← Church of the Highlands - Sunday Messages - Audio
Church of the Highlands - Sunday Messages - Audio
How to Read My Bible
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Part 1 of Lets Talk About it
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How's it going, Church of the Highlands. I love it. I love it. That was good to better than good, but I think we got a little more. And hold on. Here's why we clap whenever we join together. Come on. It's a way we can express how we're building our faith for the word of God and all God has for us at every location. Put your hands together if you're grateful to be at church. I love it. I love it. And so glad all of you are here. What a great day to be in the house of God. Today we want to officially welcome our locations, Alabama and Georgia. We love you so much. Every single location. Maybe you're joining us online or on demand or in the correctional facilities both in Alabama and in Georgia. We love the entire Highlands family. One more time. Put your hands together. What a great day. It's awesome. And so glad you're all here. And please excuse my voice today. I'm probably not the only one that's being affected by the pollen here lately. Anybody out there? It has been crazy this year, so you may hear a little bit of that today. But, man, my heart is so full and I am just full of faith for what God has for us. Today we are kicking off a brand new series and all of our topics you actually chose. So back at Easter, of course, we did our survey and today we start what's gonna be five weeks of addressing some of those topics. I'll talk more about that in a moment, but I did wanna take just a second to share. Not announcements, everybody, but some vision for the month of May. And I can hardly believe we are already in May. So welcome to Maysember, everybody. You guys, if you know, you know now, I think one of the busiest months of the year with school ending all the things that are happening. But we have a lot of amazing stuff happening here at Highlands. You've already seen this, but I want to come back, really, just to celebrate the fact that today is step one of the growth track. And about three months ago, we launched a brand new growth track experience. And it's amazing to really see and to hear what God is doing. And so maybe you're out there today and you're like, is the growth track for me. And I heard a couple stories this week that really show us that if you haven't taken this step, it's for everybody. I heard a story from our Peachtree City location. That's our newest Highlands campus, about 45 minutes south of Atlanta. And a lady named Lisi who originally had been Driving to Huntsville. Her family had been attending Huntsville, y'. All. She was driving three hours each way from Georgia to attend highlands and huntsville. Heard about our peachtree city location. Went to peachtree city, got connected in the growth track, got plugged in. And part of our new growth track experience is everyone finishes that experience those three weeks with a personalized spiritual growth plan. And her next step was water baptism. I got a picture of her getting baptized. Can we celebrate that, everybody? Lisa, we love you. And now I love it. And now she is actually serving in our highlands kids ministry. So maybe you are new, like lisi. Growth track is for you. And also, I heard a story this week from our grandview location. Kind of on the other end of the spectrum of someone who had been in Highlands for 20 years and had never gone through the growth track. Who went through the growth track, and God used it in a huge way. So if that is your next step, that is today. And all your campus pastors will let you know when that happens at your location. And then next week, everybody, it's mother's day. Yeah, let's celebrate. All the ladies, come on, all the moms. We celebrate you every day of the year. But next week, don't miss it. We have a gift for you. It's gonna be a really, really, really special day at church. And then I'm making one final kind of vision announcement today, and that is for the first time ever, on May 17, the next Sunday, we are going to celebrate in a really big way all of our graduates here at highlands, all those students who are graduating high school. We have so many young people in our church. Let that never be normal, by the way, what God's doing in this young generation. And so that Sunday, be sure you are here. If you're graduating, we're gonna pray over you parents, be sure you're in the room. We're gonna pray over every student, and we have a gift for all of our students. So it's gonna be an amazing, amazing month. So our new series, it's called let's talk about it. Y' all ready to talk about it? All right, so I got a list of topics that we're gonna hit. Some of these are gonna be in the series, and actually some of these are gonna be an entire series themselves. The number one survey result from Easter was living with purpose. And so we're actually gonna do a six week series in September and October on that topic. So look forward to that. But over