Sunday Worship

Let's pray. Let's pray. Let's pray.

Good morning. We are glad that you are here today with us for worship, as is baby Solomon who's trying to eat the microphone. Let's go ahead and begin with a word of prayer. Father in heaven, thank you for taking care of us. Thank you for your love for us. Thank you for our brothers and sisters in Christ, and we thank you this morning for your word. And so we just ask that as we gather together for worship, whether here or online, that you would encourage and strengthen, convict us, and help us. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. It's meant to be opened, explored, pursued. It's made to be read, re-read, applied, and used. The sword of the Spirit, the Word of God, with wisdom, life-changing, to lead us on. It's made for guidance to teach us His ways, showing what's true, right, and worthy of praise.

It's meant to be hidden, deep in our hearts, daily examined as the morning starts. No greater glimpse of God do we have, a lamp to our feet and a light to our path.

A few songs here. A few songs here before we get into communion, and the first one is going to be What a Beautiful Name. If you'd like to stand up, then stand up. If you'd like to sit down, kneel down, whatever you want to do to give God your best praise, then you can do it.

You were the Word at the beginning, one with God, the Lord Most High. Your hidden glory in creation, now revealed in you are Christ. What a beautiful name it is. What a beautiful name it is. The name of Jesus Christ, my King. What a beautiful name it is. Nothing compares to this. What a beautiful name it is. The name of Jesus. You didn't want heaven without us. Jesus, you brought heaven down. My sin was great. Your love was greater. What can separate us now? What a wonderful name it is. What a wonderful name it is. The name of Jesus Christ, my King. What a wonderful name it is. Nothing compares to this. What a wonderful name it is. The name of Jesus. Death could not hold you. The veil torn before you. You silenced the boast of sin and grace. The heavens are rolling. The praise of your glory. For you were raised to life again.

You have no rival. You have no equal. Now and forever, God, you reign. Yours is the kingdom. Yours is the glory. Yours is the name above all names. What a powerful name it is. What a powerful name it is. The name of Jesus Christ, my King. What a powerful name it is. Nothing can stand against. What a powerful name it is. The name of Jesus. You have no rival. You have no equal. Now and forever, God, you reign. Yours is the kingdom. Yours is the glory. Yours is the name above all names. What a powerful name it is. What a powerful name it is. What a powerful name it is. The name of Jesus Christ my King. What a powerful name it is. Nothing can stand against. What a powerful name it is. The name of Jesus. What a powerful name it is.

The name of Jesus. What a powerful name it is. The name of Jesus. What a powerful name it is. The name of Jesus. Amen.

Lord, we pray this morning that our worship will just be pleasing to you and acceptable in your sight. As David wrote in the Psalms, "May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight." Amen. Standing on the promises of Christ my King. Through eternal ages let his praises ring. Glory in the highest I will shout and sing. Standing on the promises of God. Standing, standing. Standing on the promises of God my Savior. Standing, standing. I'm standing on the promises of God. Standing on the promises I cannot fail. When the howling storms of doubt and fear assail. By the living word of God I shall prevail. Standing on the promises of God. Standing, standing. Standing on the promises of God my Savior. Standing, standing. Standing, standing. I'm standing on the promises of God. Standing on the promises I cannot fall. Listening every moment to the Spirit's call. Resting in my Savior as my all in all. Standing on the promises of God. Standing, standing.

Standing, standing on the promises of God my Savior. Standing, standing. I'm standing on the promises of God. Do we have any little kids in the house today? Little kids? Little children? Why don't y'all come up for a minute? You liked this last week, didn't you? Mm-hmm. How about, do you know, Jesus loves the little children? Yeah. You do? I was playing that one when I came over to the lodge. Oh, I was? Yeah. Oh, we can do it again, right? Yeah, it's over. Okay. There's Jonathan. Come on, Jonathan. Come on, Jonathan. Come on, Jonathan. Come on, Jonathan. So you all got to sing with me and sing up real loud for everybody, all right? Yeah, like this? Yeah, at least that loud. Like this? Jesus loves the little children. All the children of the world. Red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in his sight. Jesus loves the little children of the world.

