Reading the Bible Through in 2021 | Senior Pastor Kenneth Carpenter

if you would go ahead there those in the media room and put that first picture that i i sent this morning if you would put that first picture on the screen that's the uh that's the sears tower in uh chicago illinois and i did a little research on this tower and i'd like to share it and weave it into my message this building that you're looking at behind me is composed of 73 000 tons of steel it's what you're looking at its structural frame would make more than 50 000 automobiles it contains more than 1500 miles of electrical wiring and 250 miles of pipes it has 16 000 panes of bronze tinted glass 640 000 square feet in all it towers some 1468 feet in the air or it is 110 stories it has 4.4 million square feet of floor space that is equal to 101 acres or 16 chicago block city blocks it uses 625 000 kilowatt hours of electricity in just one day it's equivalent to a community of 2500 people its total weight is 445 million pounds of course i'm describing to you one of the tallest buildings the chicago's sears tower but as impressive impressive as its superstructure appears listen to the unseen aspects of the sears tower are the most essential a building like the sears tower depends on a strong foundation it was designed to withstand the winds the constant winds of chicago the sears tower is built on caissons anchored in bedrock each caisson is 65 feet long and has a permanent steel shell liner all of the caissons are tied together by a 54 inch deep concrete mat that covers the floor area of the sears tower basement built on 2 million cubic feet of concrete foundation those of you that know anything about concrete that's mind-boggling to you two million cubic feet of concrete foundation but i guess this would better help us to understand it this the concrete in the sears tower foundation walls could pave an eight lane expressway for four miles an eight lane expressway for four miles as your pastor on this last sunday of 2020 i want to you to invite you on a journey that i will take on january the 1st it will be a journey that all of us can do it will be a journey that will require just a few minutes of each day in 2021 i would strongly suggest that you do the hard things first of the morning it would be best to take the first few moments of each day a journey that we're all capable of completing i want you to join me on a journey to read our bibles through in 20 21. now at the end of the service we will pass out an aid a help a spiritual tracker that each one of you can have to put in your bible so that you can track your journey you can know what what mile marker you're at and how to complete this but you know as well as i do that anything of spiritual value requires discipline it requires discipline this journey although it sounds very easy it will not be an easy journey it will not be an easy journey it will require spiritual discipline now the reason that it won't be an easy journey church is because it is going to involve a very small portion of your time of your time and god knows we all value time god knows we all value time so in order to stay on this journey i have got to prioritize i've got to have the right priority of my time i have to see that checking my email the first thing when i wake up or reaching for my cell phone to see if i got a text in the night or to turn to the facebook page to see what happened while i slept must be pushed to another part of my day but that spiritual discipline of reading anything of spiritual anything of spiritual will require discipline yet can i tell you that you will never discipline yourself for a thing of god that what you will not in return be rewarded richly you will be rewarded there's no and ifs or buts about it you will be rewarded richly as you prioritize your time and make this journey just a few steps at a time if you'd stand with me today i'd like to read my text second timothy chapter 3 and verse number 16 verse number 16 and verse 17 to all of our guests it's so good to have you here at first apostolic church this morning and look forward to meeting greeting you after the service today ii timothy 3 16. all scripture how much of the scripture all scripture is given by inspiration of god and is profitable for doctrine for reproof for correction for instruction in righteousness that the man of god may be perfect thoroughly furnished unto all good works i guess for a title today it would just simply be reading the bible through in 2021 that would just be a a bible title for me today to tell you reading the bible through in 2021 father i love you today god as the pastor of this church i want to keep my hand on your heart lord the only thing that can keep us and the only thing that can see us through is your word your word is a lamp your word is a light your word is accomplished your word is our bread your word is our door your word o god is our strength and our healing god help me to be found faithful in the ministry of your word lord as we embark and we begin to pack today to take that journey god i pray that you would spark something in the heart of every person that's here help us god to read this word and to be strengthened and come to know you through the word in jesus name i pray amen and you may be seated today the apostle paul wrote he informs us that the source of the scripture is god some may ask what makes the bible so important what makes the bible so valuable and the simple answer back to you would be the source the source of the scripture is god that's why it's so valuable today it's the book like no other book because god is the source has any of you as parents had to tell your children when they came home from school and they talked to you about a bully that picked on them said ugly words about them and you're probably like me you might have said something goes