Rhythms Rule - Week 2: “We Grow in the Word”

Aug 09, 2026

Devotional

Day 1: Building with Incompatible Rulers Leads to Collapse

The Vasa warship sank because builders used mismatched measurements. Like those rulers, we often construct our lives with conflicting standards—God’s truth blended with cultural trends or personal preferences. Jesus warns that divided loyalty creates instability. To build a life that lasts, we must reject half-hearted compromises and embrace God’s Word as our sole blueprint. Freedom comes not from blending truths but anchoring to one unchanging standard. [36:34]

“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.” (Matthew 7:24–25, ESV)

Reflection: Where have you tried to “blend” God’s Word with other standards in your relationships or decisions? What would it look like to tear down those mixed measurements today?

Day 2: Abiding in the Word Anchors True Freedom

Abiding isn’t a quick devotional checkmark. It’s moving into Scripture like a permanent home, letting its truths reshape daily rhythms. Jesus links abiding to freedom because truth isn’t just known—it’s lived. Like a kite tethered to a string, God’s Word doesn’t restrict but elevates, keeping us steady amid life’s storms. Freedom flourishes when we stop visiting the Bible and start residing in it. [52:00]

“So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, ‘If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.’” (John 8:31–32, ESV)

Reflection: How does your current approach to Scripture resemble a “visitor” rather than a “resident”? What one habit could help you dwell more deeply in God’s Word this week?

Day 3: Dust on the Bible, Drought in the Heart

Neglecting Scripture isn’t neutral—it creates spiritual dehydration. Like the Vasa’s builders ignoring flawed plans, we risk collapse when we prioritize distractions over divine revelation. Every unopened Bible accumulates dust that chokes the soul’s vitality. Yet even small, daily encounters with God’s Word revive parched places, realigning us with His life-giving design. [54:19]

“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” (Psalm 119:105, ESV)

Reflection: What “dusty” areas of your spiritual life need the cleansing power of God’s Word? How can you create space today to let Scripture illuminate your next step?

Day 4: Doing It With Others Doubles Transformation

Solo faith journeys often stall. Jesus’ disciples grew together, and so must we. Accountability in community isn’t about guilt but grace—a shared commitment to stay anchored. Like the Vasa’s builders needing unified tools, we thrive when others help us measure life by God’s standard. Transformation accelerates when we invite others to read, pray, and obey alongside us. [57:29]

“Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up!” (Ecclesiastes 4:9–10, ESV)

Reflection: Who intentionally encourages your growth in God’s Word? How might you take a step toward biblical community if you’re lacking it?

Day 5: The String That Holds Us Up Isn’t Holding Us Back

The kite’s string seemed restrictive but was its source of lift. Similarly, God’s Word isn’t a chain but the anchor that lets us soar. Surrendering to Scripture’s authority breaks sin’s slavery and rewrites our story. True liberty isn’t autonomy—it’s letting Christ’s truth govern every area, trusting His design over our shortsighted cravings. [01:13:54]

“For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.” (Galatians 5:1, ESV)

Reflection: What area of your life feels “held back” by God’s Word? How might that very boundary be the key to your spiritual freedom?

Sermon Summary

John 8 sets Jesus before people who believed in him, and Jesus does not offer disciple stuff as extra credit or varsity level Christianity. Jesus connects belief and discipleship straight up: “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples.” The passage calls the people of God to grow in the word because disciples of Jesus do not use the Bible for mere information. God’s word is given for transformation.

The Vasa warship picture warns that a life can be doomed from the start when it is built with two incompatible standards. Two rulers, one Swedish and one Amsterdam, made the ship just a smidge out of plum, and the whole thing sank in front of everybody. God’s word in one hand and “something else” in the other hand creates the same kind of tragedy in the making. Jesus calls his disciples to choose the one standard that lasts for a lifetime and beyond.

The Bible is not basic instructions before leaving earth. God reveals himself through Scripture as a love letter from his heart to human hearts. The point is not simply to know things about God, but to know God. In an information-saturated world where “too long, didn’t read” becomes a reflex, God’s word must not be treated like one more snippet to skim before doom scrolling somewhere else.

