Deep Roots | Kyle Idleman

Well, hello, everybody, and welcome to Southeast Christian Church. We are thrilled that we get to be a part of the Pando community. And really, wherever you're at, just know as a church, we care about you. We talk about y'all. We're thrilled to know you and be a part of your life. And it's a big deal that you set aside time right now to be a part of a church service. We're Southeast Christian Church. We're a church located in Louisville, Kentucky. We got locations in southern Indiana, throughout the Kentucky area and even in middle Tennessee. And so wherever you're at, we're just thrilled that you're a part of the journey today. We love hearing from you. You can always write in. We actually have some volunteers that might even write you back, but we always read your letters and they always encourage our hearts. And it's always just helpful for us to know what you're facing. So find out the address there in our description, and we'd love to hear from you. Also, while you're there, click subscribe. We've got over 29,000 folks inside Pando that have subscribed to Southeast Christian Church and all of you that encourages us. But we'd love to have each and every one of you a part of that. That way, in your feed, you can see all the great content we're putting out throughout the week, beyond just the week in service. We've got a podcast. We got stories. We got other videos that we'd love to be able to share to encourage you in your walk.

Today, we start a brand new sermon series with our senior pastor, Kyle Eidelman. He's actually located in Washington, D.C. for this message series. It's called Deeply Rooted with a brand new series called Planted. It's all about God's word. He's in the Museum of the Bible. And Kyle is going to encourage you and answer this question. Why can you trust the Bible? Why can we know that what the Bible says is true, authoritative and accurate? If you've ever asked those questions like me, Kyle is going to have the answers to those questions. Right now, we're going to head into worship together. Before we do that, can I pray for you? Can I pray for your situation? And then let's worship together. God, my prayer today is that whoever hears this video and watches it is revealing something new is revealed to them by you, through your word. God, I pray that from today's service, we all can grow in trust of your word, that the care you have provided for your word to be preserved and authoritative and truthful is there. So I pray for that evidence to shine, confirm that in our hearts and help us to move forward. God, whatever everyone's facing that hears this, God, will you meet them in this moment and in this place with a word from you? It's in Jesus name that I pray. Amen. All get those hands together now, come on. Yes, it is. Come on man. You are worthy of all, worthy of all our praise. You are faithful to your promise.

You are strong when I am weak. And when I'm standing in your presence, I have everything I need. The joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord is my strength. The joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord is my strength. Oh my soul, oh my soul, bless his name. All that is within me say, the joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord is my strength. Amen. Oh the joy, I've got the joy. ♪ Let it rise up like a river ♪ ♪ Overflowing Holy Spirit ♪ ♪ Let it pour out with no limit ♪ ♪ Overflowing Holy Spirit ♪ ♪ Let it rise up like a river ♪ ♪ Overflowing Holy Spirit ♪ ♪ Let it pour out with no limit ♪ ♪ Overflowing Holy Spirit ♪ ♪ Let it pour out with no limit ♪ Oh, I've got the joy. Oh, come on, we testify, we sing about it. ♪ The joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord is my strength ♪ ♪ The joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord is my strength ♪ ♪ Oh my soul, oh my soul, bless His name ♪ ♪ Let all that is within me sing ♪ ♪ Oh my soul, bless His name, all that is within me sing ♪ ♪ Oh my soul, bless His name, all that is within me sing ♪ ♪ The joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord is my strength ♪ ♪ Oh the joy of the Lord is my strength ♪ ♪ Yeah, we praise Your name, no other name can compare to You ♪ ♪ There's no other name more worthy, yeah ♪ ♪ The gospel of Jesus, it's the hope of the ages ♪

♪ Burning brighter and brighter, and standing forever ♪ ♪ This church He is building, oh nothing can stop it ♪ ♪ We're a city that's shining, a light in the darkness ♪ You believe it to be true, you lift your hands, you testify, you owe a single praise. ♪ Though Christ was dead, now surely He is risen, yeah ♪ ♪ He's coming back again, and Christ will reign in triumph forever, yeah ♪ ♪ Christ will reign in triumph forever, yeah ♪ ♪ All praise belongs to Jesus, all your praise, yeah ♪ ♪ All praise belongs to Jesus, yeah ♪ ♪ His Word, His Word is the answer for all generations ♪ ♪ It will never be tainted, it will never be broken ♪ ♪ This is our confession, this is our conviction ♪ ♪ We believe what is written, we believe what You've spoken ♪ ♪ Though Christ was dead, now surely He is risen, yeah ♪ ♪ He's coming back again, and Christ will reign in triumph forever, yeah ♪ ♪ In triumph forever ♪ ♪ Yeah, all praise belongs to Him ♪ ♪ Yeah, all praise belongs to Jesus ♪ ♪ Yeah, all praise belongs to Jesus ♪ Sing. Sing. ♪ Hallelujah, Christ is our Redeemer ♪ ♪ Shout the hallelujah, cause Jesus holds our future ♪ Oh, sing. ♪ Hallelujah, cause Christ is our Redeemer ♪ You shout. Oh, shout. ♪ Hallelujah, Jesus holds our future ♪ ♪ Jesus holds our future ♪