He died. Jesus died for all the children. All the children of the world. Red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in his sight. Jesus died for all the children of the world. He rose. Jesus rose for all the children. All the children of the world. Red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in his sight. Jesus rose for all the children of the world. And He lives. Jesus lives for all the children. All the children of the world. Red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in His sight. Jesus lives for all the children of the world. One more time. Jesus loves all the children. One more time. Jesus loves all the children. All the children of the world. Red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in His sight. Jesus loves the little children of the world.

Yay! Great job! Great job. Great job. Great job. We have this one that we sang last week. It was new to a lot of us, I think, last week. So I wanted to do it again. Hopefully we know it a little bit better, so feel free to sing along if you'd like. Read the words along if you'd like. Preparing our minds and hearts for communion, which will be after this song. God of creation, there at the start, before the beginning of time. God of creation, with no point of reference, you spoke to the dark and fleshed out the wonder of light. And as you speak, a hundred billion galaxies are born. In the vapor of your breath, the planets form. If the stars remain to worship, so will I. I can see your heart in everything you've made. Every burning star, a signal fire of grace.

If creation sings your praises, so will I. God of your promise, you don't speak in vain, no syllable empty or void. For once you have spoken, all nature and science follow the sound of your voice. And as you speak, a hundred billion creatures catch your breath, everything in pursuit of what you said. If it all reveals your nature, so will I. I can see your heart in everything you say. Every painted sky, a canvas of your grace. If creation still obeys you, so will I. If the stars were made to worship, so will I. If the mountains bow in reverence, so will I. If the oceans roar your greatness, so will I. For if everything exists and lift you high, so will I. If the wind goes where you send it, so will I. If the rocks cry out in silence, so will I. If the sum of all our praises still falls shy,

then we'll sing again a hundred billion times. God of salvation, you chased down my heart through all of my failure and pride. On a hill you created the light of the world, abandoned in darkness to fight. And as you speak, a hundred billion failures disappear. Where you lost your life so I could find it here. If you left the grave behind you, so will I. I can see your heart in everything you've done. Every part designed in a work of art called love. If you gladly chose surrender, so will I. I can see your heart eight billion different ways. Every precious one a child you died to save. If you gave your life to love them, so will I. Like you would again a hundred billion times. But what measure could amount to your desire?

You're the one who never leaves the one behind. Like you would again a hundred billion times. But what measure could amount to your desire? You're the one who never leaves the one behind. If you haven't had a chance to pick up communion elements this morning, they are located in the entryway wheel wheel. We'll partake together here in just a moment. I'd like to read from Luke the 12th chapter, beginning in verse 22. And in this, Jesus is speaking to his disciples, and it says, "Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. Consider the ravens; they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds?

And which of you, by being anxious, can add a single hour to the span of his life? If, then, you are not able to do such a small thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest? Consider the lilies, how they grow. They neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon, in all of his glory, was not arrayed like one of these. But if God clothes the grass, which is alive in the field today, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith? And do not seek what you are to eat or what you are to drink, nor be worried. For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them. Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you.

"Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom." In the entirety of the Gospel of Luke, one of my favorite verses is verse 32. Coming on the heels of Jesus calling his disciples to not be anxious and not to be fearful, and to trust in the provision of God, he says, "Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom." And in that verse, almost every phrase contains something deeply wonderful. But what I want to do for just a moment is point you to the Father's love. And one of the ways that you see this is almost in a very amusing sort of fatherly kind of way. He says, "Fear not, little flock." And in the Greek, that's what's called a diminutive.

