If you are joining us tonight and you haven't been around, we are in the middle of a Jonah series that's not really a Jonah series, for those of you who didn't catch that last week.
So we're kind of looking at the Jonah narrative, but more looking at some topics that come up in the Jonah narrative.
And tonight we're going to continue doing that.
So it's worth keeping your Bible open to that Jonah passage, but we are going to jump around a little bit as well.
So how about I pray, and then we'll get stuck into it.
Father God, we thank you for bringing us here tonight.
We thank you for the incredible joy of new families that will be beginning soon.
We ask that you would watch over and protect Asha and Jess and Susie and James as well,
that you would prepare them for what it means to be a family and that you would use their families for your glory.
Lord, we ask that tonight as we gather as a bigger church family, that you would prepare us to hear you speak,
that you would strip away anything in our minds that would block that,
and that as we sit under your word, you would change us and you would reveal yourself so that our lives are to your glory.
Amen.
I wonder what it is that you are expecting to happen in the next 20 minutes.
I say 20 minutes, but I said that this morning, and in truth, it was a little bit longer.
But what is it that you're expecting to happen in the next little while?
As we arrive to church each week, as somebody like Amy just did comes and opens the Bible and speaks,
and reads it, and then someone like me or Steve or Chris or Brian gets up and preaches,
what is it that you expect to happen in that moment?
What about in your community groups, or maybe as you do your own quiet times at home,
what is it that you expect is going on?
What is it that you think you are doing when you sit down and you open this book that we call the Bible?
I was reflecting on that this week, and the reason was I thought about it,
and I probably have 10, 11, 12, 13 Bibles at home.
I've got lots of English Bibles, lots of NIVs, a few other random translations as well,
and that even doesn't include the ones I have on my computer or my phone or, for some of you, your iPad.
And I was thinking, I actually don't know where some of my Bibles are.
Some of them are probably on bookshelves.
Some of them might be in piles of paper, on the coffee table, in my car, in my backpack.
One's right here.
Most of them are worn.
Some of them have, like, stains from Coke that I've spilt on them.
They've got pen marks in them.
They've got torn pages.
One of them's about to come out from the spine.
This particular one is missing about three words from Ephesians chapter 2,
which is really important that I know off by heart when I get to Ephesians chapter 2.
So, basically, I was thinking about it because the way I treat my Bibles is sometimes just like a book,
like any other book that I might have or might own.
And the reason this stuck out for me is I did some reading a little while ago
on the way that Muslim people handle their scriptures, the way they handle the Quran.
They are meticulous compared to me, and I think it's fair to say compared to us.
They wash their hands before they even touch the Quran.
Almost every Muslim memorizes significant chunks of the Quran in Arabic
so that they can use it in their prayers.
And if a copy of the Quran is damaged or a page is torn, like my one now,
you can't just throw it away.
You can't just recycle it.
In some cases, what they will do is they will actually put it into a stream
and let it float away.
Something symbolic about it.
They will ceremonially burn it or they'll find a remote place and bury it especially.
All this for a book that we would say is fictitious.
And yet, we treat our book, which we say is the Word of God, just like any other book.
And I wonder if that's the issue, is that we have taken this thing that God has given us
and it's become just like any other book, like Twilight or Harry Potter.
I mean, don't get me wrong, we think it's a good book.
Sometimes it makes us happy.
Sometimes it makes us sad.
Sometimes it's challenging, but it's kind of just a book.
It's like we've kind of lost the purpose of what God gave us the Bible for.
One of the joys of watching my little boy grow up is watching him discover new things.
A development in our family over Christmas is that he's now crawling.
That's exciting and scary because you've really got to lock stuff up now.
But one of his favourite things to do is to find stuff that he's not supposed to have
and stick it in his mouth.
My keys are a personal favourite of his.
I don't know why.
It's metal.
It can't be nice to eat.
I assume it's dirty and probably got germs all over it, but he loves it.
He puts it in his mouth and you can hear him tapping it on his teeth,
the two of them that he's got, and chewing on it all around his gums and stuff like that.
For him, keys are perfect for teething.
But in actual fact, those keys have a significant job to do.
They have to start my car so that I can get around and go places.
But for him, he's kind of got a lesser job for it and he's settled for that.
And I wonder if that's what we've done with the Scriptures.
The Scriptures have a significant purpose.
God gave them to us with an agenda and with an outcome in mind.
And I wonder if we have settled for making them just another book that we read,
just something that might teach us some information.