like this you know why they make fun of you you know why they said something about you why daddy because they're jealous of you you have something that they want and the only way they know to go about doing it is to belittle you and then most of the time brother jean-philippe i end with the statement to my children son just consider the source just consider the source just what's being said about you would you please instead of being paralyzed by what they're saying would you please just consider the source so that makes our enemy put in his place but yet when it comes to god's word we have to consider the source why should i read my bible through in 2021 the first thing about it would be just simply the source of the bible all scripture is given by inspiration of god the word inspiration there speaks of of the breath of god it's trying to tell us that the word if you want to get close to god if you want to get close to god begin to read the word of god and as you read the word of god you can almost at times feel the breath of god because the word inspiration means the breath of god now you know that i preach and promote prayer we just came from a 40-day solid time of prayer i preach and promote prayer but can i tell you today that there are some things that prayer will not give you there are some things that you must have god's word i've seen a lot of folks pray earnestly sweat labor and prayer and yet not feel satisfied and it could be and very possible that you need to read the word the word can give you something that prayer cannot give you now there has to be a balance that is struck some have said that if we only worship god in spirit we become fanatical and if we only worship god in truth we become stagnated so god doesn't want us stagnated or fanatical he wants us to have a balance in life he wants us to worship him in spirit but he also wants us to worship him in truth all scripture is inspired is is given by inspiration of god and look at that next word and is profitable and is profitable what is a profit a profit is something that you get from your investment you get a profit from what you have invested in so he's trying to tell you that if you'll read the word of god if you will invest a few moments of your time a day just a few moments of your time a day if you will invest that time he said there will be a prophet that will come back to you you will have a prophet at the end of reading the word that the word is profitable for what for doctrine for teaching for the set of rules that you gauge your life by it is profitable for doctrine and then this next word for reproof for reproof look at that word with me and break it down re proof re proof i did a study on this word i did a study on this word and by the greek word this word reproof only appears twice in the new testament and this word reproof has two meanings conviction and evidence conviction re-proof re-proof conviction and evidence now there's two ways that god convicts us the first way he convicts us was in our infancy of coming to him he convicted us by his spirit how many remember before you came to god of having conviction can i get a witness you had conviction what did it feel like oh it was horrible it was terrible uh it was just like it was like you were you were under some kind of of of siege uh some kind of whole you you knew what it was you knew that god had arrested you you knew you were in the the grip of a holy god's hand and and you had conviction you had you had conviction you if you if you you went to church uh uh and and you grip the back of the pew and sometimes probably uh a few of us here today didn't go to the altar the first time we were convicted we we kind of stood there and and we waited it out and finally the preacher invited everybody to the altar and we gave a sigh but we found out that just because the preacher said amen that the conviction didn't and so we're waking in the night we have thoughts that come through our mind frequently during the day if i died today i would be lost and then finally we gave way to conviction we made that trip i mean remember that making that trip to that altar stepping out and making that trip to that altar and making the trip up the steps to the baptismal pool and receiving the holy ghost for the first time and wonderful but now the second way god convicts us is through his word god wants to convict us through his word the bible says that the scripture is profitable for doctrine and for reproof it is conviction and the next place that it's found it's only found in two places hebrews 11 and verse number one now faith is the substance of things hoped for the evidence of things not seen not only will the word bring conviction but the word will bring evidence there will be evidence there will be things in your life that's evident it's evidence that you're doing the right thing you will have evidence if you begin to live by the word you begin to as a matter of fact i'm i'm really trying to keep going back to reading the word because we'll never live by the word if we don't live the word if we don't read the word you get that don't you you'll never live by something that you don't read you got to read the word and when you read the word you can live by the word and so as you begin to read the word and live by the word you begin to have evidence in your life that the word is at work in your life can you say amen reading the word will cause a spiritual light to come on inside of your inner person there's something about the book the bible it's like no other book you read a lot of books and it never turns a light on but when you begin to read scripture because the author is god the author is god and the author as you read his word he begins to turn a light on in your life look at psalms 119 verse 130 to prove the point the entrance of thy words giveth light it giveth understanding