Faith Sermons and Studies

Have you ever walked alone at night? Maybe you've gone camping or you are a walker or runner going out in the dark. It can kind of be a creepy experience. Sometimes we don't really like to be alone. We get afraid or we loose confidence. This type of fear can grip our spiritual lives when we seek to make disciples and we step out of our comfort zone into someone else's life. You might have negative self talk: I can't do it.  If you've ever felt this feeling of being alone, then this passage this morning is for you. We never have to do it alone. Christ promises his enabling presence will be with us. As we look at our passage, remember that you're never alone in making disciples. Matthew 28:18-20: And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in[a] 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.”

If you were a governor and gave a pardon to all the criminals, you'd expect all the them to accept it, wouldn't you? These parables reveal and conceal. Will everyone who goes to church go to heaven? The parable says everyone won't. It's a simple parable, but relates a deep truth. Matthew 13:24-30 24 Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; 25 but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. 26 But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. 27 So the servants of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?' 28 He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.' The servants said to him, ‘Do you want us then to go and gather them up?' 29 But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.” ' ”

Certain situations in life require authorization. Maybe you work at a job where you have a special security badge that you have to scan to get to certain areas. Suppose you are going on a vacation where you have to get an approval or authorization. The same thing is true in our spiritual lives. Call it authority if you will. It has been given to every believer. God expects us to use this authority. It is the authority to make disciples. Jesus has authorized all believers to make disciples. He has commissioned us to do this task. Too often we as believers can make excuses and follow our own agenda. We can make excuses as to why we can't step out of our comfort zone. Excuses such as “I'm too busy” or “Isn't that what church is for?” Oftentimes churches are more full of excuses, but God doesn't buy our excuses. God wants each of us actively involved in making disciples of those around us. We are going to start a new sermon series on how to step out of our comfort zone and step into someone's life.

Learning to Rest in the Power of Jesus Mark 6:7-56 Some things in life, you really have to work for. They require some effort. We can understand that some things in life do take some work, effort and discipline. But have there ever been things you've had to work for that just require too much work? What are you to do? The disciples were experiencing ministry for the first time, but he gives them some instructions as to what they can and can't do. It almost seems Jesus is making their ministry harder than it needs to be. You might wonder why Jesus was doing this?

We live in a spiritual battle and it is one that is to we waged from the knees—mostly through prayer as we take up the armor of God. Observe the diligence of a soldier who trains who can fall back on that training. You might not rise to your highest expectation, but you'll fall to the level of your training. We need to get our training level higher.

Many people are tormented because they cannot get a grip on their minds. You are not what you think you are, but what you think is who you are. Who you hang around with is who you become.  It's crucial we bring our thoughts into submission of Jesus Christ. All sins begins in our thoughts, which the Bible calls our heart. Jesus says in Mark 7:20: For within the heart of man proceed evil thoughts. No-one commits outward sins without having committed them in the mind. We have to battle against Satan in the space of our mind, not the area of actions, but of pride, lust, greed. They are all sins of the mind. Satan is attacking the mind.  Here's a strategy for victory.

Romans 4:1-8  I wonder, you like to explore? We like to explore as a family. We like to hike in the woods in the summertime.  When you explore, you're going to make discoveries. Sometimes small and sometimes large. We like to explore campgrounds with our pop-up camper and then we like to setup and then go explore. Sometimes we make great discoveries and sometimes not. Have you ever made a great discovery like a precious stone or a place where birds are nesting Maybe you found a secret fishing hole.  We all make discoveries. What I've realized that the greater the discovery you've made, the more impact it makes on your life. As we come to our text in Roman's Chapter 4, we meet a man who has made a great discovery. We meet this man through Paul, and how this discovery impacts his life forever. We are invited to come along and make this same discovery. The man is Abraham. What is the great discovery? It's the discovery of God's grace, which altered his life forever. Discovering the grace of God changes our lives forever.

