Trusting the Bible: A Journey to Transformation

In today's message, we explored the profound question: Why should we trust the Bible? This inquiry is not just about gathering historical facts or scholarly opinions but delving into the deeper purpose and intent of the scriptures. The Bible, a collection of books written over 1500 years in three languages, is not merely a historical document or a scientific manual. Its primary intent is to bear witness to Jesus Christ, offering a testimony that points to Him as the central figure of our faith. Without Jesus, the scriptures lose their ultimate meaning and purpose.

We discussed the importance of understanding the Bible's intent to avoid misjudging its trustworthiness. Just as a table is not meant to fly us to Florida, the Bible is not intended to be a science book or a manual for every aspect of life. Instead, it is a spiritual guide that leads us to a deeper relationship with God. The Bible's trustworthiness is rooted in its ability to testify about Jesus, who is the fulfillment of its prophecies and teachings.

Furthermore, we examined the role of meditation on scripture. Meditation is not about empty rituals but about deeply engaging with God's Word, allowing it to transform us from the inside out. It's about living a life open to God, where His Word becomes a part of our daily thoughts and actions. This process of meditation leads to transformation, the ultimate purpose of scripture. Transformation is not just about acquiring knowledge but about allowing God's Word to change us into the likeness of Christ.

Finally, we emphasized that transformation or salvation is the outcome of trusting God, not a prerequisite for meeting Him. The Bible's core intent is to save us and guide us into a life of continual transformation. As we open ourselves to scripture, we allow it to read us and shape us into the image of Christ, leading to real and lasting change.

**Key Takeaways:**

1. **The Bible's Intent and Trustworthiness:** The Bible is not a science book or a manual for every life detail. Its trustworthiness lies in its intent to testify about Jesus, who is the fulfillment of its teachings. Understanding this intent helps us trust the Bible for what it is meant to be—a spiritual guide pointing to Christ. [29:56]

2. **Meditation on Scripture:** Meditation involves deeply engaging with God's Word, allowing it to transform us. It's about living a life open to God, where His Word becomes a part of our daily thoughts and actions. This process leads to transformation, the ultimate purpose of scripture. [39:48]

3. **Transformation Through Scripture:** Transformation is not just about acquiring knowledge but allowing God's Word to change us into the likeness of Christ. The Bible's core intent is to save us and guide us into a life of continual transformation. [51:04]

4. **Scripture in Community:** Engaging with scripture within a community enhances our understanding and application. Studying together helps us avoid misinterpretations and encourages us to live out the teachings of Christ in our daily lives. [48:00]

5. **Trust and Obedience:** Trusting God and His Word leads to transformation. It's not about having all the answers but about being open to God's work in our lives. Obedience to what we know is key to experiencing the transformative power of scripture. [57:58]

**Youtube Chapters:**

- [0:00] - Welcome
- [26:03] - Why Trust the Bible?
- [27:22] - The Challenge of Information
- [28:47] - From Information to Transformation
- [29:56] - Understanding Intent
- [31:29] - The Bible's Purpose
- [32:56] - Testimony of Scripture
- [34:21] - Jesus and the Scriptures
- [35:42] - Trusting Like Jesus
- [37:01] - Old and New Testament
- [38:19] - Prophecies Fulfilled
- [39:48] - Meditation on God's Word
- [41:17] - Living Open to God
- [44:04] - Personal Transformation Stories
- [51:04] - Transformation and Salvation
- [57:58] - Trust and Obedience

**Bible Study Discussion Guide**

**Bible Reading:**
1. Luke 24:25-27, 44-45
2. Psalm 1:1-3
3. 2 Timothy 3:14-17

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**Observation Questions:**

1. In Luke 24:25-27, how does Jesus explain the scriptures to His followers? What is the significance of this explanation? [34:21]

2. According to Psalm 1:1-3, what are the characteristics of a person who delights in the law of the Lord? How is this person described metaphorically?

3. In 2 Timothy 3:14-17, what does Paul say about the purpose and value of scripture? How does he describe its role in the life of a believer?

4. The sermon mentioned that the Bible is not intended to be a science book or a manual for every aspect of life. What analogy was used to illustrate this point? [29:56]

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**Interpretation Questions:**

1. How does Jesus' interpretation of the scriptures in Luke 24:25-27 emphasize the centrality of His role in the Bible? Why is this important for understanding the Bible's intent? [34:21]

2. Psalm 1:1-3 describes the blessed person as a tree planted by streams of water. What might this imagery suggest about the effects of meditating on scripture in one's life?

