Even atheists and agnostics would benefit from reading the Bible more. It is essential for understanding western culture. We wouldn't have arrived here as a society without it.

But besides that, the Bible is useful for us as Christians because it teaches us and informs us and shapes our actions toward the world around us:

Isaiah 55:8-9

Romans 5:6-8

Genesis 1:27

Psalm 119:105

James 1:25-27

Romans 12:2

Do you engage the Bible as a tourist, visiting it 2-3 times per week? Or do you take up residency there, engaging it 4 or more times per week (more days than not)? When you take up residency, it starts to become ingrained and transform you.

How to overcome the barriers to reading the Bible:

• It's Ok not to understand it. Ask questions and read with others.
• It's not boring. We have to allow it to be interesting and remember all the wild events that happen with it.
• Most translations are just fine. Instead of getting hung up on which translation to read, pick the one that you will read the most.
• It is a lot, but it's already broken up into books and chapters.
• Even if you hate reading, taking it in small chunks makes it easier, and you can also listen to it read to you.
• If you don't know where to start, try starting in the beginning with Genesis, or start in one of the gospels.

Crossroads – about heaven, earth, and the journey in between.

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1 Kings 19:1-5

God had used Elijah extensively, and he reached a point where he thought he couldn't do it anymore. If he were a pencil, he would be dull. Over the course of God writing his story through us, we will get dull. So we have to sharpen ourselves to be prepared for his work. Here are some questions that we can answer to help determine how to sharpen ourselves:

1. What sharpens you?
2. Who sharpens you?
3. To what end?

Here are five things that can sharpen us as Christians:

• Remembering
• Prayer
• Service
• Community
• Rest

Crossroads – about heaven, earth, and the journey in between.

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Hebrews 12:1-3

Understanding that our lives are like a pencil that God is using to write his story can help us grasp the answers to some key questions.

• What is my purpose?
• What is God doing in my life?
• How do I align my life with God's will?

God is writing YOUR STORY.

• Psalm 139:16

God is writing THEIR STORY.

• Acts 17:26-37

God is writing HIS STORY

• 2 Corinthians 5:20

Crossroads – about heaven, earth, and the journey in between.

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As we get ready for going back to school, we can be praying for the students that will be starting a new school year. To aid us, we can think of these prayers in terms of the five "W's" of writing.

Who: God

Genesis 1:1, 27, 31

Psalm 103:8-18

John 3:16

Deuteronomy 6:5-9

What:

• For needs
• For your worries
• For strength in temptation
• For direction and wisdom

Matthew 6:32-33

1 Peter 5:7

1 John 5:14

Matthew 26:41

James 1:5

When:

Ephesians 6:18

Where:

• Privately - Matthew 6:6
• With others - Acts 4:31

Why:

• It's God's will

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Romans 8:32

Crossroads – about heaven, earth, and the journey in between.

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Palm 34:1-8

Many of us have already surrendered the easy things, but now God is calling us to surrender everything else… the really hard parts. When we experience God and his goodness, it's hard to to praise him. God works for our righteousness more than we do.

When we come to church, it's like a spiritual buffet:

• Sample everything

Just like when you take leftovers home after a large meal at a restaurant, if you didn't get a chance to absorb everything from a church service:

• Pack it up

Don't let those thing that you take home go unused:

• Finish your leftovers

Crossroads – about heaven, earth, and the journey in between.

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John 15:1-17

We are like branches of a grapevine, and we can only bear fruit if we're connected to the vine, which is Jesus. Bearing this fruit equates to spiritual maturity. Spiritual maturity is summed up by Jesus' command to love, and to do that, we are called to lay down our lives for one another. Here are three ways we can gauge and improve our love:

• Love quicker
• Love broader
• Love deeper

Crossroads – about heaven, earth, and the journey in between.

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Matthew 26:26-30

1 Corinthians 11:23-29

Jesus instituted the sacrament of Communion at the last supper during the Passover, and the church has carried on the tradition ever since.

Why do we receive Communion?

• It's hopeful
• • For now. For future. Blessing and crying out.
• It's communal
• • Sons and daughters. All equal.
• It's hospitable
• • Given. Give.
• It's covenantal
• • With Jesus. With the body
• It's confessional
• • Reconciliation with God and with people

Crossroads – about heaven, earth, and the journey in between.

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5/31/26

John 1:35-51

Most people are not really interested in just being invited to church because they're not interested in just adopting our morality or our religion. We do a lot of things just based on instinct. We are taught to bring people to church with us, and that becomes our default response, but there's something deeper going on that we should be inviting people to. Instead of inviting people to your church:

• Invite them to experience
• • "Come and see"
• Invite them to explore
• • Spirituality. Reality. Self.
• Invite them to engage
• Invite them to be loved
• • By God. By the Church. By you.

Crossroads – about heaven, earth, and the journey in between.

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