Count for Zero: Sermon Two - "Getting the Word Out"

I remember reading my Bible as a new Christian and thinking how different it was from anything else I had read. I was a freshman in high school and the only thing that I remember enjoying to read was skateboard magazines, and the story of Tom Sawyer. Beyond that I would simply read enough of my school textbooks to be able to answer the questions. Reading my Bible drew me in and began to shape the way I thought about life and my place in it. Little did I know, I would spend my life teaching it.

We who are following Jesus are doing so with the knowledge that we have gained by reading and applying the the Bible. Let’s face it, we are all being shaped by someone’s ideas. Even our own ideas are products of where, when, and to whom we were born. Those beliefs are a mixed bag of truth and error. As we read our Bibles we are to bring all that we know and believe and lay it bare before God’s word. This is what it means to shaped by His word. 

King Josiah (2 Chronicles 34) is one of the many examples of how individuals and people groups are transformed by the discovery and humble application of God's word. This post will discuss how we are transformed by the word of God and the examples of Godly people. I pray that God will speak to you and challenge you to be transformed by His word and be inspired to share it with others in your life. 

Beginning is 2 Chronicle chapter 34 we see the truth that transformation comes to those who humbly discover God’s word. Reading the first seven verses of this chapter helps us see that prior to finding the book of the law Josiah sought God with King David has his example and  tore down all things pertaining to the worship of false gods. When Josiah found the book of the law he fully understood and took ownership of the rebellion of his people. He understood the depth of his own sin and the sin of his people. Finally we read in this chapter that Josiah was honored by God for being spared punishment because of his humility in receiving the word of God. V.22-33 (KV-26-27)

Josiah is not only example we have of being transformed by the word of God. As we move into the early days of Christianity, we see the same type of transformation taking place. Transformation comes from listening to the word of God. Examples of how transformation takes place through the word of God can  be seen in the following passages:

1. "..Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the  word about Christ.” Romans 10:17 NIV2.   

2. The crowds who heard the Word on the Day of Pentecost through Peter’s preaching instantly repented. Acts 2:37-383. 

3. The Ethiopian as the word was explained to him. Acts 8:26-40

4. Those who have been transformed by God’s word risk all to get it into the hands of others.

·        Martin Luther: translated the Word into German. For this, he was labeled a heretic.

·        William Tyndale: translated it into English from Hebrew and Greek. For this he was strangled and his body burned.

·        Jim Elliot: While trying to bring the Word to Auca Indians in Ecuador, he along with four other men was killed by the hostile tribe.

·        Johannes Gutenberg:

It wasn’t until 1455, when Gutenberg invented the printing press that the process improved.  Within only 10 years the number of books went from about 50,000 to over 10 million…and the very first book off that press was the Bible.

What was Gutenberg’s take on this? Let’s ask the man who invented the press…

He said: “religious truth is imprisoned in a small number of manuscripts, which confine instead of spread this public treasure.  Let us break the seal which binds these holy things; let us give wings to truth in order that she may win every soul that comes into the world by her word, no longer written at vast expense, but multiplied everlastingly by a machine which never wearies.”

 

Based upon these truths, the challenge for us becomes to be faithful to and with the word of God. And with this in mind, may be you are a Christian that resemble Josiah. When he found the Word, the Word found him. He heard the word just like you have and he responded to what he heard by sharing it. May you do the the same. One way that we at Yucaipa Valley Church of the Nazarene are sharing the word of God is to partner with Wycliffe Bible Translators. To join is the project please follow the link below.

Campaign Zero for Xavante http://www.wycliffe.org/promote/campaign/103594/xavante-1

 

Count for Zero: A Story to Be Told

I love to hear people’s stories because though them I see how God really works. These stories challenge me to pay attention to what story my life is telling. Many of life’s stories that I have had the privilege to hear contain times of focusing on the wrong things. This leads to arriving at the wrong places. Thankfully, many stories do not end there but continue on to a refocus and renewed direction.

God’s story, as told in the Bible, is full of accounts where the people of God focused on the wrong things and arrived at an unintended location. However, throughout God’s story, He directed and re-directed His people to the focal point that is Jesus and the reality of His resurrection. This story, with this focal point is the story that is not only God’s story to tell, but it is ours as well.

Main Point: The Resurrection Story Needs to be Told

I.                 Two stories were told. Matthew 28:1-15

A.               The story of the two women. V.1-10

1.               Imagine how frightening this was:

a)               They had seen Jesus beaten, crucified, buried and a large stone rolled in front of the tomb.

b)               They go to the tomb expecting it to be guarded. Instead they find an empty tomb and an angel.

c)                They are wondering what happened? What happened to the guards? Where was the body of Jesus? Had it been stolen?

2.               Imagine what they must have been wondering…

a)               Did this really happen?

b)               What if the rest of the disciples think we are crazy?

c)                What if they don’t believe us?

d)               Was that really an angel?

B.               The story of the Romans Guard. V.11-15

1.               They had to tell some kind of story because the ramifications of the true story were unbearable to them. Therefore…

2.               They told the one they hoped would be true. 

3.               The one the wanted to be true.

II.               Jesus’ disciple had to decide which story to tell. V.16-20

A.               The story they heard was hard to believe because it was being told by women and went against anything that they had believed and experienced.

B.               They heard a story that was confusing.

1.               Was it possible?

2.               What did it mean?

3.               Where was Jesus now?

C.               They heard a story that took and encounter with Jesus to convince them.

III.         The story of the resurrection was the beginning and is the foundation of the Great Commission.

A.               The ministry of the disciples was the telling of the real, true story. Acts 2:22-36.

B.               The story that needs to be told is not just of Jesus’ birth, his remarkable life, or his brutal death….it’s about the resurrection!

C.               This is the story that was written down to be passed ob to us.

Application:

1.               Now it’s your turn to tell the story. Which story of Jesus will you tell?

2.               Consider where we are in telling the story and where this story is heading.

3.               We should no longer have to ask “Who has been reached” we should start asking

4.               “who hasn’t been reached?” “Who hasn’t heard the resurrection story?”

5.               Let THIS church decide that ZERO people around us have not heard the story.

6.               Let THIS church decide to partner with those who are telling the story worldwide.