3. In 2 Timothy 3:14-17, Paul emphasizes the transformative power of scripture. How might this transformation manifest in a believer's life, according to the sermon? [51:04]

4. The sermon discussed the difference between information and transformation. How does this distinction relate to the way we engage with scripture? [28:47]

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**Application Questions:**

1. Reflect on your current approach to reading the Bible. Are you seeking information or transformation? How can you shift your focus to allow scripture to transform you more deeply? [28:47]

2. Psalm 1:1-3 speaks of delighting in the law of the Lord. What practical steps can you take to cultivate a deeper delight in God's Word in your daily life?

3. The sermon emphasized the importance of understanding the Bible's intent. How can you ensure that you are interpreting scripture in a way that aligns with its intended purpose? [29:56]

4. Consider a time when you read scripture in a community setting. How did this experience enhance your understanding and application of the Bible? How can you incorporate more communal Bible study into your routine? [48:00]

5. The sermon mentioned that transformation or salvation is the outcome of trusting God. In what areas of your life do you need to trust God more fully to experience transformation? [57:58]

6. How can you incorporate meditation on scripture into your daily routine, as described in the sermon? What specific passages might you focus on to start this practice? [39:48]

7. Think of a specific area in your life where you desire change. How can you invite God to transform this area through the power of His Word? [51:04]

1) "The difference between knowing about God and knowing him personally is a journey sometimes of just 18 inches from our head to our heart. How many of y'all know there's a difference between information and transformation? Why should we trust the scriptures with our lives? Well, here's the truth. If we want to determine if something's trustworthy, the trustworthiness of something, we have to first establish its intent. Let me break that down for you. Um, how can I know if something's trustworthy? If I don't know what it should be trusted for, let me put this way." [28:47] (32 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


2) "If we are asking the Bible to be a science book, we're mistaking its intent. Is the Bible trustworthy as a science book? The answer is no, but it wasn't intended to be a science book. Its intention is to teach us. Is it to teach us how old the earth is? Is that the intention of scripture? Does the Bible give us detailed moral codes for every area of our lives? No, but it wasn't intended to. Can we misjudge the Bible's trustworthiness when we ask for it to be something other than what it's designed to be?" [31:29] (36 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


3) "We can trust it for its testimony, key purpose, key purpose, number one, key intention is testimony. Testimony means to bear witness to. Why? What's the intent in scripture? It is to bear witness to Jesus. He is the point. In fact, if you take Jesus out, you've got nothing. You take Jesus out of the scripture, you can blow my mind with all the facts about this and archaeology. If we have, don't have Jesus, we don't have anything." [32:56] (28 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


4) "The number one reason I would say we trust scripture is because of Jesus. It all points to him. The old Testament points forward to him. There's a King coming. He's better than David. He is the King of Kings. He is El Shaddai. Adonai, Elohim. He is the Lord of Lords. He's coming. He's going to be the savior. And he came and the new Testament tells us that he came. So it's pointing forward and then it's pointing back. And then it's showing us how our lives can be changed in light of the truth of Jesus." [37:01] (30 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


5) "Meditating on scripture. Here's what it's about. It's about living a life that is open to God. It's just, it doesn't mean I have it all figured out. It doesn't mean I'm the smartest person in the room. It's just saying scripture bears testimony to Jesus. It's not a science book. It's not trying to tell me about what's happening in Iran. It bears testimony to Jesus because Jesus is the one who transforms me. Paul said, be like me for I am like Christ. I want to be renewed in my thinking, transformed in my mind and made into the image of Christ." [42:44] (34 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


6) "Real transformation begins, say, begins when we open ourselves to allow scripture to read us and to change us into the image of Christ. The transformative power of scripture can save us. And here's the bottom line in your notes as we land this plane. The bottom line, the bottom line, what's this all about? The intent, the core intent of scripture. Scripture, this amazing collection of wisdom and literature that points to Christ Jesus as our savior. It's core intent is to save us and to help us over and over and over and over again." [59:26] (42 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)

Enjoy this message.

Right in. My name is Micah Tootin. Like Pastor Mike said, I'm the campus pastor at our amazing school, Virginia Academy. Any VAA fam in the room? Absolutely.

And so I've had the opportunity to kick us off Real Talk. It's going to be great over the next few weeks. You're not going to want to miss it.

We're jumping into the question that was texted in: Why should I trust the Bible? Why should I trust the Bible? Maybe you've wrestled with this question before. Maybe you know somebody that's wrestling with this right now. And we're going to jump in.