the next few weeks, we're gonna hit healthy relationships, spiritual warfare in Fact, we're gonna take the whole month of June and talk about mental health in a really big way and what God can do in all of our souls. We're gonna talk about family and parenting next week. But today I wanted to kick us off with that next topic on the list. How to read my Bible. How to read my Bible. Does anybody out there at Highlands love the word of God? I see those hands raised. I love it. And here's how I know is we had over 10,000 people ask for this topic, which I'm just telling you as a pastor. Number one, I love you, Highland, so much. This church changed my life. Being a part of this community for Jill and I is just the dream of our life. And I just love that this is a house of God where people love the word of God. And I also love that we have people, you know, so many different places in their journey. I know that some people, you know, checked that survey box because you're new to faith or you're really kind of taking those first steps into going deeper. But I also know there's a lot of people who've been following Jesus for a long time here at Highlands who want more. And so I believe with all of my heart, God has something for all of us today as it relates to his word. Hey, everybody, if we open our hearts up for the next 27 minutes and 30 seconds, we are going to leave here better, because Romans 10:17 says this. So then faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God, that when we get into God's word, when we hear him through his word, our faith grows and we can get better. Not just here at church, not just in small group, but honestly, my heart and the heart of this message today is to help you very practically every single day of your life. Hey, everybody. The more we know the word of God, the more we know God, the more we know God. Our faith is built, and we can see his impact in every area, which is our passion. That's why you're here at church today is you want to know him and see all that God has for you in your life. So about three weeks ago, my good friend Chad Veach was here, and it was such a great message. He really inspired us in the word of God. So I'm going to come alongside what Chad already laid out with a very practical message today. So y' all ready for this? I'm putting on my professor hat today. If you're new here to Highlands, my former role was the college president at Highlands College, which I Love so much. So I'm kind of. I'm going to kind of be that kind of teacher today. In fact, y', all, I gotta celebrate this. Three weeks ago, I finished my doctorate. Everybody, thank God it is done. And I told Jill, just to be very clear, no one has to call me doctor. I told Jill only one day in our house, everybody had to call me doctor. She had to call me doctor. All our kids did. And our youngest, Knox, was like, dad, so you're a doctor? And I was like, yeah. And he goes, what can you fix? I said, nothing. He's like, well, then why are you a doctor? That's a really good question. So I wanna have fun with it today. I brought a lot of tools. I'm gonna come back to this in a minute. I got some commentaries, some of my favorite books, like Hallie's Bible Handbook. That really helped me, honestly, every single day in the Word of God, y'. All. I even brought some of my Bibles. This is my first Bible. I got this when I was confirmed in the Methodist Church at 6 years old. And so this was a gift. My parents were actually here. They gave me this Bible. They signed this Bible. And y', all, this is my first Bible when I got six. Here's how you know it. It's duct taped. I read this thing so much that it actually part of it fell out. And now the first book in this Bible is the Book of Ruth. That's how you know you love the Word of God. This is the Bible that changed my life. So we're gonna talk about all that today. Today's gonna be very, very practical. And I wanna address. If you have your app, open it up. I wanna address three questions that really come to us as a team a lot. These are the three questions, and I'll give you all three of them. Then we're gonna go through them one at a time. Number one, what is the Bible? Just talk about that really briefly. But I wanna make sure we kinda level set and leave with clarity with what the Bible actually is. Number two, why I should read the Bible. And then number three, the question you asked for, we're gonna spend the most time on and how do I actually do it? So if you have your app, open it up or take notes. Today, that first question is massive for us especially, and I'm hitting it intentionally, especially in the world and the culture we live in today. We need to know what the Bible is. So I'm going to put three words here on the screen. These are actually in our statement of faith here at Highlands. If you've ever read it, these are important words to describe our theological. What we actually believe as a church about the Bible. Number one, that the Bible is inspired. This book is the word of God. This is. Now, to be clear, this is not a book about God. A