going through the dark days of life, 412 00:22:05,880 --> 00:22:08,360 when you're having struggles of faith, you're going to need 413 00:22:08,360 --> 00:22:11,440 promises to claim. Most of the time when I land the 414 00:22:11,440 --> 00:22:13,480 plane here at our 48th St. location. 415 00:22:13,680 --> 00:22:15,280 Do you know what verses I'm using? 416 00:22:15,280 --> 00:22:18,120 When I'm talking about the very end of our service, I'm usually 417 00:22:18,120 --> 00:22:24,560 telling you a promise to claim. E an example to follow. 418 00:22:25,320 --> 00:22:27,360 Hey, this is how this person was following God. 419 00:22:27,560 --> 00:22:30,600 I want to follow God like that. When you're reading about Jesus 420 00:22:30,600 --> 00:22:32,880 and you see how Jesus deals with people, you're like, oh, that's 421 00:22:32,880 --> 00:22:35,120 a great example for me to follow. 422 00:22:35,440 --> 00:22:40,720 And then C is a command to obey. We're going to leave it up for a 423 00:22:40,720 --> 00:22:42,680 second for those of you want to take pictures like I need to 424 00:22:42,680 --> 00:22:45,200 know what spec is a command to obey. 425 00:22:45,520 --> 00:22:49,000 So the Bible says don't let your you know the the sun go down on 426 00:22:49,000 --> 00:22:51,360 your anger. You're like that's a command to 427 00:22:51,360 --> 00:22:53,800 obey, love your enemies, pray for those who persecute you. 428 00:22:53,800 --> 00:22:59,600 That is a command to obey. So speck sin to avoid promise to 429 00:22:59,600 --> 00:23:02,320 claim example to follow command to obey. 430 00:23:02,920 --> 00:23:04,760 And when you do this, here's what it's doing. 431 00:23:05,000 --> 00:23:09,200 It is giving you a chance to not just learn God's word, not just 432 00:23:09,200 --> 00:23:12,080 consume God's word, but to obey it. 433 00:23:12,520 --> 00:23:18,640 It moves us from left to right through faith and obedience. 434 00:23:18,880 --> 00:23:21,480 Now, if you bump into something when you're reading the Bible 435 00:23:21,480 --> 00:23:24,200 and you're going to bump into stuff, it happens to every 436 00:23:24,200 --> 00:23:26,160 single one of us. You're going to bump into 437 00:23:26,160 --> 00:23:28,800 something like I don't necessarily understand this, and 438 00:23:28,800 --> 00:23:31,120 I love it when you reach out to me, and I love it when you reach 439 00:23:31,120 --> 00:23:34,160 out to our staff. But before you do that, I want 440 00:23:34,160 --> 00:23:40,920 to give you a great resource. It is gotquestions.org. 441 00:23:41,400 --> 00:23:45,200 Got questions.org? I have not read every article on 442 00:23:45,200 --> 00:23:48,520 this site, but it is one of my favorite sites. 443 00:23:48,520 --> 00:23:51,960 If you were to take all of the books and commentaries that I 444 00:23:51,960 --> 00:23:54,760 have in my office and all of the software that I have on my 445 00:23:54,760 --> 00:23:59,280 computer, and you were to make it basically free and online, it 446 00:23:59,280 --> 00:24:03,360 would be gotquestions.org. I would say of the stuff that I 447 00:24:03,360 --> 00:24:07,960 have read there, I agree with like 90 to 95% of it. 448 00:24:08,360 --> 00:24:12,320 So whatever answer you get from there will be like 90 to 95% of 449 00:24:12,320 --> 00:24:14,040 what I would tell you, only it would be better. 450 00:24:14,600 --> 00:24:18,840 Remember, the more you spend time with something, the more it 451 00:24:18,840 --> 00:24:21,920 will make sense to you. If you are just starting to grow 452 00:24:21,920 --> 00:24:24,640 in your relationship with God and just starting to spend time 453 00:24:24,640 --> 00:24:28,040 in God's Word, you're going to have more bumps relationally 454 00:24:28,320 --> 00:24:31,040 because you're, you're growing in your understanding. 