For two thousand years and more God’s people have proclaimed the Gospel message on Sundays and frequently throughout the week. While we’d have to admit that often pretty silly things have been said in the name of Christ, it is also true that frequently enough something brilliant is said, and this always bears repeating.
I’m not going to go so far as to say the following is brilliant, but as I thought about what I wanted to say, the following quote captured it as well as ever. It comes from Paul David Tripp’s Everyday Gospel, page 454.
“Your Bible is unlike anything else in your life. It is one of God’s most amazing and important gifts to you. Everything in your Bible has been recorded and preserved for you by your Creator, Sovereign, Savior Lord. Your Bible has been put together and preserved for you as an irreplaceable tool of God’s grace in your life. Through God’s word, you can know him and yourself. You can understand the world you live in, see and confess your sin, rest in the grace of Jesus, understand the life to which you have been called, and embrace the eternal hope that is yours as a child of God. You simply cannot be a Christian without being a person of the word. You cannot make proper sense of your life without the interpretive grid of Scripture. You will not be spiritually healthy or live righteously if you aren’t being shaped by God’s word. The Bible is the soil in which your Christian life is rooted and grows.”
You might guess why I like this so very much. If this is true—if the Bible is one of the most amazing and important gifts—then the Bible has to impact our daily lives. It must shape, mold and guide us. Our understanding of the world, our jobs and families, our very existence is given to us here in the Scripture. I particularly like (and am personally challenged by) Tripp’s line: “You simply cannot be a Christian without being a person of the Word.” Amen!
So… Does the Bible have that role in your life? Does it direct our understanding of the world? Do you submit to its teachings? Do you desire it? And, all those questions for our church as a whole: Does Hebron church shape itself around the Word of God and all that it teaches us about Christ, about our need for Him, about our salvation in Him?
In worship this week, we will be asserting that Hebron Church is a biblical church. Come join us! In preparation, read 2 Peter 1:16-21.
- Why do you think the author has to say that they did not follow myths? What evidence does he provide here?
- Peter mentions when Jesus “received honor and glory from God…” When was that? What events/time period do you think Peter is referencing?
- Why is Peter so confident in the Word of God here? What convinces him of its faithfulness and truth?
- What does it mean for men to be “carried along by the Holy Spirit” (verse 21)? How would you know that is happening?
- What questions does this section answer? Why does Peter include it? What is important to him then, and how is it important to us now?
By Henry Knapp