HOW THE BIBLE CHANGES US
By John Donnelly for CCQF, utilizing
material from Rick Warren
I want to welcome everybody
to week two of 40 Days in the Word. This
weekend I want us to look at the theme of How the Bible Changes Us, and the
changes that are for the good.
The Bible is unlike any other
book. That’s why we call it the Holy Bible. It has a power, a supernatural power in it,
that no other book has, to change lives. You see
the Bible according to the Lord, is God-breathed. The reason why the Bible has the power to
change our lives is because it’s not just words in print. It’s not just human
ideas. It’s not just pop psychology. It is the Word of God.
The Word of God is the most
powerful thing in the universe. In fact,
the Bible says the entire universe was created by the Word of God. God spoke it into existence. God speaks and it happens! So the Word of God spoke. The Bible as God said, please repeat after me,
“Let there be light,” and then the light
appeared. God said, Let there be this and
bam, there’s that. Over and over. God speaks life into people. You see for God, his words and actions are
intimately connected. When Jesus was walking
on the planet two thousand years ago he brought people back to life simply by
his Word. These were widely seen
miracles not attested to by two or three people but four, five hundred people
at a time.
I don’t have a power like
that. You don’t have a power like that
because we’re not God. But the power of God’s Word is that God can create
things and bring them into existence. That’s
enormous power.
So if God can do that, then
God’s Word can change our reality, too.
· If you have sinned, God’s Word proclaims through his word that you are
forgiven.
· If you are sad, God’s Word proclaims that he will
comfort you.
· If you are angry, God’s Word of peace can liberate
you.
Jesus
said that his words were more than just words, they were spirit and life. The Bible says this in John 6:63 “The words I have spoken to you are spirit
and they are life.” In other words
Jesus says, when I talk it’s not just words.
We’re talking about spiritual power.
1.
The first way that God’s Word changes me is it
recreates my life.
God’s Word can recreate my life. What does that mean? It means when my life is falling apart, when my
life has gone to the dogs, when my life is… I feel like it’s at the end of the
rope, God comes in and recreates my life.
He gives me a whole new life. He
gives me a fresh start. He lets me begin again.
I saw the power of God’s Word
creating new life in a grieving couple, who found Christ’s love is this past
week at Christ Church Quaker Farms. As
most of you know, this couple lost their 3 yr. old -daughter, Lily, in an irresponsibly reckless and unnecessary care accident that
occurred on the road in front of our church.
Early this week, I visited
with the parents, whom I had never met before. As you can imagine, their hearts
were shattered like broken glass, shattering across the floor. Hearts broken in pieces too numerous to
count, resulting in an unending flood of tears and sorrow. Likewise, everybody
who heard the news reacted with horror and sorrow.
· As did Leigh Brooks and Anne Marie Sharon of this
parish. The 2 of them wondered how they
might help the parents, whom they did not know.
So at that moment, they decided to be doers of the word of God. The operative verse here is Micah 6:8, which
I would like for you to repeat after me, “What does God require of you…….
So, Anne Marie & Leigh decide to love
mercy. They chose to make heart shaped memorial pins. The next 2
days, a couple dozen of their friends joined them here at church, where
together, they made 650 of them.
· Next, once Marilyn Stebar learned that the child’s funeral was going to be here, she
decided to love mercy by hosting a reception for the grieving family and their
friends. And then, lo and behold, dozens
and dozens of people joined her in making food donations, decorations, and more.
· Next, as we were preparing to receive the little
girl’s casket for the funeral, we encountered the big problem. Normally at a funeral, the casket is covered
by a pall, which is like a beautiful ornate blanket. However, all of our palls were made for adult
caskets. If they were to be used to
cover the little girl’s casket, it would look like she had been covered in a
circus tent. So, upon hearing the
problem, Wanda falconer went home and made a beautiful child sized pall, one
which we hope never to use again. But Wanda acted upon God’s Word to do mercy,
too.
Then meanwhile another couple dozen folks volunteered
to help out with the service by ushering, assisting with parking, and serving
in the worship and at the reception.
So, meanwhile, I met with the
parents and I told them how our church and community had rallied behind them,
and they both were speechless…overcome this emotional sense of blessing and
love from people they did not even know. Jon, the father fell to his knees,
choked up with by this outpouring of love and affection. Then, he begged me to
tell all of you just how touched they were by our support and care for them,
and care for their late daughter. There
broken hearts were changed because so many of us chose to be doers of the word,
and not just hearers. Bible is often compared to a seed. . It’s like a seed planted
in your life. Once it takes root in your
heart it begins to sprout and it begins to grow and then it begins to bear
fruit. Then you see all these changes
for the good in your life.
The Word of God is not just
words. It is alive. The living and enduring
Word of God. So we, as James says, “Humbly accept the Word planted in you which
can save you.”
So it starts off by
recreating my life. But it’s got a lot
more to do than that.
2.
It activates my spiritual growth
Learning, loving, and living
the Word of God is so important because it gives me confidence.
You know what I’ve discovered
today? Most people are not confident. Most people are not courageous. Most people are flat out scared to death. They’re
afraid to take risks. They have a fear of
failure. They’re afraid of dying. They’re filled with all kinds of fears. They’re not walking confidently because they’re
not people of faith.
Faith is Word activated. The Bible says this, Romans 10:17, “Faith comes from hearing the message, and the
message is heard through the Word of Christ.”
. If you’ve ever been in a service where I or some
other pastor was teaching or you’ve been in a Bible study and you heard the Word
of God and all of a sudden you thought, “I can do this! I can do all things through Christ who
strengthens me!” You just had your faith
activated by the Word of God.
But the power of God’s Word
not only tells what to do but it gives you the power to do it. And it increases your faith. And as you grow in faith through reading,
hearing, and living God’s Word, you will begin to discover that the purpose of
the Bible is to help you live out the purpose God has for your life. That you
will be thoroughly equipped, that you will have all you need, you’ll be fully
prepared, you’re ready to face life and you’re not insufficient for life. You’ve got everything you need to take on
life. And he says the way God gets you ready
for life, the way God gets you ready for his purpose is through the Bible. And the Bible does four things. He says it’s for teaching and rebuking and
correcting and training.
Let me explain that in a
little different way. Looking to your sermon insert, it says __________ is God showing
me the path to walk on. God’s Word, as
in Jeremiah, says this. Please repeat
after me, “I know the plans that I have for you, says the Lord. Plans not to harm you, but to give you a hope
and a future.” So God’s word says that
He has plans for us to have a full, rich, and joyful life.
Next ___________ is when God shows me how I got off the
path, and I’m now in the ditch. That’s called rebuking. So, the other night I was plotting revenge
against someone, outside this church, who had hurt me. Then, I remembered the Lord’s prayer: Forgive
us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.” At that moment, I decided to obey God’s Word,
and then I prayed for the strength to forgive.”
Correcting is how I get back on the path, the right
path for life, for my life.
And training is how I stay on the path and don’t
fall off in the ditch again.
Previously, I have told you
of the many dangerous paths that I took as a young man. After I had fallen in
the ditch, I turned to God’s word to discover my life’s purpose. In that way, to paraphrase Psalm 119, God’s
Word was lamp upon my feet, and a light upon my path.” Verse says, “Let the word of Christ, dwell
I you richly.” By continuing to grow in God’s Word, I have fallen into much
shallower ditches, from which God & I have quickly extracted me, to
continue on the path that He has set for me.
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