Glorious Way Church
Glorious Way Church equips believers for the work of the ministry and stands for God’s truth in our culture. We serve as a regional center, where people from all backgrounds find refreshing worship and true communion of the saints.
Glorious Way Church
That I May Know Him | Claire Buntrock
This is a heartfelt message about the pursuit of truly knowing God, emphasizing a deep, experiential relationship rather than surface-level understanding. It reflects on personal transformation, spiritual growth, and the unmatched power, wisdom, and love found in that connection. Through scripture, reflection, and examples, it encourages embracing humility, letting go of self-reliance, and opening up to the profound strength and guidance available through faith. It calls for living with purpose, courage, and trust, rooted in an intimate bond with the divine.
I want to speak to you on the subject. The title of my message tonight is that I may know him, that I may know him, and of course I'm quoting here from Philippians 3, the Apostle Paul writing from prison. And in Philippians 3, the Apostle Paul is talking about all of his natural credentials, how he, of all people, would have reason to boast about his achievements, his background, his lineage, his education, all of those things. But he, yeah, he. This is what he says in verse seven those things that were gained to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed, I also count all things lost for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things. Yes, paul is writing this from prison, but he said I count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ. Own righteousness which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God, by faith, not the thing I can earn my own self, but that that comes only from God. That I may know him, know him that word know is a very powerful word. We're going to break that down, that I may know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings being conformed to his death, that by any means I may attain to the resurrection from the dead, and of course that passage goes on. It's a passage that's familiar to us, that blesses us. But I want to talk about truly knowing. Truly knowing you know, um, we do, uh, these church services now in state capitals and almost everywhere we go.
Speaker 1:One of our cornerstone scriptures is Matthew 16, 19. We like to call it the 16, god's 16, 19 projects. Uh, but Matthew 16, 19, um, you know it really, if you back up a little bit. It's Jesus, uh, talking to Peter, and uh, and he says who do men say that I am the son of man? Uh, uh, the the son of man am. Who? Who did people say that I am? And, uh, and then some say it's John the Baptist, some say you're Elijah, some say Jeremiah or another prophet. And Jesus said to them who do you say that I am? So I want you to think about that tonight, because there's such power in just knowing who Jesus is to you, and I want you to be thinking about that and if you're on live stream, if you're joining us, feel free to chime in and tell me who is Jesus to you today.
Speaker 1:Who is he overall? Who has he been in your life? What is the primary, overarching thing that Jesus is to you in your heart? And then Peter, because everybody's trying to figure out who is this guy, jesus. He's doing these miracles, but he's only he's from Galilee. He doesn't. On paper, it doesn't look like he should be the Messiah, but gosh, he sure is acting like the Messiah. And people were so confused, they were so who is this guy?
Speaker 1:And um, and then Peter answered the right way Well, you're the Christ, you're the son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said to him we all know, blessed are you, simon, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my father in heaven, and I also say to you that you're Peter. And on this rock what rock, the rock of knowing who is Jesus, that rock Will I build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. How many of you want the gates of hell to not prevail against you in your life? And so the very most important, most basic thing that we've got to dig down to and build our entire life on is who is Jesus, who is he to you, and when we know that, then the gates of hell, that is our entire strength, that is our entire foundation, and we've got to get that one right. And not only that, but we have to really put when we say it's our foundation, is your confidence really built on who is Jesus? Is your self-worth built? Because it's real easy to get distracted and let something else creep in.
Speaker 1:Well, I'm pretty smart. You know people like me. I have a really good personality, my confidence. I have a really good family. I have a husband and wife that really love me. I have a. I have this. I have that. I have a husband and wife that really love me. I have this. I have that. I have a lot of money. I can have a lot of influence. You know, these are things that people can easily, they can supplant, and we can put our trust in those outward exterior things that are passing away. And we need to really dig down all the time and just kind of just refocus, and so I hope this message does that and inspires you to do that tonight, and so I hope this message does that and inspires you to do that tonight. But hey, we're all growing, we're all getting better at this.
Speaker 1:My normal reading this week was Jeremiah 9. In verse 23, it says thus says the Lord, let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, and let not the mighty man glory in his might or his strength, and let not the rich man glory in his riches, but let him who glories. There's one thing you should glory in and guess what it is? That he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord exercising loving kindness. That's mercy and judgment and righteousness in the earth, for in these I delight, says the Lord. So, um, there's a key there. There is a, there's a really strong key we can get excited about being smart, or even being wise.
