4 Questions to Build a Bible Habit That Lasts

Senior Pastors here at Christ Fellowship Church, and we're so glad that you're tuning in for service today. - Yeah, Christ Fellowship is one church that meets in lots of different locations, including right here with you. - Yeah, and our prayer for you today is that you would sense God's love for you. See, I don't personally know all that you're going through today and what you're up against, but God does. And here's your prayers, and he knows your name, and he's right here for you today as you call out to him. - Yeah, thanks again for joining with us today. We love you and we're praying for you. - God wants to exceed your expectations this year. What are you expecting God to do this year in your life? Those who are planted in the house of the Lord will flourish. - We are a church for the one who has lost that they will be found and they will find that their purpose in Jesus, the one who gave it all, so that we could experience life and life to the full. - God is more in store than you have in mind, and I believe so much more than it's going to blow your mind. (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music)

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♪ It's a thing for me ♪ ♪ It's a thing for me ♪ ♪ Through it all ♪ ♪ You've been so, so good ♪ ♪ Come on, it's even good to you ♪ ♪ You have to work like I said to you ♪ ♪ Through it all ♪ ♪ You've been so, so good ♪ ♪ Catch your words like I said to you ♪ ♪ The first thing I knew every morning ♪ ♪ And the second thing I saw will never end ♪ ♪ Home one day in the evening ♪ ♪ Home one way to thankful ♪ ♪ The first thing I knew every morning ♪ ♪ The second thing I saw will never end ♪ ♪ The first thing I saw will never end ♪ ♪ Home one way to thankful ♪ ♪ Home one way to thankful ♪ ♪ Home one way to thankful ♪ ♪ The first thing I saw will never end ♪ ♪ His first season every morning ♪ ♪ His faithfulness just towards us ♪ ♪ Welcome home Christ fellowship ♪ ♪ Special welcome to anyone ♪ ♪ Maybe you're visiting joining us today ♪ ♪ Or maybe you're joining us online ♪ ♪ With CF everywhere ♪ ♪ Maybe you're singing with us today ♪ ♪ From far away, hey we're so glad ♪ ♪ That whatever got you in here today ♪

♪ It is for a purpose ♪ ♪ It is for a reason ♪ ♪ I didn't want to just walk through the doors ♪ ♪ Of this place as if nothing happened ♪ ♪ But we're here to meet with the living God ♪ ♪ I love this out of Isaiah 40 ♪ ♪ Says have you not known, have you not heard ♪ ♪ Can I tell you today ♪ ♪ The Lord is the everlasting God ♪ ♪ The creator of the ends of the earth ♪ ♪ He does not faint or grow weary ♪ ♪ I love that He gives power to the faint ♪ ♪ And to Him who has known my He increases strength ♪ ♪ Even youth shall faint and be weary ♪ ♪ Young men shall stumble ♪ ♪ But He who weighed upon the Lord ♪ ♪ He shall renew their strength ♪ ♪ He felt weak this week ♪ ♪ If you felt you stumbled this week ♪ ♪ Maybe you fell short of the mark ♪ ♪ How many of us, that's probably all of us ♪ ♪ She fell short of the mark ♪ ♪ I love that there's a promise for us today ♪ ♪ That He is enough ♪ ♪ That He is all that you need today ♪ ♪ That you can come into this place ♪ ♪ Lift your hands to Him ♪ ♪ Lift your eyes to Him ♪ ♪ Lift your voice to them ♪ ♪ He will increase your strength ♪

♪ Let me pray for us today as we come to meet ♪ ♪ Father, we have come today on purpose ♪ ♪ Your church waking up across the East Coast ♪ ♪ Joining the rest of the world ♪ ♪ That says your name is great and greatly to be praised ♪ ♪ So we come to say thank you ♪ ♪ In Jesus' name we pray, amen ♪ ♪ Can we say thank you to the Lord today ♪ ♪ This is your invitation ♪ ♪ Be moved in your worship today ♪ ♪ Sing with us today with joy and strength ♪ ♪ Sing with me there was no way ♪ ♪ 'Cause you made one ♪ ♪ Grace upon grace, I remember ♪ ♪ Even though I don't deserve it ♪ ♪ You gave it ♪ ♪ Even though I couldn't remember it ♪ ♪ You gave it ♪ ♪ Oh, this is us today ♪ ♪ Say, "Who am I that you keep me on your mind ♪ ♪ I'm so grateful for you ♪ ♪ I'm so grateful for you ♪ ♪ Before my life ♪ ♪ You've been right here by my side ♪ ♪ I'm just grateful for you ♪ ♪ I'm just grateful for you ♪ ♪ See, before we only ♪ ♪ There's only one ♪ ♪ Yes, there is ♪ ♪ I give you glory ♪