Jesus’ word “abide” means remain, stay, dwell, live there. Abiding in the word means God’s word becomes home, not a place visited for an hour on a weekend. The habit of Bible engagement, especially four or more times a week, becomes a life-giving rhythm because the best indicator of a relationship with God is a relationship with God’s word. The point is not earning God’s approval, but learning God’s voice, God’s heart, and God’s character.

Jesus promises that abiding disciples “will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” That knowing is not theory sitting in the head. Jesus’ truth is known by walking in it. God’s word is rightly handled when it first comes to the reader’s own heart, character, habits, marriage, money, and decisions, instead of being used as a post-it note for somebody else.

Jesus also calls his disciples to live under the word. The old stories of loneliness, approval, addiction, religion, anxiety, and success get restoried by him. Sin slavery says the great “I” runs the show, but the Son brings a new identity as sons and daughters in the Father’s house. True freedom is not having no master. True freedom is having the right Master, because God’s word is the string that holds the kite up, not the thing holding it back.

Key Takeaways

1. Two standards sink the soul [37:07] The Vasa did not sink because it lacked a standard. The tragedy came because two incompatible standards shaped one ship. God’s word cannot be one ruler among many, because a life built that way may look impressive and still be out of kilter beneath the surface. [37:07]
2. Abiding means living, not visiting [51:25] Jesus’ word “abide” carries the sense of remaining, dwelling, and making a home. God’s word is not meant to be a weekend stop, a religious errand, or a quick snippet for the day. A disciple learns to live there, until Scripture becomes the atmosphere where choices, desires, and identity are formed. [51:25]
3. Truth is known by walking [58:35] Jesus’ promise that the truth sets free is not about general knowledge or religious trivia. The truth becomes liberating when it is received, obeyed, and experienced in real life. The parts of Scripture a person refuses to walk in often remain theory, while the obeyed word becomes personal knowledge of God. [58:35]
4. Freedom requires the right Master [01:10:18] Jesus does not define freedom as the absence of all rule. Every life is being mastered by something, whether a phone, an appetite, a fear, an ambition, or a wound. True liberty comes under the loving rule of the Son, whose mastery restores instead of enslaves. [70:18]
5. The Word holds lives up [01:13:25] The kite thought the string was holding it back, but the string was actually holding it up. God’s word can feel restrictive to the old self that wants to drift wherever the wind blows. In reality, Scripture anchors a disciple against forces that would spin life out of control. [73:25]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[33:03] - Rhythms Rule and Growing in the Word
[34:55] - The Vasa and Incompatible Standards
[38:10] - Information Overload and Transformation
[40:45] - The Bible as Revelation
[43:34] - Choosing the Standard of Truth
[48:29] - Believers Are Disciples
[51:25] - Abiding Means Living in the Word
[53:00] - The Rule of Four
[56:43] - Bible Engagement with Others
[58:35] - Truth Known by Doing
[63:09] - Living Under the Word
[65:57] - Freedom from Sin Slavery
[69:55] - True Liberty Under Jesus
[72:48] - The Kite and the Anchor

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading

John 8:31-32
“So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, ‘If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.’” [48:45]

John 8:34-36
“Jesus answered them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.’” [01:06:06]

Matthew 7:24-27
“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was its fall.” [01:15:54]

Observation questions

In John 8:31-32, what two results does Jesus connect to abiding in his word? [58:23]
In John 8:34-36, what words and images does Jesus use to describe the difference between slavery and freedom?
What details from the Vasa warship story show why two standards made the ship unstable from the beginning? [37:07]
What pictures are used to describe God’s word in daily life: a home, an anchor, and a string holding up a kite? What does each picture emphasize? [01:13:25]

Interpretation questions

Jesus speaks to people who had believed him and then says, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples.” What does that suggest about the relationship between belief and discipleship? [49:48]
If abiding means remaining, staying, and living in Jesus’ word, why is “visiting” the Bible once in a while different from making it a home? [51:25]
Jesus says people will know the truth and the truth will set them free. Why does truth become freeing when it is walked in, not just talked about or understood in theory? [58:58]
Jesus says everyone is mastered by something, and true freedom comes from the Son. Why is freedom not simply the absence of all masters, but life under the right Master? [01:10:18]