lot of religions have books about their God. We believe this is a book filled with the breath of God or the inspired words of God. Can I get at least one amen in church today? This is the word of God. It's important. All right. Number two, it's inerrant. And again, this is so important in the world we live in today that every part of this book is perfect. There is no error in this book, and we're not changing a word of it. No matter what anyone has to say about it. We're gonna stand firm. Thank you. For the most spiritual section right over there. We're gonna stand firm on the word of God because, number three, it's infallible. And that's a great promise for you to grab today. And as I was thinking about this message, I know we're all on a journey, and some of us are newer in our faith, and some of us have been around for a while. But let's. Wherever we are in that journey, let's lean in today. Because the word of God is infallible, which means no matter where we are or whenever we open it, it's without fail. If we'll just take it and ingest it and get it into our lives, it will never fail us. Every word in it is true, and it is living and active. It always works. God always has answers for all of our questions. And so, really, today, just to reflect on it, you know, what I hold in my hands is a miracle. And I just want. I never want to lose our gratitude for the word of God. I mean, we read miracles in the Bible, and many of us, we've experienced miracles. This is a miracle. I mean, just listen to these just historical stats about the Bible written over 1600 years in a dozen countries on three continents. There's only one author, and that's God. But there were 40 writers of the Bible, all the 66 books in three languages. Poets, prophets, farmers, kings, soldiers, shepherds, princes, priests, historians, fishermen, tax collectors, scholars, businessmen and doctors. It was written in caves and ships and palaces and prisons and in deserts. And through all that time, over the last 2,000 years, everybody. There's over 5,000 manuscripts that show us that it has not changed, that what we hold in our hands is still the Pure word of God that he has for us. Can I get an amen in church today? This is what our Bible is. Number two, why should I read my Bible? And Second Timothy gives us the perfect reason to read our Bible. And not just to read it, but to read it every single day. All scripture is God breathed. And it is useful. God's Word activates our life into our life. It's useful for us to teach us, to rebuke us, to correct us, to train us in righteousness so that the servant of God, so that you. So that I may be through thoroughly equipped for every good work. That God's Word can help us personally, can help us in our families, in our workplaces, wherever we go. God's Word has answers for us, which is why we need to read it every single day. And this is how Charles Spurgeon said it. A Bible that's falling apart usually belongs to someone who isn't. That's why I need to read. I don't want to fall apart. I need God's Word in every area. And then number three, and this is the one we're gonna spend the most time on today. And that is, how do I read my Bible? How do I read my Bible? And you know, right now in America, we've talked about this at church recently even, but I just celebrate this, that there is more hunger right now in America than there ever has been, at least in my lifetime for God and for the things of God. What's really happened? Everybody is. We have looked for answers everywhere else. We have not found those answers. And people are now saying, maybe it's God. And the answer, of course it is God. So there's a hunger and a passion. And even on our Easter survey, we have never seen, which I want to celebrate, we've never seen this question, you know, how to read my Bible that high on a survey before that just shows us there's hunger and passion. And I know there are a lot of questions, you know, how do I read it? Which really underneath that is, where do I start? How do I apply it? And I'm going to attack those questions today. Again, I'm going to be practical today. But the biggest, my biggest prayer for today is not the practical help. It's not the answers to any questions is that we would walk out of church today with more love for His Word than ever before. I just remember getting, I remember getting saved in 1998, and I got saved in a straight up 1990s youth group. How many of y' all were a part Of a youth group in the 90s. Okay? Y' all probably looked a lot the same. We had a cheesy name. Our youth group was called tnt, which, you know, it was dynamite, exciting, powerful, but it really stood for Thursday night thing, because we met on Thursday nights. Super cheesy. But there was a whole lot of passion in the room. Every time we came together, we wouldn't worship like we experienced here at Highlands. All of our songs had hand motions. Anybody remember Pharaoh, Pharaoh out there? Like, that was my favorite. Oh, baby, you know, let my people go. And then you did this, like, sha na na na na. Which, I mean, I