Sunday Sermon
By the Rev. Brad Bowen Calvary Chapel Fellowship
Friday, September 5, 2008
The Word of God to most people of today is not relevant, nor do they consider it to be the inerrant Word of God. I can understand those who do not believe in God or His Son Jesus Christ — to them the Bible is meaningless. But what I don’t understand is the people who call themselves Christians and yet do not take the Word of God seriously. Most who attend church do not know the Bible well enough to answer simple biblical questions, such as how many books are in the Bible? How many books are in the Old Testament? How many books are in the New Testament? Name two of the Minor Prophets. Name four of the twelve Apostles. In what book of the Bible do you find “The armor of God” mentioned? Can you quote John 3:16?
If you were able to answer these questions, great, but if you could not, you should ask yourself: Why not?
The Bible is the Living Word of God. It is relevant in each one of our lives, it is our anchor in the midst of a storm, it is our guide as we walk through the trials of life.
My father was an avid fisherman. He had a boat that he would take out into the Pacific Ocean and fish for large tuna. He would take the boat some 40 to 60 miles from land. When you get that far out into the ocean you can’t see land in any direction.
But my father had a compass, a large and very expensive compass. Each year he would have it serviced and calibrated.
Why did he take so much time and spend so much money caring for this compass? Because when it was set on the correct headings it would guide us right back to the harbor entrance and to safety.
On one trip we left from the port of San Diego, California. We were about 60 miles from shore when out of nowhere came a boat. It pulled alongside us. The gentlemen driving the boat asked my father for directions back to the San Diego harbor. My father gave him the compass headings, but the gentlemen in the other boat said, “No, I don’t have a compass, just point to the way back to the harbor.” So my father looked at his compass, got the headings and pointed the way. The gentlemen said thanks and headed off. As we watched him drive off across that vast ocean he started to drift off to the left, and when we lost sight of him he was some 20 to 30 degrees off, heading for Baja, Mexico.
The Bible to a Christian is like that compass of my father’s. It is the compass for our lives. It is so very easy for us to drift off a few degrees in our walk with God, without His Word to guide us.
The Bible says in Psalms 119:105; “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light unto my path.”
A Christian who does not believe he needs to take the word of God seriously is like the gentleman who was out in that vast ocean asking for directions. Without God’s Word we are lost.
The Living Word of God is our only lifeline. In the Book of Mark it says, Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.
It is time to get back to the whole Word of God and set our lives back on track. It is only through His Word that we can have Faith to Trust and Obey.
If you have never accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior or asked Him to forgive your sins, then the Word of God will seem meaningless to you. Because God gives understanding to those who believe in Him.
It’s through our trusting in Jesus Christ that we have the Holy Spirit which dwells inside of us, and through the Holy Spirit we have the knowledge and understanding of the Word of God. The only true compass for our lives.
• “Sunday Sermon” is a forum for Emporia area ministers to share their sermons, thoughts and observations. This week’s sermon is from the Rev. Brad Bowen of Calvary Chapel Fellowship.