10
You, however, know all about my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, faith,
patience, love, endurance, 11 persecutions,
sufferings—what kinds of things happened to me in Antioch, Iconium and
Lystra, the persecutions I endured. Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them. 12 In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in
Christ Jesus will be persecuted, 13 while evildoers
and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. 14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and
have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, 15 and how from infancy you have known the Holy
Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in
Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is God-breathed and
is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that all God's people may be thoroughly equipped
for every good work.
1 One day Jesus was praying in
a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him,
"Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples."
2 He said to
them, "When you pray, say:
" 'Father,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come.
3 Give us
each day our daily bread.
4 Forgive us our sins,
for we also forgive everyone who sins
against us.
And lead us not into temptation.' "
“Daddy,” asked the
minister's little daughter, “why do you bow your head when you go into
the pulpit?”
“I'm talking with God,” said the minister,
“and I ask him to give me a good sermon to preach.”
“But Daddy,” persisted the little girl,
“why doesn't he ever do it?”
//
Well, at the risk of another
unanswered prayer in this regard, I would invite us all to bow and ask for
God's leading this morning.
Lord God, our sovereign Master and our gracious Lord; we
seek you today in this time that we have set aside to learn from you. We pray
you will open the very storehouse of heaven, and pour out upon us the blessings
and riches of your Word—that we might be forever changed, enriched, and
renewed. This we ask, humbly and earnestly, in the name of our Saviour, even
Jesus Christ, Amen.
Through the season of Lent, leading up to Easter, we
have been looking at the disciplines of the Christian life.
1) Scripture
and Prayer: the Foundation for Christian Living
Today we turn our attention to the
foundational disciplines of
Scripture and Prayer.
What Happens
When A Tribe Is Without Scripture?
A Pastor traveled to a remote
village in Africa in 1989. There he found an unfinished church building made of
mud and sticks. While he found the half-finished church something he could work
with, he was quite surprised at the state of the people of the church.
Many who were professing Christians were living lives that were hardly
distinguishable from their non-Christian peers. Their lives did not bear the
fruit of goodness, godliness and Christlikeness that they would have expected
to see. But they soon found out why the church was failing to thrive.
The Preacher in this little village only had 6 sermons,
and he rotated through them. Every 6th week, he would start the
cycle again. These sermons were based on what he could remember of some stories
he had heard about the live and teaching of Jesus. They represented a very poor
understanding of Jesus, and his claims on the life of the believer.
The reason for this sad state of affairs soon became
clear; No one had a Bible. Not the pastor, not the Elders ... nobody in the
village.
The visiting American Pastor
quickly arranged to have Bibles provided to anyone in the community who
requested one. Then, they began giving lessons on how to study the Bible. The
people made it a priority to seek God through his word ... and everything changed.
The community was transformed. The locals noticed the difference in the lives
of the believers and the work of Christ flourished.
It's one thing to be unfamiliar with Scripture when you
don't have a Bible—
it's quite another when you have a
bookshelf full of them.
We turn to the Scriptures as the foundational source
through which God speaks His truth into our lives. Of all the disciplines of
the Christian life, engagement with the Scriptures is central and essential to
growth and maturity in faith.
The Bible is not just any other
book. It is the Holy Bible because it is the means by which God
has chosen to disclose Himself to humanity in language we can understand. The
Scriptures point us to the living God; the one we experience as the divine
Trinity; Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Not only has God revealed himself to us through the
Bible, but He has also provided a way for us to be saved from our sin, through
faith, and restored to a life-giving relationship with Him through Christ Jesus
our Saviour and Lord.
The Bible reveals to us the way of Salvation! It shows
us how we can put behind us our old ways, and be made alive through the power
of God's Spirit.
1 Thessalonians 2:13.
“And
we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which
you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human word, but as it actually is,
the word of God, which is indeed at work in you who believe.”
The Word of God is more than just a book—it is
alive and “...at work in you who believe.” The Word of God is
catalyst for change in the life of the believer.