♪ Before you die ♪ ♪ Oh, even though I don't deserve it ♪ ♪ You gave it ♪ ♪ Even though I couldn't remember it ♪ ♪ You gave it ♪ ♪ Oh, this is us today ♪ ♪ Say, "Who am I that you keep me on your mind ♪ ♪ 'Cause I'm just grateful for you ♪ grateful for Him, I'm just grateful for Him, I'm just grateful for Him, I'm just a thank You Lord, I just want to thank You Lord, come on help me ♪ I think the Lord today ♪ ♪ Would you lift up your hands in His house? ♪ ♪ Said I ♪ ♪ I lived in both of my hands ♪ ♪ 'Cause you gave me chance after chance ♪ ♪ How to say ♪ ♪ In all ♪ ♪ I'm giving all that I am ♪ ♪ 'Cause you gave me chance after chance ♪ ♪ Come on for the perfect event today ♪ ♪ Oh ♪ ♪ I lived in both of my hands ♪ ♪ 'Cause you gave me chance after chance ♪ ♪ How to say ♪ ♪ In all ♪ ♪ I'm giving all that I am ♪ ♪ 'Cause you gave me chance after chance ♪ ♪ Who am I ♪ ♪ As you gave me all your life ♪ ♪ I'm just grateful for Him ♪ ♪ God is just grateful for Him ♪

♪ Oh my God ♪ ♪ You and I ♪ ♪ You and I ♪ ♪ God is just grateful for Him ♪ ♪ God is just grateful for Him ♪ ♪ Who am I ♪ ♪ Who am I ♪ ♪ God you gave me all your life ♪ ♪ You gave me chance after chance ♪ ♪ God is just grateful for Him ♪ ♪ For my life ♪ ♪ Oh my God ♪ ♪ You've been right here by my side ♪ ♪ God is just grateful for Him ♪ ♪ I'm just grateful for Him ♪ ♪ Oh my God ♪ ♪ Oh my God ♪ ♪ You gave me right here by my side ♪ ♪ I'm just grateful for Him ♪ ♪ God am just grateful for Him ♪ ♪ You gave me all my life ♪ ♪ You gave me right here by my side ♪ ♪ You gave me right here by my side ♪ ♪ You've been right here by my side ♪ ♪ I'm just grateful for Him ♪ ♪ I'm just grateful for Him ♪ - Come on, just begin to tell 'em, thank you. - Thank you. (audience applauding) ♪ Oh, finish love ♪

♪ Finish love ♪ ♪ You finish love ♪ ♪ I just wanna say thank you ♪ ♪ Feel my heart will thank you ♪ ♪ You never forget ever since ♪ (gentle music) ♪ This we fix our eyes, hold me ♪ ♪ Maybe we've made this complicated ♪ ♪ More than it was ever meant to be ♪ ♪ Has it always been about the safety ♪ ♪ Oh Lord, bring us back to simple fear ♪ ♪ You be the center of your own ♪ ♪ My heart belongs to you ♪ ♪ My Savior on your own ♪ ♪ You're the one I hold on to ♪ ♪ For you, you love your name ♪ ♪ My soul will live to stay ♪ ♪ Jesus, I love you ♪ (gentle music) (upbeat music) We're to serve And when we send you out your peace Give us our way to what's important And just like Mary She chose the better thing Over you You be the strength of the old My heart belongs to you My Savior, all in all You're the one I hold on to

For the healing of my hands My soul will just stay And Jesus, I love you Be the strength of the old My heart belongs to you My Savior, all in all You're the one I hold on to For the healing of my hands My soul will just stay And Jesus, I love you And Jesus, I love you Oh, I love you Come on Church, give me time today Yes, oh, I love you And Jesus, I love you Give my whole world For your glory, my whole world For you only everything For the honor of your name It is my days Just for a little bit I am only everything For the honor of your name My whole life For your glory, my whole world For your only everything For the honor of your name It is my days Just for a little bit I am only everything

