Making it real for you

Elder Mike Ratsch
Dec. 03, 2023

Okay, if you notice on the top here,  we have a verse.  It says, For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. That's from Isaiah 9:6.  And notice also that it is from the NIV translation.

And all of the references that I will be reading today will be from the NIV, that's just the Bible that I use, so that's what it'll be. Let's look to the Lord in prayer. Heavenly Father, we just thank you so much, Lord, for your word and for this time. And Lord, we just ask that you help us to just truly focus on these things today and that we Later on can actually apply them to our lives so that it might make a real difference. Lord, we just pray that everything that is said here will bring honor and glory to you and will be a blessing to all of us. And we ask all of these things in Jesus name. Amen. 

Okay. Now, notice, of course, that all the things in that verse refer to Jesus Christ. This is Isaiah, the prophet, and he is prophesying this time when the Savior will, arrive, and so it all comes from there. Now, that is kind of going to be our verse of the month, if you were, okay? Because we're going to focus on that verse for the entire month of December, and an elder will be preaching on each one of these Sundays here and for our Christmas Eve service as well and, on a very, as a different aspect of that verse. So that's going to kind of be our verse, as I said for the month. Now I will focus on one word. That's what I was deciding to do. One word here. And that word is wonderful.

You'll notice that's part of that verse, of course. And sometimes when we start we want to investigate a particular word, a good place to start is the dictionary. I'll tell you what, what is the definition of this. And I found a good dictionary online called the Free Online Dictionary.  And, okay. Yes. Of course, we can find anything and everything online, right? We certainly can. And anyway, they have two different definitions for this, for the word wonderful. And the first one is admirable or very good, excellent, splendid. And it has synonyms, and of that being marvelous, fantastic, terrific, tremendous, and grand. And then the second definition is capable of eliciting wonder, astonishing, with synonyms remarkable, amazing, extraordinary, awesome, astounding, and miraculous.  And if you take a look at the Hebrew word that was actually translated wonderful in that context, the emphasis there is on the divine. That's kind of where it is. And certainly, as we go through all of these synonyms, they, I think, very aptly describe the person of Jesus Christ. Now, our approach to this world word wonderful is going to be a little bit different, a little unusual. My mind sometimes works in very unusual ways here.

Okay, we're going to use this as an acrostic, which means that every letter of that word wonderful is going to stand for a topic that relates to a specific characteristic of the person of Jesus Christ. And we're going to kind of, you know, do that and also kind of find some references in scripture that support that and talk a little bit about how we can make a practical application of each of these characteristics in our lives. So if, if you'd like to write down, jot down some things or some verses, you're certainly welcome to do that. And, for those of you that are, shall we say, a bit more mature, like myself you may remember, a book called The Telephone Book, and we used to use that a while back. Remember that one? It had yellow pages in the back, and you remember that, that ad that said, let your fingers do the walking through the yellow pages?

Okay? Get your fingers limbered up, because we're going to be looking through lots of scripture today. Yeah? So, let's start off. The letter W stands for Wisdom. Wisdom. Jesus was a great teacher who valued knowledge, and his ministry was one of teaching. And, let's turn to the book of Mark, please. Okay, Mark chapter 4. We're going to go on. Mark chapter four,  we're going to be getting to, read at verse 30, Mark 4:30. And he's talking about a parable here. He says, again, he said, what shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it? It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest seed you plant in the ground.

Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds of the air can perch in its shade. With many similar parables, Jesus spoke the word to them, as much as they could understand. He did not say anything to them without using a parable. But when he was alone with his disciples, he explained everything. And we can see here that Christ in his earthly ministry was very concerned about teaching his disciples about spiritual things. And he used illustrations, as a good teacher would, to help to, demonstrate things and to help them to just understand a little bit more about that. Now, what is kind of the practical application of knowing that?

Well, we also need to speak to, seek spiritual wisdom. For instance, we all know the verse, It is God's will that all men be saved. And come to a full knowledge of the truth, right? That is God's will. We know that. And so, that's our, his will for us as well. And Paul comments on this. Let's turn now to the book of Philippians, please. Okay, Philippians chapter 1.  And we're going to start reading Philippians 1 at verse 9. Okay, Philippians 1, starting at 9. And Paul says, And this is my prayer, that your love may abound more and more in knowledge And depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God. So, it's important here, and Paul mentions this here, that we grow in our knowledge. We know that's God's will for us. And that is really what we want to do to become spiritually more mature. Now, there's really one good way of doing that.  And here it is, okay? This is the way, right here, alright? And that is, we need to get into the word, we need to study it, we need to contemplate about it, and we need to see how we can apply that to our lives, and that is the best way to gain the spiritual wisdom that we know that God wants us to, have.