455 00:24:31,320 --> 00:24:34,360 How many of you, I don't really want to make God a weird uncle, 456 00:24:34,360 --> 00:24:36,760 but how many of you have like a weird person in your family tree 457 00:24:37,840 --> 00:24:41,000 and then somebody starts dating somebody and they bring him 458 00:24:41,000 --> 00:24:45,200 around, you know, weird Uncle Bob, and they're trying to 459 00:24:45,200 --> 00:24:47,160 figure out how to make sense of weird Uncle Bob. 460 00:24:47,680 --> 00:24:50,040 And you're like, well, that's just Uncle Bob because everybody 461 00:24:50,040 --> 00:24:52,480 else knows him, so he's being sarcastic. 462 00:24:52,480 --> 00:24:54,320 And the other person trying to figure out, do they hate me? 463 00:24:54,320 --> 00:24:56,160 No, that's just Uncle Bob. That's just how he is. 464 00:24:56,560 --> 00:24:59,200 The more you spend time in God's Word, the more you're going to 465 00:24:59,200 --> 00:25:02,680 understand God. The less you spend time with 466 00:25:02,680 --> 00:25:05,640 Him, the harder you're going to have a good time understanding 467 00:25:05,640 --> 00:25:07,400 Him. So when you have a fuller 468 00:25:07,400 --> 00:25:11,360 context of who God is when you find yourself with a bump in the 469 00:25:11,360 --> 00:25:14,680 text, you'll be able to navigate that bump more seamlessly 470 00:25:14,680 --> 00:25:18,040 because you have a broader picture, a deeper understanding. 471 00:25:18,240 --> 00:25:21,400 Time with God helps us understand God's Word. 472 00:25:21,840 --> 00:25:25,600 However, don't just stop at putting in time with God's Word. 473 00:25:26,240 --> 00:25:30,400 Do what it says. You see, reading the Bible will 474 00:25:30,400 --> 00:25:33,520 awaken your faith because you will see that time and time 475 00:25:33,520 --> 00:25:36,280 again God has proven Himself trustworthy. 476 00:25:36,800 --> 00:25:41,280 As your faith awakens, it will allow you to grow and take steps 477 00:25:41,280 --> 00:25:45,040 in the direction of obedience. James, who is Jesus's brother, 478 00:25:45,040 --> 00:25:50,240 says this in chapter 1 verse 22. Do not merely listen to the Word 479 00:25:50,280 --> 00:25:58,560 and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 480 00:25:59,200 --> 00:26:02,520 Simply reading the Bible will leave you deceived. 481 00:26:05,760 --> 00:26:10,200 It's when we start to do what the Bible says that we start to 482 00:26:10,200 --> 00:26:12,480 take steps in the direction of obedience. 483 00:26:12,840 --> 00:26:16,920 Sadly, of all the people that are Christians, very few people 484 00:26:16,920 --> 00:26:19,560 are reading their Bible. And those that are reading their 485 00:26:19,560 --> 00:26:23,560 Bible, they are deceived because they're not doing what it says. 486 00:26:23,960 --> 00:26:26,320 They can quote all kinds of verses in the Bible, but they 487 00:26:26,320 --> 00:26:28,560 have yet to live any of them out. 488 00:26:29,200 --> 00:26:32,090 There's a quote in the bathroom at my mother in 489 00:26:51,720 --> 00:26:54,560 And I love that quote because this guy's looking at this other 490 00:26:54,560 --> 00:26:55,800 guy. You've got all the answers 491 00:26:55,800 --> 00:26:58,080 figured out, but you're just as broke as I am. 492 00:26:59,040 --> 00:27:01,240 The bottom line is, if you know all this stuff, how come you 493 00:27:01,240 --> 00:27:02,760 haven't put any of this into your life? 494 00:27:02,920 --> 00:27:05,480 How come your life looks the exact same as mine? 495 00:27:05,600 --> 00:27:08,440 That's why reading the Bible is important, but doing what it 496 00:27:08,440 --> 00:27:12,880 says matters more that when you start living out the things in 497 00:27:12,880 --> 00:27:15,320 Scripture is where the growth actually happens. 