Application questions

Many lives are built with two standards at once: God’s word in one hand and “something else” in the other. What is the “something else” most likely to compete for authority in this season of life: feelings, success, approval, habits, politics, phone habits, past wounds, or something else? [43:04]
Abiding means living in the word, not just visiting it. If God’s word became more like home this week, what would realistically need to change in schedule, attention, or habits? [52:19]
The best indicator of a relationship with God is often a relationship with God’s word. What has that relationship looked like lately: close, scattered, dry, hurried, steady, resistant, hungry? What might be behind that? [53:29]
Truth is often used like a note for somebody else instead of a word first received for one’s own heart. Is there a part of Scripture that has been easier to apply to someone else than to personally obey? What might it look like to receive that word first? [01:00:14]
Old stories of loneliness, approval, addiction, anxiety, religion, or success do not have to remain the title over a life. What story seems to have had the strongest grip lately, and how might Jesus be rewriting it? [01:03:43]
Every life is being mastered by something. What tends to function like a master in daily life right now, and how can that be recognized honestly? [01:10:26]
Jesus says the wise person hears his word and does it. What is one clear area—marriage, money, desires, decisions, mindset, or habits—where obedience needs to become more concrete this week? [01:10:39]

Sermon Clips

44s

#TrueFreedomInChrist

“``Notice that word free there a couple times. Every disciple of Jesus is in a relationship with him. That that relationship is a liberating relationship. We come under the loving, wise, liberating rule of Jesus. But there are many of us who feel like freedom would mean having no master. That's what freedom would be. But according to Jesus, true freedom is having the right master. Everyone is being mastered by something. Don't believe me? Go back and check the screen time. Everyone's being mastered by something, and real freedom is being mastered by the true master, the one who loves you more than anyone.”

45s

#AbideInTheWord

“``So according to Jesus, to abide in his word is to dwell in his word, to live in his word. So let me ask you, does that describe your relationship with God's word? Like, God's word, that's where I live. That's where I dwell. That's my home. So I ask you, is God's word the place where you live or is God's word the place where you visit for an hour on a weekend? And if you're the average Christian, 1.8 times a month. Does that line up with what Jesus is saying, the vision he's casting?”

41s

#BuildOnOneStandard

“``The tragedy of the Vos of worship isn't that it didn't have the right standard. It's that it was built according to two incompatible standards. And the truth is, friends, there are many of us here today. We're doing the same thing with our lives. Every day, we are building a life. We are making choices using two incompatible standards. In one hand, we got the standard of God's word. And in the other hand, we just have something else. And as we use these two different things to build, could it be that what you were building could be a tragedy in the making?”

45s

#RelationalNotInformational

“``And here's the problem. We bring that same tendency to God's word. Too long, didn't read. So what do we do? We skim looking for that little snippet that we can take away, and then we go off and doom scroll on something else. Now here's the problem. If we approach God's word in that way, we are only robbing ourselves. Here's the point. God's word is not informational in character. God's word is relational in character. In other words, the goal of the bible isn't to know things about God or from God. The goal of the bible is to know God.”

34s

#WordReflectsRelationship

“``Turns out, friends, listen, the best indicator of my relationship with God is my relationship with God's word. Now, this is not in an effort to earn God's approval. It's not about earning God's approval. It's about learning God's voice. It's about learning God's heart. It's about learning the character of the person who loves me and saves me and calls me his own. It's about getting to know God. So the word of God helps us get to know intimately the God of the word.”

73s

#TheWordHoldsYouUp

“``One day, a kite said to itself, if only I could get rid of this string that's holding me back, then I could fly as high as I wish. I could go wherever I wanted. I'd be free if it weren't for this string holding me down. And one day, the string snapped, and the kite was free to fly above the clouds. It was free to soar into the heavens. But instead, it spun out of control and it crashed to the ground. Turns out the string that seemed to be holding the kite was actually holding the kite up. Without the anchor of the string, the kite had no control of itself against the strong forces of the winds and the forces of gravity. And listen in the same way, friends. Abiding in God's word, it's not meant to hold you back. It holds you up.”