And I wonder if we have misunderstood just why God gave us his word
and just what it means to have it in this form that we have it.
And so what I want to wrestle with tonight is I want to rediscover God's word
and why God has given us his word.
So I want to look at three things particularly.
First one is we need to understand that the words we have on the pages,
the words that Amy just wrote out for us from Psalm 1 and from Jonah 3,
these are not just human words.
We live in a culture where if something is old, it has credibility.
If you read something that somebody said 50 years ago, suddenly it is wisdom.
It is good advice.
But if the same advice was written down yesterday,
we have to wait a little while and see if it has actually got any credibility.
But the Bible is not just old wisdom that has kind of gained credibility over time
because it is older and older and older.
The Bible is actually God's words.
We sometimes call it God's word and that is right,
but we have to understand that the words are God's.
This is not just random thoughts.
This is God speaking.
In the Old Testament, when God spoke, people were scared.
If you think of Mount Sinai, for example,
God came down to speak to his people and it was so scary for the people
that they insisted that someone else stand between them.
They sent Moses off and they said,
Moses, you go and hear from God because we are scared to hear the voice of God speak.
We are nervous to have God speak directly to us because we know who he is
and we know how powerful his word is.
And we need to understand that the same God speaks in his word.
This is not just a book.
This is God's mouthpiece to us.
This is his means of communicating with us.
When you read a letter that is sent to you,
you don't kind of step outside the letter and dispassionately just read what's going on.
And, you know, it might be a letter of somebody telling you how fantastic you are.
At that point, you don't step outside of that letter and think,
well, I can see why they said that sentence and they must be talking about someone great.
When you read a letter to you that says you're fantastic, it makes you feel good.
When you read a letter to you that says you're a jerk and you shouldn't have done this thing,
it might offend you.
It might make you feel bad.
And it's the same here with God's word.
You've got to understand this is not something that you sit next to
and study and find information from.
Every time we open these pages, God is speaking to you.
God is not speaking near you.
God is not speaking merely to other people.
This is his word to you.
Now, it's true there is historical context.
There is the people of Israel.
There's all that stuff going on.
But that doesn't change that this is God's word to you.
In 1 Thessalonians chapter 2, Paul says this to the church that he's planted there.
It says,
Paul went to this church and preached the Old Testament.
He opened God's word to them and he converted them.
And the Bible was God speaking to them.
It was the story of Israel's rescue from Egypt.
It was the story of creation.
It was the story of Abraham.
It was all that.
But in those stories, God was speaking to the church at Thessalonica.
And in the same way, what we read now is God speaking to us.
Now, it is good and helpful for us to understand what's going on in the history,
to understand the background, to understand the context.
But it matters most that we actually approach it expecting to hear from God.
Not expecting to find out about Jonah and a whale and thinking, great story.
But expecting God to tell us something.
To show us something.
Because God's word is powerful.
The scriptures open by showing us this picture of creation in which God creates by speaking.
God's word does things.
And so we need to be clear that when we open this book and when we hear God's words,
his word will do things.
His word will achieve an outcome.
It can't just wash past us.
We can't be a passenger.
We can't be passive with it.
We need to expect that because this book comes from the words of God,
who is sovereign and powerful and authoritative,
it will achieve something.
It's addressed to us to achieve something in us.
So first thing is that we've got to understand that this is God's divine word.
This is God speaking to us.
But the second one is just important.
Because God is speaking to us,
it means something's going to happen.
God's word does stuff.
It never doesn't do stuff.
And I don't just mean empathetically,
like when you're reading Twilight and you wish you were Bella.
And not just that sense where you cry in a sad story.
I remember the first,
it was actually a movie,
so I'm cheating a little bit.
The first movie that made me cry was The Power of One.
I'm a softie at heart.
But it was a sad story.
I was horrified at the racism and the injustice that happened.
But the Bible's not like that.
The Bible's not supposed to make me look at it and go,
wow, I can't believe that injustice.
That's horrible.
Wow, I wonder what new book is out.
And move on.
Because that's what happened with Power of One.
I didn't cry last time I watched it.
God's word is different.
It achieves specific outcomes.
I want you to quickly,
we're going to jump through Jonah,
and I want to show you a couple of examples of what I'm talking about.
Jonah 1.1.
The word of the Lord came to Jonah, son of Amittai.
Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it.
God speaks.
He gives Jonah a specific command.
He says,
Go here,
and Jonah disobeys and runs away.