unto the simple the entrance the receiving of god's word begins to turn a light on and not only that the simple-minded that's what we are without the word i don't care how educated we are we are simple-minded without the word when we can't understand spiritual things we are simple-minded but as we begin to read the word of god the word of god begins to turn the light on in our lives and the simple mind you begin to say i see that i understand that i understand why you all do what you do well how valuable is the word listen to something that jesus says time and time after time again he was asked one day matter of fact in a critical way the religious people begin to chide him because the disciples pick corn on the sabbath day and begin to eat and they begin to chide him why are you letting them pick corn on the sabbath day and eating but in matthew chapter 12 and verse number three here was his answer but he said unto them have ye not read look at what jesus said he said have you not been reading now you're chiding me have you not read have you not read what david did when he was hungered and they that were with him verse number five then he says again he said here you're chatting me he said have you not been reading have you not have you not read and then verse 5 he had to close it out he said or have ye not read in the law how that the sabbath days the priest and the temple profaned the sabbath and are blameless you know what he's saying there haven't you been reading about how i value man haven't you been reading i gave man a sabbath day the man is not made for the sabbath but the sabbath is made for the man don't you know that as you read god's word you'll begin to have a feeling of value about yourself we're not some biological happening some just thing that happened in life we're not just some speck of humanity in the midst of billions oh no read this book you'll find out that god values man god values man but you'll never know it have you not read well he goes on i would say the next valuable thing in our lives would be our marriage you know this bible has a lot to say about marriage they came to jesus in matthew chapter 19 verses 3 and 4 they came to jesus once again these pharisees the pharisees also came unto him tempting him and saying unto him is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause and he answered and said unto them are you are you following me and he answered and said unto them let's read it together and he answered and said unto them what you're asking me something and you know that you're asking me something and you'd know the answer to it if you had read how about the value of worship the value of marriage read it the value of man read it how about the value of worship well one day jesus had done some miracles and i mean to tell you they they started worshiping him and they started praising him and they started calling him hosanna the son of david they started worshiping him as god and matthew 21 15 happened i guess you kind of notice the people that should have known the word are the ones being asked over and over again by jesus have you not read that'd be one thing for a world not to read their bible but surely the church can read its bible surely the church man here everybody's worshiping hosanna bless i mean they're ripping palm trees i mean that limbs off the trees and they're worshiping they're worshiping him and then here they come and when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did and the children crying out in the temple saying hosanna to the son of david they were sore displeased and he said unto and said unto him hearst thou what they say they came and said hey jesus don't you hear what they're saying don't you hear what these children are saying and jesus saith unto them yea read it with me now yay he said if you'd read you'd understand why they're praising me have you never read out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise let's look at what we can find in the bible if we'll read our bibles this year we'll find out how valuable man is if we'll read our bibles we'll find out about worship if we'll read our bibles we'll find out about marriage if we'll read our bibles we'll find out if you read your bible folks stand around saying what in the world they doing running around here read your bible what are they doing up here jumping up and down and while they're doing it two or three men took off running and they're better than me and i could i used i was i'm in shape to run around the old congress old sanctuary but i don't know about this new sanctuary here i don't know if i'd make it all the way around or not what are they doing have you never read what are they doing you see the the those those that don't read their bibles they they don't know why we do what we do but to those of us that read the bible we know why the worship goes on why they got them drums in the church read your bible well they got them stringed instruments in the church read your bible why they got on them singers up here read your bible because the bible tells us all these things just read your bible now i guess the greatest value of the bible is the bible revere reveals the character of god and the conduct of god the bible reveals who god is you can never truly embrace who god is without reading the bible it'll never happen he's not the man upstairs you gotta understand the value of you going on this journey with me is that we're going to come to the knowledge the character of god well again in matthew chapter 21 and verse number 42 they they're they're chiding jesus again they're they're chiding him again and he says in matthew chapter 21 verse 42 jesus saith unto them did well i kind of like for y'all to say it with me jesus said unto them they're questioning who he is who who are you who just who are you and guess how he answers them have you