I actually tried, I tried last Sunday to reach out to Jesus and ask him his thoughts. Uh, but he said he was a little busy, something about Easter celebrating his resurrection. I don't know. So I did the next best thing that I could. And I reached out to ChatGPT and I said, "Hey ChatGPT, why do Christians trust the Bible?"

Well, ChatGPT gave me five reasons. I'm going to read them quickly. Um, what this is pulling off of the worldwide web, what scholars say across the world. These are the top reasons that came up with. Uh, if you don't like it, you can take it.

Okay. He said, number one, historical accuracy. Number two, fulfilled prophecies. Number three was moral and ethical teachings. The fourth reason was personal experience with God. And then number five, it said consistency and unity, or we might call this the harmony of scriptures, the harmony of the gospels maybe.

Um, but I was kind of challenged with this thinking about it a little bit. And I was like, well, I'm going to read this scripture. Um, and the real thought that I had in my heart is like, is the reason people aren't trusting scripture really just because there's not enough evidence for these things, like not enough information?

Uh, in other words, like if they would just get all the facts put in front of them, they'd be like, okay, I'm all in. I'm going to read it. I'm going to trust it with my life. Or is there more going on?

I mean, the truth is, is, uh, and we've got a lot of education. We've got a lot of education. We've got a lot of people in the room. You can find a scholar that will support just about anything. We got scholars who say the earth is young, scholars who are going, that's ridiculous. Uh, that's not in the Hebrew scriptures. We don't know how old they are.

There's, we've got scholars that are saying we're living in that time. Scholars just say, no, that was talking about things that already happened in the past. We've got, you can find somebody. And so the challenge with just kind of forming our allegiance to information is that all it takes is one person, a little bit smarter than anyone we've heard before to convince us to move in a different direction.

So why do we really trust the scriptures? Why do we trust? I mean, it's old. It's, I mean, Micah, we're living in 2023. We're educated people. I mean, we're not cavemen. We're reasoning. We're thinking, and we live in the information age. I mean, you can listen to a podcast from anybody at any time. Why do we trust the Bible?

I mean, there's a lot of great information and reasons. In fact, I mean, I love this, the Bible. Did you know this Bible that we call the scriptures? It's a collection, a library of books that were written over 1500 years by various authors in three different languages. And yet there's this beautiful unity and consistency pointing to Jesus all the way through.

And it's always tempting in a message like this to get up and just blow people's minds, like give a bunch of facts. Look at the archaeological evidence and just, oh, this is, but the question this morning is, is this in your notes? Is gaining information, say information alone about facts and events really the sole reason why we trust the scripture?

I mean, James, Jesus' brother, I mean, he said, even the demons know God and tremble. I mean, don't I want to know God a little bit better than the devil? I mean, don't I want to know God a little bit better than the devil? He has all the information.

See, the difference between knowing about God and knowing him personally is a journey sometimes of just 18 inches from our head to our heart. How many of y'all know there's a difference between information and transformation?

Why should we trust the scriptures with our lives? Well, here's the truth. If we want to determine if something's trustworthy, the trustworthiness of something, we have to first establish its intent.

Let me break that down for you. Um, how can I know if something's trustworthy if I don't know what it should be trusted for? Let me put it this way. I got a table here and it's working. It's holding up my papers. I could probably put a cup of coffee on here. It wouldn't fall.

But imagine if I got on this table for you guys. I'm like, man, this table stinks. I tried to get on it and fly it to Florida and it didn't work. It's not working. I mean, I thought it would take me there. The truth is it sounds silly, but I'm asking the table to be something it was never designed to be.

I am mistaking its trustworthiness because I have misunderstood its intent. Let me think about it this way. Um, somebody texts me, "Hey Micah, do you want to go see John Mayer?" And by the way, if you ever want to text me that, I'm all in. Like I'm not going to quench the spirit. If God puts that on your heart, I'll go see it.

"Hey Micah, you want to go see John Mayer this summer?" And I respond back and go, "Hey man, this is a terrible essay." You're like, what? What's gotten into Micah? Am I technically correct? It's not a great essay. No, it's not a great essay, but was it designed to be? No, I'm mistaking its trustworthiness by misunderstanding its intent.

Don't miss this. In the same way, say in the same way, if we are asking the Bible to be a science book, we're mistaking its intent. Is the Bible trustworthy as a science book? The answer is no, but it wasn't intended to be a science book.

