3 Benefits of God’s Word

This summer we have been in the Psalm 119: Word of God Speak sermon series. I have enjoyed this series immensely. It has challenged me in my walk with Christ and helped me to grow closer to God through His Word. I have been encouraged to continue to look to God’s word to strengthen my relationship with Him. I have seen how beneficial God’s Word is in helping me to not just endure but to enjoy my daily life. The Bible has many benefits which are spoken of in Psalm 119. Here I want to highlight three benefits of daily interaction with God’s Word.

The Word Guides Our Steps – Psalm 119:105 – “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” It should not take long for a Christian to realize that he or she needs help navigating life. Temptations and trials come at us relentlessly. Moral choices always need to be made. Decisions on life’s direction come at us fast and furiously. The only place we can turn to find direction is God’s Word. The Bible is a compass to help us navigate our path. In Psalm 119:105, the psalmist compares God’s Word to a lamp. We might think of a flashlight in our modern context. Have you ever been walking down a dark path at night? It is impossible to navigate without a flashlight. The flashlight allows us to see a few yards in front of us. We feel safe following the light because we can see a few steps ahead. We cannot see the whole path, but as we keep moving forward in faith, we make it to our destination safe and sound. In the same way, we must treat the Bible as a flashlight for our life. We must trust it even though we may only be able to see a few steps ahead. We must trust that God will direct our steps according to His will and we will arrive safely to where He wants us to be.
The Word Protects us from Sin – Psalm 119:11 “I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.” The Christian’s fight against sin can often be weak and even non-existent. Many Christians walk regularly in sin because they are not regularly ingesting God’s Word. The Lord tells us that His Word protects us from sin. How does this happen? When God’s word is taken into our hearts, it is used by the Holy Spirit to draw us close to God, to stand against temptation, and learn to love the Lord better. However, as the psalmist points out, we are not only to be reading the Word, but we are also to be storing it up. How do we store God’s Word in our hearts? The only way is through memorization. We must be memorizing God’s Word! Do you have a plan to regularly memorize Bible verses? This matters because temptations and trials rarely come when it is convenient. They do not wait until we are feeling strong or having a good day. Often, they come when we are stressed, tired and at our weakest. This is when the stored Word of God shines through. However, it cannot help us if we don’t have it hidden in our heart. We must be people that are committed to memorizing God’s Word. It will help us deal with the onslaught of trials and temptations in our lives.
The Word Makes Us Wise – Psalm 119:130 – “The unfolding of your words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple.” This point was made in a recent sermon by Pastor Alan — we can be wise by simply reading God’s Word. What a fabulous truth! We don’t need to be super-genius Bible scholars. We simply need to regularly spend time reading the Bible. Wisdom is not the same as intelligence. The simplest person can be wiser than the most intelligent person. Wisdom doesn’t tell us all we need to know about a certain subject, rather, it helps to discern the right way to go in a given situation. There are many intelligent people that have very little wisdom. This is because wisdom comes from God, and by extension, His Word. The Lord is not concerned with our intelligence; He is concerned with our heart. In our heart we learn God’s word and we learn how to be wise according to God’s way. The world has its own way of thinking and many times it is contrary to God’s word. The only way to stand in this world is to be wise in the ways of the Lord. This will be accomplished by regularly meditating on God’s word. Meditating means we read it, then we think over it for an extended period, then we study it, and finally, see how it applies to our lives. When we meditate on God’s Word, we learn the wisdom of God.

I am encouraging all of us to be in God’s Word regularly! Read it, study it, memorize it, meditate on it, believe it! You must let the Word fill your heart and mind. As Robby Gallaty said, “Get into the Word until the Word gets into you.” If you don’t know how to get started, please email me at bgotcher@oakhillbc.org. I would love to help you on your journey of faith.

Psalm 119: SAVE ME!

I. The Nature of God’s Word (vv. 89-91)
A. Eternal (v. 89)
B. Trustworthy (v. 90a)
C. Powerful (v. 90b-91)

II. The Salvation & Security of God’s Word (vv. 92-96) A. Victory Over Afflictions
B. Life Over Death
C. Adoption Over Captivity
D. Perseverance in Persecution
E. Hope Over Meaninglessness

The Mark of a True Believer

What is the mark of a true believer? One of the marks is our eagerness to serve those in need. Jesus makes it clear in Matthew 25 that He is very concerned about the outworking of our faith, especially in how we serve others. Jesus takes time in Matthew 24 and 25 to speak prophetically about the future. He gives straightforward teaching about the end times punctuated by parables. As He wraps up this speech Jesus speaks about the final judgment (Matthew 25:31-46).