498 00:27:15,760 --> 00:27:19,160 You see, the Bible is a guide for making disciples and 499 00:27:19,160 --> 00:27:20,960 training ourselves and godly living. 500 00:27:20,960 --> 00:27:22,360 Look what it says in Second Timothy. 501 00:27:23,120 --> 00:27:26,200 All Scripture is God breathed and useful for teaching, 502 00:27:26,440 --> 00:27:30,240 rebuking, correcting, and training and righteousness so 503 00:27:30,240 --> 00:27:34,920 that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every 504 00:27:35,120 --> 00:27:37,560 good work. If you are not spending time in 505 00:27:37,560 --> 00:27:41,240 God's Word, you are not thoroughly equipped for all the 506 00:27:41,240 --> 00:27:44,600 good works that are going to come your way for you to do. 507 00:27:45,000 --> 00:27:46,840 The Bible is our defense against sin. 508 00:27:46,840 --> 00:27:48,640 Raise your hand if you'd like to sin less. 509 00:27:49,520 --> 00:27:50,560 Didn't raise your hand. Weird. 510 00:27:50,640 --> 00:27:53,880 OK. Psalm 11911 I have hidden your 511 00:27:53,880 --> 00:27:57,400 word in my heart that I might not sin against you. 512 00:27:57,600 --> 00:28:01,520 Spending time in God's word helps us to sin less. 513 00:28:01,840 --> 00:28:03,440 The bottom. Would you say that our world 514 00:28:03,440 --> 00:28:05,960 right now is a dark place? There's a lot of crazy stuff 515 00:28:05,960 --> 00:28:07,240 going on. I'm glad you raised your hand 516 00:28:07,240 --> 00:28:08,240 there. Look what it says in Psalm 517 00:28:08,240 --> 00:28:12,920 119105. Your word is a lamp for my feet, 518 00:28:12,920 --> 00:28:16,640 a light on my path. It will illuminate your way in a 519 00:28:16,640 --> 00:28:19,640 Dark World. The Bible is our weapon against 520 00:28:19,640 --> 00:28:22,600 the enemy Satan. Jesus was in the desert. 521 00:28:22,600 --> 00:28:26,720 He was tempted three times by Satan, and all three times, 522 00:28:26,800 --> 00:28:30,920 guess what? Jesus used Scripture, He used 523 00:28:30,920 --> 00:28:34,840 the Word of God to defeat the temptations of the devil. 524 00:28:35,320 --> 00:28:39,640 This might be one of the areas where Satan has been attacking 525 00:28:39,640 --> 00:28:45,080 you the most, as he's been doing everything in his power to get 526 00:28:45,080 --> 00:28:48,360 you to be a person who raises your hand and calls yourself a 527 00:28:48,360 --> 00:28:52,160 Christian, but spends no time, no time in the Word of God. 528 00:28:52,600 --> 00:28:55,720 And so he is coming in and he is trying to keep you. 529 00:28:56,640 --> 00:29:01,200 He doesn't want you to grow, He wants you to maintain the status 530 00:29:01,200 --> 00:29:04,280 quo. What if you were to see you 531 00:29:04,320 --> 00:29:10,400 engaging in God's Word as you fighting against Satan and every 532 00:29:10,400 --> 00:29:13,840 time you don't read God's word you were to have to go to your 533 00:29:13,840 --> 00:29:17,480 little marker board and go Satan 1 today. 534 00:29:19,080 --> 00:29:22,160 Because if Satan can keep you from the Word of God, he will 535 00:29:22,160 --> 00:29:25,480 keep you from understanding who you are in Christ. 536 00:29:26,040 --> 00:29:28,720 Because when you read the Bible, it will clarify your purpose, 537 00:29:28,720 --> 00:29:31,680 eliminate your identity, equip you to make a difference, and 538 00:29:31,680 --> 00:29:33,840 allow you to see through the devil's schemes. 