Living the Life- Exploring Your Inheritance

Overview

Exploring Your Inheritance: God's Word and a Life of Prayer

Peter writes that God "has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you" 1 Peter 1:3-5. That inheritance is ultimately salvation, but it is not only future—it shapes how we live with God here and now. Two of the first gifts that flow from this inheritance are God's Word and the privilege of prayer.

Scripture: A Place to Encounter Christ

Luther taught that the Bible is the cradle wherein Christ is laid. Through the written Word, we meet the living Word, Jesus, and discover what God has done for us so that we can respond with gratitude—loving God and our neighbors. Paul reminds Timothy that "all Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness" 2 Timothy 3:16. All of it—history, poetry, story, song, prophecy, even architectural detail—has something for us, because God's Word is for everyone.

The blessed person "delights in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night" Psalm 1:1-3—a meditation likened to a cow chewing its cud, ruminating until the truth works its way into us. Sometimes Scripture comforts; sometimes it convicts. A verse like "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me" Psalm 51:10 can sit with a believer for years, reminding us that we are not the ones who cleanse our own hearts. Other passages cut sharply: "Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him" 1 John 3:15. God's Word transforms us, but only as we engage it. A family Bible used as a doorstop cannot change a life. Find the way that helps you meet Christ in the Scriptures—deep meditation on a single verse, broad reading for the larger story, listening, memorization—and do it.

Prayer: Living in Relationship with God

Our inheritance is not a list of duties or a book of rules but an authentic relationship with God. When Jesus died, the temple curtain was torn from top to bottom; the barrier separating the Holy of Holies from humanity was removed. We now have access to the throne of the living God. As Luther put it, "To be a Christian without prayer is no more possible than to be alive without breathing." Prayer can be a set-aside time of ten, fifteen, or thirty minutes—or quick conversation throughout the day, even a whispered "Lord, help me now." Both are real prayer.

True worship engages our whole selves. When Isaiah saw the Lord "high and lifted up," he was undone—"Woe is me! For I am lost"—until a seraph touched his lips with a coal from the altar and his guilt was taken away. Then, when the Lord asked, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" Isaiah answered, "Here I am! Send me" Isaiah 6:1-8. To worship with your whole self is to know that every part of your life matters to the Lord and that you can turn to Him with anything—praise, lament, request, or simple presence.

Living Into the Inheritance

You have been given a Bible that speaks and a Savior who listens. Open the Word expecting to meet Christ there. Approach the throne expecting to be heard. You are not living life alone; the God who calls you His child is near, day and night, and the inheritance He has secured for you cannot perish, spoil, or fade.

Transcript

Well, we're really early because technically according to the clock it's only 908. 3s

So I want to congratulate you for being here so early. 8s

Yeah, was getting up this morning hard for anyone? 13s

Okay, we got a mixed reaction there. 17s

Now, yes, maybe kind of sorta. 20s

It was really cool this morning. 22s

This is totally off topic, but never off topic because it's about God, so there we go. 24s

It was really neat this morning. 28s

I was coming in to church and I'm driving through my neighborhood and there's this beautiful 31s

sunrise. 38s

It's got the pinks and the blues and the purples and then it's starting to shift into the 38s

oranges. 44s

It was absolutely gorgeous. 45s

There was a really gentle breeze happening and then I see all these birds that are just 46s

flitting about and I thought, oh my gosh, this is exactly what the Psalms. 51s

Are when they say all of creation praises the Lord and it was just such an awesome example 58s

of that. 67s

It was really, really cool and it was just an awesome experience this morning. 67s

So I did think the Lord for getting the up so early this morning. 74s

So the time change had purpose for me this morning, which was good. 79s

Every time there's a time change when it's the early one, when it's spring time, I think, 83s

oh my gosh, I kind of wake up throughout the night knowing I haven't alarms that. 88s