Its intention is to teach us. Is it to teach us how old the earth is? Is that the intention of scripture? Does the Bible give us detailed moral codes for every area of our lives? No, but it wasn't intended to.

Can we misjudge the Bible's trustworthiness when we ask for it to be something other than what it's designed to be? I'm sorry. The Bible won't tell you how to change your oil. It's not going to tell you how to study for the SAT so that you get a good score.

Scripture is not going to teach you how to quiet a colicky baby, but what can it do? If we're going to know if the Bible is trustworthy, we have to ask ourselves, what should it be? What was it intended to be trusted for?

It might not tell you all of the reasons for the conflict in the Middle East right now. You might have to read a history book from the last hundred years to get that answer. But what is its intention?

I remember when I was a kid, grew up in church, and I remember someone, you know, you're a kid, you're reading everything literally instead of literally just reading it. And, you know, Genesis, you read right there in Genesis, you know, Eve was taken from Adam's rib. So I thought men have one less rib than women.

But it wasn't just me. My Bible teacher told me that we have one less. This was a grown person telling me, "Hey, Micah, yeah, we do have, it's right here in the Bible." And I remember in high school, you know, it's crazy. I read a science book and I saw that that wasn't the case. And it just blew my whole mind.

Oh, the Bible lied. No, maybe it wasn't intending to teach us something about science, but maybe it was intending to teach us something about God. What's the intent in scripture?

Can we look at three purposes of scripture, three intentions? What can the Bible, say the Bible, be trusted for?

Number one, we're going to go quickly through our notes. We're a note-taking church. Number one, number one. We can trust it for its testimony. Key purpose, key purpose, number one, key intention is testimony.

Testimony means to bear witness to. Why? What's the intent in scripture? It is to bear witness to Jesus. He is the point. In fact, if you take Jesus out, you've got nothing. You take Jesus out of the scripture, you can blow my mind with all the facts about this and archaeology. If we don't have Jesus, we don't have anything.

In fact, Paul said this. Paul was very educated, talking to the church in Corinth. And he goes, "Hey guys, I have decided to know nothing among you except for Christ and Christ crucified."

See, here's the insight, the truth in your notes. If you're taking notes, that we trust scripture because the truth here is that all scripture points to Jesus, is fulfilled in Jesus, and finds its ultimate meaning in him. It's all about Jesus. Jesus is the star of the show. He's the thing that holds us all together.

In fact, I want to read some words from Jesus in scripture. You can read me out loud on the screen. Anytime scripture's on the screen, we're going to read out loud. Sound good?

All right. So Luke, Luke chapter 24, Jesus has resurrected from the grave. Luke is an eyewitness to these events. He's among some early followers and they don't recognize that it's Jesus yet. It says he has not opened their eyes yet. So he's walking with them. And this is where we pick up.

He said to them, "Oh, foolish ones and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken."

The scripture, "Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter his glory?"

Verse 27: "And beginning with Moses and all the prophets." Here it is. Don't miss this. He, this is so key. Don't miss it. "He interpreted to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself."

In other words, Jesus is what gave credibility and gave trustworthiness to what was in scripture because he was the fulfillment of it. He is the point. He is the purpose. He interpreted it concerning himself.

And then picks up in verse 44. Then he said, "This is Jesus. These are my words that I spoke to you when I was still with you. Here it is that everything, say everything, written about me in the Tanakh and the Torah and the Hebrew Bible and the law, Moses and the prophets and the Psalms, they must be fulfilled in me."

He then opened their minds to understand the what? The scriptures. Here's the truth under this is that Jesus, don't miss this in your notes. Jesus trusted the scriptures. He gave them their ultimate purpose and meaning and context.

But here's what I feel. You're free to disagree. We're a thinking church. If Jesus trusted the scriptures and placed value on them, I think we're on safe ground. We're going to be able to trust them as well.

But we have to understand the intent of scriptures. This is a few things Jesus said about scripture. I'm going to read through this quickly because we don't have enough time to go through every passage. So just go with me in your notes.

Number one, Jesus quoted scripture when he was tempted. Jesus quoted scripture. Why do we respect scripture? Because Jesus did. Jesus quoted scripture.

Jesus read from scripture when he began his public ministry. Number three, Jesus used scripture to defend who he was. And you got the Bible references right there if you want to study further this week.

Number four, Jesus frequently quoted scripture during his own teachings. And then number five, Jesus taught from scripture after his resurrection.

