Embracing the Power and Purpose of Scripture

1) "And as sabbaticals are great for a pastor or a leader to get away and to recharge, there's some things that happen. I'm reminded that this place is going to go on even when I'm not here, which is an incredible thing. None of us want something to die if we're not at the helm, right? And that's the way that God has organized the church. One of the conversations we have pretty much annually with our staff is that for all of us, God has called us to this place, and we value our team. We're excited about the leaders that God has put here, but all of us are in them. We're either going to die, and then after our funeral, God's going to replace us and rise up new leaders to continue the work that he wants to have accomplished. Or he's going to call us somewhere different, and then we're going to be diligent to find leaders because it's, it's his work that he wants to be accomplished. Or we're going to retire, and there's going to be prayer for new leaders to continue the what? The work that he wants to see accomplished. Like, we are all interims." [02:00] (60 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


2) "The words that we use have so much power in our lives, don't they? And you can think back to middle school, to high school, college. Maybe it was not that long ago. It was just a few weeks ago. The words that people use have the power. They change your life, don't they? Those encouraging words that your grandmother gave you. Or if it was like my grandmother, when I got into middle school, she, like, brought me a sign. I was the oldest grandchild. She brought me a sign, and she taught me about the dangers of rap music and how Satan would enter my mind if I ever listened to rap music. And, well, I think the application may have been a little skewed. She wasn't up to what was happening. Like, the motivation and the intention was there. Look, she wanted to make sure that her grandson knew about dangers in the world. I wasn't just, And some of these conversations stay with us forever, don't they? The good ones, and unfortunately, the bad ones." [05:05] (51 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


3) "And whoever did that was a dummy. Like, that statement's not true at all. People don't go to counseling. We don't go to counseling because of sticks and stones. We go to counseling because of our words, right? And the way that we speak, the words that we use have power. And how much more so the living, eternal, true word of God. And our intention over this month and last month has been for us to be reminded of Scriptures. And, yes, the words that we use, the words that others speak over us or pray over us have power and weight. But there are no words that we can come up with that have the power and the weight of Scripture. It is true on everything that it says. And it is the way that we learn about God, and we learn how we can follow God." [06:23] (55 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


4) "And Satan is the father of lies. His main attack is against the Word of God. Why? Because if we are confused, if we question, if we're disobedient, then we're taking steps away from God and what he has for us. And Satan's known this since day one. And Satan's been convinced that if we can misunderstand, if we can be disinterested, if we can just be apathetic to what God has for us and the words that he's spoken to us, then in turn, we're going to be disinterested and we're going to be apathetic towards God." [14:48] (36 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


5) "And sometimes we wish he would have said something different, right? If you love me, go to an annual conference. If you love me, sing worship music louder. If you love me, go do these things. If you love me, be nice to people. And he does say, man, that we should love and to care and to serve and to worship. But those are all commands, aren't they? He's saying, look, if you love me, you're going to follow me. You're going to let me lead. And for so many of us, we want to follow God. We want to follow Jesus as long as we can lead. Let's not call it following. Let's call it leading. And as elementary as it is, man, it's a daily battle for all of us, isn't it?" [16:07] (40 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


6) "Scripture is the word of God. 2 Timothy 3.16, all scripture is inspired by God. All scripture, Old and New Testaments, married together to show us a full picture of who God is and how we can live a response to him. Man, I feel like I'm taking crazy pills every now and again. And I see pastors standing in churches and they're calling into question the validity or the necessity of the Old Testament. I'm like, what Bible college did you go to? Some of them haven't. And I'm like, oh, it's glaring, right? I was seminarian. What seminarian did you go to? Like, you don't separate it. There aren't two different gods. And today, you're frustrated. So I'm going to pick the Old Testament God of wrath and I'm going to smite someone. But today, I want somebody to love me. So I'm going to pick Jesus. Jesus is all about love. No, Jesus is God. Jesus, God, and the Holy Spirit are the Trinity. They are in unified work throughout all of history." [17:08] (65 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


7) "And all Scripture, every verse, every word, every account is by God and inspired by God. And what a lot of people want to do is just copy and paste. And we live in a copy and paste culture. I wish the internet was this prevalent when I was like in high school, but it's probably not a good thing. I would not have studied as much as I did. People are like, you can just Google anything now, can't you? Back when we were kids, what was the one thing your math teacher said? Now, you're not going to have a calculator everywhere you go. You better learn how to do a tip. Little did they know, they're going to put the tip on the receipt now. And they're going to turn that screen around and make sure you give a tip. They're not worried about that now, all right? Man, like, how easy it is for us to copy, copy and paste. You take a news story here, take a news story there. And because of the vast amount of information, a lot of people get in the habit of like, well, I'm going to take a story from here, take a story from there, an account from there. And all of us are kind of lacking a full picture. And what a lot of people want to do is just cut and paste scripture. Man, I like these passages. I'm going to focus in on this aspect. I'm not going to read. I'm not going to be condemned by these verses. And what we end up doing is we're trying to cut and paste the approach we want to the Bible." [19:39] (82 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


8) "And the question that I had for me as I was reading through this and studying this week, it's like, man, if these are the literal words of God, if this is inspired by God, if this is what God has for all of humanity through all of history to read about him, and the question I have for myself is, well, whose words am I looking for? Like, who am I longing to hear from, and whose voice is brightening my day? And look, I love hearing from my kids. I'll come in the house at the end of the day, and they're yelling, Dad! And I'm talking to Annie, like, as parents, and you're in a relationship. Like, those things just, they make you feel awesome to have people who are close. I had to walk in here, other than the jeers and kind of sideways glances, because you didn't know if I was Chase or not, and you're like, am I having a stroke? I get that. But, man, people are like, hey, we've missed you, and the conversations and me catching up on life. Like, we love hearing from people." [24:20] (60 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


9) "And today, are you feeling like you were complete and equipped to do the work that God has called you to do? To raise your kids in a crazy, chaotic world. To be truth to your coworkers. To be encouraging to the person who just lost a family member. For you to repent of sin on your own. For you to open up about inconsistencies in your life. Do you feel complete and comfortable and equipped to do the work that God has called you to do? And today, if not, then it might be time for us to dive back into the word. For us to spend time with Jesus. Because you don't have to go off and get a four-year degree. Man, if we are diligent to spend time in his word, God, he is going to continue to be diligent to lead us." [39:27] (50 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)