I wake up throughout the night. 93s

Don't want to be late, can't be late, can't be late. 95s

I wasn't and that was good, but it was really awesome to see all of creation singing the 97s

praises of the Lord this morning. 102s

So I hope that you guys got to experience that a little bit. 104s

I always think that that's kind of a glimpse of heaven, you know, just the awesomeness. 107s

So great that we can't really put it into words how amazing it is and I think that it 114s

touches that part of the soul that I think, okay, that's got to be just a teeny tiny glimpse 120s

of what heaven is, where your heart is just singing and so happy and so filled. 126s

So any who. 133s

All right, so today we are going to continue with our Sunday school, with our adult education. 134s

And we're doing Living the Life and this is really last week I brought in one of the 144s

lessons that we had done in a small group on fruits of the spirit and it was love and 150s

that was a really fun one. 153s

Well the small groups have now shifted a little bit into exploring our inheritance. 155s

And we're going based out of that first Peter verse where he wrote by his great mercy, 163s

he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ 172s

from the dead and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled and unfading. 176s

Kept in heaven for you who are being protected by the power of God through faith, for a salvation, 182s

ready to be revealed in the last time. 189s

And when we think about that, we have this inheritance and this inheritance is imperishable, 192s

undefiled, unfading. 200s

So what is this inheritance that we have? 202s

And we do know that it's salvation but what does that mean for us here? 206s

How do we, how do we have that inheritance here on earth? 210s

And so in these next months of small group, we're really looking at what our inheritance is. 214s

And the couple of lessons we're going to look at today because these are a little bit 224s

shorter of lessons. 229s

And if you have not been able to participate in the small groups up until now, you're 231s

catching up on the past two months. 239s

So you'll be right in step if you want to go ahead and pop into one of those. 241s

You'll be right in step. 247s

But really our inheritance begins with the gifts that we're given. 249s

And we are given this awesome word. 255s

We are given God's word, which is the start of our inheritance really, 257s

or for us to learn about our inheritance. 263s

So we're going to start with that with God's word speaking. 265s

And really think about how we apply scripture in our every day life because we should. 267s

We can. 277s

How do we engage with God's word? 278s

Because he is speaking to us. 280s

In Hebrews it talks about how God used to speak through his prophets. 283s

And now he is spoken through his son. 289s

And we have the living word here, Jesus Christ, his word for us. 293s

And so we're going to start there. 299s

And I will give a little caveat with these small group lessons. 302s

We're kind of getting into the touchy feeling as Lutheran, as we can be with touchy feeling. 307s

You know, there's sometimes a problem where people go a little off-kilter with we get touchy 315s

feeling and we throw out everything other than emotion. 321s

And we really can't throw out everything other than emotion and experience. 326s

Because we are called to, I mean, we use our brains, engage with God's word. 332s

So any who, we're going to keep on keeping on here. 339s

So one of the greatest gifts, and there will be a lot of chatting time. 342s

So just be ready to communicate with your neighbors. 345s

And if you don't know who you're sitting by by name, this is a great opportunity 347s

to get to know some of the people around you. 351s

And then use their names every single week. 354s

You can always say, hi, Joe or whoever. 357s

So anywho. 361s

So one of the greatest gifts God has given us is the scriptures. 363s

It's the word of God. 366s

The first gift of scripture is that it is a place to encounter Christ. 367s

It's a place to encounter Christ. 374s

Luther taught that the Bible is the cradle wherein Christ is laid. 375s

Through the written word, we encounter the living word who comes to us in Jesus. 381s

We then discover what God in Christ has done for us and learn how we can respond with gratitude 386s

by loving God and those around us. 392s

All the genres are there. 394s

We have history, poetry, stories, songs, plays, philosophy, and apocalyptic literature. 396s

And we are invited to delve into this treasure trove of riches that God has given to us in his word. 403s

There are different strategies and approaches that work better for different people. 412s