Imagine yourself being the owner of a business with the potential to make millions, but you're dependent upon three kinds of employees to fulfill your potential. 1. A lazy employee that comes in late and leaves early. 2. A 9-5 worker who does exactly what they are told to do and go home on time. 3. A worker that's willing to come early and stay after to get the work done. What worker would you choose to build your business with? I think you'd choose the worker that will go the extra mile.  God has a field of workers. When you have a relationship with Christ, you become one of His workers. What kind of worker are you?

From John 5:1-15: A Man Healed at the Pool of Bethesda Jesus has been preaching and teaching throughout all of Jerusalem and the land. And he taught with authority. The authority that Christ had was the Son of God. Not an authority by men, but Christ was God from beginning to end. He always told stories of spiritual truth. He kept the law and never demonstrated against Rome.

Imagine if you will that we are together in a big, unfamiliar city standing on a street corner. What do you see, hear and smell? We are waiting for the signal to turn at an intersection and we are lost—we are imaginary lost, including not having our phones or GPS. We must look really lost as a kind stranger comes up to help us. The idea of not having Siri or a map application could terrify you. A kind stranger has given us directions, but has it solved our problem if we deviate from our directions? She has in her mind a big picture view of the city. She knows the how the neighborhoods connect and the streets intersect. Part of the framework for today's presentation comes from the book, How People Change. We are going to provide a tool for how to navigate the Bible from a big picture.

There's two types of people: Those that are people persons and those that aren't. Those that are people persons are wired that way. And those that are not, can't wait for the conversation to end. Neither is better, though God is a relational God. Me personally, I enjoy being around people. I love to spend time together with family. But my wife enjoys quiet time alone on a Saturday. We give each other a break. I might have a little time away, but then I'm go to go to be back with people again. But when it comes to church life, believers in Jesus can often enjoy their solitude. We can think of church just for a Sunday morning activity, but not involved afterwards. God wants believers that are people people, whose lives are intimately connected. Believers are to be involved in other's lives.

Every person who walks the earth has two dates with destiny. The first date is the physical death and the second is the appointed one with the Almighty. One of these days we will be standing in judgement. Have you ever wondered what that will be like to stand in God's courtroom? You'll see how one sinner fared in his trial. Zechariah 3:1-7 Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the Angel of the Lord, and Satan[a] standing at his right hand to oppose him. 2 And the Lord said to Satan, “The Lord rebuke you, Satan! The Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is this not a brand plucked from the fire?” 3 Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and was standing before the Angel. 4 Then He answered and spoke to those who stood before Him, saying, “Take away the filthy garments from him.” And to him He said, “See, I have removed your iniquity from you, and I will clothe you with rich robes.” 5 And I said, “Let them put a clean turban on his head.” So they put a clean turban on his head, and they put the clothes on him. And the Angel of the Lord stood by. The Coming Branch 6 Then the Angel of the Lord admonished Joshua, saying, 7 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘If you will walk in My ways, And if you will keep My command, Then you shall also judge My house, And likewise have charge of My courts; I will give you places to walk Among these who stand here.

On this Easter message, guest preacher Chuck Amundson, presents some patterns of the 3 Days in the Old Testament as we celebrate Christ's resurrection on the third day.

Matthew 21: 1-14 Now when they drew near Jerusalem, and came to [a]Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, “Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Loose them and bring them to Me. 3 And if anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord has need of them,' and immediately he will send them.” 4 [b]All this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying: 5 “Tell the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your King is coming to you, Lowly, and sitting on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a donkey.' ” 6 So the disciples went and did as Jesus commanded them. 7 They brought the donkey and the colt, laid their clothes on them, [c]and set Him on them. 8 And a very great multitude spread their clothes on the road; others cut down branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9 Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out, saying: “Hosanna to the Son of David! ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!' Hosanna in the highest!” 10 And when He had come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, “Who is this?” 11 So the multitudes said, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee.” Jesus Cleanses the Temple 12 Then Jesus went into the temple [d]of God and drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. 13 And He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,' but you have made it a ‘den of thieves.' ” 14 Then the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and He healed them. Two of Jesus' disciples were sent and Jesus said that immediately they were be there. This took place to fulfill that which was to be fulfilled by the prophet Zecharia in chapter 9. Jesus would become the rightful king. Just in Matthew alone, this word fulfill was used 16 times. Jesus also came that he would fulfill the prophecies of God's word. Jesus fulfilled 324 prophecies from the Old Testament. This is evidence of who Christ is. God's word is infallible. He doesn't retract it. What he says is true because his word is true.

