Sermon Central
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Open Your Bible To: Well...anywhere
Contributed by Jerry Shirley on Feb 2, 2005 (message contributor)
Summary: ...and you’ll find at least 8 things. [w/ illustrations, scripture, humor] Can easily be a brief devotional or expounded upon at length. Link included to website w/ free Powerpoint for this and hundreds more!
Open Your Bible
(anywhere you want!)
You’ll find at least 8 things the Bible provides:
Just flop it open wherever you like, you’re sure to find at least one of them!...something you need!
Ill.—“Luckydipping” [practice of flopping Bible open at random]
I did this my 7th grade year and God gave me what I needed in a moment of desperation! He can do that.
But be careful with making a habit of seeking a sign:
When the preacher’s car broke down on a country road, he walked to a nearby roadhouse to use the phone. After calling for a tow truck, he spotted his old friend, Frank, drunk and shabbily dressed at the bar. "What happened to you, Frank?" asked the good reverend. "You used to be rich." Frank told a sad tale of bad investments that had led to his downfall. "Go home," the preacher said. "Open your Bible at random, stick your finger on the page and there will be God’s answer."
Some time later, the preacher bumped into Frank, who was wearing a Gucci suit, sporting a Rolex watch and had just stepped our of a Mercedes. "Frank." said the preacher, "I am glad to see things really turned around for you." "Yes, preacher, and I owe it all to you," said Frank. "I opened my Bible, put my finger down on the page and there was the answer -- Chapter 11."
[discuss Gideon: laying out the fleece]
Joke…Man/suicidal/Judas went out and hanged himself/go and do thou likewise!
Open your Bible and you’ll find some things the Bible provides:
“A Bible in the hand is worth two in the bookcase.”
1. Understanding
Lk. 24:45 45 Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures…
“Natural man doesn’t understand…spiritually discerned.”
Ill.—telescope…look THRU it, not AT it!
Which of the following aren’t in the Bible?
Cleanliness is next to godliness
God helps those who help themselves
Confession is good for the soul
Money is the root of all evil
Honesty is the best policy
None of them are! And yet I could say turn to the book of Hezekiah and many Christians today would search the table of contents!
2. Power
II Tim. 1:7 7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. 8 Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God;
Paul said, “I’m not ashamed of the gospel…it’s the power of God!”
Ill.--My doctor had recommended surgery and referred me to a specialist. Arriving early for my appointment, I found the door unlocked and the young surgeon, deeply engrossed in reading, behind the receptionist’s desk. When he didn’t hear me come in, I cleared my throat. Startled, he closed the book, which I recognized as a Bible. "Does reading the Bible help you before or after an operation?" I asked. My fears were dispelled by his soft, one-word answer: "During."
3. Healing
More imp’t things to heal than body in many cases.
Ps. 147:3 3 He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds.
Some conditions for God’s glory…[Paul]
[Lazarus]
When Jesus heard that, he said, This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby.
The church is to pray…
Jas 5:14 -
Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord:
4. Truth
Jn. 8:31-32, 37, 43-37 31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; 32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. …but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you.
43 Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word. 44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. 45 And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not.
46 Which of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me? 47 He that is of God heareth God’s words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.
5. Salvation
Romans Road [card]
6. Conviction
“Men do not reject the Bible because it contradicts itself, but because it contradicts them.”