I always think about where it gives the details on how to build the temple 418s

and the different fabrics to use and the architecture. 427s

And I thought, oh my goodness, oh, this is so much detail. 431s

And I never understood why it was all in there. 439s

And I had class with a gentleman who said that spoke so loudly to him. 443s

He loved reading about all the different architectural details that the Old Testament had in it 449s

because he loved to build things and it connected with him. 456s

And I think that that's one of those things that God's word. 461s

There is something in there, a way for us to connect with his word throughout. 464s

Something for everyone. 471s

Everyone can connect to his word because it is for everyone and it connects to us. 473s

Some people prefer to meditate for a long period of time on a short passage of scripture. 481s

Reading and rereading it to fully experience the passage. 486s

Others prefer to read broad, large portions of scripture to see the overall narrative arc 490s

and context of the word of God. 496s

Some people don't prefer reading at all but listening to scripture. 499s

And if you have a phone with a Bible app, you can click on there. 503s

There is a listen button and you can hear it and you can hear God's word being read to you 509s

anytime which is great for driving. 515s

I recommend that. 519s

After all, that's how most people experience scripture throughout history. 520s

They had it read to them. 524s

Memorization is another helpful approach for many in that it allows internalization of the ideas 526s

to a greater degree. 531s

One important point is to figure out what works for you and to do it. 533s

Do it. 539s

Engage with God's word. 540s

As you faithfully interact with scripture, you will meet God there as the spirit speaks to you 542s

through the word. 546s

The second point is to not walk away from what you're learning but to apply it to your every day. 548s

Life, Martin Luther said, I still constantly find joy or find that when I am without the word, 554s

Christ is gone. 559s

Yes, and so are joy and the spirit. 561s

But as soon as I look at a psalm or a passage of scripture, it so shines and burns into my heart 564s

that I gain a different spirit and mind. 569s

Moreover, I know that everybody may daily experience this in his own life. 572s

So, grab out some scripture, or grab out your Bible, not some scripture, grab out your Bible, 578s

and open to second Timothy. 583s

We're going to go through three portions of scripture. 587s

Second Timothy chapter three. 599s

Starting in verse 16, second Timothy chapter three, verse 16. 608s

All scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for a proof, for correction, 616s

and for training and righteousness that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. 623s

All scripture, all scripture is profitable. 631s

All of it can be used for teaching, for a proof, for correction, and for training in righteousness. 636s

If all of scripture can be done, then that means that we can connect in some sort of way to any part 643s

of scripture. Sometimes when you're reading a certain text out of there, and I'm trying to remember 652s

a good example, oh my goodness, I cannot remember the chapter, but it's in judges. 659s

There's a disturbing narrative, and I read it, and I kind of wonder about it, and when I don't 663s

quite get it, I know that I can read other scripture, and eventually it will be revealed, right? 672s

When we use scripture to interpret scripture, when we use it to guide ourselves in reading scripture, 680s

eventually the questions that we have will be made known to us, and if we don't get an answer, 689s

maybe it's not something for us to know. God does have mysteries that we will not grasp, and that's 695s

okay. I'm okay with that, because I'm not God. I hope you're okay with that, because guess what, 703s

you're not God either. So we can engage with any part of scripture, though, and we can learn, 709s

and we can grow from it, and we can connect to it, and we can meet Christ in any scripture. 718s

Psalm, turn to Psalm 1. 726s

Psalm 1, so that's just dead center in scripture. The Psalms are 739s

chapter 1, the start. Psalm 1, verse 1. Blessed is the man who walks not in the council of the wicked, 747s

nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers, but his delight is in the law 758s

of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of 764s

water that yields its fruit and season, and its leaf does not wither in all that he does. He 770s

prospers. Today we're going to hear in the sermon a little bit about the law. This is from 776s

Psalm, this is, you know, during pre-Christ on earth, and the delight here for this author, the 785s

delight is in the law of the Lord. On his law, on God's law, he meditates day and night. Thinking 794s

about that as we read scripture, as we think about it, have you ever read a piece of scripture that 802s

it just sits with you, and you think about it, and it keeps popping up, and you keep chewing on it. 807s