For the honor of your name My whole life For your glory, my whole world For your glory, my whole world For the honor of your name It is my days Just for a little bit I am only everything For the honor of your name It won't have my love here It won't have my love here It won't have my love here It's Jesus, I love you Oh, how I love you It won't have my love here It's Jesus, I love you Give my whole life For your glory, my whole world For your only everything For your glory, my whole world For the honor of your name It is my days Just for a little bit For your glory, my whole world For the honor of your name Oh, how I love you Oh, yeah It won't have my love here It's Jesus, I love you Oh, how I love you

I do what I do It won't have my love here It's Jesus, I love you Give my whole life For your glory, my whole world For your only everything For the honor of your name It is my days Just for a little bit It won't have my love here It's Jesus, I love you (audience applauding) - Thank you, Peter. God, we pray that that would be the testimony of our lives, the testimony of our church, that everything we do is for your glory, for your honor. God, for your name. God, we lift up your name right now because it is the greatest name. There is nothing in this life that is worth building our lives on, but the name of Jesus. So every moment we spend at work, every moment we spend with our kids, every moment we spend in your word, every moment we spend telling others about your gospel, it is for your glory, it is for your good, and with every breath that I have inside of these lungs, I'm gonna praise the Lord because you are worthy of it and worthy of everything that I could bring.

So come on, church, can you begin to give Jesus all the praise today for all that he's worthy? Everybody said amen, amen. - Hannah, thank you. I appreciate it for filling in with your mic. Hey, how you guys doing today? So good to see you in the house. Everybody joining with us online. So good to have you with us. We haven't got the chance to meet you at my name is Cole. And I want you to know the people around you in your area. So why don't you say, hey, to the people next to you, shake their hands, give 'em a high five and you can grab your seats today. - Let me get Ryan's. It's so good. (upbeat music) (audience applauding) - Hey, church, I wanna welcome everybody joining us across all of our campus locations today. I am so excited about everything that God has in store for us today. And as I've been praying for this weekend's message, the word that keeps coming to my heart and mind is just the word helpful. I've really been praying that today for each and every person would be helpful. I wanna try to give you some practical tools today that are hopefully gonna transform your spiritual life. On Christmas Eve in 2002, there was a man named Jack

who purchased a Powerball ticket in Hurricane West Virginia and this was something that Jack had been doing for about the last decade. Like any time the Jackpot went over 100 million, he would go out and buy his ticket. Well, the next morning Christmas day, Jack's life changed forever. Because as he woke up, he realized that he was holding the one and only soul winning ticket, Jack won $314 million on Christmas day. At that time, it was the largest single Jackpot in American history. Now, I don't know if you've ever daydreamed about a moment like that, but can you imagine? Like the excitement, the emotion, can you imagine like the phone starts ringing and you've got reporters camped out on your lawn, right? Overnight, you're one of the most recognizable people in America and it looked like Jack had finally found this life that everybody dreams about, but slowly his dreams began to unravel because people he'd never met before came and asked for money, right? He was actually robbed multiple times over the next couple of years. There were all these lawsuits that piled up. His marriage actually ended. The money changed absolutely everything and it actually made his life far more difficult. Years later, he was looking back at that time in his life

and everything that happened and Jack made a statement that shocked the world. He said this, he said, "I wish I had torn that ticket up." A $314 million ticket, I wish I had torn it up. Now, I want you to think about that for a second. How does somebody go from spending almost a decade hoping, wishing, dreaming, working towards winning the lottery to wishing it had never happened? And I think it's because Jack discovered something that eventually each and every one of us needs to learn, which is this, what the world says leads to the good life is actually very different than what Jesus says leads to the good life. Because the world will tell us like a little more money, a little more success, the right relationship, bigger house, the promotion, then, then, you'll finally be living the good life. But Jesus tells us a very different story. In fact, in John chapter 10, verse 10, maybe you're familiar with this verse, and have it to the full." So when Jesus makes a statement like this, here's what we know. We know that Jesus wants us to experience a good, full, abundant life. The question is not whether or not he wants us to have it. The question is, well, then how do we experience it? How do we experience the good life that Jesus has in store for us? And that's what this series is really all about.