Jesus said: [Mt. 4:4]
“It is written: 'People do not live on bread
alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'”
For Jesus, the word of God was more important than food.
B) Three
Important Approaches to Scripture
As we consider the Scriptures, I
would like to suggest that there are three important ways in which we can allow
God's word to speak to us. There are several others, of course, but these are
the three which are the central pillars of the Christian life as we seek to
apprehend God's Word for our lives.
Romans 10:17
“... faith comes from hearing the message,
and the message is heard through the word about Christ.”
Because the Bible is most commonly found in printed
form, we tend to think about God's word as something that we read. But the Word
of God is also commonly heard, as well as read. In his letter to
encourage the young Pastor, Timothy,
Paul writes (I Tim 4:13);
Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading
of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching.
All three of these activities undertaken by Timothy
would provide opportunity for those in the local church to hear the word of God.
Though literacy rates are far better today than back in the 1st
Century, it is still important to hear God's Word from time to time.
Typically, we hear God's Word when
we come to a worship service in a community like this one, which preaches and
teaches the Bible. We come to worship God and to hear the Word of God preached.
Did you know that “good preaching” has two
parts to it? Yes, that's right. I'm responsible for the first part – as
the Preacher, I have to prepare and study God's word, and then put together a
message which represents the truth in a manner that is compelling, interesting,
practical and relevant. It's a heavy responsibility. It's also a great
challenge and wonderful privilege to be able to share Scripture through the
preaching of God's word.
That's my part. But for a sermon to have impact, there
must be good preaching ... AND good listening. That's your part—Hearing
the Word of God.
Look, I'm not up here on the platform every Sunday. I
know what it's like to sit in the congregation. I know how the mind can wander
off if left unattended for a moment. As members of the congregation we bring
attentiveness and focus to the equation.
We listen—not because Jonathan or Bob or Doug has
something to say—but because we know that God speaks to His people
through the preached word. So we stay focused. This is the essence of good
listening; hearing the Word as it is preached—and seeking God's voice
through the message as it is presented.
Some people find that if they take notes in their
bulletin on the back page, it helps them stay engaged. You may never refer back
to the notes—but the discipline of writing them down will help you to
stay focused and involved.
In addition to Hearing
God's Word, we also read God's Word.
2 Timothy 3:14-17
But as for you, continue in what you have learned
and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it,
and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make
you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is
useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so
that all God's people may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
That's a pretty amazing passage of scripture. Not only
are the Scriptures Holy—but they also show us the way of
salvation—AND they are
central in teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness. Reading
the Word of God is one of the most important activities we can embark upon in
order to create space for God to work in our lives.
Daily bible reading provides us with God's light for our
day. It opens up our minds and
hearts to hear from God's Spirit—and starts our day with the truth and
inspiration to live as children of God.
Psalm 1:1-3
1 Blessed are those
... who delight in the law of the
LORD
and meditate on his law day and
night.
3 They
are like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not
wither—
whatever they do prospers.
The spiritual discipline of reading scripture involves
setting aside a time and place to read God's word, as well as develop a reading
plan so that one can make progress reading through the Bible in an
organized manner.
Out in the foyer, we set out
copies of “Our Daily Bread” -- a daily reading guide with a
brief commentary each day.
We also have a distributor of Scripture
Union's study guides—these are not free, but they are very helpful.
This is what I use for my daily devotions.
Some people give themselves a challenge to read
through the Bible in a year. There are many plans for doing this online.
So we Hear God's Word, and
we Read God's Word ... a third important way to engage with the Word of
God is through Study.
Studying is different than reading. When we read, we
reflect on the passage, and pray that God will show us what he is teaching us.
When we study the Word of God, we begin to ask questions of the text which dig
deeper beneath the surface, looking for helpful insights that may not be
immediately obvious with a simple reading of the text.
You can drive by the Stony Swamp
Conservation Area a dozen times a day—and you will have a general idea of
where it is and what it is like. You might even catch a glimpse of a deer at
the edge of the woods if you're lucky.
