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Now…into todays content!

One Sunday, after church, a friend of mine approached several of his fellow congregants.

He had a simple question, “What was today’s sermon about?”

Only half could remember.

So they went home and then, on Wednesday, he called those half and asked the same question.

By then, a majority had forgotten.

Friday rolled around, he called and asked the few remaining and, wouldn’t you know it, not one remembered.

The Limits of Teaching

Teaching sets us in a good direction but doesn’t get us to the end. This is because the Word of God is more than some manual…

…the Word of God is alive.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1v1, 14)

More specifically, it’s Jesus.

Jesus is the Word of God. The complete embodiment of God’s will in human form. Our central authority, the apex of the entire Bible. 

A literal person who is still alive today.

In an age of information overload, where separating true from false seems like a fool’s errand, we have Jesus. He gives people the tools they require not just to get through the difficulties of life but to see the meaning God puts behind it all.

Not a theory but a lived and felt experience. 

The Word in Our Age

We live in a time where information (true AND false) is more accessible than ever. It’s easy to feel like we’re drowning in a sea of the stuff.

Put that on top of the fact we’re living through post-modernity, where claims to objective truth are met with mass suspicion. Combine these and you’ve got a generation rife with confusion, overstimulation, and anxiety. 

And, believe me, we’re feeling the fallout.

How do we stand firm amid that? By drawing near to the Word.

This is more than knowing the theory of the Bible, it’s embodying the person and teachings of its central character, Jesus.

It’s abiding in the vine of the Word Himself.

The forces of the enemy are strong and constantly on the offensive, but we are made even stronger when we open ourselves to the transformative might of God’s Word.

More than just a book, this Word comes to us in the person and love of Jesus Christ. And if we let Him into every part of our person- minds, hearts, and so on, we will find ourselves abiding in the peace and power of creation itself.

The truth of existence is waiting for us in the form of a gentle desert preacher from Galilee.

And He’s the best Word you’ll ever “read”.

For now, be blessed,

Jon,

Theophilus Newsletter