The word for meditate in here, if I'm remembering correctly, and I really hope I am, is that kind of 814s

like the cow chewing on its cud, just ruminating on it, thinking about it, letting it sit, and you 821s

constantly think over it. Have you ever had a piece of scripture work on you like that? 829s

Yes, can I ask what? Oh, it was strong and fatic, new. I'll tell you one piece that for myself that 836s

has sat with me for years now, years, is Psalm 51, verse 10, creating me a clean spirit, oh God, 848s

and renew a right, or creating me a clean heart, oh God, and renew a right spirit within me, 858s

and it sits with me, and it works on me, and sometimes it really convicts me, and sometimes it 863s

gives me great hope and great joy, because I know that my spirit is not always right, and my 872s

heart is not always clean, and I know that I'm also not the one that creates that clean heart within 877s

myself, and I'm not the one that gives myself that right spirit, and so that gives me great hope, 884s

and when I'm feeling or thinking, not super-Christianly, I go to that verse constantly, and it continues 891s

to work on me and in me, and it's so amazing that we have that from the Lord, and it seems just 902s

from the nods that everyone, or most of you, have experienced that, where you have a verse or a 909s

story from scripture that comes to mind, or it works on you, have you ever had a piece of scripture 915s

that works on you that you wish it wasn't? Oh, hmm, yeah, I've had that too. There was a verse in there 923s

that really convicted me, really convicted me, and I was so angry that I read it, because I didn't 935s

want to be convicted. I wanted to be righteously angry, and it worked on me a lot. It worked on me a lot, 944s

and I had to come back when this scripture was working on me, and it was out of first John, 955s

first John 315. Let's go there. Let's see what convicted me. This will be fun. First John, 964s

and I share a personal story, not because anything wonderful or great about me, well, here, I'm 973s

sharing a horrible story about myself, but I have my frame of reference, and I know what has worked 981s

on me hard. So, verse 15 of first John chapter 3, it says, all who hate a brother or sister 988s

are murderers, and you know that murderers do not have eternal life abiding in them. 999s

I was really mad at a person. It was not Keith just clearing that up. I was really angry at a person, 1006s

and I was murdering them in my heart. I was murdering them in my mind, and I read that just by chance, 1015s

and God worked on me so hard through that verse. I was convicted to the core. God's word 1027s

connects with us. It connects with us. It convicts us, and it blesses us, and it introduces us to 1036s

Jesus over and over and over again. And that's where I come right back to that Psalm 51 verse 10, 1045s

creating me a clean heart, oh God, and renew a right spirit within me. I don't want to murder someone. 1053s

I want to love the Lord. I want to love my neighbor with the love of the Lord. 1060s

Create in me a clean heart, renew a right spirit within me. Meditate, meditate day and night on God's 1068s

word. Meditate on it. So now you're going to share a few answers, and you can do this within 1078s

just the people right around you. You don't have to do it within the big group. So a question for 1087s

you, how do you best interact with Scripture? How do you best interact with Scripture? Do you 1092s

like reading a broad portion? Do you like meditating over one verse, two verses? Do you like hearing it? 1101s

Do you like reading it? Do you like to wake up early in the morning and start your day with the word of 1110s

God? Do you like to read it right before going to sleep? How do you best interact with Scripture? 1116s

Take just 30 seconds to share with those around you. 1123s

Okay, one more question. One more question. I'm sorry to interrupt. It sounds like you guys are 1129s

getting good chatting time, which is awesome. One more question. When was one time God spoke to you 1135s

clearly through Scripture? I was convicted hardcore, right? When was one time God spoke clearly 1141s

to you through Scripture? And how did you respond? How did you respond? Okay, go. Okay, so a couple of 1148s

final thoughts, a couple of final thoughts on God's words speaking to us. A friend, and this is true, 1158s

a friend once reluctantly confessed that instead of reading it, she used her family Bible as a beautiful 1168s

and decorative doorstop. That's true. Aside from whether or not this was a disrespectful 1173s

action, really the greater travesty is that in doing so, she missed the life-changing beauty and 1181s

promises that we're awaiting within. The word of God is transformative and performative, but it 1188s

cannot transform our lives if we don't engage with it. This is a really great book. If we never 1195s

open it, never hear it read, we won't know what's in here. We don't know the transforming words. We 1206s

don't know what God has to reveal to us if it's never opened. There are many ways to interact with 1215s