But God's word still achieves something.
We know,
because we just read in chapter 3,
that eventually Jonah ends up in Nineveh.
So God's word has achieved what it set out to achieve.
But more than that,
we also know that God's word never fails.
Last week,
we wrestled with the sovereignty of God and the power of God.
God has a plan.
Jonah is going to Nineveh.
And so when Jonah runs and disobeys God's word,
God's word becomes judgment on Jonah.
Because God's will is clear and it's in front of him,
and Jonah tries to ignore it and disobey it,
the judgment of a storm and a fish is sent.
So that God's word will achieve its outcome.
Jonah 1.9.
God speaks through Jonah the prophet again to the sailors.
Jonah answered,
I am a Hebrew and I worship the Lord,
the God of heaven,
who made the sea and the land.
Jonah is a disobedient prophet.
And yet when God speaks through him,
when God gives him his words,
sailors make vows to God and sacrifice to God
and cry out and understand
that God alone controls all things.
Jonah 3.1.
God speaks this time and Jonah finally obeys.
The word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time.
Go to the great city of Nineveh
and proclaim to it the message I give you.
And Jonah does.
But the big one,
I think,
in Jonah is Jonah 3.4.
On the first day Jonah started into the city,
he proclaimed,
40 more days and Nineveh will be overturned.
The Ninevites believed God,
they declared a fast,
and all of them,
from the greatest to the least,
put on sackcloth.
Now,
we know stories like this
and it's really dangerous
that we miss the significance of this story.
In Jonah,
God makes the point of telling us
that this is a big city,
that it's going to take time.
A visit requires three days
because there's lots of people there.
We know that Nineveh has a king
and yet Jonah turns up unannounced
as a mouthpiece for God,
walks in the gate and says,
you are going to be destroyed
because of how you're living
and every single person in that city repents.
That is significant.
We know it's got nothing to do with Jonah
because just two chapters ago,
Jonah is running away
and trying to avoid God.
There's nothing impressive about Jonah
as a mouthpiece,
but God's word,
through Jonah,
his prophet,
achieves the outcome that God desires
and that outcome is that
that city would repent.
God's word never fails.
God's word will always achieve God's purpose.
Every time it goes out in this story,
something happens.
Even when Jonah ignores it and runs away,
it brings judgment.
We learnt last week,
God's will is unstoppable
and even our disobedience
cannot stop God's plans.
God has spoken to Jonah
and Jonah will achieve what God wants,
whether he likes it or not.
God's word is there to guide us
in what God's will is.
For Nineveh, it's obvious.
He wanted them to turn from his ways,
so he sent Jonah to speak to them.
And again,
an inadequate,
imperfect,
disobedient prophet
with the word of God
led a whole city to repent.
even the king
strips off his royal robes,
gets down in the dirt
and acknowledges the God of heaven
simply because God has spoken.
There's no miracles here.
There's no visions for the king
to show them what God could do
and what God will do.
God just speaks
and that is enough
because God's word is powerful.
God's word will pierce us.
Hebrews 4 tells us
that God's word is living and active,
sharper than any double-edged sword.
It penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit,
joints and marrow.
It judges the thoughts
and attitudes of the heart.
God's word will convict us
and challenge us
and maybe sometimes
even make us feel guilty.
I remember
when I was a student at school,
I wasn't a great student
to have in your class.
I was a fairly proud kid
and so that meant
if you told me I was wrong,
I just got my back up
and would yell.
And it didn't matter
what the cause was,
it didn't matter
if I'd done something wrong,
I just didn't like to hear
that I'd done something wrong.
And so teachers would yell at me
for talking,
for distracting someone,
for not doing my work,
whatever it was.
And as they began to yell,
I began to yell.
And it would escalate back and forth
and I was so proud
that I refused to lose
in that moment.
I refused to let them
get on top of me
and so I would keep yelling
and keep yelling
until eventually
they would break down
or send me out
or whatever it was
and time and time again
I'd get flicked off
to the principal
or the head of senior school
or whoever it was.
And I'd walk into the office
and I remember
having these conversations
over and over and over
and they'd just tell me
that it was rude
and disrespectful
and what a bad kid I was
that I would drive teachers
to tears
or that I would make them
have to go home
and do all these things
and I would just block it out.
I didn't want to hear that.
I don't care if it's true.
I don't want to know
that I'm damaging somebody.
And so sure enough,
the next day
or a week later,
I'd be doing the same thing.