In this judgment all people will be separated as one divides sheep and goats. The sheep in this section refer to believers and the goats to unbelievers. The primary difference between these groups is whether they ministered to the Lord by serving others. Each group seems surprised that this is the criteria the Lord is using to separate His followers. They do not seem to understand at first that by helping others they were actually serving the Lord.

At first glance one might think that Jesus is speaking about a works-based salvation, but as we consider the whole of scripture, we understand that salvation comes only by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8-10). Jesus is speaking about works in the same way that James does in James 2:18. Our works display our faith, they are products of true gospel transformation. In other words, a true follower of Jesus will desire to serve others because they are saved. They don’t desire to do it for an earthly or heavenly reward. The true believer’s heart is transformed, and the outworking is to look for opportunities to help others in hard circumstances. The pure motive of a believer does not desire a reward for good works; however, as Jesus says they will receive a great reward — the kingdom of God.

The goats seem equally surprised when they are told to depart and go forever into the eternal fires of hell. They are wondering when did they see the Lord in these desperate circumstances. It is implied that they surely would have helped had they known. I am sure they are confused when it is clarified that by serving others, they would have been serving the Lord, however they chose to ignore their fellow man. Their selfishness proved that they had no gospel transformation. They would have only done good deeds to receive the reward and not be punished. The goats were not repentant of their sin and most certainly were not redeemed by the blood of Jesus.

What both groups seemed to miss is that by serving others they are serving the Lord. It did not matter for the sheep because the gospel had changed the priority of their heart to that of Jesus. What is Jesus’s priority? He told us plainly in Luke 19:10 that He came to seek and save the lost. Jesus’s priority was people! It is so plain that He loved mankind, His whole mission revolved around helping others. He helped with their physical needs all the while driving at their greatest need, salvation for their eternal souls. The same love was transferred to His followers through the gospel. True believers should have the same desire to help others. That is why Jesus can identify His followers very easily. The criteria is simple: Jesus’s followers show their love for Him by how they love others through service.

A believer should be a willing, zealous servant. They see the plight of others and seek to ease their suffering. If you notice these acts of love in Matthew 25 are not extravagant, it is things like offering a drink, welcoming a stranger, visiting a sick person, clothing someone, etc. These are simple acts that don’t cost a lot of money; however, they do cost something that many of us deem more valuable than money – TIME! To accomplish these simple acts of service you must take the time to notice others, then take the time to serve them. In our modern fast-paced, self-focused life are we willing to give up our most precious commodity?

From this passage a mark of a true believer is someone that serves others simply because they love Jesus. Is this you? Do you serve others? Do you take the time to notice others around you that are hurting? If not and you call yourself a believer, you need to repent and ask God to help you have a love for Him that is displayed in serving others. Then just look around! There are hurting people all around us. Let’s commit to do the simple acts of service that show that we belong to Jesus.

The Joy of Children

Part of my job and calling at Oakhill is to be the Children’s Pastor. I love this part of the job because I love kids! Kids are so much fun! From squishy babies to precocious toddlers to funny older children, they are all a marvel of God. I love to see them learn and grow, especially in the context of growing in the Lord. This is a special blessing of being involved in the children’s ministry. I am positive the other volunteers at Oakhill feel the same way.

I am thankful that at Oakhill we love children. Our love is modeled after the love of our Savior, Jesus Christ. I am so thankful that the gospel writers inspired by the Holy Spirit included the story about Jesus interacting with children in Mark 10:13-16:

“And [Parents] were bringing children to [Jesus] that he might touch them, and the disciples rebuked them. But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” And he took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands on them.”

At this time in Jesus’ ministry, He was ministering to a great many people. I can imagine a long line of people waiting to speak to Jesus. This group of parents, knowing that their children were a most precious gift, brought them to Jesus to be blessed. The disciples saw this as a waste of Jesus’ time. They probably thought, “look at all these people that need Jesus’ help, these children are just taking up his time”. As I said I’m thankful we get this glimpse into our Lord’s thinking about children. He rebuked His disciples and pulled the children in close. We get the picture that Jesus might have put them in His lap as He blessed them. This shows us that our Savior loved children!

First, he knew that these were potential future followers. If these parents believed in Jesus and taught their children to do the same, then these children would be the future for the church. He wanted them to feel welcome in His church. Second, Jesus wants us all to approach Him with childlike faith. This type of faith doesn’t mean immature or devoid of theological thinking. It means that we have simplicity in our faith. We need to trust Jesus like a child trusts a parent. Children with loving parents don’t have to wonder if their parents will take care of their needs. They know their parents are going to protect them. They just simply trust, it’s almost thoughtless, like a reflex. We need to have the automatic reflex of faith in every stage of life.