♪ Yes, Jesus holds our future ♪ ♪ Though Christ was dead, now surely He's risen ♪ ♪ Yeah, He's coming back again ♪ ♪ And Christ will reign in triumph forever ♪ You sing. ♪ Yeah, all praise belongs to Him ♪ ♪ Yeah, all praise belongs to Jesus ♪ ♪ To Jesus, oh, Jesus ♪ Amen, amen. You may take a seat and find your communion elements. I love that we're just saying His word is the answer to all generations because Scripture reveals the heart of our God. And what we see in Scripture again and again is how His heart moves towards the least of these. Just listen to what Jesus said in the book of Matthew. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger and you invited me in. Then the righteous will answer Him, Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty? And the King will reply, truly, I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me. And when Jesus said that, He wasn't talking about a small group of people. The least of these covers everyone. It includes the unborn life. It includes the forgotten and the rejected. It includes the weak and the oppressed

and the widows and the orphans. It includes you and it includes me. For me as a child born into a war, from the very beginning I was labeled an enemy. Then I became a refugee, then a stranger, an alien and definitely unwanted. But then I walked into a church and for the very first time I learned what God called me and He calls me His daughter, amen. In scripture it says we're no longer aliens and strangers, but we're now members of His household and that's exactly what I experienced. I was invited in and I was invited to the table. And so this morning as we come to the communion table, we are reminded that the table is not a symbol of comfort, but it is a reminder of a cost. And this is how far God went to make room for us, for all of us, for the least of these. Jesus was pierced, His body broken, has His blood poured out so that no one would be left out, so that no one would remain unseen. So as we come to the communion table... We come with different stories and we come with different wounds and we may come from different seasons, but we all come to the same table and there is room there for everyone because this table, it belongs to Christ and He gave everything to make room for the least of these. So let's drink and let's eat together. I could sing Your name for all my life I could sing Your name for all my life And still find more to love each time Jesus breathe the name ever on my lips It's sweeter every time that I call on it There's just something about Your name

There's just something about Your name There's just something about Your name That makes me cry holy There is no other name There is no other name There is no other name Jesus You're worthy You have been the friend who never left I won't forget Your faithfulness Jesus breathe the name ever on my lips It's sweeter every time that I call on it There's just something about Your name There's just something about Your name There's just something about Your name That makes me cry holy There is no other name There is no other name There is no other name Jesus You're worthy There's just something about Your name There's just something about Your name There's just something about Your name That makes me cry holy There is no other name There is no other name There is no other name Jesus You're worthy Yes You are You're worthy Lord So worthy Lord We sing the name of Jesus We lift Your name Lord Jesus Your name is like the morning light The one that darkness can't deny The resurrection and the life Jesus, Jesus Your name can save Your name can heal Your name can make it right ♪ Make the storm your still, you never fail, you never will ♪ ♪ Jesus, Jesus the brave, life broken for us ♪ ♪ The wounded and the worthy one, the first, the last ♪ ♪ And soon to come, Jesus, Jesus the King ♪ ♪ The King who overwhelmed the grave, the Lord who will forever reign ♪ ♪ The name above all other names, Jesus ♪ ♪ Oh, Jesus be the name, Jesus be the name ♪ ♪ Oh, Jesus be the name that gets all the glory ♪ ♪ Oh, Jesus, Jesus the King ♪ ♪ The King who overwhelmed the grave, the Lord who will forever reign ♪

♪ The name above all other names, Jesus ♪ ♪ Oh, Jesus be the name that gets all the glory ♪ ♪ Oh, Jesus be the name that gets all the glory, oh ♪ ♪ Jesus be the name, be the only name ♪ ♪ Oh, Jesus be the name that gets all the glory, oh Lord ♪ ♪ Get the glory, Lord, oh the glory is yours ♪ ♪ It's all yours, the only name, oh Lord ♪ ♪ Oh, Jesus be the name that gets all the glory, oh Lord ♪ ♪ Jesus, be the name, Jesus be the name, Jesus be the name ♪ ♪ That gets all the glory, we sing this out ♪ ♪ Jesus be the name, Jesus be the name, Jesus be the name ♪ ♪ Jesus be the name, Jesus be the name, Jesus be the name, Jesus be the name ♪ ♪ That gets all the glory, yes. ♪ ♪ That gets all the glory, yes. ♪ ♪♪ ♪ In the darkness we were waiting, without hope, without light. ♪ ♪ Till from heaven you came running, there was mercy in your eyes. ♪ ♪ To fulfill the law and prophets, to a virgin came the Word. ♪ ♪ From a throne of endless glory, to a cradle in the dirt. ♪ Come on, let's sing this out together, church. ♪ Praise the Father. ♪ ♪ Praise the Son. ♪ ♪ Praise the Spirit. ♪ ♪ Free and whole. ♪ ♪ God of glory, majesty. ♪ ♪ Praise forever to the King. ♪ ♪♪ ♪ To reveal the kingdom coming, and to reconcile the lost. ♪ ♪ To redeem the whole creation, you did not despise the cross. ♪ ♪ For even in your suffering, you sought to the other side. ♪