My brothers and sisters and I grew up on cartoons on Saturday morning and I've enjoyed introducing these to my kids. They love the Road Runner, but one of my favorites is the never-ending saga between Bugs Bunny and hunter Elmer Fudd. Bugs Bunny is able to constantly escape due to distractions like the disguise of the Bugs or his over-zealousness. Satan is also a master of distractions or disguises. He can even use good things as a disguise in our lives. We can even be distracted into believing that we are doing the right things spiritually. These are good things, but can distract us from Jesus. How can we know when we are being distracted from Jesus and by how much? Today we are going to look at a story in the Bible that is going to illustrate how we can gauge if we are getting distracted from Jesus. Martha was so busy serving in her spiritual life that she didn't make time for Jesus. Sometimes good things distract us from great things. We are going to find five unmistakable evidences of a heart that is distracted from Jesus in Luke Chapter 10.

Think about something that is both taxing and rewarding. It could be difficult to accomplish, but in the end is difficult, yet rewarding. I'm going to focus on ministry. Serving God and following Him can be incredibly difficult at times yet also incredible rewarding. Here in 2 Timothy 4:9-15 near the end of his life, it would easy for Paul to have thrown in the towel so to speak. As he reflects near the end of his life, what caused him to keep going? Be in prison and being alone and ready to be martyred for his faith. What kept him from quitting when he had such a temptation to quit. 2 Timothy 4:9-15 9 Be diligent to come to me quickly; 10 for Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world, and has departed for Thessalonica—Crescens for Galatia, Titus for Dalmatia. 11 Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful to me for ministry. 12 And Tychicus I have sent to Ephesus. 13 Bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas when you come—and the books, especially the parchments. 14 Alexander the coppersmith did me much harm. May the Lord repay him according to his works. 15 You also must beware of him, for he has greatly resisted our words.

How many of you remember growing up and hearing something like this from your parents? You better find something to do, I'll find something for you to do. You knew that you were on the short end of the stick. You needed to find something productive to do and fast. I'm glad our Heavenly Father is different from our earthly parents. Our ways of doing things are different from His ways. God in his wisdom and sovereignty gives us instructions in his word that tells us exactly what he wants to do. Oftentimes the problem is not that we are ignorant of what God wants, but we still substitute what we think he wants for what he actually wants.We've been told what he wants, but oftentimes we need a reminder. Micah 6:6-8 “With what shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before God on high? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with[a] thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?” He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

Exodus Chapter 18:13-23 My wife and I enjoy watching HD TV shows that redo houses like Flip or Flop which shows how couples try to remodel a house and resell it. There's certain factors that determine if the house is going to make a profit or lose money, a flop. Normally if there's a good structure to the house, it can be profitable, but if it doesn't have structure, it will be a flop. Similarly a church needs several factors too so that a church can thrive. How can we get there? What things are are that can contribute to the overall health? There are some good structures that can set them up to thrive and not just survive. We are going to see some of the examples of Jethro and Moses from Exodus chapter 18. These principles will allow churches to thrive! Remember that ministries that just survive won't thrive. Ministries that have the right structure really make a difference.

I'm going to give you a sermon of hope and a sermon on the reality of what goes on in the world. Whoever controls our minds controls our heart. Satan has figured out that he can insert lies and deceit. He encourages us to believe his lies and then he devours us whole. In our day and age it's called indoctrination. We send people to get degrees and they come out with minds full of deprived ideas. God warns of a depraved mind. They do what they ought not to do. Since they do not seek holiness then the opposite is true. They have no standard unlike those that follow the Bible. If you don't believe the Bible, then how do you find a standard?

Known as the Bible Memory Man, Tom presents the genealogy of Jesus by memory from Matthew chapter 1 and had recently been on Fox as part of the team that presented the entire New Testament from memory.