And we maybe don't use that word very often, but we certainly use the concept. So our little girl Penelope, when she was little, Evelyn had trouble calling her Penelope. And so she started calling her Peeps and took her name and shortened it down to just those few letters that are much easier to say. And that's a diminutive. When you hear these words of Jesus where he says, "Fear not, little flock." This is like a pet name for God's people. This is a dad looking at his kids and saying, "Hey, I love you and I care about you." And so as we celebrate Father's Day, and as we gather around this table, we remember our Father in Heaven who is truly good, who truly loves us, who truly cares for us. He doesn't see us as a distraction. He doesn't see us as a problem.

He doesn't see us as a struggle, but rather He loves us. And this meal that we are about to partake reminds us of the Father's love. One of the most famous verses in the Bible in John the third chapter for God, and we can all finish it, "So loved the world," right? He went to give His only begotten Son. And so as we eat this bread and drink this cup, we remember God's love, but we also also remember God's provision. Isn't that the point of Jesus' words to remind His disciples in the midst of a world that is filled with worry and struggle, and what am I going to do, and how am I going to do it? To trust the provision of God. So it reminds us of our Father's love. It reminds us of our Father's provision. It reminds us to seek our peace in Him. But it's also a call

to examination. Paul, when he calls the Corinthians to the Lord's Supper, he says that each of us is to examine himself. And in verse 31, it says this, "Instead, seek His kingdom, and these things will be added unto you." So not only is this a beautiful reminder of our Father's love, it's a reminder of His provision, how He not just sustains us physically, but this meal sustains us spiritually. But it is also a moment for us to pause and ask ourselves the question, what is it in this world that we are seeking? Are we seeking our Heavenly Father? Are we seeing the sacrifice of God the Son? What is it that as we leave here and get in our cars or walk to our house, what is it that we're seeking? As we get up tomorrow morning,

what is it we are chasing after? Are we chasing after the kingdom? So it's my prayer this morning that in a minute as we eat this bread and as we drink this cup, that we remember and are encouraged by the fact that we are loved by a Father. That we are reminded not to be anxious in the middle of a world that is filled with fear because God provides. And it's a moment for us to examine what it is we are chasing. And so I'm going to pray, and then we will partake of this together. Let's pray. Father in heaven, I thank you for your love for us. I thank you for the gift of your son. As we break this bread, as we drink this cup, may we see this as a tangible and physical reminder of your love and your

provision. How you haven't just loved us from a distance, but rather your son gave his life on our behalf. That you haven't just said you will provide for us, but you have provided for us deeply. And your greatest provision is found in the cross. So may we remember that you have provided forgiveness, that you provide hope, that you provide peace. And as we eat this bread, may we examine our lives. That we would examine what it is we are chasing and hoping in and seeking. And that you would use this moment to focus us on you. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. If you would, take your bread. As Jesus took the bread and distributed it to the disciples and said, "Take. This is my body. It's given for you." And the same way, after supper, he took the cup and he told the disciples that it's a new covenant in his blood. Will you drink with me?

Father, we thank you for your great gift. We thank you for your provision. We thank you for the good news of the gospel. And I ask that you bless this meal that we have just partaken of. We thank you for the fellowship of our brothers and sisters in Christ. And we thank you for your church. Help us to be people who proclaim the gospel until your son comes again. It is in his name we pray. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

Genesis 1:3-5 And God said, "Let there be light." And there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light day, and the darkness he called night. And there was evening, and there was morning, the first day. Psalm 19: The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart. The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever. The rules of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold, sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb. Moreover, by them is your servant warned. In keeping them, there is great reward.

Psalm 119, "Deal bountifully with your servant, that I may live and keep your word. Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law. I am a sojourner on the earth. Hide not your commandments from me. My soul is consumed with longing for your rules at all times. You rebuke the insolent, accursed ones who wander from your commandments. Take away from me scorn and contempt, for I am not your commandments. I have kept your testimonies. Even though princes sit plotting against me, your servant will meditate on your statutes. Your testimonies are my delight. They are my counselors." Matthew 4:3, "And the tempter came and said to him, 'If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.' But he answered, 'It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone,