539 00:29:34,160 --> 00:29:37,200 It will heighten your spiritual awareness, break your heart for 540 00:29:37,200 --> 00:29:41,080 the things of God, and awaken your desire to wage war against 541 00:29:41,080 --> 00:29:45,080 the pain and suffering that sin and Satan are causing all across 542 00:29:45,080 --> 00:29:48,000 this region. More importantly, when you read 543 00:29:48,000 --> 00:29:51,080 the Bible, you will have the answers to life's biggest 544 00:29:51,080 --> 00:29:54,600 questions that those around you desperately need. 545 00:29:55,640 --> 00:30:00,920 But more important than that is when you read the Bible, He will 546 00:30:00,920 --> 00:30:03,960 reveal that. It will reveal to you the person 547 00:30:04,440 --> 00:30:08,800 and the power of Jesus. Let me show you when you read 548 00:30:08,800 --> 00:30:11,840 Genesis, you're going to find out that Jesus is a creator and 549 00:30:11,840 --> 00:30:14,280 our promised Redeemer. When you read Exodus, you'll 550 00:30:14,280 --> 00:30:16,200 find out that he is the Passover lamb. 551 00:30:16,360 --> 00:30:18,560 When you read Leviticus, you're going to find out that he's the 552 00:30:18,560 --> 00:30:20,320 high priest. When you read Numbers, you're 553 00:30:20,320 --> 00:30:22,280 going to realize that he is water in the desert. 554 00:30:22,480 --> 00:30:25,120 In Deuteronomy, you're going to realize that Jesus becomes the 555 00:30:25,120 --> 00:30:27,720 curse for us. When you read Joshua, you'll 556 00:30:27,720 --> 00:30:31,240 realize that Jesus is the commander of the Lord's army and 557 00:30:31,240 --> 00:30:33,400 judges that he will deliver us from injustice. 558 00:30:33,400 --> 00:30:37,440 And Ruth, our kinsmen Redeemer. And for Samuel, our all in He is 559 00:30:37,440 --> 00:30:39,160 the prophet, priest, priest and king. 560 00:30:39,320 --> 00:30:41,520 In Second Samuel, he's the king of grace and love. 561 00:30:41,720 --> 00:30:44,320 In First Kings he is a ruler greater than Solomon. 562 00:30:44,640 --> 00:30:46,920 In Second Kings, he's the powerful prophet in First 563 00:30:46,920 --> 00:30:49,640 Chronicles, the son of David that is coming to rule in Second 564 00:30:49,640 --> 00:30:51,880 Chronicles, the king who reigns eternally. 565 00:30:52,080 --> 00:30:54,920 In Ezra, he's the priest proclaiming freedom. 566 00:30:54,920 --> 00:30:58,880 In Nehemiah, he's the one who restores what is broken down and 567 00:30:58,880 --> 00:31:02,320 Esther he's the protector of his people and Job the mediator 568 00:31:02,320 --> 00:31:05,120 between God and man. In Psalms, our song in the 569 00:31:05,120 --> 00:31:08,160 morning and our song at night. In Proverbs he's our wisdom. 570 00:31:08,160 --> 00:31:11,360 In Ecclesiastes are meaning for life and song of Psalm, the 571 00:31:11,400 --> 00:31:15,760 author of faithful love. And Isaiah he's the suffering 572 00:31:15,760 --> 00:31:17,600 servant. Jeremiah, the weeping Messiah 573 00:31:17,600 --> 00:31:22,960 limitations, he assumes God's wrath for us. 574 00:31:23,000 --> 00:31:24,680 And Ezekiel, he's the son of man. 575 00:31:24,880 --> 00:31:28,520 And Daniel, he's the stranger in the fire with us. 576 00:31:28,520 --> 00:31:32,400 In Hosea he's the faithful husband even when we run away. 577 00:31:32,560 --> 00:31:34,920 And Joel, he's sending his spirit to his people. 578 00:31:35,120 --> 00:31:37,480 And Amos, he delivers justice to the oppressed. 579 00:31:37,640 --> 00:31:40,080 And Obadiah, he's the judge of those who do evil. 580 00:31:40,200 --> 00:31:43,280 And Jonah, he's the greatest missionary ever. 581 00:31:43,280 --> 00:31:47,600 And Micah, he casts our sea or our sin into the sea of 582 00:31:47,600 --> 00:31:50,560 forgetfulness. And Nahum, he proclaims a future 583 00:31:50,560 --> 00:31:53,600 World Peace that you and I can barely even imagine. 584 00:31:53,760 --> 00:31:57,440 In Habakkuk he overcomes and crushes justice and justice. 585 00:31:57,440 --> 00:31:59,520 And Zephaniah, he's the warrior who saves. 