The Bible Series

“THE BIBLE” Matt. 7:24-29

INTRO – Books are an important part of our lives. Surrounded by them. In school, we have books of all types. In our homes, we have books…at work…I have hundreds of books in my own personal library. Ms. Lois Russell has been working tirelessly to get our new library/media center up and running in the FLC. Hundreds of books there for anyone to come and check out.

Books are an important source of communication.

- You graduates who are looking at going to college probably have catalogs from different colleges that give tons on information about that colleges degree programs, meal programs, social programs, and other things.

- All of us who own cars have an owner’s manual in the glove compartment that is filled with lots of useful information about operating that vehicle. Tells you how to operate it when it’s working fine and tells you what to do when it’s not running right.

- Many people are given an employee’s handbook when they go to work for a company so they will know how to conduct the business of that company and how to conduct themselves as an employee of that company.

- When I was on the FD in Brandon, we had an SOP – Standard Operating Procedure – a book that told you everything from who the chief was and what he did to what color belt to wear w/ your uniform to how to pump water out of a fire truck to how to ventilate a building.

Even w/ advent of computer and the information superhighway known as the internet, books still remain a highly popular source of information. Huge bookstores like Books-A-Million and Borders and Barnes & Noble are extremely successful businesses. Wonderful places to go and browse – coffee shops; relaxed atmospheres, comfortable surroundings.

And b/c books are such a common part of our everyday lives, the importance of this book – the Bible – has diminished. It’s become just another book among the thousands of books at Barnes & Noble. And this is exactly what the world would have us believe about the Bible…

- It’s just another book.

- It’s irrelevant and unimportant.

- It’s out of date, out of style, outmoded, obsolete.

- It’s old-fashioned.

- It doesn’t apply to our world today.

Question is: Is this what YOU believe about the Bible?

The book that you were given today is the most hated book in the world. The world hates the Bible and anyone who believes the Bible and stands up for what the Bible teaches. Listen to these news reports:

All of us have to decide how we’re going to build our lives. What is going to be the foundation of our lives? Who are we going to listen to for advice and direction? Where are we going to go to gain wisdom? What will be the main influences in our lives?

In the church, and especially here in the deep South, we might give lip service to the importance of the Bible in our lives. We SAY it’s important. We do Vacation BIBLE School. We used to do BIBLE drills w/ the kids. We own several copies of the Bible. But are we truly basing our lives on what G says to us through His living Word today?

“Many Christians do not read the Bible regularly. Why? Because in the pressures of daily living, they cannot find a connection between the timeless principles of Scripture and the ever-present problems of day-by-day living.” (www.lifeapplicationbible.com)

“Curious times, these. There is simultaneously a glut of the word of God and a famine of it, a drought and deluge. We have every translation of the Bible you can imagine – the NIV, the NEVG, the KJV, the NJKV, the NASR, NRSAV, the preacher’s bible, the worshippers bible, the spirit-filled believers bible, the left handed bald gypsy fiddler’s bible, with versions for the nearsighted and the farsighted. (The last was made up).

You can have it in hardback, paper, leather, cloth, in pink, red, oxblood, turtle shell, iridescent orange, psychedelic paisley, with maps and charts and indices and appendices and concordances and holograms of the temple in the back , and a little sleeve with a CD-ROM that takes you on a guided tour of the Holy Land.” (Mark Buchanan, Your God is Too Safe)

The food is out there – and it’s a banqueting table. We’re just picky eaters. Oh, we’re buying bibles. And sometimes we’re even reading them. But there’s not much evidence that we’re studying them. We’re nibbling, not devouring. And you are what you eat… (Pastor Steve Malone)

Two of our greatest presidents said some pretty important statements about the Bible. George Washington said, “It is impossible to righteously govern the world without God and the Bible.” President Ronald Reagan said, “Within the covers of one single book, the Bible, are all the answers to all the problems that face us today—if only we would read and believe.