but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.'" 2 Timothy 3:16, "All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness." This is the word of the Lord. Now, we aren't going to look at every single one of those passages this morning, mainly because I didn't have enough coffee and we didn't bring a lunch, but I wanted to give you just a glimpse of what the Word of God says about the fact that God speaks. In power. And this continues through the rest of Scripture, and it's viewed as wonderful, hopeful, correcting, helpful, strengthening, all of these things. And so this morning as we gather, we want to consider the God who speaks. Let's pray. Father in heaven, I thank you for your word, and I ask this morning that as we consider you and the fact that you have given us your word, that during this time you would fill us with a deep appreciation for this wonderful gift that we have been given, that you would help us to see that you light up our paths, that you protect us, that you sustain us and nourish us.

That you correct us and that you help us. So be with us this morning as we consider your word. Help us. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Have you ever gotten a chance to talk to your heroes? I know there's been several occasions in my life where there's been somebody that I have admired, and I've got to say just a few words to them. And I remember I was probably 15 or 16, and then we were at a church conference in Oklahoma. And there was a Christian singing group that was there, and they were leading worship. And the man who started the group and went on to be the producer of the group was there. And it was one of those things when you're young, you see somebody that is famous and it's an amazing thing. He said, "Well, this had an impact on me." And we showed up to one of the local churches Sunday after the conference was over, and this guy was standing in the hall.

And so I went over and kind of very, you know, as a young man, stutteringly introduced myself and said, "Hey, would you help me hand out these handouts for worship this morning?" And I thought I was like 10 feet tall, right? Because here is somebody that I admired, and I thought the world of, who said to me, "Hey, will you help me?" What's remarkable about the Word of God is that we don't just get to speak to God through prayer, but that He speaks to us. And when we understand it, it transforms everything. It's a hundred million times greater than speaking or being spoken to by our greatest hero. And as we began considering Genesis last week, we looked at the very beginning, in the beginning, God. And we talked about the God who creates, the God who designed His greatness and His power, the joy with which He creates, the authority which He has over this world.

And as you move into the rest of Genesis chapter one, you'll find two words repeated over and over. God said, "Let there be light." God said, "Let there," and He talks about creation. And you see that God speaks, and that God's words have deep and abiding power. And the wonderful thing, and the wonderful news for us as Christians, is that His words didn't just have power in the beginning, when God says, "Let there be light," and there was light, and God saw that it was good. But God's words have power now. And they have power in our life. I don't know about you, but I tend to take things for granted. This past week we got together with a whole bunch of our family, and we went camping at Lake Anna. I don't know if you really tell what most of them did camping, because they had a big lodge, and there was bathrooms, and there was air conditioners, and there was a stove and a fireplace.

But our family, we had four bunk beds and four walls. And no air conditioning, you had a window. We did have an electric fan that kind of kept us a little bit cool. And one of the things we don't realize is how good we have it. And when we got home on Friday, you know what I was thankful for? I was thankful for air conditioning. I was thankful for running water. I was thankful that I didn't have to walk a quarter of a mile to find a bathroom or take a shower, right? That I had a king-size bed instead of a twin-size bed with a mattress about this thick on a bunch of lumpy springs. And all of these things that if you would have asked me last Sunday, I would have just taken them for granted.

But what happens? When we realize how wonderful something is, we become thankful. And I think because we have the Word of God, and it is so close to us, and it is so available to us, we tend to take His Word for granted. I have been in the process of moving my office downstairs from one room to another, and it has taken a while because there is a lot to be moved and organized. And there is a lot of other things going on, so at times it gets put on the back burner. But I was moving one of the shelves of my bookcases, and all it was was just a shelf of Bibles. In fact, I still have the Bible that I took to school in kindergarten. And all of these Bibles. And we have so much access and so much availability to the Word of God that our tendency is to take it for granted.