Scripture if you haven't found one that seems to click with you. Try another. God's word is given 1223s

to us with the intent to engage so we can be assured he has also provided the means by which we 1229s

can engage. We have our sacraments. We have the tangible promises of God through the water of 1235s

baptism. We have the tangible promises of God through the bread, the wine, his body and blood. 1244s

We have the tangible promises through his word that we can hear and we can use and we can take. We 1252s

meet Jesus in his word and we hear what he has for us and the promises he has for us in there. 1261s

So we engage. It's not a door stop. It's for us to be using. Have you ever seen the 1269s

Bibles that are just torn to pieces almost not from disrespect but just from being used so much 1276s

or you can go through and see if you know anyone who writes in their Bible which is pages filled. 1284s

It's amazing, amazing to see that. So that was one of our lessons, this gift from God, this gift 1293s

that we have in his word. The next small group lesson that we have in exploring our inheritance 1302s

is how we dialogue with God. How do we communicate with God? Our experience of God was never intended to 1309s

be wrote. A beautiful prayer asking for things and a routine reading of a chapter of the Bible 1318s

every day. One of the revolutionary things about the incarnation is Jesus coming in the flesh to 1323s

communicate that the heart of worship is a relationship lived out daily in the presence of God. 1329s

With the death of Jesus the curtain of the temple was ripped from top to bottom. The curtains 1336s

separating the holy of holies from humanity. No one could cross that. You know that was separating 1342s

God from people. The barrier was broken and we encounter the presence of the living God who comes 1349s

to us in Jesus. So what we have now is not just a set of duties or a book of rules but we have 1355s

an authentic relationship with God. And what do we do in relationships? We talk. We talk. We listen. 1361s

That was really funny. Everyone was silent. We're relating here. Yes, we talk. We listen. We laugh. 1371s

We spend time together. We share in each other's presence sometimes without any sort of agenda 1380s

other than being present with one another. In the context of relationship with the creator and the 1389s

Lord of the universe, how does that differ? There's always a mystery about God. There's something 1396s

that seems totally other and far from us. Yet the God that we meet in Christ invites us to worship 1404s

and promises to be near both when we gather as a community of faith such as today. And when we 1411s

and when we are on our own with him, the promise forms the very core of our life with God as the 1419s

basis for each of us in living out our faith in daily life. I love this quote from Martin Luther. 1426s

To be a Christian without prayer is no more possible than to be alive without breathing. 1432s

We are Christians. We are alive. We are breathing and we are in prayer. When Paul writes to be in prayer 1439s

constantly, that freaks people out sometimes. Oh, I don't have time to be in prayer. Do you find 1448s

yourself throughout the day talking to God though? Yes. Yeah, absolutely. And sometimes it's short, 1454s

little. A Lord helped me now. Right? Still speaking with the Lord. Still speaking with the Lord. 1463s

And speaking with God may look differently for each of us, whether we take a lot of time out of 1471s

every single day to pray or pray throughout the day, each of us is invited and encouraged to speak 1476s

with God. Now think about how you talk with God. How do you approach conversation with him? 1482s

Are you one that sets aside a good portion? Oh, in the Kids Beach Club, the Dove Elementary Beach Club, 1489s

where we're going over and sharing the gospel with kids at Dove Elementary, we give them these 1497s

little cards that are called Hang 10 cards. And the whole point is hang out with Jesus 10 minutes 1505s

a day. Just hang out with Jesus 10 minutes a day. And we're trying to help them create the habit 1510s

of talking with God, talking with God, praying with God. So do you take that a lot of time? 1517s