♪ Knowing this was our salvation, Jesus for our sake you died. ♪ ♪♪ ♪ Praise the Father. ♪ ♪ Praise the Son. ♪ ♪ Praise the Spirit. ♪ ♪ Free and whole. ♪ ♪ God of glory, majesty. ♪ ♪ Majesty, praise forever to the King of kings ♪ ♪ In the morning that you rose, all of heaven held his breath ♪ ♪ Till that stone was moved for good, for the Lamb had conquered death ♪ ♪ And the dead rose from their tombs, and the angels stood in awe ♪ ♪ For the souls of all who had come, to the Father all restored ♪ ♪ And the Church of Christ was born, then the Spirit lit the flame ♪ ♪ Now this gospel truth of old, shall not kneel, shall not faint ♪ ♪ By his word and in his name, in his freedom I am free ♪ ♪ For the love of Jesus Christ, who has resurrected me ♪ ♪ Praise the Father, praise the Son, praise the Holy Ghost ♪ ♪ Praise the Spirit, three in one ♪ ♪ God of glory, majesty, praise forever to the King of kings ♪ ♪ Praise the Father, praise the Son, praise the Holy Ghost ♪ ♪ Praise the Spirit, three in one ♪ ♪ God of glory, majesty, praise forever to the King of kings ♪ ♪ Praise forever to the King of kings ♪ ♪ Praise the Father, praise the Son, praise the Holy Ghost ♪ And Lord, we give you all the praise and all the glory today. It all belongs to you. And like we just sang, there is no other name, no other name than the name of Jesus, who deserves all the glory. Jesus, we thank you.

We thank you for the cross. We thank you for what that means for us, that we get to spend eternity with you. We love you. Thank you. It's in Jesus' name, amen. You all can grab a seat. I am standing in an area that is one of the most historically significant places in America. If you look around, you got the Capitol right over there. The Supreme Court is just blocks away. The National Mall here stretches out in front of us with monument after monument to American history. There are 19 Smithsonian museums in Washington, D.C. 19. And every single one of them is designed to help us understand history and science and art and culture. Every single one of them tells the story of who we are and how we got here. So there's the Air and Space Museum that shows us humanity's journey to the stars. And there's the National History Museum that helps us understand the world we live in. But this museum, this is the museum of the Bible. And this one's different. Because this museum is built around a book. And listen, not just any book. The most controversial, most influential, most significant book in human history. When we talk about the Bible,

we're really not talking about one book. Really, we're talking about 66 different books written by more than 40 different authors over a period of 1,600 years in three different languages, on three different continents. And so you've got Moses, a prince-turned-shepherd who's writing in the wilderness. You've got David, a king, writing poetry in a palace. So you have Amos, a shepherd who writes prophecy. Luke is a doctor who records history. There's Paul, a scholar, writing theology from a prison cell. And there's Peter, a fisherman, writing encouragement to persecuted churches. So there are fishermen, philosophers, peasants, kings, scholars, tax collectors, poets, and prophets. And yet, somehow, there is this remarkable unity, this consistent thread running through all of it, pointing to the same God, telling the same story of redemption. So think about this. The Bible is the best-selling book of all time. And honestly, it's not even close. The Bible has sold an estimated five to seven billion copies in human history. And it's not selling because of marketing campaigns or celebrity endorsements. In fact, for much of history, and in many places in the world, owning a Bible could get you killed.

It's been banned in countries, burned in public squares, confiscated by governments. People have been imprisoned for printing it and executed for translating it and martyred for reading it. And yet, it just keeps spreading. And so this is a book that has toppled empires and birthed nations. It's a book that's ended slavery in the Western world and launched the civil rights movement. It's a book that's built hospitals and orphanages and universities. It's turned persecutors of the church into missionaries. This is a book that's taken violent men and made them caring, taken broken addicts and made them whole, taken suicidal teenagers and given them reasons to live. This is a book that's taken empty, purposeless lives and filled them with meaning. And so it's been banned in communist countries, but it's thrived in those same countries and underground churches. It's been outlawed in Islamic nations, yet it's smuggled into those nations by the millions. It's been dismissed by intellectuals, and yet it has produced more scholars, scientists, and philosophers than any text in history. It's a book that billions of people believe, listen, it's not just about God, but is actually from God.