never read in the scriptures the stone which the builders rejected the same has become the head of the corner this is the lord's doing and it is marvelous and it is marvelous in our eyes in other words who are you doing this he said have you never read the scripture seems like to me that a lot of questions that are being asked could be answered if we would just read the scriptures read the scriptures not only this a lot of folks asking about the future they came to jesus one time it's amazing lord help me today to move through these notes um they came to jesus one time and this is amazing it was the sadducees that came to him the sadducees that's a religious group and there was it was two groups of people the pharisees and the sadducees and uh somebody said well what was the difference and i've often said well the pharisees were fair you see and the sadducees was sad you see but that's not true but maybe it is because the pharisees believed in the resurrection they believed there was life after you died they believed in the resurrection but the sadducees believed in no resurrection it's interesting that it is the sadducees that come to jesus and they said jesus uh we want to ask you a question said this man and his wife said they were married and um and believe you me this is in the bible this man and his wife were married and the man died and so the brother of the man uh took the wife took the woman to his wife brother number two brother number two died brother number three stepped up and he married the woman and brother number three died all the way up to brother number seven seven brothers married the same woman all of them are dead then they asked they said master in the resurrection whose wife will she be and um which is an odd question coming from a group of people that don't believe in the resurrection um so jesus answers because they they said they said we want to know in the resurrection whose wife will she be brother one two three four five six or seven matthew 22 31 he answers them but as touching the resurrection of the dead he said you want to know about the resurrection of the dead and then i want you to read the next few words it seemed like to me that a lot of things just get answered have you not read that which was spoken unto you by god saying i am the god of abraham and the god of isaac and the god of jacob god is not the god of the dead but of the living see what i hope we talk about people are dead that's the only their body is dead for me to live is christ but to die is gain to be absent from this body is to be what have you not have you not read well the word of god the reason i want you to go on this journey with me is because of the life assurance that the bible gives sister nelson the life assurance that the bible gives not life insurance there's a difference between insurance and assurance i'm talking about the life assurance that we don't have to fear what would happen in our lives we don't have to go through life wringing our hands fearful because whatever god would allow to come our way thank god for that foundation that is steadfast and that is sure but you don't get that foundation unless you have read this word unless you are built on this word turn with me turn with me to matthew chapter 7 and verse number 24. matthew chapter 7 life assurance not life insurance but life assurance matthew chapter 7 and verse number 24 therefore the this is jesus speaking now therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them whoever hears them you can't hear unless you read it you got to read it you hear it as you read it you hear it but you not only hear it you not only read it and hear it you do it i will liken him into a wise man which built his house upon a rod where in this season of time we talk about wise men wise men not only bring gifts to jesus but wise men also read the word and they also do what they read i will liken him unto a wise men man which built his house upon a rock and the rain descended it didn't say if the rain descended it said am the rain descended it didn't say and if the floods came it said the floods came then saying if the wind blows it said the wind blew and beat upon that house and it fell not for it was founded upon a rock what is the rock the rock is the product of reading hearing and doing god's word that's a rock that's a rock that cannot shake our lives and not if trouble comes trouble's coming to all of us it has it will it has it is and it will come you just get ready for that if you're one of these fair-weathered christians that every time the wind blows you're out of here well you're just out of here but if you want to know what it's like to stand up against the wind and the waves and the storm and when life throws you things that none of us have the guarantee i mean look at 2020 none of us have a guarantee of this or that in life but i do have the assurance of this if i'll get a hold of this book in 2021 and i'll start a journey every day i'm going to be pouring just one more bit of concrete just one more bit of concrete let the rain come let the wind blow let everything happen in my life i am built on a rock can you say amen i am built on a rock verse 26 and everyone that heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them not shall be likened to a foolish man which built his house upon the sand and the rain descended and the floods came and the winds blew and beat up on that house and it fell and great was the fall of it great was the fall you ever seen people's lives and had the opportunity to hear god's word ever seen somebody's life in church and the enemy of our soul oh we all got an enemy you hear me listen you let your guard down and he'll tear your life up you let your guard down and he'll tear your life apart and great will be the fall of your life you see people that they let their guard down and the enemy