586 00:31:59,720 --> 00:32:01,600 And Haggai, he restores our worship. 587 00:32:01,840 --> 00:32:05,440 And Zechariah, he is the promised Messiah who is pierced 588 00:32:05,440 --> 00:32:08,040 on our behalf. And Malachi, he is the son of 589 00:32:08,040 --> 00:32:09,600 Righte consciousness who brings healing. 590 00:32:09,800 --> 00:32:11,960 And when you start reading in the New Testament, you'll 591 00:32:11,960 --> 00:32:14,400 realize in Matthew he's the Messiah who is a king. 592 00:32:14,600 --> 00:32:16,560 And Mark he's the Messiah who's a servant. 593 00:32:16,720 --> 00:32:18,760 And Luke, he's the Messiah who's a deliverer. 594 00:32:18,880 --> 00:32:23,200 And John, he's the Messiah who is God in the flesh and acts. 595 00:32:23,200 --> 00:32:26,680 He is the Spirit who dwells and empowers his people. 596 00:32:26,680 --> 00:32:28,720 In Romans he's the righteousness of God. 597 00:32:28,920 --> 00:32:32,080 In First Corinthians he's the power of love and of God. 598 00:32:32,320 --> 00:32:35,560 In Second Corinthians he is the down payment for what is yet to 599 00:32:35,560 --> 00:32:37,840 come. In Galatians, he's our very life 600 00:32:38,040 --> 00:32:39,920 and he Ephesians, he's the unity of the church. 601 00:32:39,920 --> 00:32:42,120 In Philippians, he's our joy in life. 602 00:32:42,120 --> 00:32:45,760 In Colossians he holds the supreme position over all 603 00:32:45,760 --> 00:32:47,480 things. In First Thessalonians he's our 604 00:32:47,480 --> 00:32:49,280 comfort. In the last days and 2nd 605 00:32:49,320 --> 00:32:51,160 Thessalonians he is our returning king. 606 00:32:51,360 --> 00:32:55,000 And First Timothy he's the savior of the worst sinners. 607 00:32:55,000 --> 00:32:57,360 And Second Timothy, he is the leader of leaders. 608 00:32:57,360 --> 00:32:59,080 In Titus, he's the foundation for truth. 609 00:32:59,280 --> 00:33:02,440 In Philemon, he's our mediator. In Hebrews he's our great high 610 00:33:02,440 --> 00:33:04,680 priest. And James, he matures our faith. 611 00:33:04,680 --> 00:33:07,880 And 1st Peter, he's our hope in times of suffering. 612 00:33:08,080 --> 00:33:10,360 And second Peter, he's the one who guards us from false 613 00:33:10,360 --> 00:33:12,480 teaching. And 1st John, he's the source of 614 00:33:12,480 --> 00:33:14,640 all fellowship. And 2nd John he's got in the 615 00:33:14,640 --> 00:33:16,600 flesh. And 3rd John, he's the source of 616 00:33:16,600 --> 00:33:18,960 all truth. And Jude, he protects us from 617 00:33:18,960 --> 00:33:21,040 stumbling and walking away from our faith. 618 00:33:21,040 --> 00:33:24,080 And in Revelation he is the King of kings, the Lord of Lords, the 619 00:33:24,080 --> 00:33:26,320 Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. 620 00:33:26,320 --> 00:33:31,000 And he is coming again, and he is going to make all things new. 621 00:33:31,080 --> 00:33:34,280 No wonder Satan doesn't want you to read your Bible because if 622 00:33:34,280 --> 00:33:37,600 you were to read your Bible, it would change you. 623 00:33:38,240 --> 00:33:39,840 We're moving to a time of decision. 624 00:33:43,080 --> 00:33:46,040 For those of you in here and for those of you watching online, if 625 00:33:46,040 --> 00:33:49,040 you don't have a relationship with Jesus, maybe there's some 626 00:33:49,040 --> 00:33:51,560 questions that you are asking that just have not been asked. 627 00:33:51,560 --> 00:33:54,320 And I just want to tell you, don't put off asking those 628 00:33:54,320 --> 00:33:58,640 questions any longer. When you start reading your 629 00:33:58,640 --> 00:34:01,600 Bible, no matter where you pick, if you said Clayton, I'm not 630 00:34:01,600 --> 00:34:02,800 going to listen to anything you said. 631 00:34:02,800 --> 00:34:04,320 I'm starting wherever I want to start. 