To a person without faith, the Bible is simply a book, like any other book, only a rather strange one. In our tradition, God's Word is not simply the words of the Bible. There is more to it.
Words strung together form communicable thoughts. Our minds interact with the arrangement, defining context, deriving meaning. But what interaction occurs to create revelation, the transformation of mere words into spiritual revelation?
The Nehemiah text describes how the reading and preaching of scripture brought out tremendous emotion. It showed the people of God getting connected to the promise of God for them once again. They were awakened from a spiritual torpor to discover the Spirit of God active in their lives anew. God's Word came alive, even though those same words had been there all along. What happened?
In the Luke passage, Jesus preaches in his hometown synagogue from Isaiah 61. It is a declaration of his ministry's mission, and his personal calling. At first, all is positive. But then Jesus gives them more, reminding them how God's servants have found their support and success in other places and from other people. They proceeded to run him out of town. It seems that God's Word can say things you don't want to hear, too.
Find out more about this dynamic and understand the elements involved in turning mere words into God's Word by checking out the sermon video below, and note the downloads below the video panel.
Words strung together form communicable thoughts. Our minds interact with the arrangement, defining context, deriving meaning. But what interaction occurs to create revelation, the transformation of mere words into spiritual revelation?
The Nehemiah text describes how the reading and preaching of scripture brought out tremendous emotion. It showed the people of God getting connected to the promise of God for them once again. They were awakened from a spiritual torpor to discover the Spirit of God active in their lives anew. God's Word came alive, even though those same words had been there all along. What happened?
In the Luke passage, Jesus preaches in his hometown synagogue from Isaiah 61. It is a declaration of his ministry's mission, and his personal calling. At first, all is positive. But then Jesus gives them more, reminding them how God's servants have found their support and success in other places and from other people. They proceeded to run him out of town. It seems that God's Word can say things you don't want to hear, too.
Find out more about this dynamic and understand the elements involved in turning mere words into God's Word by checking out the sermon video below, and note the downloads below the video panel.
| 01-24-16-ff-answers.pdf |
| 01-24-16-from_words_to_god_word.pdf |