Here's what the Bible claims about itself in 2 Timothy 3, 16 and 17. It says of itself, all scripture, I love this, is God-breathed. It's God-breathed and it's useful for teaching and rebuking and correcting and training in righteousness so that the servant of God, the followers of Jesus can be thoroughly equipped for every good work. God-breathed is the claim. It's not just that the Bible is wise or helpful or full of good advice or inspirational quotes. Those things might all be true, but God-breathed means it's divinely inspired, that behind the 40 plus human authors was one divine author. And because it's God-breathed, it's useful. It's not just ancient history. It's a living book that can teach us and correct us and train us and equip us. But here's the thing, if the Bible, listen, if the Bible isn't historically accurate, then that claim falls apart. Like if we can't trust what it says, if we can't verify things like geography and history and archeology, then why would we trust it about things we can verify, like who God is and salvation and eternity? And so that's what makes this book and this museum so controversial, especially in this city. It's because while every other museum around us is about the past, the Bible claims to have authority

over the present, over your life, over my life, over how we should live and what we should value and what we should believe and what's gonna happen to us when we die. So this book, the Bible, doesn't just inform, it transforms, it doesn't just record history, it claims to speak with divine authority into your Monday morning and your Friday night and your financial decisions and your marriage and your parenting, your fears and your future. And that's not just audacious for a 2000 year old book, right? Like this book is either the greatest truth ever told or the greatest deception ever sold. It's gotta be one or the other. And so as we begin this year as a church, I can't predict what we will deal with in 2026. I don't know. Like, I don't know what will change, but I can tell you one thing for certain, as a church, this book will be our foundation. Our commitment to God's word is the one thing that will not change. So we're starting this year with a two-part series that we're just calling Planted. And this first week is going to give us the conviction and the confidence that we are rooted as a church and as followers of Jesus in the very word of God. And so here's the question that we have to honestly ask, can we actually trust the Bible?

Like the question is not, do I like it? The question is not, does it make me feel good? The question is, can we trust it? Is it reliable? Is it true? Is it the kind of foundation that you can actually build your life on? Because if it's not, like if the Bible is just ancient mythology or religious opinion, or worse, if it's just manipulated text that's been changed and corrupted over centuries to match up with different agendas, then honestly, we shouldn't plan our lives on it. We shouldn't organize our schedules around it. We shouldn't structure our finances because of it or make major life decisions based on it. But if it is reliable, if it really is what it claims to be, the divinely inspired very word of God, then wouldn't you agree that that changes everything? Then it becomes really the one thing that you can count on. So today we're gonna dig down through history. We're gonna look at some evidence and see if this book really has the roots to hold the weight of your life. So let me start with the objection I hear most often. And maybe you've heard it too, or maybe you've wondered, if you're honest, you've wondered about it yourself.

Here's the objection. The Bible has been copied and recopied for thousands of years. It's been translated dozens of times. It's like that game of telephone we played as kids. The entire message gets to the end of the line and it's completely different than when it started. And we have, you know, the objection would be, we have no idea what the original Bible actually said. That would be the objection. And that sounds, I mean, that sounds reasonable, right? I mean, if you've played telephone, we know how that works. We know how messages get corrupted. And yet, honestly, I would have to say, if the Bible were just one document copied once or twice, like sitting in somebody's basement for 2000 years, then I get why this objection might be valid, that we would be skeptical about it. But here's what we know. We know that we have more manuscript evidence for the Bible than any other ancient document, period, hard stop. So let me put this in perspective. You know Homer's Iliad, classic Greek literature taught in universities everywhere. Nobody questions whether we have Homer's actual words. We have 643 manuscript copies of the Iliad. The earliest copy we have was made 400 years after Homer wrote it. And Julius Caesar wrote the Gallic Wars,

and we have 10 manuscript copies. The earliest was 1000 years after Caesar wrote it. But historians, of course, accept it as reliable. But the New Testament, we have over 5,800 Greek manuscripts. The earliest fragments date to within 25 to 40 years of the original writing. And so it's not even close. The New Testament is the most well-attested document in the ancient world. But here's the real test. What happens when you compare all those manuscripts to one another? Here in the Museum of the Bible, there's an exhibit that focuses on the Dead Sea Scrolls. The story unfolds in 1947. A Bedouin shepherd boy was looking for a lost goat near the Dead Sea, and he threw a rock up into a cave, and he heard pottery shatter. What he discovered would change biblical scholarship forever. It was the Dead Sea Scrolls. And among those scrolls was a complete copy of the Book of Isaiah. And here's what made it shocking. It was dated to 100 BC, a full 1,000 years older than any Hebrew manuscript that we had at the time. So scholars kind of held their breath. They'd been working for manuscripts