632 00:34:04,320 --> 00:34:08,080 I'm going to close my eyes, find a page, and start reading it. 633 00:34:08,400 --> 00:34:10,520 Fine. But when you read the Old 634 00:34:10,520 --> 00:34:13,920 Testament, you're going to find out that God used messed up 635 00:34:13,920 --> 00:34:18,120 people over and over and over again in a mighty way when they 636 00:34:18,120 --> 00:34:21,000 turn their lives over to Him. When you find yourself in the 637 00:34:21,000 --> 00:34:24,080 funky parts of the Bible and you're reading the genealogy and 638 00:34:24,080 --> 00:34:28,000 it's basically a long, long list of names that you don't know and 639 00:34:28,000 --> 00:34:31,719 that you can barely pronounce. What you'll find out is that God 640 00:34:31,719 --> 00:34:35,080 can bring incredible things out of messed up families and that 641 00:34:35,080 --> 00:34:39,040 he can use jacked up people to bring about redemption in the 642 00:34:39,040 --> 00:34:41,960 lives of people around you. When you read the New Testament, 643 00:34:42,440 --> 00:34:46,560 most of what you will read in the New Testament was written by 644 00:34:46,560 --> 00:34:49,840 one of the worst guys on planet earth at the time. 645 00:34:50,719 --> 00:34:53,960 He says he was, and nobody in the Bible disagreed with him. 646 00:34:54,520 --> 00:34:58,880 Like this guy is as jacked up as you could possibly be and he's 647 00:34:58,880 --> 00:35:03,120 proof no matter how messed up you've been, you cannot outrun 648 00:35:03,280 --> 00:35:07,200 the grace and mercy and love and redemption of our Lord and 649 00:35:07,200 --> 00:35:10,240 Savior Jesus Christ. And God got a hold of him and 650 00:35:10,240 --> 00:35:14,480 completely turned him around and used his life and his ministry 651 00:35:14,680 --> 00:35:17,960 empowered by the Holy Spirit to write the very words that have 652 00:35:17,960 --> 00:35:20,120 been drawing people to Him every day. 653 00:35:20,880 --> 00:35:24,680 In fact, you will read words from him in 2nd Corinthians 517, 654 00:35:24,920 --> 00:35:27,280 one of my all time favorite scriptures. 655 00:35:27,600 --> 00:35:31,920 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, they are a new creation. 656 00:35:33,000 --> 00:35:37,080 The old is gone, the new has come. 657 00:35:38,480 --> 00:35:42,960 All of that is available in the person and the work of Jesus. 658 00:35:43,600 --> 00:35:47,560 I'm proof that means that the same thing that happened to all 659 00:35:47,560 --> 00:35:50,360 the people in the Old Testament and all the people in the New 660 00:35:50,360 --> 00:35:54,320 Testament and all the people from the time of Jesus to write. 661 00:35:54,720 --> 00:35:59,440 Now people have encountered not just the word of God, but the 662 00:35:59,600 --> 00:36:03,000 person of God and the power of a spirit, and their lives have 663 00:36:03,000 --> 00:36:06,480 been transformed. And that can be true of you 664 00:36:06,760 --> 00:36:09,920 today. So just a few moments when the 665 00:36:09,920 --> 00:36:12,280 people around you stand and start singing and come to the 666 00:36:12,280 --> 00:36:14,320 steps and pray. I want to encourage you if 667 00:36:14,320 --> 00:36:16,680 you're in the room, to walk right over there underneath that 668 00:36:16,680 --> 00:36:17,960 screen next to the Baptist today. 669 00:36:17,960 --> 00:36:19,440 I got to start getting this thing right. 