a

Celebrate
   Worship
   Sunday's Sermon
Grow
   Children
   Youth
   Family
   Adults
Care
   Pastoral Care
   Prayer
   Serving
   Social Justice

   Schools
Tell
   Alpha
   Fully Alive
   Living Under Grace

Contact Us
What's On This Week
Special Features
  Mothers Love
  Table Grace

  6 Spiritual Disciplines

Regularly READ THE BIBLE and apply it to my life

2 Timothy 3:14-17  “gives you the wisdom that leads to salvation” 

God is still in the people-changing business!

Paul encourages us that God continues to change people’s lives through his Word (the message about Jesus’ forgiving love).  Bibles should come with warning labels: “Danger: This book will change your life!”  The more we know the message of God’s love in Jesus, the more it will shape us into the kind of people God wants us to be.
 

Believing in Jesus is not just about me getting into heaven.  It’s also about getting heaven into me!

Through the message of Jesus’ sacrificial love for us, God changes us from his enemies into his friends.  But God isn’t finished at that point.  God accepts you as you are but he doesn’t leave you as you are, he wants you to be more like Jesus.
 

So why read God’s Word? (as often as you can!)

·   God’s Word creates saving faith

The whole purpose of the Bible is to create faith in Jesus. See John 20:31 and Romans 10:17.

·  God’s Word teaches us the truth about God (and us)

It changes us by pointing us to Jesus, who referred to himself as “the Way, the Truth and the Life (John 14:6).”  An important part of teaching us the truth is exposing our sin and rebellion against God.  It shows us our need for God’s forgiveness in Jesus.

·  God’s Word shows us how to live

It changes us by helping us to live God’s way: How to be in a right

relationship with God and to live well with others.  God’s Word grows us to greater spiritual maturity and equips us to better serve Jesus in our everyday lives.
 

Letting God’s Word shape your life

An important spiritual principle comes into play here: Our lives are shaped not so much by how much we know but by how much we apply what we know!  See James 1:22-25.

If God’s Word is going to change us in the way that God wants it to, then:

· We need to read it [hear it].  Eagerly receive this gift with open ears and open hearts.

· We need do this regularly / frequently.  The more the better - so that we can truly know it and let it seep deep down into our hearts and lives.

· We need to apply it to our lives.  With God’s help you need to walk the talk and reap the blessings that come from embracing God’s Word in your everyday life.

It is important to note that any one of these three steps is not enough on its own.  We need to do all three!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Four key attitudes to successfully reading the Bible:

1.  Read God’s Word with a real desire to learn.  Come to the Bible with a humble heart and a teachable spirit.  Pray: “Lord, help me to understand what this passage means for my life.”

2.  Read God’s Word with an open and listening heart.  Find a quiet place away from distractions to reflect on what you read.  Pray: “Lord, help me to get out of this passage what you want to say to me.”

3.  Read God’s Word with a willingness to apply it to your life.  God wants to renew you and help you to grow spiritually through his Word.  Pray: “Lord, help me to act on what you’re teaching me.”

4. Read God’s Word as often as you can.  Make reading the Bible a

priority and keep at it.  Pray: “Lord, make me hungry for your Word.”