Okay, we're gonna move on. We'll do the next letter, which is O, which stands for one and only. One and only. Christ is the one and only mediator that provides reconciliation between a holy God and sinful man. We're going to take a look at some passages that mention that. And first of all, Christ in his earthly ministry. Again, let's turn to the book of John. Okay, John chapter 14. Okay, and verse 1 through 6. I'm going to read. Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God. Trust also in me. In my father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you, and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me, that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I'm going, but then Thomas is going to interject something here. Thomas said to him, Lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way? And here's the most important part. Jesus answered, I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

So he makes it known that he is the one and only, uh, person. Let's take a look at another context here. Turn to the book of Acts, please. Acts chapter four. Where are we going to go? 
Okay, Acts chapter 4. And the context of this is that Peter has just healed a crippled beggar.  And Peter is appearing before the Sanhedrin, and they have some questions to ask him about this. So we're going to start in the middle of verse 8.  7 here, and so they ask him, by what power or what name did you do this, referring to the healing? And he said, Then Peter filled with the Holy Spirit said to them, Rulers and elders of the people, if we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a cripple and are asked how he was healed, then know this. Notice, you and all the people of Israel, it is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. He is the stone you builders rejected, which has become the capstone. And then notice what he says, salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men. By which we must be saved. So there again, we have Peter who is affirming, uh, this. And let's take a look at one other context here, and that's, Paul, and go to First Timothy. 

Okay.  First Timothy, Chapter 2, and we're going to start with Verse 5 here,  and it says very simply. Verse 5. For there is one God and one mediator between God and man. The man, Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men, the testimony given in its proper time. And so there, again, we have this  idea is reinforced by three different people here that Christ is the one and only, he's the only one that, by which we can, receive. Salvation. And, you know, I don't know if you've ever heard of this illustration, but somebody said, well, it's kind of like there's a big mountain here, and heaven is on the top, and we're all striving to get there, and there are many different paths. Ever heard of that? Oh, we have this path and this path, they all lead you to the same place anyway, right? But we know, of course, again, from scripture, that that is not the case. That is not the case. Christ is the one and only, means of salvation. And so, what should our response be to that then? Well, again, Paul tells us. Let's turn to 2 Corinthians, move around here,  2 Corinthians  chapter 5, we're going to start in verse 17,  2 Corinthians 5:17. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has gone, the new has come. Remember that from last week? We just heard about that last week. All this is from God who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us The ministry of reconciliation, that God was reconciling the world to himself and Christ, not counting men's sins against them.

And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors. If we know that there's only one way to get to heaven, we really should be telling other people about it. Right? That's exactly the, the point there. We have both the privilege and the responsibility to tell others that Christ is the one and only way to salvation. So that should be a real motivating, kind of factor there. Okay. And, and certainly I would, might also mention, isn't it wonderful? That Christ is the way and the truth and the light. That is terrific. So, let's go on then. The next letter is N.  And N  stands for Nativity. That seems kind of strange, I think, and it is, but perhaps it's timely with the Advent season. What can we really learn from Christ's Nativity about his character? Let's turn to Matthew, please. Matthew, please. Chapter 1. And we're going to start with verse 18, and here it describes the birth. This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about. His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph, her husband, was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, Joseph, Son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins. Now, here we can recognize the virgin birth of Christ. And this is absolutely miraculous. Hasn't happened since, hasn't happened before, I'm sure it will not happen in the future. And, if you recall, one of the synonyms that we talked about for the word wonderful was miraculous. And there it is, okay? And we know then that both the timing and the circumstances of Christ's death were all part of God's plan. He had this all planned ahead of time. So let's take a look at another aspect of the nativity here and turn over to Luke, please. Luke chapter 2. Luke chapter 2. And we're going to start in verse 4.  So Joseph also went up to the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea. To Bethlehem, the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child while they were there.

The time came for the baby to be born and she gave birth to her firstborn a son. She wrapped him in clogs and placed him in a manger because there was no room for them in the end. Now, think about this for a moment. The King of Kings. The Lord of Lords, the most important person ever.  that ever was and is had as his roommate animals. Stop and think about that, okay? Those of you, I grew up on a farm, and I know where animals are housed, you know, it's kind of dirty. It doesn't always smell the best, right? Okay? It's kind of, kind of bad, but, Christ was born in that circumstance, in that environment, okay? Because we know a manger is just a, that's where they put the animal feed. Okay? So, we can see that, and this certainly speaks of Christ's humility. And we can recognize that, of course, if you look further in his ministry, you will see examples of his humility again and again. Okay? And Paul gives us some advice concerning humility. So now we're going back to the book of Philippians again. 