I'd get in a situation
where I didn't want to know
that I was bad.
I didn't want to know
that I'd done something wrong
and so as soon as I heard that,
I would just push
and push and push.
And now I'm a little bit embarrassed
to admit
the kind of stuff that I did
and the person that I was
and I'm very thankful
for some teachers
who persisted with me
and were gracious with me.
But before you judge me,
I wonder if you do
the same sort of thing with God.
We come to church
and we open God's Word
and we have just read
in Hebrews 4,
God's Word
will judge our thoughts.
It will judge
the attitudes
of our hearts.
It will pierce us.
And I wonder
if when God's Word
does that,
you stop listening.
When God's Word
shows you parts
of your life
that don't match up
with what it means
to be a follower of Jesus,
do you switch off?
Don't get me wrong,
God's Word is full
of encouragement.
It's full of comfort
and assurance.
Last week,
we were reminded
that God is sovereign
and powerful
and that He is always
working for our good,
that He has an unstoppable
plan in creation.
But sometimes,
God's Word
will rebuke you.
Sometimes,
it will need to show you
things in your life
that aren't okay.
Sometimes,
God will need to rebuke you
for words
you have spoken
in anger,
for the way
you have maligned
someone else,
for the private,
lustful thoughts
that no one else
knows about,
for the way
we rationalize
going that few kilometers
over the speed limit,
for our refusal
to forgive people
when they hurt us.
If you are anywhere
near as sinful
as I am,
then there is a lot
that God will need
to rebuke in you.
we are reminded
in Scripture
if we claim
to be without sin,
we deceive ourselves.
We are not perfect.
And so,
sometimes,
when we open the Bible,
God will
rebuke us.
in Isaiah 55,
we are told
that as the rain
and snow
come down
from heaven
and do not
return to it
without watering
the earth,
making it bud
and flourish,
so my word
that goes out
from my mouth,
it will never
return to me
empty,
but will accomplish
what I desire
and achieve
the purpose
for which
I sent it.
God's word
never fails.
Just because
we sometimes
try not to listen
or maybe try
and run
in the other
direction
like Jonah did,
God's word
still achieves
its purpose,
whether that is
to guide us
and direct us
or to judge us
for avoiding
and running
from God.
I remember
when I was
at college,
I found
God's word
difficult,
as strange
as that might
sound.
The way
that college
is,
is that you
spend a lot
of time
jostling for
position,
if that's the
right word.
You arrive at
college and
there's this
unspoken
who's the best
preacher.
There's this
constant awareness
of who's getting
asked to speak
at the biggest
events,
who's travelling
around,
who's releasing
books,
who's doing
all that sort
of things.
Now I know
it sounds
childish,
but it's
the reality.
You get
there,
and for me
personally,
I found
myself over
the course
of college
stopping
hearing God's
word.
I would
walk into
a sermon
and instead
of thinking
what is God
teaching me,
I would
think,
is this
preacher any
good?
And I could
tell you
whether or not
they were
any good.
I could tell
you if their
stories were
entertaining,
if they were
helpful,
if they
illustrated
anything,
I could tell
you if their
structure was
clear,
I could tell
you what they
should have
said,
and I
wasn't
alone.
I wonder
if you ever
find yourself
in church
doing something
similar.
You walk out
of church
thinking,
oh, I wish
that preacher
was on
tonight.
I don't
really like
listening to
this one.
Or, it
wasn't a very
good sermon,
I didn't learn
anything.
I remember
making that
comment one
morning tea
after a
chapel at
college,
to a friend
who I
trusted and
who I
still trust,
I said that
wasn't a
very good
sermon,
I didn't
get anything
out of it.
And he
responded by
pointing me
to this
verse,
and reminding
me that
God's word
is doing
God's will
whether I
hear it or
not.
Now, this
doesn't mean
that the
preacher doesn't
have a
responsibility to
work hard to
understand God's
word and to
preach it
clearly,
but what it
means is,
you have a
responsibility as
well, and so
do I.
As we come to
sit under God's
word, whether
it's a sermon,
whether it's your
own reading,
whether it's the
Bible reading,
God's word will
achieve its
purpose.
Are you actually
coming willing to
hear what it has
to say?
Or are you maybe
trying to pick and
choose the things
you want to hear?
Maybe today you
would prefer to
hear that God
loves you lots.
And it's true,
and it's good,
and it's great,
but what if God
has something else
he wants to
tell you?