The number one reason I would say we trust scripture is because of Jesus. It all points to him. The Old Testament points forward to him. There's a King coming. He's better than David. He is the King of Kings. He is El Shaddai, Adonai, Elohim. He is the Lord of Lords. He's coming. He's going to be the savior. And he came, and the New Testament tells us that he came.

So it's pointing forward and then it's pointing back. And then it's showing us how our lives can be changed in light of the truth of Jesus.

Somebody came to Jesus one time, Nicodemus, and said, "Lord, how do I have eternal life?" Guess what Jesus said? "What had the scriptures told you?"

So here's the thing. Here's the truth. If one of the key intents of scripture is to point us towards Christ, don't miss this, then we can confidently say that the Bible is trustworthy and able to do that from Genesis to Revelation.

In fact, can I just blow your guys' mind with one little thing? Just one thing. It's amazing. There's prophecies in the Old Testament over 300, but I was seeing this study that was done by Westmont College and the American Scientific Affiliation.

I'm going to jump about midway through the paragraph and they kind of mathematically wrote down what it would take for eight prophecies, eight predictions about someone's life. They said this: suppose we take 10 to the 17th power silver dollars. That's 10 with 17 zeros after it and lay them on the face of Texas. They'll cover the entire state two feet deep.

Now mark one of these silver dollars and stir the entire mass thoroughly over the entire state. Now blindfold a man and tell him he can travel as far as he wishes, but he must pick up one silver dollar that has a special mark on it.

What chance would he have of getting the right one? Just don't miss this. Just the same chance that the prophets would have had of writing these eight prophecies and having them all come true in any one man from their day to present time.

We've got some incredible reasons to trust and believe in scripture and to value it. But I just want to suggest this morning that God wants to take us beyond information into the second thing, the second essential truth and intent of scripture, which is number two, key number two, which is meditation.

Meditation. And no, I'm not talking about getting on a yoga mat and going, "Am I doing it right?" That is one form of meditation. But the word in Hebrew is meditation. It is this word, which means to coo or to chew or to mutter, like mutter, like, like the Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want.

He leads me. He guides me in still waters. He protects me. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall. And everywhere I'm going, the Lord, I'm muttering to myself, reminding myself that what I see isn't all that is, but there's a Lord who's with me, who goes before me.

The Lord is my shepherd. The Lord's with me at work. The Lord's with me in my marriage. The Lord's with me in my finances. The Lord is my shepherd.

And to meditate on something means to repeat it to yourself over and over again. It also means to think deeply or carefully about something about God.

We've got a cat at our house. Um, it's an outdoor cat. Don't worry. Not bringing that thing in my house. Um, we give him some meat and when I kid you not, his name's Whiskey, um, because it's a baller name.

And so we give him some meat. And he always does this thing. Maybe, maybe your cat Monique, I think we should get rid of him. But he, when he gets, when he gets this meat, he'll growl. You hear him over it. I'm like, oh my, see dogs don't do that. That's because dogs have God in their name. You just dog backwards. You know what I'm saying?

Come on. Maybe they do. I might be lying, but what is Whiskey doing? He's enjoying, he's anticipating what's in front of him. He's focused on it. He's fit. Nothing else is different. He's focused on it. He's focused on distracting him. He's chewing on the meal that's prepared in front of him.

He's delighting in what's happening. And that's what to meditate means. That, uh, with scripture, it's not to just be read quickly and flippantly. I heard one scholar say that the most dangerous thing in the world to do is to read one verse from the Bible. You can make the Bible say just about anything, guys.

Come on. What, I mean, what did the devil do in John chapter four? When he was coming to tempt Jesus, he used scripture out of context. Do we meditate on it?

I don't walk into it assuming already that I know what it means, but I'm listening. Lord speak. I'm meditating. I'm reminding myself of the truth. By the way, there's nothing deeper to learn in Christianity than that God loves you. He's with you. He's for you and he can transform you.

Lord, I want to meditate on this. Lord, change me, move through me as I meditate. I love this passage in Psalm chapter one. David writes, and he says, "Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of what?"

Here it is. Don't miss it. "But his delight is in the scriptures and the law of the Lord. And on his law, he meditates day and night."

What is this person like? This person who meditates and enjoys the word of God? He's like a tree planted by streams of water that yield its fruit in season, say in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.

The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. Here's the truth in your notes, meditating, say meditating, meditating on scripture. Here's what it's about. It's about living a life that is open to God.

It's just, it doesn't mean I have it all figured out. It doesn't mean I'm the smartest person in the room. It's just saying scripture bears testimony to Jesus. It's not a science book. It's not trying to tell me about what's happening in Iran. It bears testimony to Jesus because Jesus is the one who transforms me.