guess we were praying in tongues. We didn't even know it. That's what was happening in this Baptist youth group. We had passion, y'. All. We had the merch. We had the, you know, the Christian T shirts, the WWJD bracelets. We had events all year long that were awesome. You know, one of those events was a lock in. Anybody ever been to a lock in at church? I used to be the youth pastor at Highlands, and people. Parents would come to me, and they'd be like, hey, pastor Mark, can we do a lock in? And I would immediately know, I love your kids more than you do. You should never get a bunch of teenagers together and spend the night anywhere, especially not in church. All right? But we did it back in the day. And then we would have. Every year, we would have this retreat at Laguna beach down in Panama City. We would load up in charter buses and go down for a few days. And I was. I mean, I got saved in the spring. I was a young, you know, early in my walk, Christian. And I went to that first beach retreat, and I had all these questions. And there was this speaker there. His name was Junior d'. Souza. He was a guy from Brazil that was preaching that week. And I had just never seen anyone who had such a. Honestly, authority and power in God's word, but also a love for his word. And so after one of the sessions, I went up to him, and I'm like, man, I got so many questions. Maybe this is you today. I got so many questions. And for the next year, everybody. He helped me, he mentored me. I owe him so much credit to even how I approached God's word here years, you know, decades later. But more than anything else, what I caught from him was his love for the word. And I just want us to listen. The motivation to get in it is that we fall in love with it. This verse I was studying this week and added this to the message. Jeremiah 15. When your words came, I ate them. They were joy. Where? In my heart. Come on, we got to get his word in our heart. For I bear your name, Lord God Almighty. So I'm going to help us practically today. But more than anything. Hey, church. Can we open our hearts up today just to fall deeper in love with His Word? So here's how we're gonna walk through the next few minutes of the message again. Hopefully you have your app out already. I wanna come back to an outline, and there's many ways you can read the Bible, but I'm gonna use the outline that Pastor Chad actually introduced, called SOAP S O A P, which I'll go back through these, but it just means Scripture observation, application and prayers. Of course, with getting into God's Word, we're always gonna start with scripture. And so I have this desk here today, and the team put this together. Y', all, my desk at home is not this clean and is not this cool. All right. But I have this today, so I want to teach the rest of the message today, really, from this desk. As they put it together, they sent me a picture of it, and I was like, guys, this lamp is awesome. And it even has different. Look at that, light colors. We're going to go with that one right here. We got the Highlands logo, which we actually gave out to our dream team this year. I'm so grateful for the dream team. I do have this on my desk at home, a home pod. Because I have four kids, and without music to drown that out, I'm never gonna get anything into God's Word, anything from God's Word. So I've got all. For me, it's somewhat similar to this. And the first goal is scripture, and for many people. I actually had a text yesterday from a family member. They're like, hey, can you help me? I wanna read the Bible, but I don't know which translation to choose. And there are a lot of translations out there. And honestly, guys, the key is finding a trusted one, and I'm just gonna suggest a few. There are more trusted CH translations out there than these, but these are actually the ones that we use here at Highlands most often and for sure, the ones I use at home. So my first Bible was a King James. I do not read. I'm not a hater of the King James Bible, but the these and thou's and those are not really easy for me to follow. So I'm typically not gonna use King James, although it is a trusted translation. But I have my niv Bible, and that's the one I read almost every single day, is from the niv and the translators who translated this version of the Bible did it in a balanced format. And so it's very approachable. It's easy to read. It's both word for word and thought for thought translated. So it's a great translation. We also have the nlt, which is even a more approachable version. It's a thought for thought translation. It's a great version of the Bible. And this is actually the one that I recommended yesterday to a family member. It was a young teenager with their first Bible. I'm like, the NLT is a great place to start. And then also the esv, which is a little more academic or studious. It's a word for word translation, but it is a fabulous translation. When I'm reading devotionally, which I'm gonna do today kind of in front of you, I typically read the IV when I'm studying. I typically actually