Speaker 1:Which is better than smart? Wise is transcend smart, wise is hey, I understand the full breadth of this issue and I know what to do next, based on experience. You know that's great, that's a great thing to have, but what's better is to have a knowledge of God, and I think the reason why, why do you think that is? Why is it most important? And it's pretty easy to look at that and go wait a minute. If I know God, I have wisdom. When I spend time with God, I'm going to get the wisdom that he has and it's higher. His thoughts are higher than mine and better than mine and then I'm going to get his power and his strength and I'm going to be able to do things that my own strength could never do.
Speaker 1:I could be, you know, mighty man. I could be Lou Ferrigno or whoever the lady, who is it. Y'all, y'all have to help me with wrestlers and people that are, you know, but whatever, I could be the strongest guy and I could be. I could. I could be able to fight, I can kill people and break stuff with my muscles. You know, I can determine my destiny with my brute strength. But if I know God, I have his strength, if, uh, and so it. You see that it's kind of, it's a foundational thing.
Speaker 1:I, my father, my father owns a thousand cattle on a thousand hills. I could have my own riches, I could have my own little retirement fund, I could be very comfortable, I could have my insurance all set up and I have my everything's. You know, I'm just me and my four and we just really blessed. Or I could tap in to the creator of all things, who owns everything, my El Shaddai, who can feed me and everybody around me, and everybody in my city and everybody in Kerrville, texas, and everybody who, at the same time, can take care of everybody's needs, not just financial needs, but yes, but including them, but also emotional needs and all the other needs. I've got El Shaddai on the inside of me.
Speaker 1:If I know, can I know him?
Speaker 1:Can I know him? And let me tell you what that word no means. My high schooler figured that out this week because all her life she has read the King James Version and in Genesis, when it talks about, you know, adam knew his wife Eve, and she's like Mom, I can't believe it said that in the Bible. I'm like well, you've been reading the King James. That's what it says and that's what it means. And so it's one of the sense of the word yadah. It's a Hebrew word yadah In Jeremiah 9,. This is the priority that everybody should glory in. The one thing you should be proud of in your entire life is look what my God did for me. Look what my Jesus can do, look how much I know him and I'm so confident in him because he's been such a blessing in my life he's been my rock and I can talk about him and that's the only thing I'm proud of, that is the only thing I will glory and boast in. And so when I know him, so that means I'm one with him.
Speaker 1:I have to know, yada, to know by experience, to perceive and see, to find out and discern something and and and then, if in the marital sense, to become one with that thing. In the Bible, if you know something is now, you can't unknow it, it is now a part of you forever. In the same way, a covenant partnership man, they become one and they go on and live a life together. Man, when we know God, we're in covenant union with him, we know we, we, we are fully convinced and are sure of those things that he reveals to us by his spirit. Now we can really, we can really use those things. So that's why it's so weird when, um, when the you know it says be a doer of the word and not a hearer only, because if you just heard it with your ears and you didn't ever do it, then you don't know it. You clearly you lack the revelation about it. Because if you really yada it and then really in the New Testament. It's the same exact sense. There's a Greek word, ginosko, which means the same exact sense. There's a Greek word, ginosko, which means the same exact thing.
Speaker 1:It is, yes, to know in your mind, but also to experience, and to become one with and all, and discern and discriminate and distinguish all those things. That is what we're doing when we know God, that we know him. And what an awesome thought to imagine that this being that loves us so completely, that made the entire universe and everything in it, that we, he would allow us to, to know him, that he would make himself accessible to us, himself accessible to us. And so then, when you just, you just consider that for a split second, you just go, you know, your mind is obviously not how you're going to know him. Your mind is too small, it's finite, your body can't contain all of it. So it's got to be, we got to be, a spirit being, to open ourselves up to the things that are supernatural, so that we can live in that realm, so we can start to understand that realm, and that realm controls all of this realm.
Speaker 1:To know by experience, to be sure of, to be one with when I want you to think of something that you learned by experience. Think of something that you thought you understood but then life threw something at you and you were like whoa, whoa, you learned it and now nobody's going to take that away you. Now you know that thing, whatever it is. And I remember the first time. So I grew up going to Galveston. I grew up here in Houston and our beach experience was Galveston Island State Park. That was our beach experience and we played in the water and the surf. Maybe if we went to Rockport, you know, we might go down to Corpus and do that and you know we could wade out in the water and we could splash around. There might be a wave and it'd be about this high and it was fun and it was a great place for little kids.