We need to be
people who have
ears that are
open, who
deeply desire
that God would
speak to us even
when it hurts,
because we know
from last week he's
always working for
our good.
He's not showing
us sin in our
lives just to make
us feel guilty.
He's showing us
and reminding us
that he is holy
and perfect and
majestic, and for
us to spend
eternity with him
he needs to
cleanse us of
the parts of our
lives that aren't
good enough.
He's preparing
us for heaven.
But again, the
point isn't guilt.
That's not God's
desire.
If you come here
regularly and you
sit and feel a
weight of guilt as
we are in church
gathered, if God's
word, you feel like
it just points at
you and shines a
spotlight on parts of
your life that you
want to be kept
secret, that's not
God's desire for
you.
Guilt is not a
wrong starting point
because the way that
we live is shameful.
But the reason God
shows us those parts
of our lives is
because his desire is
that we might be
purified and cleansed
and that we might
spend eternity with
him in heaven.
It is not a
coincidence that in
God's word we are
convicted of sin but
we are also shown
Jesus.
God speaks to us to
show us that we are
not good enough so
that when he preaches
to us of our
Saviour, we may
catch a glimpse of
the majesty of
God's love and
forgiveness in the
face of our
disobedience.
God's word is
God speaking to
us.
God's word always
achieves its
purpose and
ultimately that
purpose is for us
to see God.
God's word is
God speaking to
God.
The way that God
rebukes us in
Scripture isn't
always to say, I
saw you speeding.
There's no verse that
says that.
Or I know what you're
thinking about that
person.
But what Scripture
does, what God does
when he speaks is he
shows us himself.
And as we see his
majesty and holiness,
our sin becomes
apparent very
quickly.
We need to be very
careful that we are
not people who read
God's word selectively,
who pick and choose
the stuff that we
like to hear at
certain times in our
life.
God wants more for
you than that.
God doesn't want
some superficial,
I feel great and
isn't life fantastic
faith.
He doesn't want us
to understand just
the love of him
because you can't
understand God's
love until you
comprehend his
holiness and his
justice.
I've had a
conversation with a
woman who has left
this church.
And she said,
I just got sick of
being told that I
was wrong.
I got sick of being
told that there was
things that needed to
change in my life.
I just wanted to hear
about God's love for
me so that I could be
ready to handle the
week ahead.
Now, without judging
her situation,
she can't understand
God's love unless she
understands how
unworthy she is of
it.
When we are
reminded of our
own sin, we are
driven back to the
cross and we see
God most clearly
because he loves
unworthy people like
us.
The Bible tells us
that as we open
God's word, we get
to know God better.
It's here, in God's
word, when God speaks,
that we are born
again, that we
receive new life,
that we are shaped,
not because of this
paper or these words,
but because God
speaks here.
By his Holy Spirit,
this becomes living
and active and
shapes our heart to
love what God
loves.
This is the only
place where you get
to see God.
There are some
fantastic Christian
books to read that
are helpful, but
this alone is the
place that you get
to know God.
This alone is the
place that he has
chosen to speak to
you, to reveal
himself, and this is
essential if you want
to grow and mature as
a follower of Jesus.
Psalm 1 that was
read for us earlier
paints this incredible
picture of when we
delight in and
meditate on God's
law, on his word,
we become like a
healthy tree.
It's planted by a
stream.
It gets the
sustenance it needs.
It grows, it
produces fruit, it
prospers.
In God's word, we're
fed and strengthened.
In God's word, we're
pruned that we might
bear more fruit.
And by God's word, we
fulfill the purpose
that he has for us.
So this is not just an
ordinary book.
It's nothing like a
good story we might
read.
This is God speaking to
you.
This is God wanting to
work in your life and
shape you.
This is God wanting to
reveal himself to you.
But what does that mean
about the way we handle
this book?
Should you wash your
hands before you open
it tomorrow morning to
read it?
Maybe.
It's probably not
essential.
What will it mean for
us to treat this as God
speaking to us?
Let me suggest a couple
really quickly.
Firstly, be prepared.
for Israel, having God
speak to them was a
fearful experience.
Because the God who was
about to speak was the
same God who spoke
creation.
As you prepare for your
own quiet times, as you
prepare for church, as you
prepare for community
group, don't come here
thinking about 50 other
things.
Don't go out late on a
Saturday night so that
you're so tired when you
get here on Sunday you're
struggling to stay awake.
God wants to speak to
you.
Come here in the best
frame of mind that you
possibly can.
