Sermon Details
- Pastor Name: Jonathan Cornell
- Date & Time: February 9, 2014 | 10:00am
Inspired. It’s the word used in the pages of the Bible to describe itself. But what I hope you will find as we journey through these weeks together is that it’s not just the words on the page that are inspired, but it’s the person behind the words. The Gospel of John calls this person the Word, whose Spirit flows through each page we read together in this “Inspired” book. The Bible is inspired in such a way that it’s not just a set of instructions on how to get to heaven, but it’s so much more. These stories are an adventure, a drama, a narrative about a person, a rescuer, if you will.
If you’re anything like me, you don’t really care for instruction manuals. I don’t always use them—sometimes I pay for it. So for your amusement, I brought in a few instructions from products that are less than helpful.
- “Caution: Hot beverages are hot!” — On a coffee cup.
- “Caution: Remove infant before folding for storage.” — On a portable stroller.
- “Do not drive with sunshield in place.” — On a cardboard sunshield that keeps the sun off the dashboard.
- “Caution: The contents of this bottle should not be fed to fish.” — On a bottle of shampoo for dogs.
- “Cape does not enable user to actually fly.” – On a package containing a batman Halloween costume. (Not only bad instructions, but wrong superhero mythology.)
These instructions are just not that helpful. And frankly, if we think of the Bible as nothing more than a set of instructions, I don’t think we’re going to find it all that helpful either. The Bible is not just a set of instructions, it’s so much more. The Bible is a drama, it is a narrative of God’s involvement in real life, in people who – even though they lived in a very different time – are human just like we are, and people who struggle just like we do with very human issues.
Download the entire transcript here:Exodus – Rescued
[Study Guide available soon.]