Paul said, "Be like me for I am like Christ." I want to be renewed in my thinking, transformed in my mind, and made into the image of Christ. It bears testimony. And I do that through meditating.

I was thinking about a young guy who came to our church recently. He was in Effie middle years ago. He's in his early twenties now, but he grew up in this church and came back after being gone for years and years.

And he came down and he began to tell me his story. Here's the beautiful thing about the Bible. When we begin to read it, it eventually begins to read us and God's story becomes part of our story.

So he came, he came down to me and said, "Micah, basically long story short, been running from God. I've been living a lifestyle that is far from God, struggling with gender dysphoria, struggling with who he is and if he's a woman, a man, and all this just confusion and pain."

He said he was all in all kinds of, he was dressing in women's clothes and going out, all kinds of confusion and pain, and came down here. But he said, "If someone would have told me in the middle of that, 'Hey bro, you're going to go to hell if you don't stop doing all this,' he said, I wouldn't have cared. I don't care."

He said, "It wasn't, this is what he said. He said, it wasn't until he was at such a low point, he finally started to open up the scripture in his house and started reading it. And it began to read him. And the spirit of God spoke to him and said, 'This is not my best plan for your life.'"

And he came back to church about two months ago, has gone through next steps, is joining our church. See, there are certain things that only God can do. Isn't that amazing?

But don't make it about, look, the truth is, the truth is that he can transform all of us, take us from where we are to where we need to be when we meditate and open our lives up to God.

Meditating is about living a life that is open to God. I was thinking about when I was young, I was in ninth grade. I grew up in church. Um, so I was like the worst kind of Christian, right? Like I knew all about God, but I didn't know him personally.

And, um, and so I had full of scripture, but a heart full of sin. And, uh, I did, I went, I was like, I was the Awana kid. You don't know what Awana is. It's like boot camp for Bible. And, um, and I'm at the church before I ever met Jesus.

And I thought they were the same and my heart started from God. I'm struggling to go through all this stuff. And in ninth grade, I remember going to a camp in Ohio and this guy, Tony, got up and spoken for the first time. God began to not just move, you know, fill my mind with information, but my heart was being moved towards transformation.

And I said, "Jesus, I want whatever you are. I want all of who you are. I want to follow you. I want to follow you. I want to follow you."

And so shortly after that trip, I was on my way to Florida with a friend. We were driving from Delaware in his Jeep. And it was the middle of the night. Everyone's asleep besides the driver. Praise God.

And I'm in the back seat. Could you not? And they had a Bible in their back seat. And I turned the light on. I couldn't fall asleep. I just started to read Matthew. I was the kid in eighth grade. I thought I knew everything. Like I told him, Tom, my Bible teacher's like, "You're wrong. I know the scriptures."

Started to read it. Matthew, finished Matthew, went to Mark, finished that, went to Luke, finished that. I've read through all four gospels right there. And the Lord started to soften and change my heart. Could you not? I remember it to this day, begin to speak to me.

There were things I was confused about. I was like, "God, do you want me to cut my hand off? Like what's happening?"

Hey, it's okay to get some stuff wrong. Here's the thing with scripture. You just need to start. When we open our hearts to God, he begins to open our minds to what he's doing in our lives.

I love this quote. It's from St. Jerome. I love this. It's in your notes. It says, "The scriptures are shallow enough for babes or for a baby to come and drink without fear of drowning, but they're also deep enough for a theologian to swim in without ever touching the bottom."

So are you telling me that anyone can meditate on scripture? Yeah. But it's also helpful to do it with a guide, with a pastor, within community.

I mean, is it possible to love scripture, love Christ without, or to love Christ profitable? I mean, is it possible to play basketball without ever taking time to learn or study the game or to think deeply or to discipline yourself under a coach? Yeah, it's possible.

But the question is, is it profitable? See, the truth is that scripture works best for us when we are doing it within community. Even in this mess, I never preach a message without calling five people. Pastor Fred will tell you, I call Pastor Fred, "Pastor Fred, I think this is good, but it might be heresy. Like, can you help me?"

I called my friend Taylor this past week. I'm like, "Hey, he's so much smarter than me. He's getting his doctorate from Northern right now with Scott McKnight and can run circles around me. And I'm like, 'Hey Taylor, I know, I don't know if you have time for small people like me, but here's my sermon notes. Show me what needs to be corrected and improved.'"