Speaker 1:Then, when I was a young adult, I got to go to Hawaii. My friend and I did a trip there, and so I just thought, you know, I'm going to go to the beach in Hawaii. It's going to be sunny, it's going to be warm and I'm going to walk along the beach like I do. You know, I'm going to splash my feet in there. No, no, on the island that we were in, the beach was a drop. I mean it did have some sand, but it dropped off at about a I don't know way more than a 45 degree angle. So when you walk along the beach you're walking like this. And then I saw a wave out there and I was like, oh, that's so lovely, oh, it's going to come and let no, the wave at the beach was about to just knock me down because it was a very steep.
Speaker 1:And then I realized there's power in the ocean. That and the way it felt when, when I just waited out a little bit I mean there's no waiting out there's, like you know, now you're swimming in the ocean and the power of that ocean from the entire earth, you know, pressing up again, it felt. It was a completely different feeling. It was a surge of absolute adrenaline and energy. And I remember so we had a little boogie board and I was able to catch a wave. I have never had that exhilaration in my entire life. It was, I remember so we had a little boogie board and I was able to catch a wave. I have never had that exhilaration in my entire life. It was I mean, maybe I was, I don't know 12 or 15 feet off of you know, on the top of this wave and it's carrying me and it was just. I never experienced the power of the ocean before, but it was way different. And so now I know that I know, wow, and there's, and there's a supernatural power. We had, we had such a.
Speaker 1:You know, the power of that current, of that river is heartbreaking. I can barely talk about it as I, you know, just but. But the hill country I grew up going to the river in the hill country and there's a current and you can swim in it and it's fun. But then, um, the, the natural power, and, you know, this world is under the sway of the God of this age, the little G, the God of this age. Because Adam lost the keys, you know, and, and we haven't been fully taken them back yet. Uh, our, the people of God, need to rise up and take back the keys, but we hadn't gotten them all the way, uh, in, in, in practice, we haven't all the. And so here comes this awful, devastating storm. God did not send that storm, he did not send that flood, but now we've experienced the power of that rushing, mighty river and the destruction that it brought.
Speaker 1:But how much more that the power of God, the supernatural, that's natural power. How much more can you imagine the supernatural power and the power that it brings to you? And it has to bear. How come we can't live in that kind of power? If we'll know, if we'll know him, if we know him well, we will love him, we will serve him, we will do everything in his word, we will seek him out. If we really really know him, then we won't ever get enough. We will always want more, more, more, more, because he's so good and we won't be able to stop. And it's awesome and it's the answer to everything that hurts in our society.
Speaker 1:There's an answer here in God, and not here's why I'm saying this tonight, because I there, there is a, there's a person who, there are people who come to church. There's a type of person who comes to church so that they can know stuff with their brain and they can fight with people real good, and they can get their doctrine all in line. And I like doctrine. Doctrine is important, but we gotta know him, we gotta really know him and not a bunch of stuff, and so it's just the foundation and we gotta yadah him. We've gotta be one with that thing, we've gotta make it. We gotta let it control our life, we gotta just give ourselves like if we just stop trying to fight the current and we just ride it and we just let it carry us.
Speaker 1:There's power. Stop doing your own thing, just let go and let God carry you into. You know that storm carried people into absolute destruction and misery, but God wants to carry you into victory. He wants to carry you into your destiny. He wants to carry you into his perfect plan so you can do stuff you never imagined you could do on your own. Who do you say that I am? Who do you say that I am? Who do you say that I am? Listen to this, David.
Speaker 1:But on the day, on the day he killed Goliath, no one thought he could do it. He's a, he's a kid, he's not a seasoned warrior in battle. And all the seasoned warriors folded up and cried and said, no, we can't do it, he's too scary. But David said this. This day he was talking to Goliath. 1 Samuel 17, 46. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand and I will strike you and take your head from you, and this day I will give the carcasses of the camp of the Philistines, to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth that all the earth may know. They will all, they will all have an experience with God through this miracle that I'm about to, y'all are all about to see. They will know that there is a God in Israel, and then all this assembly shall know that the Lord does not save with sword and spear, for the battle is the Lord's and he will give you into our hands.