use all three of these. Just a fun fact right there. So the key is get one that you can understand. All right, number two, underneath scripture, pick a plan. And there are a lot of reading plans out there. So the one we use as a church is called the One Year Bible, and you can get that on our website or on the app. And it is Old Testament. Every day. There's an Old Testament passage, a New Testament passage, a psalm, and a proverb. So it's what we call a balanced diet of God's word. All right, so you're gonna get all that you need every single day. And it takes about 10 to 12 to 15 minutes to read that. If that feels like not the right place for you to start, a great app for you to Download is the YouVersion app or the Bible app. Anybody out there got the Bible app on their phone? Okay. There's over a billion people now on planet Earth have downloaded God's Word. As a church, we actually give towards youversion, which is an amazing partner for us, and they have a lot of great plans in the YouVersion ecosystem. Literally hundreds of plans that have been put together, and you can find one based on topic or interest. And honestly, guys, if you don't know where to start, the Book of John is a great place to start. If you're new to the faith, start with the Gospel of John. It's in the New Testament. It'll give you a beautiful picture of who Jesus is. And if you want to add a little Old Testament to it, a proverb. Every day, there's 31 chapters. So it's a really great book to read a chapter a day, and it'll get you all the way through the month. The key is this. All right, With Scripture, get a translation and then pick a plan. Do not wake up every day without one of those two things. And I actually would add to that. Have a place that you're gonna read your Bible. Don't wake up in the morning and do the flip of faith. Y' all know what the flip of faith is? It's Bible roulette. It's where you just get a Bible, come, we've all done it, and you just open it up and whatever God has to speak to me, maybe he will speak to you. But it could go badly as well. I heard a story of a preacher years ago who didn't prepare. He got up on the pulpit, and so he was gonna be spirit led, and he flipped his Bible open to Matthew 27. So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and he hanged himself. And he was like, that's not the right scripture. So he flipped it again. He got Luke 10:37. Jesus told him, go and do likewise. And he wanted to dig one more time. He probably shouldn't have, because he's got John 13:27, what thou doest, doest quickly. All right, I'm having fun with it. But the key is, hey, have a translation, have a plan. And listen, you may change it a month from now, but just get started so that when you wake up in the morning, you got a place, you got a plan, and you're not asking yourself that question. So now I got a place, I got that plan. I've got my translation. I'm gonna use my NIV Bible here. Now I'm going to do the second part of soap, which is observation. And as I was preparing today, this is the one I'm honestly most excited to bring. Because this, no matter where we are in our faith journey, I believe this is the one where there's always room to grow, that there's always, honestly, a deeper level of observation that we can reach in our time with God. And honestly, this is the part of my devotional life every single day that makes the biggest difference. This is where I get the word that God has for me for that day. And it's a place for all of us to grow. Acts 17:11 describes what, really, what we mean by observation says, now, the Berean Jews were of noble character, more noble character than those from Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness. And what? Examined. They examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. When I'm talking about observation, what I'm really saying is we take time and in our devotional time with God, our Bible time with God to examine what his word is saying to us. So how do I examine three words I would love you to write down. I use this every single day of my life. Number one, we're gonna look at the Scriptures. We're gonna look. And I lean in here because it's one thing to read the Bible, it's another thing to really examine or look. And to do this, we have to slow down. This past week, our oldest son, Landon, had surgery on his right labrum. So his shoulder surgery. He had an injury from football. And so we went to the. You know, we'd gone through all the appointments, all the MRIs. We get to the surgery day, they check him in, and guys, I had never even heard of this. He's already checked in. He's already kind of gone back to surgery. And they walk out to the waiting room and they ask us if we would like to observe the surgery. And I don't know what your answer would have been to that. I was surprised. Cause my wife was the first one to say, yeah, we'll go back there. And she was a trooper, by the way. I ended up getting a little bit queasy. But we actually. On the other side of glass, through a tv, we're actually able to observe the surgery. And