Now, I would actually argue that if we're going to experience the good life, the word of God is absolutely essential. I would argue that if we're going to experience the good life that God has for us, the word of God is absolutely essential. Or to say it another way, we can't experience the life that God has for us if we don't spend time in his word. That's just how God has set this thing up. We need his word to experience the life that he has for us. Last week, we launched a feature on the Christ Fellowship app where you can follow along with the week's message. You can take notes and there's some questions along the way. And last week, we asked this question. We said, which area of your spiritual life do you most want to grow in? And the number one answer, 52% of you said spending time with God, 52%. Where do you want to grow the most? Spending time with God. That's why I'm praying that today is going to be helpful. Here's the second question that we asked. We said this, which spiritual habit is the hardest for you to practice consistently? Is it prayer, reading scripture, attending church, spending time with Christian friends? And the number one answer, 58% of you. So the hardest thing for me to do consistently is read the scriptures. Now, that's a problem.

It's a problem because, over the course of about a decade, a place called the Center for Bible Engagement, they did a massive survey where they surveyed 600,000 people. And here's what they found. The most powerful predictor of spiritual growth in anyone's life is consistently engaging God's word. That the number one indicator of spiritual growth is consistently engaging the word of God. So let's be clear. It's not prayer. It's not church attendance. It's not being in a small group. It's not even serving others. It's not putting on your favorite worship playlist. All of those things are powerful and helpful and important. But here's what the research clearly shows. The most powerful predictor of spiritual growth is consistently engaging in God's word. Now, for many of us, that's good news and bad news. The good news is that God has made it so easy for us to engage with his word. He actually hasn't made it difficult. In fact, your heavenly father longs to give you purpose and direction. He longs to give you instruction so much so that he wrote it all down for us and he preserved it through the generations so that we would have access to it. And then in this day and age, he's given us more access to the word of God

than any generation in history. So the good news is your heavenly father longs to spend time with you in his word and he's made it easy for us to do it. Now, the bad news is that if I just do all the other things, if I just go to church and I sew up to a small group and I pray and I worship and I serve, the reality is I will only grow at a fraction of the rate that I could or should. If I do all of these other things, but I don't consistently engage in God's word, the truth is I'm stunting my own spiritual growth. I will only grow at a fraction of the rate that I could or should. So consistent Bible engagement is what some would call a keystone habit. Maybe you've heard this phrase before. Here's what a keystone habit is. It is a small foundational routine that triggers a domino effect, naturally sparking positive changes in other areas of your life. So consistently engaging with God's word is the keystone habit. It's the most important. All of those other things, they matter greatly. their lives are different. Let me show you what the research says. People who consistently engage in God's word, here's what this study found.

They are 228% more likely to share their faith in Jesus. That is astronomical. People who consistently engage in God's word. 231% more likely to disciple others. 407% more likely to memorize scripture. But it's not just that. 59% less likely to view pornography. If you consistently engage with God's word. 40% less likely to struggle with bitterness. 31% less likely to struggle with discouragement. 30% likely to experience loneliness. This is massive. The statistics are incredible. Why? Because God's word is just that powerful. Now, I do want you to know this. Word is incredibly important. Consistently engaging with God's word. And actually, what that means is people who engage with God's word four or more times in a week. That that's the magic number. If you engage with God's word four or more times a week, this can be your life. If you engage with God's word less than four times a week, those people are statistically the same as people who do not engage with God's word. That that's why consistency is so very important. We have to become the kind of people who consistently engage with God's word. And I actually believe, even just based on those questions

that we asked you last week, I actually, I don't think we have a desire problem. I think most of us want to engage with God's word. So for many of us, the problem is not that we lack desire, but maybe that we lack direction. It's not that we lack passion, but maybe we lack a process. And so today, what I wanna help you do is I wanna help you become the kind of person who consistently spends time in God's word. And here's what I know. The people who consistently spend time in God's word, they have answered these four questions. I hope you'll write them down today. The first question that people who do this consistently have answered is when will I meet with God? When will I meet with God? Now that sounds like such a simple question, but if you have ever found yourself struggling to consistently spend time in God's word, this is the very first and foundational question that you need to answer. When will I spend time in God's word? Why? Because if you never decide when, you'll almost never do it. Let's just be honest. If you don't decide when, you'll almost never do it. Think about it. We don't accidentally make doctor's appointments.