Speaker 1:David knew something. Now, how did he have that much boldness and confidence? How did he know that, to be able to look the giant in the face and say that, when everyone else, including the king of Israel, coward? How did he have that? At the end of his life, david wrote this Psalm, psalm 24, and he says who is the king of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. That was, I believe that was a revelation that David got early in his life, when he was playing the harp, when he was singing on the side of the mountain watching his father sheep.
Speaker 1:He was playing the harp, he was worshiping God and he was thinking about how big God is. He was looking at the stars as far as his eye could see and he could barely make out those, those little tiny ones way in the back of the sky. But there were so many of them. And he must've thought and he could barely make out those little tiny ones way in the back of the sky, but there were so many of them. And he must've thought and he must've worshiped God and he must've known something about the power of God. And then he tried out the power of God, because he killed the lion when it came against the sheep and he killed the bear when it came against the sheep. So he began to be skillful in using what he knew about God and he knew that God was mighty in battle. And so when he saw the giant, it was not a giant to him. He wasn't thinking about how big the giant was, he was thinking about how big God is. So he knew God, he knew God. So he knew God, he knew God.
Speaker 1:My dad's read the scripture the other day out of Acts and I'm skipping around, but out of Acts after Peter and John healed the man at the gate beautiful, they just ripped him up out of his beggar's spot where he was. And hey, you know, rise up and walk. And he did. And he went walking and leaping and praising God and then everybody said, wow, I mean, and it says when they perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men. But yet they, how do these unlearned and ignorant men, have such boldness? They perceived the boldness of Peter and John and they knew that they had been with Jesus. They knew that they had been with Jesus because of their boldness. And David had that kind of boldness.
Speaker 1:And we can have that kind of boldness, but we can't fake that. You know. You can tell it when people are faking it and you can't. You can't. Now is the time, the hour is so late. People are too needy, people have fallen too far away from God all around us. There's no God consciousness around us anymore for us to be able to fake it and everything will kind of be okay. Now is the time to actually know our God, to be one with him. All right, so, so we can have all the things that that it says in Jeremiah 9, when we, when we just spend time with God, we can be wise.
Speaker 1:First Corinthians 1, 23 says but we preach Christ crucified. See, this is what wisdom, true wisdom, is this when we preach the gospel, even though it's a stumbling block to the, to the, to the Jews, and it's and it's foolishness and craziness to all the Gentiles. All the intellectual people are like that's just the soup, that's just the. That same old Southern gospel. Y'all are just hayseed, y'all are just rednecks, y'all are just backwoods, you don't know anything. This is just, it's foolishness to them. But both to Jews and Greeks who are called, everybody say that's me. Then we preach the Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God. There's power and wisdom. We have power and wisdom when we just focus on the gospel, when we know him, when we have a relationship, a real relationship with him, because the foolishness of, even the foolishness of God, is wiser than men and the weakness of God is stronger than men. God's got more wisdom in his one cell of his pinky fingernail than all of the wisdom of man put together.
Speaker 1:I don't care if Elon Musk is developing one universal mind or whatever, some chip that can upload everyone's thoughts into one big supercomputer or whatever. I know that they're. That sounds weird, right, but I don't know. I mean technology, ai is advancing and I'm sure that they have like. Maybe somebody in Technologyville has this plan that in 50 years from now, there would be one big brain and every thought of every human being can be uploaded or downloaded into, and we're just all semi-people, robots. And I don't want that plan. I don't want that plan and I believe we'll be raptured before anybody ever gets there. Amen, I'm a pre-tribulation rapture girl. I am a dispensationalist Amen. But I know that God's wisdom. Still, if you could put all the wisdom of man in one big bucket and you could download it it's not a single, it's not. It's no comparison to the wisdom of God. And we have that when we just spend time with him. It'll make you look like a genius.
Speaker 1:2 Corinthians 2, 9, it's written I have not seen nor ear heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man the things that God has prepared for those who love him. So we can stop there and go. Oh, I can't ever know so big, so great God. Oh, I'm so weak, I'm so ignorant. No, there's another verse, verse 10,. It says but God has revealed them to us through his spirit, for the spirit searches all things and it searches the deep things of God, and we're going to know what's been freely given to us by God and we're going to know what's been freely given to us by God. We can know those things by the spirit. Praise God when we spend time, when we know God, when we really know him.