And so I want to just give you a glimpse this morning. And I don't know that I can do it justice, but I think the Word of God can. This morning Tiffany read a portion of the 19th Psalm and the 119th Psalm. And if you listen to her words in the 19th Psalm, over and over and over again, it talks about the commandments of the Lord, the precepts of the Lord. And throughout those verses you have this picture that God is at the center, that God speaks, and that He has something to say to us. And what's remarkable about those verses in the 19th Psalm, specifically the 7th, the 8th, and the 9th verse, there are literally 18 things in those three verses to think about in regard to the Word of God. First of all, there are six things that He calls the Word of God. And you think of it a little bit like a diamond that's cut, and it has all of these different facets.

And as you're looking and turning the diamond, they all reflect light a little bit differently. That's what the psalmist is doing. He says the law, the testimony, the precepts, the commandments, the fear, and the rules of God. And he's saying something that is similar, but just a little bit different. And as he turns the jewel that is the Word of God, we get another glimpse of what God has said. But he also gives six characteristics of the Word of God: that it is perfect, that it is sure, that it is right, that it is clean, and it is true. And he says that the Word of God impacts our lives in six ways: that it revives the soul, literally brings us back to life, makes wise the simple, rejoices the heart, enlightens the eyes, endures forever, and is righteous altogether. And this, in those three verses of the 19th Psalm,

19th Psalm is just a tiny glimpse of what happens when God speaks, in terms of the content, in terms of the impact on us. Eighteen facets of a beautiful jewel in three tiny verses in the middle of your Bible, extolling the Word of God. And then Tiffany read from the 119th Psalm. And I don't know how familiar you are with this psalm, but there are 176 verses divided into 22 stanzas, each stanza having eight verses each. And it's an acrostic, and what that means is that each letter spells something at the beginning of each phrase, and all it is is the Hebrew alphabet. It's literally the A to Z of what is wonderful about the Word of God. And do you know what's interesting about the 119th Psalm? That it has more verses than 30 books of the Bible.

Now that doesn't necessarily mean that it has more words or is longer, but in terms of verse count, the 119th Psalm has more verses than 30 books of the Bible. Not 30 altogether, but compared to those books individually. There's a lot here. But the wonderful thing about the 119th Psalm is it's literally a prayer focused on the Word of God. And what the psalmist wants us to do in both the 19th and the 119th Psalm is to see the value of the Word of God. To see how wonderful it is. In the 19th it says this, "More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold, sweeter also than honey, and the drippings of the honeycomb. And the prayer in verse 18 of the 119th Psalm, "Open my eyes that I may behold the wondrous things of your law."

Now is this what I see when I look at the Word of God? Is this what you see when you look at the Word of God? A wondrous thing that is so full of value that it is worth more than a truckload of fine gold. And notice how the psalmist in the 19th Psalm says this, he says, "It is more valuable than gold, much fine gold." So you might say, "Well, it depends on how much gold there is." And he says, "There's a whole lot." And you say, "Well, it might depend on the quality of the gold." And the psalmist says, "It's the finest gold and the purest gold that you can have." And this Word of God is more valuable than a giant stack of gold. And I struggle, and I imagine that you struggle sometimes to see God's Word as valuable.

And part of the reason for that is that maybe we see something about the Word of God that is just part of the picture. So, for example, one of our tendencies when we come to the Word of God is maybe see this book simply as an instruction manual. Now, it's certain that the Word of God does contain instruction. It contains a lot of instruction, but it's not purely for our instruction. You know what happens when you have an instruction manual? I don't know about you, but the first time I open something that has an instruction manual, you know what I do? I generally like, "Well, I'm a man. I can throw this away and figure it out on my own." And then what happens? I'll be doing pretty good for a while, and then something will happen, and I'll go, "Where's the instruction manual?"

And the problem with this is if you view the Word of God as only instruction, it certainly is instruction, but if it's only as instruction, the only time you'll go to this book is when you are in crisis and when you need something. It's more wonderful. Sometimes we view the Word of God as simply a book of rules, and it certainly does contain God's rules and God's guidance. But if we view it only as a book of rules, that small piece of the picture, there's two things that will happen, at least for me. I personally care about the rules in two times, and I don't know if this is speaking to my character or not, but oftentimes I care very much about the rules when I'm afraid. So you pass the state trooper driving down the road, and he's hiding in the bushes, and immediately my thought is what? What's the speed limit?