this is what I noticed. The doctor, thank God, did not go in and immediately start cutting and tying with a scope with a camera. He took time to observe and knew exactly what he was about to do. And that's what I'm encouraging us. Here's a great practical handle for this. If your Bible reading plan takes 10 minutes to read, you need 20 minutes to read it and observe it. The that I'm gonna slow down and I'm gonna spend time with it. Number two, underneath observe, is that we're gonna listen. We're gonna listen. Here's a great daily prayer to write in your journal. And that is, Holy Spirit, what are you speaking to me? What are you saying to me? And here's how I actually live this out. So I have my Bible open here to Jeremiah 29:11. For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, Plans to prosper you, not to harm you. Plans to give you hope and a future. As I'm reading, say this was on my daily plan. I'm Actually, with a highlighter or a pen, I'm going to underline words in that scripture. I'm not going to stop there yet. I'm going to come back to it in a minute. But I'm just going to say, you know what? I wonder what God is saying there. I wonder what this is all about. I may even, and there's some days I do this, I may even, instead of underlining it, just write this over in my journal and I'm going to come back to it a little bit later. But as I'm reading it, I don't know why. You know, for me, I read the same reading plan every single year that might not have been underlined last year, but God's word is living and active. And now, for whatever reason, I just wanna dig in a little bit more. So I'm looking, I'm listening, and then number three, I'm learning. And this is the part I'm telling you, you don't need to feel pressure, but this is where there's opportunity. And this is actually how I do it. All the things I underlined or I wrote my journal. Now I'm just gonna get really curious and I'm gonna use the tools that I have. Tools like commentaries like this one, or even this book on church history or Bible dictionaries. Halley's is a great one. This Bible dictionary right here is a classic. But honestly, you don't have to buy any of these now. They are all free online. You can go to tools like Bible Gateway or BlueLetterBible.org, we'll make sure all that's on the app. Even There's a whole section of videos called the Bible Project. My mom uses these every single day that will help you understand God's word. And you just get curious. I'm gonna learn, who is he talking to in Jeremiah? What are these plans all about? Why? And the more curious you get, the more you lean in. Every single year for the first time, of course, but every single year, God has more and more and more. We're gonna look, everybody, we're gonna listen and we're gonna learn. By this point, I'm, for me, 15, 20 minutes into it. And I'm looking at now I've gone through my plan. I've got already, you know, I literally write S O A P on my journal every day. And I've got about, you know, half of that filled out now. And I'm gonna kind of take a moment. This is only about two minutes of my time with God every Day. And I'm gonna ask again, the Holy Spirit, how can I apply what I have learned today, not one day, but to today? Cause you know God's got a word for us. Y' all do know God's got a word for us every single day. And this may be the most practical thing I share with you today. Five questions you can ask yourself or add to your time with God that will allow you to take it from this page to a word you walk with all day long. And here's the questions. It's called spec. And that is number one, Is there a sin? And what I read today, is there a sin to avoid? Is there a promise to claim? Is there an example to follow? Is there a command to obey? Or is there something to know about God? Now, some days I can answer all five of those, but guess what? Most days it's just one of those, you know what? Today there was a sin for me to avoid, and now I can apply that to my life. Today there was, you know what was? Today there was a promise for me to claim. And now I'm going to take that from the page of this journal, everybody. And now it's living and active in my heart, and I'm able to leave my time with God equipped. Just like two Timothy says, for every good work God has for me, because I got that fresh bread I've eaten now the word of God, and then you finish your time out with a P of soap, which is prayer. Matthew 13. I won't teach it today because of time, but Matthew 13 is a great framework for this idea because Jesus talks about seed that is thrown out, and he gives four examples, three of them, you know, the path, the thorns and the rocks. Seed is thrown out and it doesn't take root. I want to be sure before I leave my time with God that what he's given me takes root in my heart. And the only seed that takes root finds good soil. And I have a time of intercession with my time with God. That's when I do the tabernacle prayer. But as a part of my devotional life, I always end with just a few minutes of good soil prayer. And for me, it's