Speaker 1:Daniel 11, 32 says the people who know their God shall be strong and carry out great exploits, mighty deeds, mighty works. Amen. Now you know you can be a great, they could be a great exploit of physical strength. That's great. There were many acts of heroism during that flood. There were people who were able to, by their strength, save little children out of the, pluck them out of the waters as they were going by. There was a whole group we hear about the young ladies who who perished, but there was this camp of young men right next to them in the river and those young men, uh, they had that physical strength to pluck those boys out, those younger boys out of the water and to put them up in the rafters of their cabins and and praise God, they, they, all of them lived. There was, there was an exploit, there was strength, and then God it was, it was, it was redemptive. But then there, that was physical. There's an exploit of the spirit that we could do mighty works. We can do miracles, signs and wonders. Jesus said we could have that.
Speaker 1:I'm still contending. I don't see enough of them in the church today. I know there are revivals of the past. I know there was a healing revival in the fifties. I know in the seventies it was more of a teaching revival. In the eighties, you know, we all had our notebooks in church and we were taking notes. And in the nineties, I remember I remember the revival of holy joy that swept through the church. I remember how I felt so invigorated just in the joy of the Holy Ghost.
Speaker 1:But I want to see miracle signs and wonders. I want to see those. We can have them. The word says we can have them and anyway and so and then. So we can have wisdom, we can have might and strength.
Speaker 1:I'm just going back through Jeremiah and then it says let not the rich man boast in his riches. I want you to see in Proverbs 8, when wisdom is crying out. Wisdom and riches are tied together and the voice of wisdom in verse 18, proverbs 8, 18 says riches and honor are with me. Enduring riches and righteousness. My fruit is better than gold, yes, than fine gold, and my revenue than choice silver. I traverse the way of righteousness and in the midst of the path of justice and that I may cause those who love me to inherit wealth that I may fill.
Speaker 1:Everybody say fill, fill their treasuries that I may fill. They're not just barely enough, not just a little bit. That's God's will for you. Oh, no, claire, that's God's will for the businessman that sits next to me in church. That's God's will for the smarter person over there. No, it's God's will for every believer, anybody who will claim it, who will spend time knowing God just for the love of him, though Not for any of this, it's just a benefit.
Speaker 1:Well, also okay, now I'm getting out of Jeremiah 9, but how many of you also know that when we spend time with God, john 8, 32 says you shall know the truth. You shall know you shall be joined to. You shall be made one with the truth. You shall know you shall be joined to. You should be made one with the truth and it'll make you free, it'll keep you free and you'll never go back to the world's hold on you. You'll never go back there when you really know, once you really know him and you spend time with him and you meditate on how big he is, you won't even crave that, because whom the son sets free is free, indeed, all right, there's a negative example. Let's take this like a nationwide kind of thing. We're free because we know, we know and spend time with Jesus. We know him, but people are not free when they don't.
Speaker 1:In Isaiah five it says therefore, my people have gone into captivity. So slavery, oppressive regimes, bad government, that that claw over your neck, they've done that because they have no knowledge, because they haven't spent time with them. They have no knowledge. Everybody say knowledge. Another place it says they perish for lack of knowledge. But lack of knowledge of God causes people to go into captivity, causes their honorable men, it says, their honorable men are famished and their multitude dried up with thirst. There's hunger and thirst. There's famine, there's darkness, there's oppression, there's tyranny.
Speaker 1:When we don't know our God and we need to know him right now, because there's a spirit of that trying to take over our country right now we could have just coasted, we could have just, you know, and for generations people did. But now is the time to know God and do exploits All right. And then I'll just the last thing, when we truly know God, look how secure, look how confident and secure John 10. This is the wonderful. Jesus is saying I'm the good shepherd. I am the good shepherd verse 14. And I know my sheep and am known by my own. Everybody say known. So I know my Jesus, I know my great shepherd, I know his voice. And then verse 27,. He said my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me and I give them eternal life and they shall never perish. Neither shall anyone snatch them out of my hand. I love that. I love that verse. There is no no one can snatch you when you know you're the voice of your shepherd. My father, who has given them to me, is greater than all. No one is able to snatch them. He said it again no one is able to snatch them out of my father's hand. I and my father are one.