that were dated around 900 AD. Now they had one that was 1,000 years older. If the Bible had been changed and corrupted and edited over the centuries, like this was gonna expose it. This was gonna prove it. So the Dead Sea Scroll version of Isaiah, you might think would be dramatically different than the version we'd been using after over 1,000 years, except it wasn't. When they compared them, they found that after 1,000 years of copying, the texts were 95% word for word identical. And the 5% that was different, like spelling variations, word order, nothing that changed the meaning. So think about that. For 1,000 years, scribes had been copying this text. by hand with such precision and such care that it barely changed at all. Why? It's because what they knew, what they believed, is that this wasn't just any book. They believed what they were transcribing was God's Word and every word mattered. Listen to how Luke, the doctor and historian, how he starts his gospel. He speaks about his commitment to historical accuracy. Here's what Luke says. He says, Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the Word. With this in mind, Luke says, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I too have decided to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty, the certainty of the things that have been taught. Luke chapter 1 verses 1 through 4. So did you catch

that? Luke says, I carefully investigated. He's claiming to be a historian, not a myth maker. Like he interviewed eyewitnesses. He checked and rechecked his sources. He wanted Theophilus, and for that matter, he wanted us to know the certainty of these events. And he's making it clear, like hey, this isn't legend. This isn't religious mythology. This happened. I checked it out. These are reliable accounts. And so when we ask, has the Bible been corrupted over time? The evidence points to no. Like we have the manuscripts. We can track the transmission. We know what the original authors wrote. But that leads us to another question. We'll call it the archaeological question. So the texts have been preserved accurately. We have the manuscripts to prove it. But how do we know the events actually happened? How do we know that these aren't just like, you know, well preserved legends? And this is where archaeology becomes so fascinating. Let me give you some examples. For years, and I actually mean decades, skeptical scholars argued that Israel didn't exist as a nation as early as the Bible claimed. They said the Exodus account was exaggerated or mythical. But then in 1896, archaeologists found what's called the Merneptah Stele. It's an Egyptian stone tablet from 1208 BC. And right there, carved in stone by Egypt's enemies, is the earliest mention of Israel outside the Bible. And it proved the skeptics were wrong. Like Israel existed just like the Bible spoke of it. Another example, King David. For years, some historians claimed that David was a legendary figure, not a real historical king. They said the biblical accounts were essentially religious propaganda written centuries later. But then came what W.F. Albright, what the W.F. Albright Institute of Archaeological Research in East Jerusalem called, quote, one of the greatest finds of the 20th century. And in 1993, Israeli archaeologists were digging in the Golan Heights area and they unearthed a piece of stone from an ancient monument and inscribed upon it in ancient Aramaic were these words, King of Israel, House of David. And the story so shook some scholars that they insisted the find was phony or the inscription was incorrectly translated. A year later, however, archaeologists found even more fragments with additional such inscriptions

referring to the ancient king. And today, the new scholarly consensus, as of 1993, is that the Bible was right. Like David is real, but not because the Bible says so, but because archaeology proved it to be true. And then let me give you one other example. It's the Pool of Siloam. It's one of my favorites. In John 9, Jesus heals a blind man and tells him to go wash in a pool of Siloam. For years, critics said that this was a symbolic pool, that John was creating theological imagery, that the pool probably didn't actually exist. Maybe a metaphorical pool, wasn't an actual pool. But then in 2004, in 2004, construction workers in Jerusalem accidentally uncovered the actual Pool of Siloam. And it was exactly where John said it would be, dating to the time of Jesus. And so you just start to see this pattern here. Every time archaeologists dig, every time they find new evidence, it doesn't disprove the Bible, it confirms it. The Bible keeps is turning out to be historically reliable. There have been over 25,000 archeological discoveries that validate scripture. Jewish archeological expert, Nelson Block says, it may be categorically stated that no archeological discovery has ever controverted a biblical reference. Now, does that mean that archeology proves every single event in the Bible? No, like we haven't found some things. We haven't found definitively Noah's Ark or the burning bush. Archeology has never done it. It's never, though it's never contradicted the Bible, not once. Like there are a lot of examples of religious texts asking you to ignore archeological evidence or be naive.