It's easy for us to get off track in life. It's easy to fall asleep at the wheel. The Bible is full of people who did just that Adam and Eve got off track and banished from the Garden of Eden. All of civilizations got off track and God flooded the world. Abraham and Moses got off track at times. In fact, the entire Old Testament is the story of God's people who got off track. We even see it in the New Testament, despite the presence of the Messiah. Why would we expect to be any different? God says “Do not be afraid” 363 times because in much of the Christian life, we are afraid. It's really easy to get off track even with the best of intentions. None of characters intended to do wrong, but nearly all of them of them did. Just think about your New Year's Resolutions you made last year. Most of us haven't accomplished them. What made you miss? We've all fallen short of the glory of God.

What are some of the next steps that God wants us to take in our spiritual lives? We've talked about the difference between trying and training? How many have tried and failed vs how many have trained and finished? If I trained and committed to run a marathon, could I finish a marathon? Yes. The Bible tells us that we are to train: stop trying and start training. Two of the disciplines of the Christian life are Bible study and prayer. What practical principles can we apply? We are going to see this illustrated in the Bible in Mark 1. How did your homework go last week? Remember the 15 minutes? 7.5 minutes of Bible reading and 7.5 minutes of prayer. How many would be honest that you did that this past week? I'm going to go out of a limb that you received a blessing from this.

Last week we talked about having a plan and starting a plan. Everyone has to start somewhere. In order to be a teacher you have to have a teaching opportunity. You need to allocate time to develop and follow though with your goals. This week I want to give you some of the equipment. I want to start with an illustration. I suffer with some of this myself. Have you ever felt like when you're in your devotion time that you're in a boxing match. As you're praying, you're anxious about all the things you need to do. It's like a constant battle with God where the battle is in your own brain. “And by the time I'm done, I don't even know what I prayed as I'm constantly in my own way.” The punches hurt. I'm allowing my brain and schedule to drive my spiritual life. I want to meet everyone at the practical ground zero. I want you to have victory. Wherever you are in your spiritual journey, I think today is going to be helpful for you! I call this Spiritual ADD.

Why do I need Spiritual Disciplines in my life? If the end times are coming, what should I be doing? What spiritual disciplines should I have? We are told that we should grow in number. Jesus told us to go make disciples in all nations in The Great Commission of Matthew 28:19-20. We could offer free benefits to get people to church, but then the only reason they are coming is to consume or benefit. We could be there to put major guilt trips on people, but God loves you anyway and it's not tied to our performance. We could just kidnap people and share the gospel them or we could just hold a service at a stadium. We could do something insane on YouTube and go viral, but none of these things are what Christ intended for his church. The number people in church is not what God is interested in, but in our spiritual disciplines throughout the week.

“They were the best of times and the worst of times.” Doesn't that fit the world today? We hope you don't get so caught up in this world that we miss that the time is near. Jesus was basically asked: What time is it? What's it going to look like? When are you coming again? What in the world is going on? How many of you know all the prophecies that have been fulfilled regarding Israel? My goal today is that you will understand what prophecies have been fulfilled by studying what the Bible teaches.

When Noah was building the boat, he had workers helping him. The offer of salvation was available to everyone, but when it was time to get on the boat, who got on the boat? Nobody except Noah and his family. When Jesus Christ returns there's going to be a 7 year judgement on the earth called the Tribulation. It's a future event. It will be a period of judgement on man for his sin and Israel to purify her so when her master returns she will be found ready, praying and watchful. When is Jesus going to return? It could be at anytime. There's not a single prophecy that is needed to be fulfilled in order for it to happen. We know that things have happened in our lifetimes and in recent history that show we are closer. Jesus was asked: What are the signs of your coming? What's it going to be like when you come? He says keep watch because you do not know the day or the hour.