I am sure that this experience with Jesus left an indelible mark on the children He blessed. I hope that many of them followed Jesus and learned to obey all that He taught. Children are a great example of how we need to live in awe and wonder of our Savior. As children grow in faith, they are like little sponges that are constantly amazed by all they are learning. I pray we can all retain this attitude into adulthood. We should continue to approach Jesus daily with awe and wonder.

If we want to honor our Savior, then we will be like Him and make room for children in the church. We will seek to love and disciple them. Most of all we will bring them to Jesus. We will share the good news of the gospel. We will be living examples of the gospel to the children. I’m thankful that Oakhill is a church like this!

What is the Purpose of Biblical Knowledge?

James calls Christians to not just be hearers of God’s Word but doers also. In James 1:19-26 he challenges followers of Jesus to live in obedience to God’s Word. This seems like it would be so obvious that we do not need to be reminded about it; however, many Christians either do not live according to the Bible or they seek to soak up Bible knowledge and never apply it to their lives.

This reminds me of the college experience. Students attending college can look at their time in college in one of two ways. They can see their time as a temporary stop so they can acquire knowledge that can then be applied to a future job. Or they can look at it as an opportunity to learn and continue to learn, simply filling their head with knowledge they will never use in a practical sense. In my opinion, the goal of college should be to take your skills and knowledge and apply them to a job so you can contribute to society. The same idea applies to being a follower of Jesus.

If we simply are in a relationship with God so we can learn and increase our knowledge, we are missing out on so much. Our job is not to sit and soak as spiritual sponges. We are to learn so we can apply the truth to our lives. Look at what Jesus says in Matthew 5:19, “Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”Notice this verse has a negative and positive statement with punishment or reward attached to them. The second statement is the positive statement which encourages believers to not only know the commands of the Bible but to obey them. The emphasis is on obedience and teaching others to do likewise. That is the highest goal for believers in the kingdom of God.

This is similar to what Jesus said in the Great Commission before He ascended into heaven. In Matthew 28:19-20 Jesus said, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”Notice that the Great Commission is telling us to make disciples. Which means our goal is to multiply followers of Jesus. The way we do that is to teach the disciples but not just to fill their heads with Bible knowledge, rather we are teaching them to obey the commands. Again, the emphasis is on obeying God’s Word.

If we truly want to do what Jesus has commanded us to do, we must seek to live out the commands of God in our lives. Robby Gallaty in his book Replicate says, “Our goal is not just to read [the Bible] for information. We should read the Bible for greater intimacy with God. God is not going to quiz us in heaven on how many Bible facts we know…Discipleship is not, contrary to what some people think, about learning the Bible. It is about applying what we learn in the Bible to our lives. Our learning should lead to action.” We must be people that are known for our love of God’s Word, which means we must learn it. The question is never should I read and study God’s Word, the answer to that question is a resounding, “YES!” The question should be what do we do with what we are learning?

First, we must apply it to our own lives. This means that we seek to live according to God’s Word no matter what it says. If we find that our lives are opposed to God’s Word at any point, we must submit and shape our lives accordingly. Second, we must seek to teach others. This means we are making disciples by helping others to know and live out the Bible. This does not mean everyone will be a Bible teacher or preacher, but everyone can teach someone else the truths of the Bible in a discipleship relationship.

One of the saddest verses in the Bible is Hebrews 5:12, “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food,” The author of Hebrews was speaking to seasoned Christians; however, they were not mature in the faith because they were not living out the truth. They needed it taught to them again and again when they should have been teaching others. I pray that you will hear the encouragement from the Bible and seek to obey it in your life. There is no higher calling for the Christian than to live by God’s Word and teach others to do the same.

The Discipleship Series: Part 2

https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-fu4r7-1410a39

Why is there so much confusion about discipleship? In the church we have turned discipleship into a program that must be led by the elite Christian teachers. Is that what Jesus envisioned for discipleship? Is there a different way? In this episode Pastor Bryan attempts to bring some clarity to the issue of discipleship and encourage all believers to become disciple makers.