But until you park your car and go
for a hike inside the forest, even going off the main trails and exploring
among the trees, you really can't say that you truly know the Area. In the same
way, reading the Bible is good for a general sense of what God is saying to
us—but study plumbs the greater depths of His Word.
Study can begin by purchasing a cross reference Bible,
or a Study Bible.
The Thompson Chain Reference Bible
is very good.
The Life Application Bible has
excellent study notes on every page.
Another way to study God's Word is
to join a small group. These groups meet weekly for Bible Study and prayer and
provide a forum for individuals to learn from one another in a supportive
atmosphere.
If you are interested in a small group, speak to Sue or
Bob.
//
Application; One final word on the Scriptures.
While it is important to learn about the Scriptures, it
is even more important to apply the Scriptures to our everyday lives.
Jesus said; [Luke 11:28]
“Blessed ... are those who hear the word of
God and obey it.”
Our interest is not simply acquiring knowledge about
God. The greatest benefit happens when God's word makes the most important
journey – the 12 inches from our heads to our hearts where it can
motivate us to live it out in our daily walk.
So, we have looked at Scripture.
Along with scripture, the other central, foundational spiritual discipline is
prayer.
Jim Grant sent in a story to
Reader's Digest about one of his coworkers; a man who was overweight who
decided to shed some excess pounds. He took his new diet seriously, even
changing his driving route to avoid his favorite bakery.
One morning, however, he arrived
at work carrying a gigantic coffeecake. We all scolded him, but he just smiled
back at everyone.
“This is a very special coffeecake,” he
explained. “I accidentally drove by the bakery this morning and there in
the window were a host of goodies. I felt this was no accident, so I prayed,
'Lord, if you want me to have one of these delicious coffeecakes, let me have a
parking place directly in front of the bakery.'”
“And sure enough,” he continued, “the
eighth time around the block, there it was!”
Sometimes people really do pray
like that. We have access into the very throne room of heaven – to come
before the King of Kings – and bring our prayers, petitions, thanksgiving
and praises ... to the living God. And we pray about finding a parking spot, or
other equally mundane matters.
Prayer is the
natural breathing of the Believer.
Together with Scripture, prayer is the foundation of the
Christian life. God reveals Himself to us through Scripture. We respond to God
in prayer.
We dialog with Him. We enter into a relationship with
God and the disciplines of Scripture reading and prayer form the pillars upon
which that relationship is built.
Prayer is so clearly a priority for the believer.
Jesus not only taught his disciples to pray the Lord's
prayer; [Luke 11:1-4]. Jesus also
taught about prayer.
And, most importantly, he modeled prayer. Many times in
the Gospels we see that Jesus would steal away from the crowds, from the
busyness of his day, even from his Disciples, in order to spend quiet time alone
with the Father in prayer. For Jesus, prayer was the non-negotiable time he
spent alone with His Father. And if it was important for Jesus to pray, it is
important for you and I to pray.
So, we have these two central pillars of the Christian
life –the disciplines of Scripture Listening/Reading/Study and Prayer.
Freediving:
How Long Can You Hold Your Breath?
Let me close by telling you about
one of the craziest sports ever invented: it's called freediving.
[I'm going to start the video, and tell you about it
while it's playing]
This is called Constant Weight freediving.
In this video, the Frenchman
Guillaume Nery is going to make his free dive attempt. If you want to play
along, get ready to hold your breath.
With only one large flipper, Nery
takes one breath of air and dives down to see how deep he can go. Just one
breath.
Are you holding your breath?
He is tethered to the line to keep him moving down
toward a pre-determined depth—in this case, he's going town to 109 meters
(the depth equal to a 30 story building).
Then, once he has reached the
bottom of the line, on the same breath he has to turn around and swim all the
way back up to the surface.
That's him swimming under water and holding his breath
for just over 3 minutes—without any scuba equipment.
[By the way – that video shows a 3 minute dive
over a lapsed time of only 2 minutes]
Talk about a dangerous sport.