57s

#KnowAndLiveTheWord

“``You only know the parts of the Bible that you try to walk in. All the rest is just theory. In cultural Christian circles though, we do emphasize cognitive knowledge a little more than we should and less emphasis on the the relational knowledge. And notice Jesus says, you'll know the truth and truth will set you free. Here's what he's saying. He's not saying a general knowing will set you free generally. The CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia have these words on the wall in marble in the old entrance. The idea being generally knowing truth will set you that's not what Jesus is saying. These words are on the wall at UT Austin. These words are on the wall at John Hopkins. These words are general knowledge doesn't set you free. Jesus is saying his word will set you free. It's a different kind of a freedom.”

52s

#StandUnderTheWord

“``So here's what I'm trying to say today. Listen. You do not have to understand it fully to stand fully under it. Are you living under the word? Are your choices made formed and shaped prayerfully under this word? Are your relationships shaped and formed under this word? Because listen, friends, what Jesus invites us to is freedom. He wants to restore you. He wants to restore me. He wants to restore us, and he uses these beautiful rhythms to breathe into our lives a whole new story, whole new power by the spirit, whole new community with one another, and breathe them out to other people.”

49s

#BibleAsLoveLetter

“``So in the bible, God in in in God's word, he reveals who he is. He reveals what it's like to know him. He reveals how we can become the person he intended. How we can live the life that he intended. In fact, why did God even write a book? God is so good that he wrote a book so that each generation can get his self revelation to us so that we can all read it for ourselves and translate into any language so that every generation can access God's revelation of himself. So basically, the bible is not information. It is revelation from God's heart to yours. And it flows from the heart of God as a love letter and it yields its meaning to those who approach it relationally.”

41s

#BringEverythingUnderTheWord

“``And so listen, friends, the greatest thing you can do for your life, the greatest thing I can do is to bring every area of life under the word. So I'm gonna ask you directly, is your life under the word? Is your marriage under the word? It's the best thing you could do for your marriage. Bring that marriage under the word. Best thing you could do for your mindset, bring it under the word. Best thing you could do for your money, bring it under the word. Because it ain't yours anyway. It's his. The best thing you can do for the decisions you gotta make, bring them under the word. Best thing you gotta do for the desires that you're struggling, bring them under the word. The best thing you could do for your habits, bring them under the word. The hopes, under the word. The the things that you have to do is bring them under the word.”

34s

#TransformationThroughAbiding

“``So here's what I'm saying. When we have the habit of engaging and abiding and obeying and living out this word, that transformation is transformational. So let me just be honest. We I'm just gonna I mean, I've lived there, and I'm just gonna be honest with you. The tree of knowledge wasn't the answer in the beginning, and it ain't the answer today. We overestimate information at changing people, and we underestimate living in truth with people over time.”

39s

#DisciplesGrowInTheWord

“``In John chapter eight, Jesus calls to those who belong to him and he calls his disciples to choose to build your life on the only standard that will last, not just for a lifetime, but beyond. John chapter eight, here's the big idea we're gonna see in this in this passage today. As Jesus' disciples, we grow in the word. Why do we grow in the word? Because our identity. We are disciples of Jesus. And as disciples, we grow in the word, not just for our information, but for our transformation.”

36s

#DiscipleDefined

“``It anchors you so that you could truly rise to be free in the power of the spirit according to the word of God. So friends, God's word is an anchor. And if we learn anything from the vase of worship, here's the reminder. If you set out to build anything, if you set out to build your life with God's word in one hand and other standards in the other and just gonna mix them together, It could be a tragedy in the making.”

60s

#LiveInTheBibleNotVisit

“``The whole bible unfolds the story of how God is a loving wise father. And he wants his children that he created who are wayward and estranged from him to be able to come home to a relationship with him, to his families. What does he do? He sends his only son Jesus, Jesus the sinless son of God into the world to live the perfect life that you could never live. So he obeyed in your behalf. But then he went to the cross, he offered a perfect sacrifice you could never have provided to cover the cost and the payment for all of your sins, past, present, future. So all who entrust themselves to Jesus are according to Jesus born again into a new family and his holy spirit comes and fills us. The spirit is called the spirit of adoption, Galatians four six, whereby we cry out, Abba, father. So in other words, God's word shows us how to live under a whole new identity, sons and daughters of God.”