Eager to hear him speak.
Awake.
Alert.
Deeply desiring that he
might rebuke you so that
you might know the joy of
his forgiveness.
Be eager to know God
where he reveals himself
in his word.
We need to be regular.
There are so many voices
speaking into our lives
at the moment.
I confess this morning
that I have somewhat of a
Facebook addiction.
Now that it's on your
phone, I will literally
sometimes wake up, turn
off the alarm and in the
same motion hit the
Facebook icon just to
gander at what statuses
have appeared while I've
been asleep.
And maybe you're not as
bad with Facebook as I am
maybe you read the paper,
maybe you check your
emails.
The first voice you hear
for the day, is it
God's?
Do you even hear God
speak to you each day?
There are so many people
telling you who you are,
what matters, what's
important, but God's
voice is the one that
matters.
We are a church that has
as a core value Christ
centered Bible
saturation.
We want to be people that
when life squeezes us
through suffering and
trial, Bible comes out.
As you face difficulty
and pain, may the hope
and encouragement of God's
word be the first thing
that comes to the surface.
We need God's word.
Memorize it.
Read it daily.
Do whatever you've got to
do.
If you're not doing a
Bible reading plan this year
and you want to, please
join us during the one
that I've emailed out to
you.
It's been a joy this week
to get back into Genesis
and be reminded of the
God who is sovereign.
Lastly, be humble and be
expectant.
When you open this book,
don't let it be about
finishing what you're doing.
When we read the Bible in
church, don't let it be about
what's happening after
church.
When you meet in your
community group, don't let
it be about supper.
Don't let it be about
anything but hearing what
God has to say.
Don't close it until he's
spoken to you.
Because his word is always
achieving his purpose.
We want to be people who
delight in the opportunities
that God's word gives us
to repent.
We want to be like the
Ninevites.
When God says there is
wickedness in us, may we
humbly repent and
acknowledge that he alone
is God.
Repentance is joy for
followers of God.
There is that initial pain
and guilt, but all it does is
take us to Jesus.
It takes us to forgiveness
and it takes us to hope.
So let's be people who come
to church wanting God to
show us what in us needs to
change.
Because then we can hand it
over at the cross and ask
that he replace it with
something better.
He replace it with Christ's
likeness and a love for him
that is growing.
Sorry, one more.
So be prepared, be regular, be
humble and lastly be bold.
God's word does stuff.
We need to stop trying to
come up with fantastic ways
that we're going to introduce
Jesus to the world.
This is the way.
Jonah is trying to run away
from God and he speaks God's
word and sailors make
sacrifices to God.
In your work, in your family,
in your school, wherever it is,
speak God's word.
If you're looking for ways to
share the gospel, there are a
bunch of amazing memory verses
that will communicate the gospel
to people and it's God's words,
not yours.
And just a tip, he's more
articulate than you.
But more importantly, he's more
powerful than you.
And when he speaks, people have
the chance to see him.
This is the most incredible gift
God has given us, the ability
to know him.
So be prepared, be regular, be
humble, be bold and may God
transform us to be more and more
like Jesus for his sake and for
his glory.
Let's pray.
Father God, we want to
acknowledge that even tonight as
we sit and we read your word and
we wrestle with what it is to have
you speak to us, that there are
other things on our minds that
maybe all we're focused on is
getting to the end.
But God, we ask that you would
give us a deep thirst to know you,
that you would keep us from being
more precious about how comfortable
we feel, about how self-confident
we feel.
Instead, give us a desire to know you
more than anything else, to treasure
you more than anything else.
Make us people who soak in your word,
who delight in your law.
Write your word on our hearts, God,
that we may live lives that honor you.
God, we want to pray that as we open
your word, that it would never be just
an academic exercise.
But as we hear you speak, help us to
see you.
Help us to love you.
Shape our hearts that we may love what
you love and hate what you hate.
God, I want to pray that if there are
people in this room right now who for
them it's still the experience that when
your word is open, guilt is the first
thing they feel.
God, I pray that you may show them your
love.
Show them your grace.
Show them that guilt for us
is just an opportunity for joyful
repentance.
Father, we thank you so much for Jesus.
We thank you that we can call you
Father.
We thank you that we can sit under your
word, that we can rejoice as your
people, that we can be confident that
you are preparing a place for us.
Lord, every day until you come back,
may you reveal more of yourself, that
we may know you better, that we may
find the fuller joy that is only found
in you, and so that the world may see
you in us.
Amen.