Do you pray throughout the day? This can be a whole group answer. Anyone can answer. 1526s

Who takes a lot of time where they sit 10, 15, 30 minutes? Oh, I see someone pointing at another 1532s

person. Okay, who kind of prays throughout the day? And it can be both. It can be both. But we're 1538s

in conversation with God. And part of that then is being in conversation with our whole selves 1545s

with God. In Isaiah, chapter six, and we can all open that. So that's after Psalms, Proverbs, 1556s

Ecclesiastes. If you open to Psalms, keep going to the right and we'll find the prophet Isaiah. 1565s

Isaiah, chapter six. Isaiah, chapter six. Starting in verse one, Isaiah, chapter six, starting in 1572s

verse one. In the year that King Isaiah died, and this is Isaiah's call, in the year that King 1586s

Isaiah died, I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of his robe 1594s

filled the temple above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings with two, he covered his face, 1599s

and with two, he covered his feet, and with two, he flew. And one called to another and said, 1605s

holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of his glory. And the foundations of 1610s

the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. And I said, 1616s

whoa is me for I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of 1621s

unclean lips. For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts, then one of the seraphim flew to 1627s

me having his, in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with, with tongues from the altar. 1633s

And he touched my mouth and said, behold, this has touched your lips, your guilt has taken away, 1639s

and your sin atoned for. And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, whom shall I send, and who will 1644s

the throne room. It was a whole body experience. It had shaken him to the core. He didn't think that he 1657s

could live because he had seen the Lord. He had been in the presence of the holiness of God. It was 1665s

raw. It was his whole self. And he, he had sent me, sent me, and it took all of him to be a prophet 1675s

for the Lord. It took all of him, have a quote from Bono, who was the lead singer of a great band, 1686s

says it's impossible to meet God without abandon, without exposing yourself, being raw. And that's 1697s

where Isaiah was. He was absolutely exposed. It was absolutely raw. He was there in the presence 1706s

of the King with his whole self. And he threw himself into service of the Lord. So we've got only a 1715s

couple of minutes here. But we're going to do group discussions again. And those who have left 1725s

for choir, if you're a partner, if you're chatting partner has left, find a new one. 1730s

Okay. So what is your understanding of whole life worship? And how do you bring your whole 1736s

self before the Lord? What is your understanding of whole life worship? And how do you bring your whole 1743s

self before the Lord? Go. Okay. We have one more question. We have time for one more question. 1751s

When have you experienced awe of God? When have you experienced awe of God? 1763s

Does that make sense? Okay. When have you experienced awe of God? A-W-E. Yes. Yes. Yes. Okay. So a couple of 1772s

final thoughts with this. We have been invited to worship the Lord and to communicate with him 1787s

always and everything. And to worship with the whole self does not mean that you have to raise 1794s

your eyes and close your hands every time that you want to speak with God. To worship with your 1800s

whole self is to know that every part of your life matters to the Lord. And you can turn to him 1807s

with everything prayer or praise. In our inheritance as children of God we are granted access to the throne. 1813s

I encourage you to use that access. We can approach the throne anytime, anytime. We can use 1821s

that access that we have through Jesus. Call upon the Lord and know that He hears you because you are 1829s

not living life alone. We know that we can speak to the Lord anytime, any day, any night because He is 1835s

near. And that brings us to time. Let us pray right now. Heavenly Lord we thank you so much for your 1846s

gift of your word where we can meet Jesus. We can meet you and we can speak with you and learn 1854s

from you and our lives can be changed by your word. Lord we ask that we would come to you with our 1861s

whole selves abandoning any worldly thoughts that we have but trusting in you, turning to you 1870s

day or night in praise, in worship, in asking and longing. Lord speak to us when we turn to you. Let 1880s

us hear your voice through your word that we may always continue to turn to you and stand in awe 1889s

of you and all you have done. We thank you and praise you for this day. Bless us and bless this 1897s

next service. We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. 1904s