We can get so distracted by what's going on in the world that we could put our trust somehow that replace a leader would solve all our problems. The Bible does not teach that the world will be better and better as man rebels against God, but worse. Historic Babylon is gives an example of what happens when man rejects the most high God. In Revelation 17, we are introduced to a great harlot and ten kings who have not received their crowns. The fact that they don't have their crowns shows that they don't have their power yet. This tells us that there is something or someone who is restraining them. Then they attack. They rise to power in one hour and then they hand their power over to one person willingly—the Antichrist. They had been plotting the attack before they were in power. Now it's not just Satan plotting, but God Himself has ordained this. God ordains Babylon to be destroyed. What happened on 9-11 is going to happen again, but it's going to be so much bigger and stronger that the odds of surviving will be low. Who or what might this future Mystery Babylon be?

When we are standing in the presence of God, He is not going to ask you what church you attended, but who did you trust? Would you be ready to meet Jesus in the air? There's not one prophecy in the Bible that needs so be fulfilled for the Rapture to occur. Would you be Raptured or would you be left behind? If you think the Rapture is just made up, then today I wish to show you that Jesus himself spoke of the Rapture. Some might ask, what is so bad about being left behind? If I miss the Rapture, then I can get saved during the Tribulation? The problem is you won't. The Bible teaches that your heart and conscience will be seared towards God. Have you ever wondered why the second you got saved you weren't swept up and raptured? If the whole point of life is to win with the most possessions—he who dies with the most toys still dies! Is there more a point to life than just living and dying? Is there hope? What is hope to the perishing? Remember Salomon said, ‘Vanity, vanity, all is vanity.” Jesus is going to share with us the hope of living.

What gives us as Christians hope? The communion shows his death until he comes. It's good news for us as how many religions are doing that in their own way or their own names. God allows man to do what man thinks is wise when he is foolish, but still allows him to perform for God's intention. As in Genesis 50:20: “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good…” God meant for good to save much people alive. Even though those are working against him in many ways. We know there are certain events in the future that are going to be terrible, but the fact that God is sovereign gives us hope.We are addressing Mark 13:24-37 today. The Coming of the Son of Man 24 “But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, 25 and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. 26 And then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. 27 And then he will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven. The Lesson of the Fig Tree 28 “From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. 29 So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that he is near, at the very gates. 30 Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. 31 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. No One Knows That Day or Hour 32 “But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 33 Be on guard, keep awake.[a] For you do not know when the time will come. 34 It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his servants[b] in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to stay awake. 35 Therefore stay awake—for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows,[c] or in the morning— 36 lest he come suddenly and find you asleep. 37 And what I say to you I say to all: Stay awake.”

Last week we saw the characteristics of the end times and all of them are happening now. We are seeing the building up and the crescendo of the end times. Let's begin to walk down this road in the study of eschatology or the study of end times. What's the timeline? There's two events that get confused all the time: the Rapture and the Second Coming. Both of those events are intermixed in our context here. We could still figure out the timeline without the New Testament Olivet Discourse. It's not in chronological order. This is where people get messed up with theology about the end times.

Jesus' disciples ask Jesus in Matthew 24-25 of the Olivet Discourse: What are the signs of your coming and what is it going to be like in the end of age? Jesus likens the time to like in the Days of Noah. The question is: Are we in the Days of Noah? In many ways we are in the days of Noah leading up to the flood. If we are talking about the outpouring of judgement, we are not in the days of Noah. Jesus was asked: What are the signs of your coming and what are the marks of the end of the age? There's all kinds of opinions about this, but what does the Bible actually teach? What are the signs going to be when he returns and what the world will look like at the end of the age? There's nobody better to ask than Jesus Christ himself. We are going to show you five signs that Jesus gives about recognizing the end of the age.

When we remember September 11 we do want to remember too that there are family members that are still dealing with those events today. It is also a microcosm for what will come in the future. Remember when all the churches were full after 9-11 and then we realized that the end had not come yet and everything should get back to normal. Then came COVID and we thought it was the end, but now churches are down 25-50% from before COVID. Remember when everyone said: I just want to get back to normal life. What is normal life? The life I want to have.