So turn to Philippians. Philippians, chapter 2.  And here we have a very practical application of this.  Okay, that Paul, shares with us here, starting in verse 3, Philippians 2:3. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, But also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus, who being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing. Taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness and being found in appearance as a man. He humbled  himself and became obedient to death, even death on a  So here again we need Paul is telling us about this, we need to follow Christ in his humility and understand that from, from things from, the Nativity scene there that we are looking at.

And again, Isn't it wonderful that Christ was so humble? That was great.  Okay, we're moving right on. The next letter is D. And D stands for Deity. Christ is God.  Christ is God. Let's take a look and find some proof for that. And that is the book of John. And  1, I think you probably You can know where we're going with this, okay, it's a familiar  passage, John chapter 1,  right in the very start of it here, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning, through him all things were made. Without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. And then later on, if you'll just go over to verse 14.  Of this same chapter, John 1, 14, 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. So there again, there's, there's no doubt the Word of course refers to Jesus Christ here. And there is no doubt that Christ is, in fact, God. And you know, I was kind of thinking about that, and why, why is that important?

Why is that a fact? Why should we consider that? And in searching kind of for some answers for that, I ran across a short article written by Clint Decker, who is the president of Great Awakenings Ministry, and he gives four reasons why Christ's deity Number one, the deity of Jesus shows us there is a God and what he is like up close and personal. Jesus reveals that God is not a legend, but is real and that all other gods are false. Number two, the deity of Jesus shows us there is a savior for mankind and how it is him. Mankind inherently looks for a savior, someone or something to save him from the things he has done wrong.

He will look to other gods, religions, or philosophies. Yet the good news is that because Jesus is God, he is the savior mankind needs and truly seeks for.  Number three, the deity of Jesus shows forgiveness is possible. Jesus stands with arms wide open. Letting men know that complete and total forgiveness can be found in him and nowhere else. And then his fourth reason. The deity of Jesus shows that he is someone we should fear. Every human being should humbly stand in fear and trembling before him, and this should show itself in reverence.  Honor, and the ultimate worship of Jesus. So that certainly gives us some challenges there, too, and that the fact that Christ is indeed God, and of course there are some other faith traditions, shall we say, that do not believe that. They preach that Christ was a perfect man. Like Adam was before he sinned, and of course we know that's not true, that's not true. And again, that is, it's very, very important, and isn't it wonderful that Christ is God himself. Let's move on, and the next letter is E, and E stands for Everlasting Life. 

Everlasting life. We know that Christ's death, that burial and resurrection provides for us eternal life. Let's turn to the book of Romans, please.  Romans chapter six. We're gonna start in verse 22. True  And again, this is familiar territory, I'm sure to many people. And verse  22, But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness. And the result is eternal life for the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ, our Lord. Now the concept of eternity. I tried to kind of think about this, stop and think about eternity.  Think about  a year from now. Think about 10 years from now. Think about a hundred years from now. Think about a thousand years from now. I can't even imagine that. I can't, it's like, wow, what is this all about? And that's because we live in a finite world. Everything has a beginning and it has an end, and we're just so used to that, and we actually are kind of bound by time, if you think about that. Everything we do, everything we experience in our life relates to time, but eternity and God, they're timeless.  And so, again, I, just, it's really difficult for me to wrap my brain around this, but I do know that God has something great planned for us in eternity,  and that in itself can provide us with great hope.

Let's turn to Titus, Titus chapter one, okay, Titus chapter one, when it falls. Titus.  Readings here, and it says, from the first verse there, Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the faith of God's elect and the knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness, a faith and knowledge resting on the hope of eternal life. Which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time. Notice there again, the words, hope of eternal life. You know, if we look around our world today,  it's kind of a hopeless situation. You see the many, many people that you see that just are so kind of downtrodden. They just don't have much hope at all. But for those of us that have Christ in our lives, We can have that hope, knowing that we will spend eternity with Jesus Christ. And isn't it wonderful that Christ is giving us eternal life. Okay, let's move on. The letter R is the next one here. And R stands for resurrection. Resurrection. Very important part here of Christ. Christ is resurrected from the dead. And he's alive today.  He is alive, okay? And Peter confirms this, this resurrection of Christ, when he's talking to the Israelites at Pentecost.

