Therefore, let’s make every effort to enter that rest so that no one will fall by following the same example of disobedience, because God’s word is living, active, and sharper than any two-edged sword. It penetrates to the point that it separates the soul from the spirit and the joints from the marrow. It is able to judge the heart’s thoughts and intentions. (Hebrews 4:11-12)

God’s word found in Scripture is powerful. The philosopher Emile Cailliet once called the Bible “the book that understands me.” As he read through the Bible, he was amazed at how the stories and commands recorded in Scripture cut right to his heart, exposing his wrongful motives, challenging his assumptions, and inviting him to a good and beautiful way of life.

The writer of Hebrews described God’s word as “living, active, and sharper than any two-edged sword.” God’s word cuts through the fluff. When you read the Bible, don’t simply read it to understand what it says. Let it read you, so that through reading it you can better understand yourself. Let it not only be the book you understand, but the book that understands you.

Father God, as I read the Bible I find words that convict me deeply. Help me take action; make me new. Help me discern every wrong motive and root it out. Put in me a new heart, a heart that desires to do as you have commanded in the Bible. Amen.

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In preparation for Easter, our entire church family is in a season of decision and commitment toward the goal of becoming fully devoted disciples of Jesus Christ. We invite you to join us for Committed to Christ: Six Steps to a Generous Life.

You must be doers of the word and not only hearers who mislead themselves. (James 1:22)

The Bible is filled with messages and reminders that guide us in wisdom and faithfulness. We are not only to read them or to hear them, we are to do them. We are charged to “love the Lord with heart, mind, soul, and strength,” and “to love our neighbor as ourselves,” along with many other commands.

But as James says, we must not only hear the word, but do it. Tend to the message of the Bible. Pay attention to the countless reminders of what Scripture commands, and put what you find into practice.

Today, be kind to a stranger. Smile at someone you don’t know. Hold a door. Offer a meal to the homeless man you pass each day on the way to work. Serve at a soup kitchen. Tell a teenager that you value her. Encourage a friend. Contact someone from your church and invite that person to join you for coffee. Tell your spouse one thing he or she does that you are thankful for.

Don’t just be a hearer. Be a doer.

God, your word is eternal and sure. I can stake my life on it. Ignite my passion for your truth a it is found in the Bible, and help me to live in accordance with what you have commanded me to do. Amen.

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In preparation for Easter, our entire church family is in a season of decision and commitment toward the goal of becoming fully devoted disciples of Jesus Christ. We invite you to join us for Committed to Christ: Six Steps to a Generous Life.

The word of Christ must live in you richly. (Colossians 3:16a)

My identity as a disciple of Jesus is dependent upon stories, culture, and practices. The stories are given in Scripture. The word of Christ is contained within the Bible, a text that points beyond itself to God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Therefore, the Bible must be read, experienced, and understood. And the best place for that to happen is within the culture and practices of the church, the people of God.

As you make Bible reading a daily practice, you will obtain a deeper understanding of the story of Israel and the words and work of Jesus. In this way, the “word of Christ” will come to “live in you richly.” You will grasp more fully the hope of Israel, and will see how Christ himself is the realization of that hope. If you read prayerfully, by the assistance of the Holy Spirit your reading of the Bible should result in a deepening love for God and neighbor.

As the Bible shapes your identity in Christ, Jesus points you to others, to serve, to share, and to witness.

Let the Bible lead me to Christ. Then, let Christ in me thereby lead others to himself. Amen.

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In preparation for Easter, our entire church family is in a season of decision and commitment toward the goal of becoming fully devoted disciples of Jesus Christ. We invite you to join us for Committed to Christ: Six Steps to a Generous Life.

Preach the word. Be ready to do it whether it is convenient or inconvenient. Correct, confront, and encourage with patience and instruction. (2 Timothy 4:2)

There are both explicit and subtle pressures in our world encouraging us to privatize our Christian faith. But we are to share the word nonetheless, whether it is “convenient or inconvenient,” teaching, correcting, rebuking, and patiently inviting others to consider following Jesus. “If you have thoughts on religion, keep them to yourself,” says popular sentiment. The writer of Second Timothy disagrees: “Preach the word.” The command could not be more plain.

