Sermon Series May 5 - 26
Hide This in Your Heart
Reading the Bible Like Jesus, and With Jesus
My daughter loves the video game, Minecraft. It's a simple game where you dig for resources like stone and dirt and build all kinds of things. Whenever I play with her I like to build the same thing: a cabin. My daughter, however, goes off to create something new and wonderful, she imagines towers and elevators, waterfalls and underwater gardens. She's so creative. She's creative because she knows far more about the game than I do. While my cabin is nice, it barely touches on what is possible, still, she loves that I play with her. "Oh dad!" she says when she sees my little cabin.
I read recently that the developers of YouVersion, the popular Bible app, have found that most people read only a few favourite verses from the Bible. We have our top comforting verses and turn to them often, skipping over the rest. It's not bad, but it's not the whole picture. We can find lots of comfort in that, but there's so much more to enjoy.
This month we're going to step into a conversation about getting more of God's story into our hearts. Dallas Willard says, perhaps surprisingly, "If I had to choose between all the disciplines of the spiritual life, I would choose Bible memorization." Memorization? Isn't that for kids? You might be surprised...
Sermon Audio Files
Like a Tree Planted
From a young age we memorize the alphabet, names of people and places, manners, how to make some delicious food.
Our fingers memorize letters on the keyboard, how to tie shoes, wifi password, important phone numbers, simple math, jokes, poems, directions back from where you came, and more.
Jesus The Word
Jesus, amazingly, knew the story of God, the Old Testament super well. The Gospel writers record him quoting the Old Testament 78 times, the Pentateuch alone 26 times. He quoted from Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Deuteronomy, Psalms, Proverbs, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Amos, Jonah, Micah, and Malachi. I imagine he knew and quoted far more.
Meditate on This
hile you may not be healthy or wealthy, the vision of prospering is real in the Bible. It’s not a magic charm, saying magic words is not part of life in Jesus, but following God’s ways, with God, and trusting him, will create conditions of life in and around you, according to the Psalms. You will be well watered, you will be produce fruit.
Remembering the Promise
So when you read a verse, you are joining in the Word of God. You are joining in with Jesus who continues to fulfill what he is doing in the world. The Word of God is enacted, enlivened, made real in you when you join in. So this is not just about memorization, this is about getting the Word of God, these words, made alive in Jesus, into you.