We don't accidentally show up to work. You don't accidentally catch your flight, right? Those things don't happen by accident. They happen because they're scheduled. And the same thing is true when it comes to spending time with God. If your plan is simply I'll spend time with God when I have time, it absolutely will not happen. Someone once said, what's scheduled gets done, what's merely intended, it usually doesn't. And we just, let's acknowledge we all have some good intentions, probably when it comes to spending time with God in his word, but because it doesn't get scheduled, we sometimes struggle to have this routine. But Jesus shows us the importance of this. Mark chapter one, here's what it says. It says very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he got up, went out, and he made his way to a deserted place, and there he was praying. I just think it's fascinating that even Jesus needed to wake up early so that he could actually spend time with his heavenly father. And if Jesus needed that, how much more so do we need it? What we see in this passage of scripture is that Jesus, he had a rhythm, what's yours? So for some of you, it might be 6 a.m., right? Before everything else in the house wakes up and you gotta have your time in the morning.

If you're in my house, you gotta get up earlier than that. If you're trying to do it before everything else wakes up. For others of you, it might be maybe during your lunch break. We're sitting in the car line. that you have to find a time that works for you. But I will say this, the people that I know who have the most vibrant spiritual life, that the people who I know who have the most quality time, if you will, with God are the people who wake up early and they do it before anything else. In fact, I would say that's kind of the model of Jesus if you think about it, right? Very early in the morning Jesus would get up. Very early in the morning, the Bible actually takes time to tell us it was while it was still dark. While it was still dark, Jesus got up, went out and he made his way to a deserted place. Jesus actually got up and did this very first thing in the morning. And so the people who I know who have the most vibrant spiritual lives, they meet with God first thing. And I just think there's something powerful about that because I believe that when you seek God early, you will see him often. There's something different about giving God your first and your best time. I believe that God honors that. And so you gotta find what works for you, absolutely. Sometime with God is better than no time with God. But my point is, if we just intend to do this

in the margin of our lives, it's not there. And it's not gonna happen. So no, when you are spending time with God, because if you can develop this consistent discipline, it will radically transform your life. So the second question that people who consistently spend time with God answer is this, right? First, when will I spend time with God? Second one's not that complicated either. Where will I spend time with God? The people who I know who meet with God consistently answer this question, where will I meet with God? Now, there's a lot of reasons for this. But research consistently shows us that habits become dramatically easier when they're in a consistent location. The habits in our lives that we're trying to build, they become consistently easier when we have a consistent location. Angela Duckworth, who's a researcher, educator, she developed something called the grit test, she said this, there's a mountain of research, a mountain of research studies that show that when you have a habit of practicing at the same time in the same place every single day, you hardly have to think about getting started, you just do. Now, if you're a person who's maybe struggled to consistently spend time in God's word every single day, this should sound like relief,

because I want to show up to a place and not have to like summon the courage or the determination or the motivation, I want to be able to show up somewhere and just do it. And so if you pick a consistent place where you're gonna meet with God, it changes everything. So for you, it might be like your favorite share in the house, you know? It might be the kitchen table before everyone wakes up. I know people who consistently meet with God on their back porch, right, with their cup of coffee every morning, the point is when I show up to that place, my brain knows what we're about to do. And so I don't have to struggle or try to get started, you just do it. And so if you choose that place, whatever it is for you, and you make it consistent, you will see the discipline and the habit of spending time with God and his word begin to grow. All throughout scripture, what we see is that God has a habit of turning ordinary places into sacred spaces. You're not looking for a special place, but it's gonna become special over time because you consistently meet with God there. He turns ordinary places into sacred spaces. Moses had a tent. Daniel had an upstairs room. Jesus often withdrew to lonely places. And so wherever you're gonna do this, it doesn't have to be impressive, but I would argue,

it does need to be consistent. So I know people every morning, they sit down at their kitchen table, they open the scriptures, and they actually pull out a chair and just remind themselves that like, oh, I'm here to meet with Jesus. They just leave an empty chair at the table. I know people who wake up every morning, they open the scriptures to the kitchen table, they actually pour two different cups of coffee. One for Jesus. But because you actually get to sit down with the God of the universe and spend time in his presence, I need you to remember that the point of engaging with God's word is not to read the Bible. That's not the point. The point is to meet with the author. And every time I heard somebody say one time, and every time you meet with the author. Like it is that powerful. It is super natural. It's not just a book. It is not like everything else sitting on your shelf. This is not the same. This is different because it is God's inspired infallible word. It is his gift to us so that we can spend time in his presence every single day. And let's just be honest. Some of us, we're waiting on a word from God and it's sitting on our shelves gathering dust.