All of a sudden I care about the rules because I'm afraid, right? And a lot of us are like that. The other time that I care about the rules is when I'm trying to prove somebody wrong. I'm playing Monopoly and somebody does something, and my brother-in-law Jason, I think he's right there, he'll pull out the rules, and he'll correct you with the rules because you are wrong. And so many times if we view the Bible as a book of rules, and it certainly has rules, and it does give us guidance, but if you view it only as that, you're only going to go to the Bible in small doses in certain circumstances. The Bible will end up becoming a reference book for your fears and your pride. One of my favorite parts about the Bible is the stories, and in the temptation for us sometimes it's the view, the Bible is just a book of stories.

And they're good stories, and I love them. I remember my grandma Nelson, my mom's mom. My parents were out of town, and she was watching us, and she said, "Hey, Brandon, read a story out of the Bible." And so, you know, I was probably like nine or ten years old, which means my sister would have been, you know, six, five or six years old, and my brother would have been even younger than that. I said, "You know, I'm going to read my favorite story in the Bible, the story of Ehud, the left-handed judge, who sneaks a sword in." Because everybody, when they frisk you, they frisk you for a right-handed guy, and while the king is there, he stabs him so much that the sword goes all the way through the guy. This was the story that I read to my brother, and my sister, and my grandma.

The Bible has a lot of wonderful stories about faithfulness. We could look at Abraham, and Ruth, and Boaz, and Esther, and David. But the Bible isn't primarily just a book of stories. You see, if we see the Bible as just stories, we'll never experience the lasting transformation. Now, none of these things are bad seeing the guidance and the rules that God has given us, or the information, or the stories. But if we only see those things, they're not the whole story. God is showing us something wonderful, powerful, and it comes directly from Him. Do you know what the psalmist's solution is for how we see the Word of God in the 119th Psalm? Verse 18, "Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law." He goes to God, and He says, "Open my eyes, so that I can see."

I remember in high school literature, and we would read different literature and poetry, and then our teacher would always do that thing that every teacher does, where they say, "Well, what do you think this means?" And I sometimes was a little snarky in high school, and I said, "Well, why don't you ask the author, right?" He's the guy who knows what it means, rather than sitting here and we can ponder what does this word mean or that word mean. It seemed to me then that it was silly to try to figure out when we could just ask the guy who wrote it. And that's what the psalmist says. "When I come to the Word of God," he prays, "Open my eyes, that I may see the wondrous things in your Word." So let me give you just a couple wondrous things about the fact that God speaks.

And we see this power in creation as he creates the light and the dark, the sun and the moon, the stars, the earth, the seas, the plants, the fish, the birds, the animals, and then ultimately we see how he creates mankind. There are so many wonderful things about the Word of God. One of those things is that it nourishes us deep in our souls. In the 19th Psalm, "More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold, sweeter also than honey in the drippings of the honeycomb." And the psalmist picks something that people would desire, something that is sweet. And we struggle to understand this today because we have all kinds of sweet things. We have all kinds of refined, processed sugar. We have high fructose corn syrup. We have all kinds of things that are sweet.

But in that day, the sweetest thing in the world was honey. And if you've ever seen somebody who desires something, and they chase after it. For example, Luke has realized in our house that pie is a wonderful thing. And so if you say to Luke, "Do you want some pie?" Like he'd be heading out the door, and you say, "You want some pie?" And you know what he does? He comes running over because he wants some pie. And the psalmist says, "The honeycomb, the sweetness of that honey, it causes me to run to the Word of God because it is pleasurable, but it also nourishes and strengthens me." One of the things you see in Scripture about honey is that it restores and energizes. In 1 Samuel the 14th chapter, King Saul is getting ready to fight the Philistines, and he makes this really rash vow.