See, there's something beautiful about working in community, studying scripture together.

Um, and so, but here's a really good test. If you're kind of like, "Well, I don't know, I don't know where to start." Here's a really good test. If you're kind of like, "Well, I don't know," if you're reading a scripture is causing you to be less like Christ, you're probably reading it wrong.

If I'm becoming more arrogant, more prideful, more closed-minded, more hateful towards those who don't think or look or act like me, I'm probably not reading it right.

'Cause I don't see that in Jesus. And what's the intent of scripture? It's to bear testimony to Christ. And it's to form us through meditation into his image, into the third thing, which is the third intent of scripture.

Come on, y'all ready? I'm moving fast. Y'all should be clapping. We're ready to get some lunch. Y'all ready? Come on, come on, somebody. I can slow it down.

The third thing in scripture is it doesn't just, it's not just good for meditation, but its ultimate purpose, don't miss this, its ultimate purpose is transformation.

Another word for that would be salvation. It changes us. Transformation. I love this passage from Paul to a young Timothy's closing out his second letter to Timothy, second Timothy chapter three.

Listen carefully. White says, read out loud with me. "But as for you, I want you to continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed knowing from whom you learned it. Now from childhood, you have been acquainted with the sacred."

Listen carefully how he's referring to scripture. He's referring to the Hebrew Bible. It's sacred. It's valuable. And guess what? It's valuable to do. Don't miss it. Paul puts it right here. It's amazing.

"These scriptures are able to make you arrogant. You'll be able to win all your Facebook arguments, prove everybody wrong." No, it's to make you wise.

What's going to happen through salvation and faith? What do, hey, does anyone need some wisdom this morning? The scriptures can guide you in that. Scripture's ultimate intent is to lead us to salvation in Christ Jesus.

I love this passage. Verse 16: "All scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training." Come on, say training.

"Training in righteousness that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work."

Here's the insight in your notes. Developing a love for scripture can and should transform us. We are not called to be fans in the stands who just know a bunch of stuff.

But you're like, "Micah, are you telling me that God's like, I need to invite God into my real estate business?" Yes. If you're a follower of Christ, there should be no area in your life that is off limits.

"Lord, transform me. Transform the way I see my retirement. Transform what I'm doing with my education. Transform how I show up in the world for those who are hurting. Lord, I don't just need you in my head. I need you to transform my heart."

The scripture's intent is to bring us into the likeness of Christ. I was thinking about this story. Um, there was a, uh, anthropologist that was traveling and had gotten to this very far off. Uh, they thought there was an unreached village and they get there and they show up and there's an old man around this fiery pot and he's cooking up some stuff.

And the lady gets closer and goes, "Um, notices there's a Bible in his hand. He's reading the Bible." And she goes, "Oh my goodness. She goes, the best that she can. I'm so sorry. The missionaries must've gotten here before we, before I did. They took your culture from you. They gave you this garbage."

And the guy says, "No, no, no. If it weren't for this book, you would be in the pot."

See, the scripture should bring about some tangible transformation in my life. Transformation, salvation should produce some good work.

So I was thinking about my son, Eli. I've got an eight-year-old son. He's amazing. If I ever asked him to do anything, he's pretty much on top of it.

But I was just thinking we were picking up sticks and I was like, man, what if I asked my son, Eli, um, to help me pick up sticks in the yard? And he, you know, he went away and about an hour later came back to me and said, "Dad, um, I memorized what you said. You said to pick up sticks in the yard."

I'm like, man, that's incredible, bro. Did you do it? No, no, no, no. I got you, dad. I got you. I know what you're saying. I got you. I got you. I got you.

And then comes back an hour later. He's like, "Dad, dad, dad, dad. I know what you said, but listen, listen, you're going to be amazed. I've got like 15 people every Tuesday night. We're going to gather at our house. We're going to talk about what it would look like if we all gathered around and picked up sticks."

That was me. In fact, we just had our first meeting. Emily cried. She was like, "Oh my gosh, I can only imagine what my dad would do if I picked up sticks."

And, uh, wow. Wow. Eli, that's, did you pick up, did you pick up the sticks that you picked up? No, no, dad. Um, oh, I'll get it. I know. I know. I'm going to do it.

Goes away, comes back the third time. "Hey, dad. Um, I'm going to impress you with this one, dad. I'm going to do that promise. But dude, I learned how to say, pick up the sticks in Greek."

Say it in Greek. We'd go in the seminary. I wrote a book on it. You can buy it. How to pick up sticks.