64s

#FromOldStoryToNewStory

“``So let me ask you, how would you just define disciple? Years ago, I I did not grow up in a church home. I grew up unchurched. I became a Christ follower at the age of 22, radically saved, Rose and I. And we find ourselves in a local church that really valued the bible, but had some odd theology. They literally would speak of the disciple stuff in the bible as as if it doesn't belong for every Christian. In fact, one of the leaders I used to argue with all the time, he used to say that all the disciple stuff in the bible doesn't apply to believers. Believers are to believe in Jesus for eternal life and all that disciple stuff is for other people. That's like extra credit. That's like varsity level Christianity for advanced people. I don't know about you, but that did not sit well with me. That should not sit well with you. Notice here in verse 31, Jesus is the one who connects those who believe with disciples. According to Jesus, to be a believer is to be invited to the life of a disciple. And to be a disciple is what a believer does.”

42s

#KnowingIsDoing

“``In fact, I just wanna give you a little heads up. We won't be in looking at this part of the passage, but in John eight forty four, same passage, Jesus refers to the devil, the father of lies. Listen, he's very interested, the devil is, in how you handle this word. He doesn't want you to not handle it. I mean, that's easy, obvious. He wants you to he wants you to be all about the word of God, oh, and other things. That's what his trick is. And so Jesus' vision for his disciples then is his vision for us today. So as disciples of Jesus, we grow in the word, not for information, but transformation. The first thing I wanna show you today from the passage is that we are transformed by living in the word.”

46s

#ChooseGodsWordFirst

“``Here he's telling us how. How does he set captives free? Well, he he invites us to come and live in relationship to him, which means to live under his word in every area of life. So that by his grace, his holy spirit can work in every area of our lives and break those old cycles with new ones, break those old death rhythms with life giving rhythms. In other words, to be restored by him. So first off, he's talking about being freed from sin slavery. Second of all, he talks about being freed into a new identity. Look at verse 35. He said, the slave does not remain forever. Not in the house. Doesn't remain in the house forever, but the son remains forever. The son is a family term.”

38s

#WhatTitleIsYourLife

“``And there are many of us, it's okay to be in the other side of it. And I I live in many good books and I visit the bible. It's okay to start there, but it's not okay to live there. And the invitation of Jesus is an invitation to freedom. Listen, because we are disciples of Jesus, we grow in his word. It's not just for information, it's for our transformation. We are transformed by living in the word. But if you're note taker number two, write this down. We are transformed by living under the word. Under the word. What does it mean to live under the word?”

37s

#LetTheWordChangeYou

“``How many of you know enough to eat right? How many of you eat right? And I settle my case. Are you kidding me? Knowledge doesn't change anything. So the wrong way is to go me, bible, to other. Here's the right way. I engage God's word and I let God speak to me about his word and who he is in my heart and my character and who I'm supposed to be in him. And I let him change me, and I take that change into my marriage, into my family, into my leadership, into my world. This is different.”

48s

#HandleTheWordRight

“``We experience freedom when we rightly handle the word. Now, I just wanna share with you very, quickly, there's a wrong way to approach this book and there's a right way. Let me show you the wrong way first. Here's the wrong way. The wrong way to approach a bible is like this, I go to the bible and I find truths about the bible for other people to do. That's the wrong way. So your marriage is struggling. You go to the Bible, you find things that your spouse should probably be doing, and then you try to get them to do that stuff. Or you wanna influence someone for Christ, you have a wayward child or whatever. So you go to the Bible, you get some verses, and then you put those verses on that person as if the Bible were magical information, that if only you could get it like a post it note stuck on that person, it would bring transformation. It doesn't.”

Ask a question about this sermon

vaughnforest This sermon · AI assistant

What does it mean to abide in God's word?

How often should Christians engage Scripture each week?

How does Scripture transform a life rather than inform?