The Power of the Word of God

Jan. 17, 2021 

We’re in the middle of our sermon series, “Run to Win”. We’re basing it on the verse from Paul in 1 Corinthians 9:24, “Do you not know that in a race, the runners all compete, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win it!”  And later Paul says, “I do not run aimlessly.” Paul is telling us, don’t run in vain. Run every step with purpose, meaning, not just going through the motions. Don’t think it doesn’t matter what you do. Instead, run to win! And running to win, looks like running toward Him, running toward God. Discipline yourself like an athlete, in your run toward God. Now at first, Paul, wasn’t running toward Him. God turned him around. 

The first week of Run to Win we learned the goal is God. Run toward God, everything in in life gets put in the right priority when you run toward God. When you love God, you love the other people in your life better. 

The second week was on the power of prayer. Jesus said when you pray go in your room and shut the door. There is power of having time away from busyness and distractions, being in the presence of God.  

Today we’ll learn about the power of the bible to guide you, encourage you, and bring your closer to God. Next week, we’ll learn how to understand the Bible and read it. The last week we’ll learn how great it is when we run together. 

What do you think of when you think of the Bible? When I was a kid my family had a family Bible. It was big and heavy, had a white cover, nice ribbons, and some pages that were colored pictures of Bible stories. There was a family tree in the front of the Bible. My Mom wrote there our names and birthdays and the date of our baptisms. Our grandparents’ names were in there. We didn’t read it. My Mom knew her kids, and she didn’t want us to touch it. It was not the Bible you read; it was too special. 

If there is a Bible you are allowed to read, it can be tough to read the Bible. Maybe you try to read the Bible and start in the beginning. And you get to a part where it is law, law, law, just detailed regulations, and people getting in trouble with God over and over. They just don’t do what they should. Then there are genealogies: begat, begat, begat, this person begat or was parent of someone else, and on and on. It can be boring and discouraging to get through parts of the Bible.  

I want you to know: The Bible is more than a look-don’t-touch book. And the Bible is more exciting than you may think. There is actually a streaker in the Bible! Mark. Today we’ll learn the Bible is more than you may think. 

But why read the Bible? Why read it every day? There are many benefits to reading the Bible. You get closer to God. You learn what God wants. You find peace. But why the Bible? There are other things you could read. There are great Facebook posts. Why not just read inspiring Facebook posts? Or why not just read a self-help book? What is so special about the Bible, that people read it every day? 

I find the Bible life changing, and many other Christians do as well. We talked last week about the power of prayer: going to your room and shutting the door. I also believe in adding Bible reading on to that daily prayer. It will help you grow a lot in your faith. 

So why the Bible? Of all the things you could read? Because the Bible is good news about God who believes in you. We all need someone in our corner: a parent, grandparent, teacher, or spouse, somebody who knows us well, and still thinks the world of us. Think of that person, or persons, and how encouraging it is to be with them and talk to them.  

God is that person. God formed us, made us, and created us for a purpose. In fact, you look like God. You are made in His image. God is your biggest fan and he made you for a purpose.  God told Abraham a few thousand years ago in Genesis 12:2 “I will bless you and make your name great, so that you may be a blessing. And all the families on earth will be blessed through you.” We are all Abraham’s children, with a purpose to bless others. God gives you freedom to choose how you will live your life. Sometimes you choose well. Sometimes you don’t. For Abraham and his descendants, they needed to obey. There was no blessing from God if they disobeyed. But they would always be God’s people and God’s children no matter what. God loves you and created you for a purpose. That is in the Bible! The Bible is good news about God who believes in you. 

None of us are perfect. We all sin. God isn’t happy when we sin. Sometimes God punishes us. But God always forgives and always offers grace. When God punishes, the punishment is not forever. The people of Israel didn’t listen to God, they disobeyed. Then in 597 B.C. a foreign power conquered them, and many people were sent to live in a foreign land.  

Through the prophet Jeremiah God comforted them. Jeremiah 29:11-13 says “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. ¹² Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. ¹³ You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. 

No matter how badly we mess up, God gives us a future, and hope. God doesn’t give up on us. He never cuts his people off and says, “That’s it, I’m done!” God keeps loving you and has plans to give you hope and a future. The Bible is Good news about God who believes in you. 

Because God loves us, he did something about our sin. He sent Jesus to pay the price for our sins on the cross. Jesus died and God raised him from the dead. This is very good news. It means the past is gone. For all the stupid things, the terrible things, the selfish and mean things we have done, Christ took care of it. We are humans, we sin, but God doesn’t hold it against us. As long as we pick ourselves up, are sorry for what we have done, and lean on Christ to lead us in the right path, we are forgiven all! The past is now past. The apostle Paul had a past he wished he didn’t have. Paul says in vs. 9, “For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.” I would feel pretty bad if I had maybe even killed Christians for their faith before I became one: wouldn’t you? The good news means even a persecutor of Christians can become an apostle. The past was gone, even for Paul. Christ took care of our sins. The Bible is good news about God who believes in you. 

The Apostle Paul had many troubles. He was in shipwrecks; he spent a lot of time in prison. You will have trouble if you follow Jesus. But Paul also had more strength, more peace and more joy from living out his purpose to take the good news to the world.  Paul said in Philippians 4:6: take your worries and prayer requests to God, “and the peace of God, which is beyond understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” 

Why read the Bible? Because you find in it the good news of God who believes in you. I have in my Bible, a card from my Dad. He liked to send short letters and notes. This particular one said, “We are sending you better weather in two weeks.” He lived in Ohio, and we often get their weather, just a day later. Obviously, the card is not helpful for knowing the weather anymore, because it was written 3 years ago. But I kept it because it is a reminder of someone who really believed in me and loved me. The Bible is that: a reminder of someone who really loves and believes in you. The Bible brings us closer to God. But it’s even better than my card: it has wisdom, comfort, grace and forgiveness that God’s people relayed to us. 

Have you ever heard, “You are what you eat?” Imagine you try to exercise and lose weight. You work out hard. But you actually gain weight. What?! The thing is, you’re eating more. And you don’t eat good stuff. You think, “I worked hard, I deserve a treat!” So, you don’t just eat something. You eat Oreos. A whole bunch of Oreos. Even if you exercise, you are what you eat. 

You are what you eat spiritually. If you find, “I go to church, but I’m not feeling closer to God.” You need to get into the word of God, the Bible. You need to read it on your own! Your life is shaped by your thoughts. What you think is what you will become. So, feed on the word of God. If you spend time reading the story of God and his people, you are feeding yourself positive stuff: forgiveness, grace, peace and joy. You are reminding yourself of God who loves you and has good plans for you. Reading the Bible, you build some spiritual muscle to take on the world! 

My homework for you this week is to get a plan to read the Bible. We have devotionals at church. Or you can pick a book in the Bible and read a little each day. Or there is a Bible app for your phone, called the You version Bible app. It has Bible reading plans you can choose from AND it’s free! It’s at youversion.com. Everywhere you go, you can take the Bible. You can go on a streak, and it will keep track of your reading streak, how many days in a row you have read it. That’s my homework for you, to come up with a plan for how you will read the Bible every day. 

Why read the Bible? Of all the things you could read? Because it is the good news. God created you for a purpose. God loved you so much, He sent Jesus, who died for your sins. God never gives up on you. Reading the Bible, you will find encouragement, strength, hope, wisdom, and it will bring you closer to God. The Bible is good news of God who believes in you. And as you read it, you grow closer to him. Amen.