So let's go back again to the book of Acts.  I'm back here.  And of course, this is the time that he is confronting the nation of Israel with the fact that they killed the Messiah.  And so this is part of this Acts  2.  And we're going to start In verse 29. Acts 2, verse 29.  Brothers, I can tell you confidently that the Patriarch David died and was buried and his tomb is here to this day, that he's still on the ground,  but he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that he would place one of his descendants on his throne.

Seeing what was ahead, he spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to the grave, nor did his body see decay. God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses to that fact. Okay, now why, why is that fact that Christ was, was raised? You know, we, think Resurrection Sunday is really probably the most important day in, the Christian day year as we take a look at it and why, why really is that so important? Okay, again, we go to the Apostle Paul. He's going to tell us a little bit about that. Turn to Romans chapter 3.  Romans  chapter 3. Okay, Romans 3.  And we're going to start reading at verse 24. We read right before that a little bit earlier here. It says, And are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice. Because in his forbearance, he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished. He did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time so that he is the, excuse me, as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.  Where then is boasting, it is excluded on what principle? On that of observing the law, but on that of faith. So again, we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing. The law there, okay, and we see there in Romans, now that word that, that is in NIV, it's sacrifice of atonement, that probably says propitiation in your, if you, especially if you're using the KJV, that's what it is, propitiation. And this is kind of a difficult concept, but kind of let me put it this way. God is holy and just.  When man sinned, God's justice. Demanded that man be punished for that. Instead, God sent his son to be sacrificed in man's place. The resurrection was proof that God accepted the complete, perfect sacrifice of Christ. It was as if God was putting his stamp of approval on this. And therefore, God was propitiated or satisfied. That's another name, word for that. He was satisfied. That's it. So we, as a result of this now, can have total confidence in this. If God Almighty accepted this complete sacrifice. Surely we can, right? Except it is our own. So we know, so the resurrection is really, it is that important here that we know because God himself said Amen to this. Christ said on the cross it is finished. It's done. Right? It's all finished and so we can have great confidence because of that.  And isn't it wonderful that Christ rose from the dead? That's what we need, okay? Alright, let's move on. To F, which stands for faithful. Faithful.  Let's learn about that. Let's turn please again now to Mark. 

The book of Mark, chapter 14. 

Okay, Mark chapter 14. And we're going to begin in verse 32.  Okay,  Mark 14.  beginning in verse  32.  They went to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to his disciples, sit here while I pray. He took Peter, James, and John along with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled.  My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death, he said to them. Stay here and keep watch.  Going a little further, he fell to the ground and prayed that, if possible, the hour might pass from him.  Abba, Father, he said, everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me.  Yet, not what I will,  but what you will.  And so here, Christ was agonizing during this time. He knew what was coming up. He had a total understanding and knowledge of what he was going to be going through. And here we do see a little bit of that human aspect of Christ coming through as well, because he was just, oh Lord, is there any other way that we can do this?  But again, he said, your will is what's important. Okay, I will follow your will. He was faithful, completely faithful, even unto death on the cross for us. Whatever God, his father had called him to do, he was going to do. He was going to follow through  with that. Now let's turn to another passage here that tells us a little bit about Our calling, then, to be faithful as well. Okay, turn to 1 Peter. 1 Peter, so we're going to go a little after Paul's epistles here.  1 Peter,  chapter 4. Starting in verse 10. And Peter says, each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others faithfully.  Administering God's grace in its various forms.  If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God.

If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen. And so here we have Peter, we know also if you read Paul's epistles, he's constantly telling us about faithfulness, right? About God. So God expects us to be faithful, to be committed and dedicated to whatever task he has given us to do. And that's a, and isn't it wonderful that Christ Is so faithful. It's great. Hey, let's go on. We have two more letters to go. So we'll get there. Okay, U stands for unifying Unifying  that's what U stands for  Now, if we take a look and look around here, we actually have quite a bit of diversity in this church.

Take, we have young and old, male and female, married and single, a variety of occupations. Just think of the different occupations that people have had and the different backgrounds they, that they have. Well, What is, what brings us together, then? We're kind of, you know, an usual bunch of people to get thrown together here. And of course, it's the person of Jesus Christ that brings us together. When we become believers, God puts us into the body of Christ. And Christ is its head. So let's turn, please, to 1 Corinthians. 1 Corinthians chapter 12.  Okay, 1 Corinthians.  Chapter 12, we're going to start with verse 12,  okay, and here we just mentioned that Christ is the head of the body, and here we have some information about the body.