All scripture is given by inspiration from God. It's good for doctrine—teaching and instruction and correction. What are some of the false teachings that are going to be as we get closer to the end times? We know that as we get closer, there will be more false teachers. We need to know what the Bible says so that we can recognize false teachers.

How do we contend for the faith? Jude is the half-brother of Jesus. He's also the brother of James, a half-brother of Jesus. But more than that he's a servant. He's talking to us as fellow believers more than as a half-brother of Jesus. More than wanting to talk about our common salvation, we want to contend for our faith. He explains who we are to contend against. There are those that are out there that are teachers, but the spirit of God is not in them. They might look good on the outside, but are not on the inside.

We've been talking about error that was already creeping in at his time. What they were doing in the congregation. These are the easy three that can be recognized. He's going to point of 3 tactics that come from false teachers.

How many of you have ever gotten a defective product? There is this thing called the instruction manual and there are warnings all over the place. If you have a defective product you can relate that there's nothing more frustrating than if something is designed to do something and it doesn't. Jude is going to argue that false teachers are junk when it comes to the church—defective products. When we decipher what he says, we are going to want to heed the warning: defective product. Just like damaged goods you have to sign for from the post office, we need to be able to discern damaged goods for what they are.

Jude gets tucked away in the Bible, but I believe that this book is more appropriate to our time than most of the other books. Jude was writing “to those who are called, loved by God the Father, and kept in Jesus Christ.” Kept is eternal security. No one can be plucked from the Father's hands. Eternal security is assured. Verse 3: “Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.” There is one faith: the faith. It's a specific faith that's universally accepted. I'm asking you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered. This is the known gospel that is very clearly given by all the writers of scripture.

Jude 3-4: Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. "I'm here to hit the ball, not to talk about it." Hank Aaron to Yogi Berra. This morning Jude is coming into our attention and there's not going to be any small talk. He's just going to hit the ball. Jude says for his opener, I'm pleading with you to do something. He feel the urgency to get right to the point. Jude is laser focused.

We begin our study on Jude: Contending for Truth is the title of this series. We want relative truth and not absolute truth today. Jude is going to issue for a command to contend for the Truth. The Holy Sprint of God, who inspired Jude to write this book, wants every believer to contend for the truth. We are just looking at the first two verses and will unpack the two sets of threes. Jude, a servant[a] of Jesus Christ and brother of James, To those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for[b] Jesus Christ: May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.

This is not the typical message I like to preach. Today is not a theology focus. Instead, I'm going to prep you for what we are going to be doing for July, we will be mining out the book of Jude, which I'd argue has the most powerful application for today. And we will mining out how 2 Peter further expounds on Jude. Today I want to give you the tools and ask why there's so many translations in the Bible today? How do I know which one is good or bad?

The Bible is the best-selling, least read and least understood book in the world today! We are going to expand on what we learned last week learning how to determine what the Bible is teaching and what it actually says. How do we interpret the Bible? Deductive vs. Inductive? Deductive can used to justify what is already presupposed by the use of passages. Deductive Bible study might say that you're going to take the five stones of David to slay the five giants in your life. While inductive looks to interpret in context to a specific story such as that of David and the Goliath, which was not that he was a gunslinger or using the right rocks, but that he was not going to miss because the victory was not David's, but God's! God is able and just and powerful enough to deal with your issues today. David wasn't doubling God's ability. When we look at scriptures in the right way, we can get the right interpretation. I want you to have a Bible reading habit that you can understand and apply to your life. Normally we do Bible study as an act of completion to check the box or to maintain a reading plan that is not necessarily about comprehension and we can miss the right application. In the area of Bible study, everybody struggles. Or almost everyone and I want to present a better way.

The first message of this series was the idea that the objective of studying the Bible is personal change. All Bible study is for the personal change to have us to conform to the teachings of the Bible. We learned that the plot is Jesus Christ. Remember from John 1:1 that Jesus is the Word that became flesh. Now today what we actually want to do is to teach you how to study the Bible. If you don't have the foundation and didn't know it's about personal change and about Jesus, you wouldn't understand that we are to conform to the image of Jesus Christ and that's the purpose of studying his Word.