But when it comes to the Bible, the archeological evidence, the historical evidence, it all points in the same direction. The evidence says the book is reliable. Another thing that shows the accuracy of the Bible is prophecy, especially the prophecies concerning Jesus. The writing of the Old Testament was completed several hundred years before Christ's birth. So there is no way that any of these predictions could have been written after Jesus was born. And the most explicit and the most powerful of these prophecies is a prophecy that God would at some point in history send a servant who would be like no other man who ever lived. And a lot of this is found in the 53rd chapter of the book of Isaiah. But what's fascinating about that is Isaiah lived 700 years before Jesus. So how could he have seen the future so clearly? Well, there's really only one answer and that is God revealed it to him and he wrote it down in what is now our scripture. There are over 300 other prophecies that were literally fulfilled in Jesus of Nazareth. Isaiah 9 prophesies that he would be doing his ministry in Galilee. Zechariah 9 tells us about the triumphal entry. Psalm 41 tells us he would be betrayed by a friend. Isaiah 53 tells us that Jesus would be silent before his accusers.

Psalm 22 talks about the hands and feet of Jesus would be pierced. Isaiah 53, that he would be crucified with robbers. Psalm 22, that lots would be cast for his clothes. Psalm 34, that his bones on the cross would not be broken. Psalm 22, that he would be thirsty on the cross. Isaiah 53, that he would be buried in the tomb of a rich man. And again and again, we see these prophecies very specific fulfilled in the gospels. Listen to what Peter Stoner, a scientist in the area of mathematical probability wrote in his book called Science Speaks These Words. He said, if we take just eight of those 300 prophecies concerning Christ, we would find that the probability of them coming to pass is 10 to the 17th power. I gotta stick with him on this a little bit. Stoner goes on to illustrate it this way. He said that if you took 10 to the 17th power, it would look like taking silver dollars and spreading them across the state of Texas until they covered the state in silver dollars two feet deep. Can you picture this? And he added that if you took just one of those coins and you marked the back of it and you threw it in a mix and you mixed all of them up in the whole state of Texas with a giant mixer and you blindfolded someone and dropped him or her off from a helicopter with instructions to pick up only one coin,

that what would be the likelihood of that? Like what would be the chance that they would pick up that one marked silver dollar, that that's the one that would be chosen? He said, that's the same mathematical probability that Jesus would have fulfilled just eight of those 300 prophecies. So we're talking here about something supernatural, something that was revealed to the writer Isaiah supernaturally, something otherworldly, something that is God-breathed and inspired. And it separates this book from all other writings. Remember 2 Timothy 3, it said that the whole Bible was given to us by inspiration from God. But here's what I find really compelling. It's not just that the Bible has been preserved and verified it's what people have done with it once they believed it was true. Look at this. The Bible was originally written in Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic. But over the years, scripture has been very carefully translated into thousands of languages spanning the globe. The Bible has been translated into over 700 languages with portions in over 3000 more languages. There's a exhibit here in the Bible Museum that shows the different languages

that it's been translated into, which ones are still in progress, which ones have yet to be completed. Our church, as you might remember, is funding the Bible translation in 14 different languages right now through our Move journey. I just want you to think about what this means. Think about the efforts, learning ancient Hebrew and Greek, learning obscurity. tribal languages, hiking into remote villages, spending years, sometimes decades, just so people can read this book in their own language. Like, why would anybody do that? Why would scholars dedicate their entire careers to translating ancient texts? Why would missionaries leave their families and move to difficult places just to give people access to a book? Why would organizations like ours invest all kinds of money in translation work? It's because this book changes lives. It's interesting, but that's not why you translate the Bible. It's not because it's interesting ancient literature. It's not because it's culturally important. It's because when people encounter it, they encounter their creator, the living God, and it transforms them.

And so what I don't want us to miss, like the reason people have fought so hard to preserve this book and translate this book and spread this book, isn't just because they think it's true. There are a lot of things that are true. It's because they have experienced personally its power. And so when we ask, is the Bible true? The question we're really asking is, can I build my life on it? Can I trust it when it tells me how to handle my money? Can I trust it when it talks to me about marriage? Can I trust it when it addresses my anxiety, when it talks about my purpose and my future? Can I trust it when I'm facing a major decision or a devastating loss? Can I plant my life on this book and know that the roots go deep? That's why this matters. Everything we've looked at today, the manuscripts, the archeology, the translation work, the prophecy, it's all saying the same thing, church. You can trust this book. And as we finish up, I just wanna take us to Psalm 1, where David talks about what it means to be planted in God's word. David says in Psalm 1, blessed is the one who does not walk and step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take