came in the enemy came in you see pre 911 and this is even i'm not bashing our government even our government confessed that they let their guard down give me the one picture of the uh building there when it uh on 9 11 right there it is on 9 11. you know who did this an enemy an enemy did this you know how the enemy did this we let our guard down we let our guard down and when we let our guard down this is what the enemy did and just like and if you keep that picture up there i want it to burn in your minds for a moment but it's just like our lives how terrible this is i'm going to tell you this is nothing compared to a soul that's been attacked this has been rebuilt but you let the enemy destroy your soul and there's a possibility you'll never get your soul rebuilt we did this this happened he said well why hasn't happened again since 9 11 to this extent now it's happened but not to this extent you know why we put our guard back up somebody went after the enemy they went after the enemy you see if we let our guard down and the enemy will come in and do this and great will be the fall of your house the enemy did this give me the next picture watch all the enemy took down all the way down that's at the end of the day but i've been there i've been there and you know what the enemy couldn't get the foundation the enemy brought the structure down but the enemy couldn't bring the foundation see it's a lot like samson it's a lot like samson that tower is a lot like samson the enemy got his hair and collapsed it collapsed his life but the bible says later on how be at the hair of samson's head begin to grow and i've often said delilah got his hair but she couldn't get his roots the enemy can get a lot of things about us but he can't get our roots i may have let my guard down and and the enemies come in and and crash my building down but somehow this morning seated upon these pews as young men and young women that are saying you know what i feel an inkling of picking my bible up i just feel like man it would be time i've never read my bible through i've never read my bible through i've got godly grandparents and i've got godly people in my life that know what it's like to read their bible through and what's happening right now is the enemy may have brought your building down but the enemy cannot get our roots we better value our bibles the years going up to the rapture of the church we better value this book we better read this book we better cling to this book we better we better have it as our as the most precious thing i want our musicians to come let me give you just a little bit of homework just a little bit of homework it's in jeremiah chapter 36 jeremiah is a hated prophet he is he is a hated prophet matter of fact not only is jeremiah a hated prophet he's hated by his people that he's trying to prophesy to and he's also hated by the authorities he's hated by the government he's hated by the king because the king's trying to tell him one thing and the false prophets are trying to tell him another thing you see god told israel you've you you've disobeyed the sabbath and you're going to be in babylonian captivity for 70 years he said he said jeremiah tell them to to to just accept you're going to be here for 70 years i want you to build houses i want you to marry i want you to plant vineyards i want you to survive i want you i want you to be in babylon for 70 years but false prophets came along the people didn't want to hear that they didn't want to hear that they were going to be in captivity for 70 years so false prophets came along and told them what they wanted to hear not only that the king saw the government saw the king saul brother dove the king saw that it was causing confusion in his kingdom so the king the king the government the king ordered for some scrolls that jeremiah had set down with a man and jeremiah had said thus saith the lord this is going to happen and that's going to happen and this is going to take place let's say the lord and he list a lot of things and they took it to the king in chapter 36 the bible said it was winter and the king sat by a fireplace he set by a fireplace and they said as the king read two or three pages he took out a pen knife is what he called it and he said i don't like that and he ripped that out and he threw it in the fire and the bible says in jeremiah 36 that he went through the whole thing that jeremiah had prophesied the word of god and he kept tearing out throwing away burning it thinking in himself i'm getting rid of this i'm getting rid of all of this these are this is god's plans for his people i'm getting rid of all of this stuff until he came to the last page and he burned it all he burned it all but the bible says give me that picture of that foundation again that foundation just one more time please he burned it all an enemy has done this an enemy caused this to happen all of the scroll to the last page the king took his knife out and cut it out and threw it on the fire he turns around i can imagine in my mind he turns around and looks at the people around him and said well that does it that does it but the bible says in that same chapter that the word of the lord came again to jeremiah and he he wrote he spoke and he wrote again and this time he wrote the same thing and he added a little bit to it what are you trying to say i want you to know that i don't care how dark this world gets in 2021. i don't care what laws might be made in this land in 2021 you can never make enough laws to burn this book up this book will be alive when the world is on fire this book will stand when the world's on fire would you go on the journey with me would you go on the journey with me in 2021. should i get somebody to say brother carpenter i'm on the journey with you i'm on the journey of reading my bible through in 2021. would you stand with me today i'm