Families For Life is a podcast of Oakhill Baptist Church. You can stream all our episodes in your internet browser on our website http://www.oakhillbc.org/f4l/ or listen on your favorite podcast app! Make sure to rate and review the show. We would also welcome your feedback or future episode ideas in our email inbox at f4l@oakhillbc.org

Memory Verse: 1 Timothy 2:1-2

Growing Up by Robby Gallaty

Rediscovering Discipleship by Robby Gallaty

3 Ways to Help Your Child Engage with God’s Word

The newest sermon series by Pastor Alan is on Psalm 119. I love Psalm 119 because it is all about God’s Word. In his sermon on April 16th entitled “Answer the Question,” he referenced a Lifeway research study. This study was groundbreaking research on something we probably should have already known. The study confirmed that the most important spiritual influencer in a child’s life is God’s Word. The resource is called Nothing Less: Engaging Kids in a Lifetime of Faith. In this book that was developed from the research they say, “The greatest contribution to raising fully devoted, Christ-following young adults is regular, not daily or religiously, just regular Bible reading.” Another way to say this is that children that are exposed to regular Bible reading will have a greater chance of sticking to their faith as they go into adulthood.

This is very important considering we have many Christian families that do not expose their children to the Word of God on a regular basis. This is crazy since 89% of households own a Bible and the average number of Bibles per home is 4.1. Even with all these Bibles only 19% of Protestant church goers read the Bible daily. It seems we have an epidemic in the church. The great news is this problem can be solved very easily. We simply need to open God’s Word and read it! You can take simple steps that will help both you and your children in walking with the Lord.

1. Daily Devotion
As a Christian adult, you should already have a daily devotion. This is a set aside time every day where you can spend a few minutes reflecting on God’s Word and praying. Feel free to use a devotion book or a digital devotional plan; there are some great ones on the YouVersion Bible app. I like to switch up my devotional sources periodically, so it doesn’t grow stale. Your children should also have a devotional time. When they are little, you should read to them from a children’s Bible like the Jesus Storybook
Bible. When they are older you need to continue to encourage them to have their own devotional time. I love the Foundations devotional book by Robby and Kandi Gallaty. If you build a daily devotional pattern in their life when they are young, it will stick with them as they grow up.

2. Scripture Memory
Adults and children alike need to memorize scripture. This is the most underrated spiritual discipline. It will help you build a strong foundation of faith and fight temptation. Children have a hard time keeping the faith as they grow older because they don’t know God’s Word. When you memorize scripture, it becomes ingrained in your heart. You can’t help but meditate on it and learn its truth as you commit it to memory. If there is one thing I would say that has given me the most spiritual growth in my life, it is scripture memory. I recommend a Bible memorization app like VerseLocker or Fighter Verses. These apps will help you in your scripture memory journey.

3. Prioritize the Word of God
The last way to help your children know God’s Word is to prioritize it in your life. That means that you prioritize time spent in the Word but also you prioritize living the truth in your life. It is important to take the commands and promises of God found in His Word literally. We need to strive to live in holiness and fight temptation with everything we’ve got. Our children know by our actions if we truly believe God’s Word. We should be an example to them of someone that seeks to live out the truths of scripture. We will not do this perfectly, but this too can be an example of Christian living. You can show what repentance and forgiveness looks like by being appropriately honest about your sin. In all ways you can show your children that you love God’s Word by how you live. The hope is they see it in you and want the same thing for their lives.

How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word. With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments! I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you. Psalm 119:9-11

For more on this subject, check out the Families for Life Podcasts Episode #4 from June 8, 2020

The Discipleship Series: Part 1

https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-92zie-14074ff

What is the deal with discipleship? Why has the church not been very effective at making disciples? In this new series Pastor Bryan dives into all things discipleship. Christians should be known as relational disciple makers. This was the plan that Jesus used in his ministry and what he commanded us to do as his followers (Matthew 28:18-20). Join us on this adventure through what it means to be a disciple and how we can become disciple making multipliers.

Memory Verse: Matthew 28:18-20

Growing Up by Robby Gallaty

Rediscovering Discipleship by Robby Gallaty

Top 3: Favorite Movies

https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-uetyx-13ebba9

Sometimes you just need a lighthearted conversation about movies! In this episode Pastor Bryan and Pastor Evan break down a few of their favorite movies. Movies provide a window into another world. While we don’t want to find ourselves using movies to escape the pains of reality, they do provide a nice break from time to time. We hope you enjoy it. Tell us about your favorite movies at our email address below.

The Christians Calling to Hard Work

https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-t73hs-13e0b64

Should Christians attempt to enjoy an easy life? How should we think about trials and suffering in our life? In this episode Pastor Bryan Gotcher discusses why Christians should seek to not only endure trials but to rejoice in them. If you have ever wondered, “Does God want me to do hard things for him?” then this episode will hopefully challenge and encourage you.

One Man’s Wilderness by Sam Keith

Scripture References: James 1:2-4; 1:12; John 16:33; 1Thessalonians 4:9-12; Colossians 3:23; Proverbs 16:3; Romans 5:3-5; Romans 12:1; 1 Corinthians 10:13; 1 Peter 4:12-13.

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