Just, we often forget what a gift we have in God's word. Your heavenly Father longs to communicate with you. Longs to spend time with you. He longs to meet with you. And if we can develop this discipline, this habit, this practice and it changes absolutely everything. So the questions that people who consistently meet with God, they answer, right? When am I gonna spend time with God? Where will I meet with God? And they answer this question, number three. What scriptures am I going to read? What scriptures will I read, right? You don't just show up at the same time to the same place without a plan. You need a plan, okay? Let me tell you what's not a plan. Okay, Lord, I'm so glad that we get to spend time together today. Let's try to say, oh, that one, you know? That is not a plan. Does God speak that way? Sometimes. But God consistently speaks through his word when we have a plan, right? So let me give you another example of what's not a plan. The verse of the day is not a plan, okay? So I love the verse of the day, right? I read the verse of the day. Maybe you have the app on your phone that changes scriptures every hour on your wallpaper.

You see scripture throughout the day, amazing. The point of that, saturation, not study. These are two different things. So the verse of the day is not a plan. You need a plan, right? Because we can't just pick and choose what we're going to read from God's word based on how we feel that day. Imagine if any of us treated like the way that we eat, like that, you know? Like on Monday, you have ketchup, on Tuesday, you have cereal, Wednesday. I'm going to finally eat some spinach, Thursday. I just feel like birthday cake, right? Like you'd survive kind of, but we would not be healthy. The same thing happens spiritually. When we begin to pick and choose, that's not like a sustainable diet of God's word. So we actually need a plan, right? Don't ask yourself what I feel like reading today have a plan before you show up because feelings make terrible planners. So instead decide ahead of time what you're going to read. So a couple of suggestions, easy. Like there's a billion Bible reading plans available to you. You can go through a book of the scripture, like line by line, verse by verse. You can use all of the Bible reading plans on you version. We consistently put out stuff as a church for you to follow along in God's word.

Anything is better than randomness, okay? Anything is better than randomness because you've probably heard it said before, those who fail to plan, plan to fail. And if it's true that at least 60% of us sometimes struggle to consistently spend time in God's word, perhaps as simple as it might sound, it's because we don't have a time. We don't have a place and we don't have a plan. But all of those things are actually easy for us to do. So when you show up to your designated time and place, we should already have decided what scriptures we're going to read. The fourth and final question, that people who consistently spend time with God's word, they've all answered, right? First one was, when am I gonna meet with God? Two, where am I gonna meet with God? Three, what scriptures will I read? And the fourth question is, how will I engage with these scriptures? That you actually need to have a strategy when you step into that space of how you are going to engage with God's word. Because remember, the goal isn't to check a box. The goal is to hear God's voice. And so there's a lot of different ways to do this, but I actually love a very simple tool that maybe you've seen before, and it's called the soap method.

Now, there are a few reasons that I love this method. It's S-O-A-P, it's an acronym, we'll talk about it in just a second. But one of the reasons I love this method is because you can actually never outgrow it. I don't care if it's the first time you read the Bible or you've been walking with Jesus for 30 years. If you do this right, you can never outgrow this method. This is a tool that will grow with you. The second reason I like this method it's recommended that you use it daily, right? So in our house, we may or may not be having conversations right now about the importance of using soap daily. And I would just tell you, when it comes to Scripture, daily is the goal. Remember, at least four times a week. And the final reason I love this method is because just like when you're not using real soap, other people start to notice before you do, you know? They can kind of smell your stink before you get there, but anyway. So this is the soap method, right? Here's what we're gonna do. It's S-O-A-P and each of these letters stands for something, maybe you've seen this tool before. The first one, S, stands for Scripture. Scripture, so we'll come back to what that means. But basically, you're gonna take a scripture that you pre-decided on. You're gonna read it several times.