helpful. Actually, this is the last thing I do in my journal every day. I actually write out my prayer. God, thank you for Jeremiah 29:11 today. And in this word today, you gave me a promise that was what I got from it. To apply that promise is a hope and a future. And in the middle of my situation today, I'm gonna walk With a confidence I didn't have 30 minutes ago. Because now you have spoken to me. And I have a promise that I can walk out with. And that is our soap time with God. Scripture observation, application and prayer. Come on, put your hands together that God has. He's got a word for you. And as the team comes out, we get ready to close here today. Jeremiah 29:11 is what I referenced. I actually wanna just come back to that. Cause that's a scripture that a few years ago, in a moment like I just kinda unpacked radically impact my life. I'd heard that scripture over and over, but I had never really spent time with it. And the more time you spend with that verse, it gets better and better. It doesn't become normal or average. There is so much power in that verse. For I know the plans. Put it on the screen, guys. I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you hope and a future. I remember circling that word, you right there. I'm like, who is God? You. I want to receive it. But before I. I really need to understand who's the you that God is talking to. When you study it, you realize God is talking to the nation of Israel, who's on a journey from slavery to the promised land. And in the promised land, they're on a journey to the fulfillment that God has for them. And when we study, get curious with it and learn a little bit, what we realize is not just in this one verse, but everywhere that we read about Israel, God is showing us a reflection of ourselves. There's something for us to learn. Hey, everybody, you can claim that you personally. God is talking to you. And what is he saying? I have plans for you. That's good news. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you. I can remember thinking, why would he be concerned that they're concerned that he wants to harm them? Like what's going on around this verse? In the context of Jeremiah 29, Israel has just gone into a season of captivity. Y' all look at me. Today it's going to be 70 years captivity. So of course they're questioning God. Is he good? Is he for me? And in the middle of that, and I love to claim this as a promise in God's word. In the middle of all of our problems, in the middle of our situations, in the middle of it, we can claim the promise of God that no matter if we see it or not, he has hope and a future for us. Plans to Prosper us and God will never harm me. I can hold that promise true. That he's got hope and a future for me and everybody. The more you study that hope in a future. He's not just talking about restoration from captivity. He's talking about heaven. Thank God things work out here on Earth through the power of God. But the greatest promise is the promise of heaven. Amen. If we can apply that eternal perspective to our life every single day and live with that word, it changes everything. This past Friday, Jill and I went to the hospital to visit one of our teammates here at Highlands. Her name's Jessica, and she's actually on the team at our Alabaster campus. She served for years at our River Chase campus, and she was in her last moments of her earthly life. She's been battling cancer for six years. She would go on to pass away later on. Really? We passed away. It's sleeping. Hey, she's in heaven, everybody. Later on that night. And Jill and I got off the elevator to go pray with his family. And you never know what you're walking. And we know there are people of faith, but you never know what you're walking into. Can I tell you, when I walked off the elevator, I'm 75ft from the room, and I feel the hope of heaven. And there were 12, 13, 14 people in that room. And she's taking her last earthly breath. But in that room, there was the hope of God and the hope of eternity. Listen, they needed it. And so do you. Which is why I get in my word. I can't take a day off from the word of God. I need those promises for the things that we're walking through, things that we're in the middle of. We're in the year of seeking God first. Here at Highlands. Our verse of the year is Matthew 6:33. Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. That verse teaches us a divine reordering, that our life doesn't change by trying harder. Our life doesn't change just by doing good or willpower. Our life changes when God is on the top of the list. Our life changes when he's first in our family, when he's first at work, when he's first in our life. And the best way to make sure God is first is to put his word first in our day. Can I get an amen at Highlands right now? And so I am boldly, boldly, I'm calling us and pointing the finger. Always first at myself. Not a day off from his word. Jeremiah 15:16. I ate his word and it brought delight to my heart. For I bear his name, the name of the Lord God Almighty. I will not neglect His Word. I want to celebrate something, but also use it as our final illustration. Today I hold in my hands a Bible translation that is literally fresh off the press. This is a Bible that, by the way, you paid for Highlands through your. Through your generosity, that was translated for a people group that is only 50. It's only 50,000 people on planet Earth who speak this language. This people group is in a very dangerous part of the world. In fact, I won't even use their name because this is a place where Christianity is oppressed. And there are a few missionaries who reached a group of people from this people group years ago, and they have been asking for a Bible in their language for generations. And now, through the power of the collective churches like ours who've come around, we are now a part of a group that are translating all these versions of the Bible that are small group, you know, 50,000 people size. And this one is now finished in the hands of people in that part of the world. Number one, can we celebrate the fact you're a part of this, you're a part of this, you're a part of this. But also, can I tell you, how dare we neglect something that people have been praying for generations for? And we have access digitally, and we have access, you know, we'll give you a Bible as you leave church here today. And this is not condemnation. The finger points first at myself. We seek God first here at Highlands. And so I'm calling us to what is really, it's a challenge, but really it's an invitation to read the Bible every single day. Not religiously, but to receive because we love it in our hearts. Can I get an amen at church today? If you're grateful for the word of God, put your hands together one last time. Let's pray. I want to pray for us. Every head bowed, every eye closed. And today, as I'm preaching God's word, my heart has been thinking, even this week, studying to the story of God in His Word. And we never finish the service without giving people a chance to respond to the good news. If you wonder what the good news is, I'm gonna lay it out to you in about 30 seconds here. The Bible tells us that in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. He made us, and we were in perfect relationship with Him. But early on, we chose our way over God's way. And Sin entered into the world and that relationship was broken. And some of you have come into church today and you feel that separation from God. You feel it in your hearts. You feel it in your life situation. You're here today, maybe you've even been religious. But on a daily basis, you don't have that confidence and assurance and that peace in your heart that you know God personally. And that was the problem that all humanity faced. And because of a perfect, loving heavenly Father, he put together a plan. We read it in the Old Testament, we see its fulfillment. In the New Testament, he sent his one and only son, Jesus, to this earth. He lived a perfect life that we could never live. And he went to a cross and he shed his blood so that that separation was now broken and we were now reconnected with our loving heavenly Father. We could have a real relationship with him. And that is the offer, that is the story, that is what the book is all about, that you can have that in a personal way today. You can know God, we never finish the service without giving people a chance to respond to that good news. And if that's you today, you already know it. Every head's bowed, every eyes closed. I will never embarrass anyone at every location. On the count of three, as campus pastors join me on the stage, I want you to boldly lift your hands and we're gonna pray together. One, two, three. Come on. If that's you today, put your hands up. I see that hand right there. Right here in the front. Praise God. Right there, over there. I see that hand. Awesome. Right there in the back. I see your hand. Maybe I didn't even see your hand. Or maybe you're online today, God sees it. And I want you just to pray this prayer with confidence. Today, Jesus, today I give you my life. You are my Lord and you are my Savior. I repent of my sins. I repent of my way. And I choose your way. And I ask you today to fill me with your Holy Spirit, your power, so I can live for you. God, I thank you for those who just prayed that prayer made that decision. Everything just changed. God, we bless them today. The old has gone, the new has come. And then finally, today, God, we thank you. This is for all of us. We thank you for your word. Can you just, in your own heart, thank God for his word? Maybe you've never even thought to even do that. God, today we say thank you for the miracle that's your word that you gave us. The inspired, infallible, inerrant word of God today, God we recommit not just to read it, but to examine it, to study it, to receive it in our hearts and to allow it to transform us. And we commit God on a daily basis to open it up and allow you to give us the words of life in Jesus name. And everybody said amen. Can you put your hands together and celebrate especially those who made that decision?