… and the encouragement I have for you heading into this week has to do with your relationship with God’s Word.  At Oak Springs Community Church we have been blessed to come together each Sunday to experience teaching from the Word of God.  The way we’ve done that is to work through an entire book of the Bible, one passage at a time.  And while I do not claim to have any kind of corner on this market, I do have the support of the work of a mentor I never met in person, John Stott.  Those who have attended Oak Springs over the past several years know this.

What I appreciate about the influence of Stott is the deep conviction he had for the global church being led by Biblically trained leaders to learn the Word, teach the Word and obey the Word.  Presently, leaders in the “Majority World” (what we used to call the Third World) are doing a beautiful job of learning, teaching and obeying God’s Word… so much so that their works are actually being published and used globally, whereas the leaders of the Western World churches have waned in influence.  PhD level trained leaders from South America, Africa, Asia, Indonesia, the Philippines, and many other majority world countries are writing, teaching and preaching the truth of God’s Word relevant to the needs of this world.

It is my goal here to encourage you to read with the intention of understanding and applying God’s Word in your daily life.  Please ask yourself these three questions:

1. What am I reading with regularity that is exposing me to God’s Word?
2. How am I applying Biblical lessons to my everyday life?
3. With whom am I sharing the exciting insights and applications that God’s Word is having on my life?

The more I study the Scriptures, the more it occurs to me that God intended His Word to be shared relationally… in our homes with our loved ones, in our churches through Biblical teaching, and in our work and play with people we interact with daily.  My obedience to the Word of God will more likely be the silent teacher in my work and play relationships than my actual exegeting the Bible (which is what I do on Sunday mornings).

I pray that you are drawn to God’s Word for its intended purpose: to expose you to God the Father and His inspiring love for you and yours, to instruct you in His way of life as lived and taught by Jesus of Nazareth and the Apostles He trained and sent out, and to encourage you with strength from His Holy Spirit sent to help you to obey the Word.

For His glory,

Pastor Mike