It says, the body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts, and though all of its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ, for we are all baptized by one spirit into one body, whether Jew or Greek, slave or free. And we were all given the one spirit to drink. Now, I'm not going to read the next verses that come down here, but then Paul continues, and he uses the human body as an illustration for the body of Christ, right? In that each part is important and one part affects the others. And then if you take a look over in verse 25, this is the same chapter.  Okay. Chapter 12, verse 25, So that there should be no division in the body, but that its part should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it. If one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. Now you are the body of Christ and each one of you is a part of it.  Okay, so he makes that very, very clear, and here, what he's emphasizing is the unity within the body. He talks about that one mind, that one spirit, that one focus. And because again, it's the person of Jesus Christ that brings us all together. Okay, even with our diverse backgrounds and everything. And so, there again, it's important, okay, to have that unity. And let's look at one more passage here that Paul talks, addresses the same thing. Romans,  chapter 15. 

Okay, Romans 15. 

And, starting in verse 5, Romans 15, starting in 5, May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ. Accept one another then, just as Christ accepted you in order to bring praise to God. So we are called upon to seek unity with other members, to serve other members of the body of Christ. And again, isn't it wonderful that Christ is the head of the body and is, and implores  us to. Keep the body unified. Well, we have one more letter left. Okay, we're nearing the end here. And I see my time is nearing the end also. So we're going to be okay. And L stands for love. L stands for love.  Okay, in our current culture, the term love has been misinterpreted, misused, misunderstood, and redefined. Right?  Okay, in scripture, that word is used very frequently, and it's translated from the Greek agape. Okay?  And what does that word actually mean?

Well If you're not familiar with this book, I highly recommend it. It's an old book, Vines Dictionary, Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words. Okay, if you want to get another insight into the background, some of these words, this is very good. And this is what he says about love. He says, love can be known only from the action it prompts. God's love is seen in the gift of his children.  But obviously this is not the love of complacency or affection. That is, it was not drawn out by any excellency in its objects. It was an exercise of the divine will in deliberate choice, made without assignable cause, save that which lies. in the nature of God himself. And later he says, Christian love, whether exercised toward the brethren or toward men generally, is not an impulse from the feelings. It does not always run with the natural inclinations, nor does it spend itself only upon those for whom some affinity is discovered. Love seeks the welfare of all and works no ill to any. Love seeks opportunity to do good to all men, and especially toward them that are of the household of the faith. And so he talks about love then, okay, as an action, not a feeling. Let's turn to one other passage here. First John. So we are going back farther now toward the back of the scripture.  First John chapter three. 1 John 3, starting in verse 16.  So 1 John  3,  and we're going to start in verse 16.  This is how we know what love is. Jesus Christ laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has material possessions, and sees his brother in need, but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?

Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue, but with actions. 
So the practical application of this is God does not expect us to have warm, fuzzy feelings of affection for everybody. That's almost impossible. I'm sure you know some people that are a little unlovable, perhaps in some ways, and it's kind of hard to develop, you know, a real strong, feeling and so on for them. But what he does What I ask us to do is to treat others with respect, honesty, and dignity, and with actions that promote the well being of others. And if when that happens  Other people can see the love of Christ reflected through us. Isn't that a wonderful privilege for us to be able to have that, that experience that, that they actually can see Christ's love that is going through us, and isn't Christ's love wonderful? It's great. Now, we've gone through nine aspects here, okay? Lots of things. I know we've gone all over and talked about several different topics and so on, and I hope that you don't feel overwhelmed by all of this, because we've covered a lot of territory here. So I do have a challenge for you, though. A challenge for myself, also. This week, select one of these nine areas. That we talked about, maybe investigate it a little bit more, and then figure out how you can apply that to your life. Because I've known of people, professors and so on, who are so knowledgeable, they know scripture in and out, but you know, if it doesn't make any difference in their life.

What's the point? It then becomes merely an academic exercise. And again, we want to make this real to us, and that's what we need to do. We need to then take a look and say, how can I apply it? I've given you several examples of applications today, but there are as many applications as there are people here. Everybody has their own different, depending upon where they are. And so I, I challenge you to maybe just take one of these areas and, and explore that. Let's close in prayer. Heavenly Father, we just thank you, Lord, so much for your precious and wonderful word. And Lord, we thank you. We thank you for your son, Jesus Christ, and how truly wonderful he is in every aspect of things. And so, Lord, again, we just pray that you'll help us to put these things that we have learned to practical use and so that I make a difference in our lives. We ask this in Jesus name, Amen. 

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