on the journey you know why you know why an enemy did this but was it over at 9 11 was it over that day when those planes came and the enemy came and brought the buildings down and the lives that were lost was it over no it's not over is it over in my life what the enemy's done you listen to me today no it's not over young and old alike it's not over what the enemies pulled over on you because shortly after 9 11 the people begin to rebuild and the people begin to rebuild and they hauled off the rubbish and they begin to restore and renew and as i speak this morning give me the next picture this is what's standing in new york city this is what took the place of all the rubbish that was there i'm preaching to you today i know the devil is not some of you and the planes have flown in but i've come to tell you in 2020 god is going to rebuild your life in 2020 god is going to rebuild come on can we lift our hands up all over this building oh god in the name of jesus today god i pray right now i open up these altars right now god if there's anyone in the under the sound of my voice if you're here in this room today under the sound of my voice and your life has been attacked by the enemy and you want this last sunday in 2020 to be the time that you turn around this altar is open to you right now would you slip out of your pew and come to this altar right now i want to rebuild my life the enemy's flown planes into my life the enemy the great is the fall of my life i want to get back to where i need to be with god would you come right now would you make your way right now would you make your way i want to open this up let's pray church should i get my prayer warriors can i get my prayer partners praying all over this building right now lord in the name of jesus oh god if there's a prodigal son or daughter here today oh god the heart is beating in that man's chest right now oh god the heart is beating in that woman's chest right now god men and women that have left their guard down and the enemies flown the planes in oh i opened this altar for you to rebuild come on 9 11. let's haul the rubbish off today let's have that rubbish off this morning i invite you to join me in this altar today for so almighty god mighty god mighty god mighty god mighty god is you mean is foreign me rain down all foreign life today god i want you to stir me lord i want you to spare me come on lift your voices up church it's a day to be stirred to me foreign you are oh is you are my everything you are one more time foreign if you believe that this morning would you just lift both your hands right now would you give god a praise in this house oh the word has touched you today the word has touched you today thank god thank god thank god thank god thank god thy word o god is everything thy word o god is everything to us lord god it's by your word that we get the doctrine oh god it's by your word that we get the evidence lord god it's by your word that we rebuke lord god it's by your word that we instruct people how to live their lives oh god this is not a pentecostal tradition this is not some kind of just fable god it's by your word that we're directed lord oh it's by your word lord it's about your word god you hear me today it's by god's word it's by god's word a couple of things in the bible to end with this morning jesus plainly said that the word shows us two ways a right way and an evil way jesus taught us plainly that the by the word that you'll either bear good fruit or evil fruit and he showed us by the word that you'll either build your house on the rock or you'll build it on the sand i can just answer from me today i want to be on the right road i want the right fruit hanging on my branch and god knows that i want to build a house that can withstand the storms of life now a gathered around the altar is a small little pamphlet it's free to everyone today it's free to everyone it's a small little pamphlet you'll see on the front it has our theme for 2021 our thing for 2021 is all things new would you say that with me all things new you'll open up this pamphlet you'll find in it it goes from january through june has a little place over here has a little place for you to check that you've that you've read the scripture has even a little place here uh it has a place it has a c and a and a p and a b and the c stands for church the c stands for church the p stands for prayer and the b stands for the bible reading beside that you will see the date january 1st that's this coming friday and in order to get on this journey with me read genesis 1 chapter 1 through genesis 3. now i want to caution everybody i want to caution everybody don't get miles ahead of us on day one you all heard the little fable the turtle and the rabbit huh don't get it just just stay you say well i got through reading three chapters and i wanted more go back and read the three again all right but you're going to go on this journey with us and then when you read that you check that off you read that you had prayer you check it off now to be a good thing it'd be a good thing to look back on it to look back on it chart your life this is a it's that's why it's called a tracker okay it tracks it tracks you on the back is something near to my heart on the back is scriptures to pray over your children if you've ever wondered what to pray over your children pray the scriptures over them put your children's name in the place of these scriptures these trackers are on the altar this morning we have one per person not one per family but we want one per person and if you'd like to come right now and get one come down and get one but please join us please join us this coming friday january 1st please join us as we read our bibles through god bless you see you tonight at 5 30 in the prayer room six o'clock service you're dismissed in the lovely name of the lord this morning