But to preach the word, one must know the word. This verse from Second Timothy is but a sampling of Scripture. There is more to be discovered. Take time today to read the Parable of the Soils in Mark 4, or choose another portion of Scripture to sit and soak with. Let the word permeate your mind. Internalize it. Let it shape you. And then share it. Spread some seed. Then wait to see what comes up.

Beautiful Savior, let my preaching of the word always build up, always encourage, always steer others right, and always point to you. In Christ’s name, amen.

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In preparation for Easter, our entire church family is in a season of decision and commitment toward the goal of becoming fully devoted disciples of Jesus Christ. We invite you to join us for Committed to Christ: Six Steps to a Generous Life.

Every scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for showing mistakes, for correcting, and for training character, so that the person who belongs to God can be equipped to do everything that is good. (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

When learning a new skill, it is wise to seek and learn from those who have mastered that skill, whether it be playing an instrument, molding a piece of pottery, or perfecting a jump shot. If we open our lives to a person possessing the authority and knowledge to help us progress, then our training will naturally include correction, teaching, and steering away from common mistakes.

Just as a master of a skill or body of knowledge has much to offer us when consulted, so too does the Bible serve as the critical source for our formation as disciples of Jesus. A right reading of the Bible leads to a transformed life, for the Bible, read rightly, points beyond itself to the God who inspired it. Through an encounter with the God revealed in Jesus Christ, we are given the gift of the Holy Spirit, united to the Son, and adopted as sons and daughters by the Father. The Bible is not an end in itself. It is given to us so that we might be joined to God, and transformed by God.

God, may I have a open heart, so that the Bible teaches me, uncovers my errors, corrects me when I am wrong, and refines my character. Amen.

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In preparation for Easter, our entire church family is in a season of decision and commitment toward the goal of becoming fully devoted disciples of Jesus Christ. We invite you to join us for Committed to Christ: Six Steps to a Generous Life.

I keep your word close, in my heart, so that I won’t sin against you. (Psalm 119:9)

Opening our Bible and reading its contents grounds us, helping us remember who we are and to whom we belong. We have been created in God’s image, and, in Christ, we have received an inheritance as a child of God. By coming to grips with our identity, we are able to act accordingly. The choices we make, whether it be for sin or for righteousness, are a reflection of our self-understanding. Are we “lousy sinners” or “those in whom Christ dwells”?

The psalmist instructs us: by taking God’s words as they are found in Scripture and placing them at the center of our being—our heart—we are enabled to avoid wrong behavior and sinful action. When we read our Bible daily, we internalize what we encounter. Through familiarity with the narrative accounts, the commandments, and the wisdom sayings, we are empowered to live righteous and holy lives before God.

The Bible places us on solid ground.

Father, may your word saturate my thoughts, so that the story of Scripture permeates my life in such a way that I live blamelessly. Amen.

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In preparation for Easter, our entire church family is in a season of decision and commitment toward the goal of becoming fully devoted disciples of Jesus Christ. We invite you to join us for Committed to Christ: Six Steps to a Generous Life.

“Weren’t our hearts on fire when he spoke to us along the road and when he explained the scriptures for us?” (Luke 24:32)

Oftentimes, we are like these admirers on the road to Emmaus. We have long known about Jesus. We have heard his teachings; observed his life. But we haven’t completely given ourselves over to him, for we perceive him as less than he truly is. We’ve read our Bibles, but we haven’t encountered God.

Once the two companions on the road to Emmaus perceived that Jesus was not a failed Messiah, but the fulfillment of the very hope of Israel, they moved beyond a posture of observation and spectatorship and stepped squarely into the stream of history as followers of the very one who set the world into motion. Once they saw Jesus as the one to whom the Old Testament was pointing, they understood that their allegiance could be to no one else.

The Bible assists us in becoming truly committed to Christ. In the Bible, we find the story of God’s redemption revealed fully in the person of Jesus, and as Jesus teaches us to read this story aright, we become characters in that very story. We become the actors through whom God brings about his good ends.

God, I have a desire to learn the story of the Bible in a way that helps me become a better follower. Teach me. Amen.

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In preparation for Easter, our entire church family is in a season of decision and commitment toward the goal of becoming fully devoted disciples of Jesus Christ. We invite you to join us for Committed to Christ: Six Steps to a Generous Life.