Listening to
God's Word, Then Holding Your Breath
Over the past couple of weeks we
have been looking at the Spiritual Disciplines and we've compared the
disciplines to breathing.
When I look back at my own spiritual journey, there have
been times when coming to church was the central practice of my spiritual life.
I'd come to worship each week, and it was like breathing in a deep breath of
divine inspiration.
Only trouble is, when I left the church, it was kind of
like [deep breath] ... then I had to hold it for the rest of the week.
[holding]
I'm telling you – a week is a long time to try to
hold your breath!
Your eyes start to bug out. Your face turns blue. The
veins on your neck start to bulge ... and that's just when you get to your car
in the parking lot!
Don't do it!
Those were the least productive times in my spiritual journey.
The Scriptures are a Vast Ocean of God's Riches
Think of Scripture as a vast ocean of God's riches to
explore.
You can wander along the shoreline
looking for interesting things.
Or you can snorkel on the surface,
peering down at the depths below ...
or you can strap on the scuba gear
and dive deep into God's Holy, living Word!!
Hearing God's word is important. Reading God's word is
what will sustain you day by day.
Studying God's word will take you to greater depths than you could have
ever imagined.
Prayerfully attending to God's word will supply all our
needs and give us the grace to grow in godliness, and continue to become more
like Christ every day.
The great evangelist, D.L. Moody
expressed it this way; “A man can no more take in a supply of grace for
the future than he can eat enough for the next six months, or take sufficient
air into his lungs at one time to sustain life for a week. We must draw upon
God's boundless store of grace from day to day as we need it.”
Notes and
Additional Material:
Meditation is middle glue that holds together Scripture
and Prayer.
Psalm 1:1-3
1 Blessed are those
who do not walk in step with the
wicked
or stand in the way that sinners
take
or sit in the company of mockers,
2 but who delight in the law of the LORD
and meditate on his law day and
night.
3 They are like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not
wither—
whatever they do prospers.
What starts as devotional Bible reading –
prayerfully asking God to unfold and enable His word to speak to us with
freshness and vitality – becomes a prayer for us as we reflect and
meditate on God's Word.
The scriptures encourage us to meditate on God's Word.
We have already seen Psalm 1. Two other verses which
encourage a meditation on Scripture include:
Phil 4:8 Finally, brothers and
sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is
pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent
or praiseworthy—think about such things.
Joshua 1:8 Keep this Book of
the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be
careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and
successful.
The other day I came across an article on prayer and the
Brain.
Dr. Mark Waldman is a neuroscientist who is a leading
expert on the effects of prayer and meditation on the brain. According to Dr.
Waldman, meditation “... can change the brain in ways that promote
physical, emotional and cognitive health and may even slow down the brain's
aging process.”
“The neurological benefits of meditation are
undeniable. Our research has documented how meditation, prayer and spiritual
practices alter both the structure and function of the brain,” he said.
Waldman has co-authored a book with Andrew Newberg
called How God Changes Your Brain where they “... demonstrate how
different forms of meditation and prayer improve memory and reduce anxiety,
depression and anger.”
Waldman offers a seminar where he says “I’ll
explain why optimism — which you can also call faith or hope — is
the most important element in maintaining a healthy body and mind,” he
said, adding, “I’ll demonstrate how a 12-minute chanting exercise
improves memory in cognitively impaired patients.”
NeuroScience
and Prayer and Meditation.
So, as I was reading this article, my first thought was
something that has been found to be true in many studies: People who have a
living, active faith tend to live longer, experience less stress, and have an
increased ability to cope with life overall.
But when I read the chanting exercise, suddenly I
realized that this practice of meditation is very different than the one I have
experienced.
Today it is quite common for Christians to practice
meditation—perhaps by joining a yoga class, or by learning meditation as
a way to reduce stress in the workplace. While this sounds very good and
helpful, but it's important to understand that there are two very different
kinds of meditation—and there are great dangers lying in wait for those
who choose poorly.