Now that could be silent, it could be out loud, but enough that you're really focused on what God is saying. I always read that scripture in multiple translations of the Bible, because each one brings out something unique or nuanced or specific that's gonna help me go to the next layer in my study, right? So I always use ESV, N-I-V, and N-L-T. I'll read all three translations of that same scripture and I'll read it or repeat it enough that I'm focused on it. I actually take time to write that verse out. So you should have like a soap journal and you should write out the scripture because writing it down helps us further meditate on God's word and it will help us move to the next step and even begin to help us memorize scripture which is an incredibly important thing that we actually don't have time to talk about today. So step number one, scripture, right? We do whatever it takes to get really focused on it. The O stands for observation. Now observation is the most important step in what we're gonna talk about it. In fact, it's so important that I'm gonna put a pin in that, I'm gonna come back to it in a minute 'cause I wanna truly help us understand how we observe the scripture. The third step is application.

Application is when you ask yourself, how can I apply this passage today? What does this actually mean to me at home, at work, in my relationships? What needs to change? How can I live out what I've read today, right? Because the Bible isn't about information, it's about transformation. So if I read a verse that tells me to love my enemies and then I walk away and do nothing, I've missed the point, right? The point is transformation. So before we, so I gotta ask, how can I apply this to my life? Who do I need to love today? Who do I need to forgive today? How can I live out this truth and be more like Jesus today? And then you write that down, you write down your application. And then finally is prayer. And so the point is to take all that you've engaged in God's word and actually write it out in a prayer where you ask the Holy Spirit of God to help you live out what God's revealed to you through His word. So those are the four steps of the soap method. But the most important step is observation, okay? Observation. Now, this is where you're going to spend most of your time. In fact, what we're gonna do is we're really gonna

actually put this into practice today. So this is where you spend most of your time. This is where you begin to ask questions of the text. This is where you introduce into your Bible engagement, your Bible study, other tools or resources. This is not just you alone at the kitchen table, but there's actually more resources that are needed in order to understand God's word. This is where we begin to ask the question, what does this mean, okay? So application is what does this mean to me? But before I can answer the question, what does this mean to me, I have to ask, what does this actually mean, right? I have to understand this passage. I have to work to understand God's meaning in a particular passage of Scripture. Now, in order to do that, we need to understand some context, okay? Context is king when it comes to understand, understanding the Bible. The first type of context that we need to understand. So I've written out my scripture and I'm actually digging into a verse from God's word, trying to understand it. I have to ask some literary context questions, okay? So I'm gonna push you. Maybe you've never thought about this before as you've engaged God's word. It's incredibly important, okay?

So some of the literary context questions are like, what genre is this particular book of the Bible? Because they all serve different purposes, right? We have narrative books, we have books of poetry, we have books of law or history. There's books of prophecy. There are the epistles in the Old Testament or letters in the Old Testament. We have to ask those questions. context standpoint is like what comes before? What comes after? I need to understand that and not just cherry pick a single verse. What's the purpose of this book? Where does it fit into the story of the Bible? 66 books, one big story. Creation, fall, redemption, restoration, one big story arc. Where does it fit? So we could talk a lot more about this, but literary context questions have to be asked if we're going to understand what the passage actually means. The second area is historical or cultural context. So that's why I'm asking like who wrote it? Who was the author? Who was it written to? Who was their audience? Where were they located in history? Where were they located geographically? What was happening at the time culturally? Because if I just take a verse and go, what does it mean to me? There's a whole lot of the context that I'm missing out on. It can't mean to me something that it did not mean to them. So I can't just ask, what does it mean to me? I have to ask, what does it actually mean? The third area is linguistical or grammatical context. I know I'm going to lose some people on this, but my English teachers will say amen, right? Are there key words in this passage of Scripture? Are there repeated words in this passage of Scripture? Always write those down, circle those, make a note where you see a keyword or a repeated word. What did those words mean when the author wrote them? Because the meaning of words changes over time. So what did they actually mean by that word? I'll just give you an example. When I was in elementary school, the word friend was a noun. It was a person, place or thing. You had a friend. Now, friend is also a verb. You can friend someone, right? That is actually different. So words, their meaning changes over time. We have to ask, what did they mean in the original language, which the Bible is primarily written in Hebrew and Greek. There's also some Aramaic. So we have to go to the original words. There are all kinds of tools to help you do this. In fact,