670 00:36:19,800 --> 00:36:22,120 Maybe you turn and talk to somebody who brought with you or 671 00:36:22,120 --> 00:36:23,560 who brought you or who's sitting with you. 672 00:36:24,160 --> 00:36:26,000 To those of you online, especially those of you who are 673 00:36:26,000 --> 00:36:29,120 new to online, there's a button that just populated in the chat. 674 00:36:29,280 --> 00:36:31,600 And if you click on that, some of our team will take you into a 675 00:36:31,600 --> 00:36:34,840 private chair chat where you can just talk with them about what's 676 00:36:34,840 --> 00:36:37,360 going on in your life without everybody knowing your business. 677 00:36:37,880 --> 00:36:39,600 And it's a great opportunity for you to start going. 678 00:36:39,600 --> 00:36:41,160 You know what? I need to ask some questions and 679 00:36:41,160 --> 00:36:45,280 get them things figured out. To those of you who already have 680 00:36:45,280 --> 00:36:47,440 a relationship with Jesus Christ, hear me. 681 00:36:48,400 --> 00:36:51,880 If this indeed is going to be a group of people trying with 682 00:36:51,880 --> 00:36:54,760 everything in their power to make this place the hardest 683 00:36:54,760 --> 00:36:58,520 place on planet earth for people to get the help from, we have to 684 00:36:58,520 --> 00:37:00,960 createspace in our lives to become the people that God 685 00:37:00,960 --> 00:37:04,520 created us to become. We cannot possibly expect to 686 00:37:04,520 --> 00:37:07,720 make the difference that God expects us to make if we are not 687 00:37:07,720 --> 00:37:10,040 spending time with Him in His Word. 688 00:37:10,400 --> 00:37:13,120 So would you do something? Would you start off this year 689 00:37:13,120 --> 00:37:14,880 spending some time on your knees and prayer? 690 00:37:15,600 --> 00:37:18,080 Pray that this year you'll be a person who makes space to spend 691 00:37:18,080 --> 00:37:20,800 time in God's Word. Pray for other people in our 692 00:37:20,800 --> 00:37:22,880 church who are getting ready to make the same commitment. 693 00:37:23,160 --> 00:37:26,680 Cover them in prayer so that we can become the people that God 694 00:37:26,680 --> 00:37:29,360 desperately wants us to be. Would you stand with me, 695 00:37:32,440 --> 00:37:35,560 Heavenly Father? You, more than anybody, knows 696 00:37:35,560 --> 00:37:39,840 exactly the amount of power and potential lies in this moment. 697 00:37:42,960 --> 00:37:47,560 And you know how bad Satan wants to prevent it from happening. 698 00:37:49,320 --> 00:37:53,960 If he can keep us cold and lukewarm in our faith, he can 699 00:37:53,960 --> 00:37:56,760 keep our faith low when our obedience low, which means that 700 00:37:56,760 --> 00:37:58,800 life change and impact will be low. 701 00:38:00,040 --> 00:38:02,920 But God, if we could become people of your word, if we 702 00:38:02,920 --> 00:38:10,360 craved it like we do real food, I have no way of imagining what 703 00:38:10,360 --> 00:38:12,880 kind of work you could do through us and in us. 704 00:38:14,520 --> 00:38:21,440 So, God, this year in this church, would you create in us a 705 00:38:21,440 --> 00:38:27,040 hunger for your word? And God, we can't do this on our 706 00:38:27,040 --> 00:38:28,560 own. It's going to be a spiritual 707 00:38:28,560 --> 00:38:32,240 battle. And so we're asking you in our 708 00:38:32,240 --> 00:38:37,040 weakness to be our strength and our busyness to create a 709 00:38:37,040 --> 00:38:38,920 desperation to find time with you. 710 00:38:40,080 --> 00:38:44,840 God, as we're reading your Word, speak to us and press upon us. 711 00:38:45,080 --> 00:38:48,880 Don't be difficult to find. Your word promises that those 712 00:38:48,880 --> 00:38:51,320 who seek fine, those who ask will receive. 713 00:38:51,800 --> 00:38:54,640 And so God, we plan on seeking you this year like never before. 714 00:38:55,120 --> 00:38:58,200 And we're going to ask like never before so we can become 715 00:38:58,200 --> 00:39:00,840 more like you than ever before. And am I praying? 716 00:39:01,080 --> 00:39:01,480 Amen.