And he says, "Nobody's going to eat until we've killed all the Philistines." And you probably all know the saying that the army marches on its stomach, right? So you're getting ready to go into this giant battle, and you say, "Sorry guys, nobody can eat until everybody else is dead." And Jonathan, his son, doesn't hear his dad say that. And so he's sneaking through the woods, getting ready to attack the Philippines, and he sees some honey. And he takes the tip of his staff, and he dips it in the honey, and he eats it. And 1 Samuel 14 says this, "But Jonathan had not heard his father's charge to the people with this oath." So he put out the tip of his staff that was in his hand, dipped it in the honeycomb, put his hand to his mouth,

and here's the important part, "And his eyes became bright." So here's this soldier who is tired, he's hungry, he's getting ready to go into battle, and so he dips out some honey, and it changes his whole demeanor, his whole attitude. It energizes and strengthens him for the battle ahead. So here's what I would say. Are you tired? Are you struggling? Let the Word of God be the honey to your soul. The law of the Lord is perfect. The psalmist says reviving the soul literally means it brings us to life. In the same way that in creation God brings this world to life, with his words, his words to our hearts bring us to life. The Word of God gives us light. In the 105th verse of the 119th Psalm, a verse we're all familiar with,

"Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path." The light allows us to see the world as it is. A bunch of years ago I was camping out in the woods in the middle of nowhere. When I camp by myself I try to go as light as possible because I don't want to carry a bunch of stuff. And so it was just me and my hammock. I don't even think I had a rain fly and I was sleeping. And one of the things in the woods at night, especially if there's no moon, it gets really, really, really dark. I'm sleeping and I wake up and I just hear something crunching through the leaves. Right? Your imagination begins to run a little wild, right? Is it a deer? Is it a bear? Is it a coyote?

Is it a guy with a hook? A guy in a ski mask coming to get you? Like, what is it? And so I reach over and I grab my flashlight and I turn it on, the biggest, fattest, silliest looking raccoon, coming over to see if there's any food left at my picnic table. And so what did the light do? It dispelled all of my imaginations, and it helped me to see reality. And in the same way, the Word of God dispels our wrong thoughts and our wrong notions, and it helps us to see the world as it is, as it should be, and it encourages us. And just like light in the darkness takes away our fear, so does the Word of God. And we can keep going. Hebrews 4 talks about how the Word of God is a two-edged sword.

Jesus talks about how man does not live by bread alone, but every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. John's Gospel begins by talking about in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, and how God creates through His living Word. 2 Timothy 3:16 talks about how God's Word teaches and encourages us and corrects us and keeps us going. It gives us the equipment we need to face the difficulties of life and ministry. And this book is wonderful. But I think the most wonderful part of this all is that it shows us Jesus. In Hebrews, the first chapter, it says, "God who spoke long ago to the fathers through the prophets in many portions and in many ways in these last days has spoken to us through His Son."

And in Luke, the 24th chapter, Jesus twice will do this. Once with those two disciples who are discouraged, and they're on the road to Emmaus, and they're struggling as they walk along. And then again with the disciples before He ascends into heaven. And in Luke 24, it says this, "And beginning with Moses and all the prophets, He interpreted to them in Scripture, in all the Scriptures, the things concerning Himself." And what Jesus does is He sits down with these two disciples and says, "Everything here points to Me, to My life, to My death, to My resurrection, to the salvation for all mankind." And as you read through the Word of God, in the prophecies about Jesus, in the promises about Jesus, and even the people that are in this book, they all point to the fact

that God is sending a Savior who will rescue His people. Does this book contain instruction? Absolutely. Does it contain rules for living? Absolutely. Does it contain wonderful stories? Absolutely. But ultimately, this is a book about how God saves through the life of His Son. And it's wonderfully encouraging when you begin to see it through that lens. For example, one of my favorite stories in the Old Testament, we've talked about this, and a couple years ago we preached through it, is the book of Ruth, where you have this picture of this woman who has gone through such hurt and loss, and she comes with her mother-in-law to a land she doesn't know, and they get there, and they don't have anything, and she's out in the fields picking up scraps, trying to feed her family, and then she meets a guy by the name of Boaz.