we've assembled a lot of those tools because we hope this is just the beginning of the conversation, but we have tons of resources that are available for you around how to study the Bible. They're available if you tap the disc on your seat or they'll also be available everywhere this week as we leave this weekend's message. So, linguistical or grammatical context. Now, in our last three minutes and 14 seconds, we're going to do this together, okay? Here is a verse that I think would be helpful for us to actually do this together, okay? So, this verse is Matthew chapter 4, verse 4. Maybe you've heard it before. It says this, "He answered, 'It is written, man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'" Right? So let's just say, I have the scripture, I've read it in multiple translations, I've written it down, like I'm focused. There are some immediate questions that should come to our minds. First, who is he? Because if I'm only reading this verse, I don't actually know who said this. It is written? Where is it written? Like, is this something that everybody knew or is this new to me, right? This statement, "Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God." It's kind of a big deal. So, let's ask some questions of the text, right? So, observation. What are we going to ask? The first thing we're going to ask is, we're going to ask genre, okay? Genre. Now, we talked about what kind of book is this. This is a gospel. Wow, you get to see my really terrible handwriting. I thought it would like clean it up a little bit. It did not. So, excuse me. Gospels are historical narratives, right? So, they're biographical as much as they are theological. Who wrote this? This is written by Matthew. Who is Matthew? Well, if we actually do some research, we understand this is Matthew, the tax collector, who actually spent all of his time with Jesus. He's one of the disciples, who is his audience. Well, if you read the whole of the gospel, you will see that Matthew's audience is clearly Jewish. He references all kinds of stuff that nobody else would care about, but Jewish people would definitely care about. So, we know this is his audience. So, what is his objective? Well, if his audience is Jewish, he wants to convince these people that Jesus is the Messiah, right? That's the whole point. He, being Jewish, wants his fellow Jewish This is just some of the context that we need to look at, right? And if I read before and after Matthew 4, 4, what I'll see is we find Jesus is in the desert in this passage of scripture, right, or the wilderness.

And at this moment, he's been fasting for 40 days and 40 nights. The Bible says he was hungry. That seems obvious to me, but it's there, right? So Jesus is in the wilderness and at that moment, Satan tempts Jesus and he tries to get him to betray the word of God, like to actually do it on his own, in his own strength and his own power, right? So this is what's happening at that moment. Now, if we read this scripture, again, at this little point, we see a footnote, okay? That does not mean ignore me, okay? That's how we treat them. That actually means this takes us somewhere else. Where does it take us? Well, the little footnote in your Bible would say, Deuteronomy 8, verses one through three. Now, if I read this passage of scripture, I have more context questions. Who wrote it? Why did, who did they write it to? Why did they write it? And what you would see if you read this is that Moses is actually encouraging the people to remember the time where God led them out of slavery and into Egypt, or, you know, into the desert. They spent 40 years there. And every day, for 40 years, he fed them every single day with bread from heaven. So they would literally wake up with their meals laid out before them, bread from heaven.

Now, in this time, what we see is that the Israelites, they fail this test. They try to do it their own way, try to gather their own food. They don't listen to God, all of this, right? But the whole point of this moment is to teach Israel not about food, but about dependence, about obedience. That God is gonna provide for them every thing that they need. So now we see Jesus in the New Testament enters his own wilderness. He fasted for 40 days. He's tempted to disobey God, but Jesus does not give into the temptation. In fact, when the enemy attacks him, he simply responds with scripture. So let's begin to think about application, right? Application, when the enemy tempts you, what's the only weapon strong enough to defeat him? Scripture, God's word. This is like what we see in Jesus. And also, all of this language tells us that man, we need to hunger for the word of God. The same way that Jesus would be hungering after 40 days of fasting. We need to do hunger for the word of God the same way that the Israelites woke up in the wilderness and we're literally desperate for it to drop from heaven. When was the last time you were that hungry for the word of God?

We need to have that kind of hunger for God's word. We need to be that desperate for bread from heaven. And so observation, application, let's pray. Jesus, I pray that each and every person at every one of our campus locations, number one, would have a deeper hunger for your word. That we would be dependent upon your word because God, we know man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that flows from the mouth of God. Help us, God, to be the kind of people who consistently meet with you. And remember what a gift you've given to us in your word. It's in the mighty and matchless name of Jesus and we pray together and said, amen. (audience applauding) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music)