Speaker 1:You know, a baby, a newborn baby, recognizes the sound of his mom and he recognizes the voice of his dad In a perfect, you know, in a perfect scenario where the dad has been present and has been speaking lovingly to the mom all through the pregnancy. Since that child had ears that were even formed in the womb, he could know that voice, he could know the familiar and and think about how secure, think about how safe that child feels when you know now he comes out of the womb. It's uncomfortable, there's bright light Ah, he's not used to that. But then he hears his mom's voice and he's enveloped in her arms. He hears his dad's voice. He's secure. Do you know the voice? Do you know the voice? It's awesome, it's comforting. There's nothing to fear there. The perfect love casts out fear.
Speaker 1:So we know God. We can know God and I'm going to get to the word in a minute, because that's our main way. You know, it's really our main way to know him is in his word. But we got to know his people. Y'all came tonight, on a Wednesday night. You can get to know God's people and they're not perfect. They will let you down. They can't be the whole picture, but all the collective body of Christ. We're supposed to be pressed into the image of God. We're supposed to be like him on this earth. So if you get to know God's people, let's aspire to be that body where we can really reflect together the image of Jesus to people. When they come to this church, let's let them know that we love them with the love of Jesus and um. And so there are kingdom relationships that God has for you. That'll help you to know God and even know his will and know stuff you wouldn't have known.
Speaker 1:One time I had a whole idea. My entire life I had a very um, I had a very specific ideology about my kids and their education. I grew up in public school and it is right and good for Christian children to go to public school so that they can be a light and a witness to the dark world. And if all the wimpy Christians just send their kids just to all the Christian school or homeschool or whatever, now who's going to minister to the sad masses in the public school? And I got you know and that was just my way and I really believe that. And um, and that might be some people have a different calling or whatever. I'm not judging anybody's parent, I'm just saying for me, that was my vision, my thought.
Speaker 1:And one day I was talking to a sweet kingdom relationship person in this church, linda Martinez. She knows she knows this story, I tell her all the time. And kingdom relationship person in this church, linda Martinez, she knows she knows this story, I tell her all the time. Uh, and she was talking to me about her boys and their, their experience at Christian school. And I have many, oh my Lord, I have many sweet, wonderful students throughout the lives of the church who have been wonderful and have gone to Christian school and I love them and I respect them and I see their walk with God.
Speaker 1:But I did not want that for my own kids until that day and in one conversation, really like in a I don't know 30 minutes, linda completely changed my entire mindset and the Lord opened it. It's like the tumblers on a lock, on a safe or something, just kind of all fell into place and my eyes were opened and that's what no is like. Boom, you just you know something. You know something that you did not know and I was doing the best I could with what I did know. But when I talked to Linda I realized, oh my gosh, my kids belong in Christian school. They, what they're missing is actually they don't have, they're not being nurtured like they could be and they're not gonna have long-term relationships with people of like precious faith. And I need them to have that. And then I need this is the time when they could be building their faith so that later, when they get out of school, they can be a light to the world. They can be a stronger, brighter light because they have so for me and my kids.
Speaker 1:Not casting any blame or judgment or whatever on you, whatever you, god will lead you, he's your. You're the parent, but I was the parent and I went home and I told James James, and James was like I know I went to. I went to Christian school. I've always and he turns out he always wanted the kids to go to Christian. I didn't know that we had a complete come to Jesus and then, a few months later, our kids were in Christian school and it was the right thing for them. And they today look at me and say thank you mom, thank you dad. It was a sacrifice. Our lifestyle changed, but it was good, it was the right thing for us. So, all because I was the people in the body of Christ, just God opened a door and changed my mindset.
Speaker 1:How many of you know you can change your mindset? Things you think you know right now. Some of those things there's a lot of them that are true and good. There is a set of some things in your life that you really think you know that are not true and that you're going to know. That's why we pray that the eyes of your understanding would be enlightened, that you know the hope of your call. What are the riches, the glory of your inheritance in the saints, what exceeding greatness of his power. You know, those are prayers from Ephesians. Those are prayer I can pray, that I'll know stuff, things I didn't know. I didn't know. I thought I did know. So we can know God by knowing his people and then, obviously, just spending time in the word and um, so who is Jesus? Who is Jesus?
