Q. No way the Bible applies to our world today, right?
A. We believe the Bible is the most helpful and relevant book for today!
Core values make clear the reason the church does what it does. They drive the church to accomplish its mission. We want our values to align with the Bible so that what we do honors God and leads us to accomplish the mission that He has called us to.
The value that we are highlighting today is Biblical Teaching. It’s great when a group of people get together and get to know one another better. It’s great when those people have fun and do a lot of great things for one another and the world. But we believe that God has something more for us than just that. We believe that because He told us so!
God has revealed Himself in a special way through the Bible, the Word of God. It is alive and powerful. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires. One of the main writers of the New Testament, the Apostle Paul, tells one of the first pastors, Timothy, in a letter that “all Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right” (2 Timothy 3:16).
We live in a world that does a lot of teaching. We can pretty much take any course and learn any content that we want for free thanks to the internet. We can also learn about pretty much anything going on in the world through all the different social media platforms. We even learned what you thought about the latest hot topic of conversation since you posted about it on facebook! In a world that is filled with so much information it is easy to find yourself in an echo chamber of the thoughts and opinions that you like to hear. But it is very helpful to come back to the truth. The Bible calls itself a mirror.
God used real people to write His words. He even used Jesus’ brother, James, to write His words. In the letter James wrote he says, “But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like. But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it” (James 1:22-25 NLT). Click here to check out a sermon clip of a pastor in Montana teaching through these verses (start at 18:45). We’ve got to look into the mirror of the word of God. When we do, it reveals things in our lives that we need to change and put into action. Biblical knowledge is helpful, but that knowledge needs to be put into action. We want to help you do that!
So, we value Biblical teaching because God, through His word, speaks to us. He speaks grace and truth to everyone. Everyone has a place in the plan of God, and everyone has a next step. This also includes everyone that may not believe in God or aren’t sure what they believe. So, regardless of what you believe is right, the Bible is relevant for you, because God loves you and wants to reveal Himself to you through His word. Also, Jesus died to pay the penalty for the sins of the whole world, as we read about in 1 John 2:2, and that includes you.
We want to teach these things. We want people to learn these things. And we want to see lives transformed as a result of God working in people’s lives through His word.
Biblical Teaching. 2 Timothy 3:16
We believe that there is no other book more helpful and relevant for today than the Bible.