or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord and who meditates on his law day and night. David says that person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaves do not wither, whatever they do prospers. A tree planted by streams of water, deep roots, constant nourishment, fruitfulness, stability. And here's what matters about that image. You're gonna plant your life somewhere and where you plant your life matters. Like you can't plant a tree in sand and expect it to stand through the storm. You can't plant a tree in shallow soil and expect the roots to grow deep. You can't plant it in contaminated ground and expect healthy fruit. Where you plant determines whether you flourish or wither. And what God is saying through the psalmist is this, plant yourself in my word, not because it's your religious duty, not because you're supposed to do it, but because it is the one foundation solid enough to hold you up. We are surrounded by voices telling us where to plan our lives. Social media influencers, self-help gurus,

political ideologies, cultural movements, and some of them sound really appealing, like they promise happiness and success and fulfillment, but here's the question, like are those foundations reliable? Can they hold up the weight of your actual life? Because I've watched people plant their lives in career success only to discover that that success is incredibly fragile. I've watched people plant their lives in romantic relationships only to discover that even good relationships cannot hold up the weight of ultimate meaning. I've watched people plant their lives in political movements only to discover that politics can't answer the deepest questions of the human heart. And it's not that those things are bad, they're not bad, but they were never designed to be the foundation. They cannot hold up the weight of your life. But scripture, while this book has been tested for 2,000 years, it's been attacked by skeptics, examined by scholars, questioned by critics, banned by governments, burned by empires, it still stands, it's still changing lives, it's still transforming hearts. The manuscript evidence proves it's been preserved supernaturally, accurately. The archeological evidence confirms its historicity, its historical reliability.

The translation work demonstrates it's powerful enough to cross every cultural and linguistic barrier. And the testimony of billions of people across 2,000 years says this book changes lives. So the Bible isn't asking you to believe it blindly, it invites investigation, it welcomes questions, stands up to scrutiny. But eventually, investigation has to lead to trust. like eventually intellectual ascent has to lead to life commitment eventually you have to decide am I gonna plant my life here or not because here's the promise of Psalm 1 when you plant yourself in God's Word when you meditate on it day and night when you let its truth sink deep into the soil of your soul you become like a tree planted by streams of water we yield fruit in season your leaf doesn't wither when things are hot and hard and whatever you do prospers not because life suddenly becomes easy but because your roots are deep enough to weather the storms because your foundation is solid enough to hold up the weight your source is rich enough to produce real and lasting fruit so that's my challenge for you as we begin this year don't just dabble in scripture don't just read it occasionally or pull it out when you need a little inspiration plant yourself in it dig deep build your life on it let it shape how you think and how you decide and how you love and how you lead because this book this ancient tested reliable God breathed book is the only solid foundation strong enough to hold up the full weight of your life let's pray together God we are so thankful for your word God I'm thankful that your word is living and powerful it's sharper than any two-edged sword God I'm thankful that we can hide your word in our heart so that we might not sin against you God I'm thankful that your word is a lamp into our feet the light into our path God your word is so good God I ask for forgiveness God in ways where I've disregarded your word or I've treated as common God I pray that our church would forever stand on your word as our

foundation God that we would unapologetically preach your word and God that we would use it to instruct our lives God thank you for your word God not just because it's a collection of pages but because it's you so Lord we love you how do we praise you I pray all this in the name of Jesus amen you know I'm grateful that when we yield to God he doesn't diminish our humanity I mean just even hearing this sermon Kyle just said over and over again like God respects our minds because he gave them to us and so as far as we search into the depths of Scripture like science only proves what God says is true like history only confirms what God has already said is true but at some point our intellect has to yield to faith like we could know these these pages inside and out that's not what saves us like we could argue every stance we could have our doctorate in theology but that's not what saves us what the Bible says is that we are saved by grace through faith we are saved when we believe on the claims of Jesus when we repent of our sins and we put all of our lives on him maybe today maybe you are a curious seeker maybe you've been exploring the faith and maybe for you like all of this stuff really matters and it needs to make sense I get you we would love to have a conversation with you but we don't want to dismiss your questions we want to explore the the doubts that you have and the curiosities that you have but we just want to lead them to the Scriptures and what they say about Jesus and so we'd love to have that conversation with you if you want to head over to our next step room we have some wonderful people who'd love to slow down with you to explore the Scriptures with you and then tell you how you can place your faith in Jesus we're also going to have some folks that are going to be down here we're gonna have our elders our deacons some of our staff then come forward now who are gonna pray for you if you don't know it we're right in the middle of 21 days of prayer and fasting and essentially what we're saying is God we're gonna say no to some temporary things right now some things that satisfy us and we're gonna let that allow us to worship you as the one who only satisfies and so over the next few weeks we're just gonna provide prayer down front anyone