Eastern
Meditation: Emptying Ones Mind
Very often, when we think about Meditation, we think
about someone like this [image] sitting in the lotus position, chanting
“Ohm.” The individual is focusing on breathing in a certain way,
calming the body and mind, and seeking to move to a deeper sense of self and
inner peace.
It's important to acknowledge that this form of
meditation is not simply a technique for breathing and de-stressing. It is
rooted in Eastern religious traditions which are, in fact, in conflict with
Christian teaching and practice.
“Ohm” -- is actually AUM – for the
Hindu gods; A stands for Brahma, the god of creation power. U stands for
Vishnu, the god of operative power. M stands for Shiva, the god of destructive
power. Together, these three powers represent god.
Meditation based on chanting a mantra, yoga,
Transcendental Meditation are all steeped in eastern religious traditions.
While it promises health benefits, stress relief and mental alertness, eastern
meditation can draw people into contradictory and spiritually harmful
activities and practices.
In contrast to Eastern meditation, Christian meditation
approaches things from an entirely different angle.
Where Eastern traditions seek to empty the mind in
meditation, Christian meditation seeks to fill the mind with
reflections on the Word of God. Another important distinction between the two
approaches to meditation is that eastern thought is focused on the self …
trying to achieve a higher level of consciousness. Whereas Christian meditation is seeking
to focus on God in order to be drawn into insight and thankful praise.
Christian
Meditation: Reflecting on the Goodness of God
In Christian meditation, the believer seeks to fill his
or her thoughts with truths about God. Christians can achieve this by focusing
on the Word of God. We are encouraged in many places to meditate on God's Word;
to meditate on God's Law; to meditate on the good things that God brings into
our lives.
One form of meditation that has been used by Christians
since at least the 4th century is the lectio divina. It has been
traditionally used in monastic religious orders and is enjoying a resurgence
today. Lectio divina means "sacred reading" and has four
stages: lectio (reading), meditatio (discursive meditation), oratio (effective
prayer), and contemplatio (contemplation).
a) In
the lectio (reading) stage, one finds a passage and reads it deliberately.
b) The
next stage, meditatio (discursive meditation), is where one ponders the text.
c) In
the oratio (effective prayer) stage, one talks to God about the reading, asking
Him to reveal the truth.
d) In
the final, contemplatio (contemplation) stage, one simply rests in God's
presence.
As we can see, meditation is simply pondering or
thinking over something. The subject of a person's meditation, and the purpose
of the meditation, is what differentiates one kind of meditation from another.
What we choose to dwell on and focus our thoughts on
make a profound difference in our outlook on life. To find out more on how to
focus on "whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right,
whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is
any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things"
(Philippians 4:8, NASB).
A More
Detailed Overview of Lectio Divina
For a more detailed overview of Lectio Divina, you can
visit this article: http://www.americamagazine.org/content/article.cfm?article_id=2886 The Roman Catholic denomination has been
practicing lectio divina in various forms for centuries and this is one area
where we can learn from our Catholic brothers & sisters.
Thomas Merton. Monk and 20th Century
authority on prayer;
“Then we discover what the spiritual life really
is ... It is the silence of our whole being in compunction and adoration before
God, in the habitual realization that He is everything and we are nothing, that
He is the Center to which all things tend, and to Whom all our actions must be
directed. That our life and strength proceed from Him, and both in life and in
death we depend entirely upon Him...”
Other Articles
on Mediation
The Empty Promise of Meditation.
http://www.albertmohler.com/blog_read.php?id=2782
Another Christian Article on Meditation.
http://www.one-eternal-day.com/2008/11/his-law-he-meditates-day-and-night.html
Bible Reading
Plan Resources
One Year Bible. Reading plans to cover the whole Bible in
one year.
http://www.oneyearbibleonline.com/
http://www.ewordtoday.com/year/
http://christiananswers.net/q-eden/biblereading-1yr.html
http://www.heartlight.org/devotionals/reading_plans/