Speaker 1:When I was, uh, in youth ministry years and years ago, that was my first job in the church. I was the first, the second youth pastor in the church. The first youth pastor lasted a few months and then he quit with no notice. And so then I was the second youth pastor in the church and I lasted about three years. I was doing a little better and um, and then I handed it off to a more seasoned person, cause I just felt young and inexperienced. I was 22 when I became a youth pastor and I had kids in my youth group that were 18. And I felt like, lord, y'all know more than I do here. You teach, but I learned, praise God, I had great parents around me that poured into me, that helped me. You know some good parents in the program that would come and help and pour in. But there was a song that came out in 1995 and it was called he Is by Aaron Jeffrey. It was a father-son artist team in 1995. And it was a song and I used to play it for the kids because I loved it so much.
Speaker 1:It lists Jesus in every book of the Bible Jesus. And so I have taken that list and plus another list and I have meld them together and I'm just going to close with and it's just going to be rapid fire. So close your eyes, or whatever, and listen to what Jesus is. There are so many things he is. This is only like scratching the itty bitty surface of what he is, because in every book he's like you know a million things, but I can pick one thing out of every book and we're just and I pray that the spirit of God comes on you and inspires you to want to dig into the word more and know Jesus for his character.
Speaker 1:Jesus, he is the son of God and he is the lamb that was slain and the word made for Okay In Genesis. He is the breath of life. In Exodus he's the Passover lamb. In Leviticus he's the high priest Lamb. In Leviticus he's the high priest In Numbers. He is the fire by night and the cloud by day. In Deuteronomy, he is Moses' voice. In Joshua, he is the Lord of the armies of heaven. In Judges, he is the lawgiver. In Ruth, he is our kinsman redeemer. In first Samuel he is the trusted prophet. In second Samuel he is the true son of David. In first Kings he's the promise keeper. In second Kings he is a jealous God.
Speaker 1:In first Chronicles he is our reigning king. In second Chronicles he is our deliverer. In Ezra, he is our faithful scribe. In Nehemiah, jesus is the rebuilder of broken walls and lives. In Esther, he is Mordecai's courage. In Job, he is my redeemer who lives In Psalms, he is my morning song. He is the Lord, my shepherd I shall not want. In Proverbs he is wisdom's cry. In Ecclesiastes he is the time and season and reason to live. In Song of Solomon, he is the lover's dream.
Speaker 1:In Isaiah he is the suffering servant, the prince of peace. In Jeremiah, he is the righteous branch. In Lamentations, he is the cry for Israel. In Ezekiel, he is the wheel within the wheel and he is the son of man. In Daniel, he is the fourth man in the furnace. In Hosea, he is the faithful husband. In Joel, he is the one who restores. In Amos, he is the arms that carry.
Speaker 1:In Obadiah, he is the Lord, our Savior. In Jonah, he is the great missionary. In Micah, the prince of peace. In Nahum, our strength and shield, Habakkuk, he's pleading for revival. In Zephaniah, he is mighty to save. In Haggai, he restores the lost heritage. In Zechariah, he's the fountain of cleansing. And in Malachi, he is the son of righteousness, arising with healing in his wings. Hallelujah, are you ready for the New Testament? It's a lot shorter. Well, I'm almost done.
Speaker 1:In Matthew, he is the promised Messiah. In Mark, the faithful servant. Luke, the friend of sinners. John, the son of God. In Acts, he is fire from heaven. In Romans, he is the grace of God.
Speaker 1:First Corinthians, the power of love. Second, corinthians, the God of all comfort. In Galatians, he is the redeemer from the curse of sin. In Ephesians, he's the head of the church and our glorious treasure. In Philippians, the servant's heart. Colossians, the fullness of God.
Speaker 1:First Thessalonians, the coming king. Second Thessalonians, the judge coming with blazing fire. In first Timothy, the mediator. In 2 Timothy, the faithful pastor. In Titus, the blessed hope. In Philemon, he is the one who paid our debt of slavery and set us free. Thank you, jesus. In Hebrews, he is the great high priest of our confession. In James, he is the one who heals the sick. In 1 Peter, he is the chief shepherd. Second Peter, the morning star. In first John, he's the word of life. In second John, he's the son of the father. In third John, he's the truth. In Jude, he is coming for his bride. In Revelation, he is the king of kings and Lord of lords, and he will reign forever and ever. Jesus is the theme of the whole Bible and he is the word made flesh, and so if you want to know God, you want to dig into his word, because it will come alive to you. It is Jesus, it is the word made flesh, and the Holy Spirit will reveal it to you. Amen.