As silly as that sounds, I wonder if that's what's happening with many of us in God. Instead of doing what he says, we memorize it. We get in groups to discuss it. We write books about what it might be like if we did what he said instead of simply just obeying.

You know, my dad gave me about one thing I couldn't do. I mean, I have a great dad, love my dad, but he told me, "Micah, if you get a tattoo, that's fine, but you're not living in my house."

One of my favorite verses is James 1:22. It says, "Be a doer of God's word, not a hearer only lest you deceive your own self."

And so I got that verse in Greek on my arm when I was 18, still living at my dad's house. And I was like, "Dad, what do you think?" Such an idiot.

And he's like, "Son, doesn't the scripture say to honor your father and mother?" I was like, "Yeah, but too late. Like, I don't know."

Here's the deal. We can know what it says, but completely lose the meaning on what it means, how it should transform us and change me.

I just believe with all, we live in the age of information, listening to podcasts, books, blah, blah, blah. You go to Barnes and Noble, a million books on every, and that stuff's great. I love reading. It's fine.

But I wonder if it's not information that we're missing. What if it's transformation? What if it's obedience to what we already know? What if it's a decision to say, "Lord, I was sitting down with a guy at coffee at Pete's and he was in foundations, never been to our church before, but signed up for a 10-week class to learn about the Bible and all this stuff. Grew up Hindu. He just got baptized last Sunday. It was amazing. It was amazing."

Come on. And this is not how I sit in coffee shops in case you're wondering, but I was in a coffee shop and was like, "Hey, hey bro. Hey Kennedy. Um, he was like, I don't know, man. I just need, he's like, I think I'm there. I'm ready to give my life to Jesus, but this, this, this," and bringing up all these, this information and all this stuff.

And I said, "Kennedy, after a while, I just felt the spirit of God. Honestly, it wasn't me. I said, 'Kennedy, you're not lacking information. You're lacking courage to step into what you know the Lord is asking you to do.'"

See, there's nothing wrong with information, but God is more interested in our transformation. Here's the truth. Transformation or salvation is the outcome, say the outcome, of trusting God, not the precondition for meeting him.

So maybe you walked into the room this morning. You feel, you feel pretty broken. You might not tell anybody, but you feel lost, not good enough. You've been striving on your own. Here's the good news. God can meet you right where you are. In fact, he wants to, and he loves you way too much to leave you there.

The spirit of God, the word of God brings transformation and change to our lives. Real transformation begins, say begins, when we open ourselves to allow scripture to read us and to change us into the image of Christ.

The transformative power of scripture can save us.

And here's the bottom line in your notes as we land this plane. The bottom line, the bottom line, what's this all about? The intent, the core intent of scripture.

Scripture, this amazing collection of wisdom and literature that points to Christ Jesus as our savior. Its core intent is to save us and to help us over and over and over and over again.

I wonder if we can close our eyes in this moment, all heads bowed across the room. I just wonder if there's someone, maybe someone under the sound of my voice, maybe even online, this, you know, a lot of things about God, but you've never experienced them.

You've got some information, maybe some wrong information, but you're ready to move past that into relationship and to transformation and to say, "Lord, I'm going to spend the rest of my life learning you, unlearning things I shouldn't have ever learned in the first place, being changed, formed in your likeness."

I'm never going to have all the answers, never going to have it all figured out. Still don't know why this happened or why she left or why I lost that, but I trust you.

I want to hold your hand when I follow you, Lord, change my heart. I wonder if there's anyone under the sound of my voice that says, "Micah, today, um, I want to do that. I want to make a decision to say yes to God."

Here's the good news. God's already said yes to you. He did it on the cross. That's what last week was about.

And here's the even better news. You have the chance to say yes back, "Lord, I trust you. I don't understand you, but I trust you. I love you and I want you."

So with every eye closed, every head bowed, if that's you, I want to challenge you to take a next step this morning.

We're going to have the hope team down here, a group of adults as we lead in worship. And I wonder if anyone can be just like Kennedy. Be correct. Be courageous enough, stop making excuses, stop trying to do it on your own.

Stop trying to figure it all out and say, "Lord, I'm running after you and I trust you and I'm looking to you and I love you."

And if that's you this morning, I want to encourage you, encourage you as we go into this last song to run down here. Do not wait and pray with someone from our hope team. We would love to connect with you.

Lord, thank you so much. Thank you for your grace. Thank you for your kindness. Thank you for your unending, relentless love towards humanity.

It's in your wonderful name we pray and everyone said, amen.