who needs prayer we're gonna be here as long as you need it we'd love for you to come down to receive some prayer Also, I did wanna remind you what we said during this fast is that each Sunday at 6.30 p.m., we're gonna have what's called our catch the wind nights. It's just a time where we slow down and we worship and we linger, we read scripture, we follow the Holy Spirit. And so it's just gonna be a really sweet time of worship. I'm pretty sure last Sunday, we had like 800 to 1000 people that showed up and it was such a sweet time in God's presence. I would encourage you, would you come and worship with us this evening? It's gonna be a precious time. Well, church, we're gonna continue worshiping together. Why don't you guys stand to your feet and let's sing to our great God. ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ He's never let me down ♪ ♪ Faced with the generations ♪ ♪ So why would He fail now? ♪ ♪ He won't ♪ ♪ He won't ♪ ♪ I've still got joy in chaos ♪ ♪ I've got peace that makes no sense ♪ ♪ I won't be going under ♪ ♪ I'm not held by my own strength ♪ ♪ I built my life on Jesus ♪

♪ He's never let me down ♪ ♪ Faithful in every season ♪ ♪ So why would He fail now? ♪ ♪ He won't ♪ ♪ He won't ♪ ♪ He won't fail ♪ ♪ He won't fail ♪ Let's go. ♪ Christ is my firm foundation ♪ ♪ The rock on which I stand ♪ ♪ And everything around me's shaking ♪ ♪ Oh, I've never been more glad ♪ ♪ That I put my faith in Jesus ♪ ♪ He's never let me down ♪ ♪ Faithful through generations ♪ ♪ So why would He fail now? ♪ ♪ He won't ♪ ♪ He won't ♪ ♪ He won't fail ♪ ♪ He won't fail ♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪ Rain came, wind blew ♪ ♪ My house was built on You ♪ ♪ I said, with You, I'm gonna make it through ♪ ♪ Rain came, wind blew ♪ ♪ My house was built on You ♪ ♪ I said, with You, I'm gonna make it through ♪ ♪ Rain came, wind blew ♪ ♪ My house was built on You ♪

♪ I said, with You, I'm gonna make it through ♪ ♪ I'm safe with You, I'm gonna make it through ♪ ♪ Oh, I'm gonna make it through, yeah ♪ ♪ Cause I'm standing strong on You, yeah ♪ ♪ I'm gonna make it through ♪ ♪ Cause my house is built on You ♪ ♪ Christ is my firm foundation ♪ ♪ He's the rock on which I stand ♪ ♪ And everything around me's shaking ♪ ♪ Oh, I've never been more glad ♪ ♪ I put my faith in Jesus ♪ ♪ He's never let me down ♪ ♪ Faithful for generations ♪ ♪ So I will live and I'll die for You ♪ ♪ He won't, He won't, He won't fail, He won't fail, He won't fail, He won't fail, He won't fail ♪ Wow! Thank you very much. Well, thank you for joining us, Pando family, Southeast Christian Church, Louisville, Kentucky, and we love that you got to join in. I hope today's message encouraged you as you explore faith through God's word. I hope it helped you feel like, oh, I can really trust this. This is more than maybe what you might've initially thought, that God's word is enduring for a reason and that there's so much more than just our faith. There's actual evidence for it. There's archeological evidence. There's all sorts of evidence pointing to the fact

that the Bible is accurate and real and true, and it's something that we can trust and something we can sink our roots into. Well, I wanted to remind you of a couple things that we like to release throughout the week. If you hit subscribe to Southeast Christian Church inside the Pando app, number one is on Thursdays, we release a podcast just for our Pando community, conversations centered around the messages and other content as well, but it's a conversation to support you and encourage you in your walk, and so make sure you check that out, drops every Thursday, and hopefully we'll encourage you right where you are. To close out, you know it, we do a prayer together, so will you join me as we pray together today? Oh God, early in the morning, I cry out to you. Help me to pray and to consecrate my thoughts on you. I cannot do this alone. In me there is darkness, but with you there is light. I am lonely, but you do not leave me. I am feeble in heart, but with you there is help. I am restless, but with you there is peace. In me there is bitterness, but with you there's patience. I do not understand your ways, but you know the way for me. Heavenly Father, I praise and thank you for rest in the night. I praise and thank you for this new day. I praise and thank you for all your goodness

and faithfulness throughout my life. You've granted me many blessings. Now let me accept what is hard from your hand. You will lay on me no more than I can bear. You make all things work together for good for your children. Lord Jesus Christ, you were poor and in distress, a captive and forsaken as I am. You know all of man's troubles. You abide with me when all men fail. You remember me and seek me. It is your will that I should know you and turn to you. Lord, I hear your call and follow, help me. Oh Holy Spirit, give me faith that will protect me from despair, from passions and from vice. Give me such love for God and men as will blot out all hatred and bitterness. Give me the hope that will deliver me from fear and faithful heartedness and faint heartedness. Amen. Amen. you