Through the providence of God. And Boaz brings in this lost woman, makes her a part of her family, and cares for her deeply. And ultimately, in Boaz, you know what you see? You see a picture of what God has done for us through Jesus. That He takes those of us who are broken, who are struggling, who are from families that are falling apart, and He loves us, and He brings us in, and He cares for us. The same is true with the story of David and Goliath. And I love this story because you've got the underdog going against the champion and winning. And so often times, we think about the story of David and Goliath as, "I can overcome my giants." But the message of the Bible is not that I can overcome them, but that Jesus, at the cross,

overcame Satan, sin, death, and hell, and He has conquered the giants. And I'm the cowering Israelite who is afraid, and my champion has stepped up and has saved me. And we can move through all of Scripture and see this wonderful picture that God loves and He redeems. Don't take for granted the fact that our God speaks. That it is wonderful that if you're struggling, if you're tired, if you need nourishment, come to the honey of the Word of God. If you're struggling in the darkness, shine the light of the Word of God upon your path and see the goodness of Jesus. Let's pray. Father, thank You for Your church and for Your Word. Thank You for allowing us just for this brief moment to gather together and to struggle to see the greatness of what You have done for us and the fact that You speak.

And that Your words have an impact and Your words change us and transform us. So help us to commit to be people of this Word. That we would hear Your words, we would be changed by them, and we would love them and hold them dear. That we would hide them away in our hearts. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Let's go ahead and stand and sing our hymn of invitation.

'Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus, just to take Him at His word, just to rest upon His promise, just to know the safe of Lord. Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him, how I fruit Him o'er and o'er. Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus, O for grace to trust Him more. I'm so glad I learned to trust Thee, precious Jesus, Savior, friend. And I know that Thou art with me, build me with me to the end. Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him, how I've proved Him more and more. Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus, O for grace to trust Him more. Thank you for being here with us this morning. Wednesday night, we will be here at 7:00 p.m. in the book of 2nd Peter. If you haven't had a chance, start reading through that first chapter. There's a lot of wonderful things in Peter's second letter, and I'm looking forward to walking through them with you and discussing them with you.

And so that's this Wednesday night at 7:00 p.m. And then Thursday at 1:00 p.m., the ladies will be gathering for their continuing study in Women of the Bible. This week is Potiphar's wife. So if you have a book, go ahead and read ahead about Potiphar's wife, and we hope to see you here at 1:00 p.m. for that discussion. Also, this Friday we are going to do an outdoor movie, sort of seeing how God's creation points to the magnificence of its creator. And so we'll have a little bit more details in terms of time. Tomorrow we want to test everything just one more time and see how early we can get it. We'd rather not be here at like 11:30 at night. So we will send out an email and do our Facebook announcement about that.

So I'm excited to share that with you. If it does rain that way and we can't do it outside like we would like to, we'll go ahead and do our best to move it in here. But we'd really like to kind of be outside and invite some of our friends and neighbors in the area to come and join us for that. So let's go ahead and have a word of prayer, and we'll sing one more song. Father in heaven, thank you for allowing us to gather. We just ask that you will bless the activities of this week, whether it's in our work or in our families or in all the many tasks we do that we would look to you. May we be people who are constantly in your word and encouraged by your word and that we would see the power in your word as we look to the sky and the mountains and this creation and to understand that your word is what brought this all about.

Be with us. We thank you for Jesus. It's in his name we pray. Amen. Amen. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. When I feel free, think I've lost my way. Still, you're there right beside thee. Nothing will I fear as long as you are near. Please be near me to the end. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. I will not forget your love for me. My heart forever is wandering. Jesus, be my guide and hold me to your side. I will love you to the end. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.