Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
At Sandals Church, our vision is to be real with ourselves, God and others. This channel features sermons and teaching from Pastor Matt Brown and other members of the Sandals Church preaching team. You can find sermon notes, videos and more content at http://sandalschurch.com/watch
This is the Sandals Church Podcast, a place for real people with real struggles learning to follow Jesus. Wherever you are right now, driving, working, or trying to make it through the day, we are really glad you're here. Let's get into today's message.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Man does not live by bread alone, Jesus said, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. And so let me ask you, how is your appetite for God today? Just hold that question out. We'll return to it in a second. It was the spring of twenty twenty four, and Ash and I had taken our family on a trip to London for our kinda annual family trip.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:And one day, we found ourselves standing inside the beautiful Saint Paul's Cathedral. This place is majestic. I got a little photo here of me. I look gigantic next to this sweet little minister who led everyone, including tourists like ourselves, through midday prayer. But this place is beautiful.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:The architecture is stunning. There are centuries of worship there. And as I found myself walking around this place, it was almost as if every brick started to echo a part of history to me as I walked through it. And one particular story stands out to me. About five hundred years ago, there was a man by the name of William Tyndale.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:He's referred to as the father of modern English. Maybe you've heard of him. If you haven't, it's totally okay because you're a normal person. But he was a brilliant professor at Cambridge who had a radical idea at the time that he believed every person should be able to have access to the bible in the English language. Now why?
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Because in that particular time, it was illegal to have an English bible in your own home, to be able to read it. Both the government and the church had conspired to keep the bible, the English bible, out of the hands of people. And so Tyndale, through his brilliance and resources, interpreted the New Testament into English, smuggled those Bibles back into Europe. The king at the time got word of this, hired a spy to take thousands of those Bibles and had 6,000 of them burned on the steps of the very church I was standing in, Saint Paul's Cathedral. That is insane.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Tyndale was later arrested for his crimes, strangled to death, his body was burned. Church history records that at his dying moments he cried out, Lord, open the eyes of the king of England. Three years later that prayer request was answered to the point that, Bibles were made accessible throughout every church in England. Think about that. The very thing Tyndale died for became available to everyone.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Fast forward five hundred years, there I am in this building like most of us today with multiple copies of the bible. We carry one in our pockets. Some of you have them sitting on your lap today in part because of people like William Tyndale and the sacrifices he made. Now what I've been thinking about is what is it about the bible that so terrified the powers in that day? Like what did they know about the word of God that maybe some of us have forgotten today?
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Because if people were willing to die so others could read the scriptures, why is it so easy for you and I to leave them unopened on our shelves? Because unlike William Tyndale, our greatest problem today isn't access to the bible, it's our appetite for the bible. How's your appetite? It's a question that a doctor will sometimes ask people who are recovering. Why?
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Because as your body is rebuilding itself and healing, one of the first signs that you are getting better is your appetite comes back. Because when you and I are sick, we lose our appetite. Unless you're like me, I always got an appetite. But generally speaking, when your appetite returns, it's a healthy sign. And I wonder if the same is true spiritually.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:That when God is beginning to rebuild you from a place of brokenness, one of the first things that comes back is your appetite for his word. Now I say that realizing that we currently find ourselves in what some call a post bible moment. That is to say we live in a time where Christians all over the world can consume Christian content without ever cracking open the scriptures themselves and hearing God speak a word over their life. What a time to be in. Now let me tread very carefully though because I realize everyone in here today and all of you who are watching, whether you follow Jesus or not, you have a relationship to the scriptures, whether you realize it or not.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Meaning some of you relate to the bible a bit suspiciously. Sure, some verses are comforting, but overall you find the bible a bit suspicious. You're not sure what to think. Others of you are just confused by the bible. Like, yes, you believe in Jesus, you believe the gospel, you're saved, you're following him, but if you were being honest, the bible confuses you.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Please know you're not alone. It confuses me too, and I'm up here teaching, so that's a lot of stress. Right? Some of you have been hurt by the bible. Why?
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Because at some point in your life, somebody weaponized the word of God against you. And for many most Americans, the way we relate to the bible is, you know, we just don't have a lot of time for it, and so we rarely crack it open. However you might relate to the bible in this moment, I just want you to hear this, that God desires to rebuild your life in this moment. And the way that he longs to do it is through his word. And so because of that, he has a word for us today as to how he desires to rebuild us through his beautiful word.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:And so in light of that, I'm gonna ask that if you are willing and able, you would stand with me for the reading of God's word. Nehemiah eight, and then I will pray. All the people came together as one in the square before the water gate. They told Ezra, the teacher of the law, to bring out the book of the law of Moses which the Lord had commanded for Israel. So on the first day of the seventh month of Ezra, the priest brought the law before the assembly, was made up of men and women and all who were able to understand.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:He read it out loud from daybreak till noon as he faced the square before the water gate in the presence of the men, women, and others who could understand. And all the people listened attentively to the book of the law. Ezra, the teacher of the law, stood on a high wooden platform built for the occasion. Beside him on his right stood Mattathea, Shema, Aniah, Uriah, Hilkiah, and Masea. And on his left were Padiah, Mishael, Milkilda, Hashum, Hashabadanah, Zechariah, and Meshullam.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Lord have mercy on these names. Verse five, Ezra opened the book. All the people could see him because he was standing above them. As he opened it, the people all stood up, like what we are doing now. Ezra praised the Lord, the great God, and all the people lifted their hands and responded, amen, amen.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Then they bowed down and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground. The Levites, Jeshua, Benai, Cherubiah, Jamin, Achab, Shabbatiah, Hodiah, Messiah, Kalida, Azariah, Jozebad, Hanan, and Peleah, instructed the people in the law while the people were standing there. They read from the book of the law of God, making it clear and giving the meaning so that the people understood what was being read. Then Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and the teacher of the law, and the Levites who were instructing the people said to them all, this day is holy to the Lord your God. Do not mourn or weep, for all the people have been weeping as they were listening to the words of the law.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Nehemiah said, go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks and send some those, send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve for the joy of the Lord is your strength. The Levites calmed all the people saying, be still for this is a holy day. Do not grieve.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Then all the people went away to eat and drink to send portions of food and to celebrate with great joy because they now understood the words that had been made known to them. On the second day of the month, the heads of all the families along with the priests and Levites gathered around Ezra the teacher to give attention to the words. They found written in the law which the Lord had commanded through Moses that the Israelites were to live in temporary shelters during the festival of the seventh month, and that they should proclaim this word and spread it throughout their towns and in Jerusalem. Go out into the hill country and bring back branches from olive and wild olive trees and from myrtles, palms, and shade trees to make temporary shelters as it is written. So the people went out and brought back branches and built themselves temporary shelters on their roofs, in their courtyards, in the courts of the house of God, and in the square by the water gate, and the one by the gate of Ephraim.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:The whole company that had returned from exile built temporary shelters and lived in them. From the days of Joshua son of Nun until that day, the Israelites had not celebrated it like this, and their joy was very great. Day after day, from the first day to the last, Ezra read from the book of the law of Moses. They celebrated the festival for seven days and on the eighth day in accordance with the regulation, there was an assembly. This is God's word.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Let's pray together. Heavenly father, in this moment that we have gathered today, we pause in prayer to recognize that you have gathered with us too. So we ask now that you would speak. That as Jesus said, you would give us ears to hear and eyes to see so that we might become all that you desire us to be in him. We pray these things in Christ's name, amen.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Amen. You guys may be seated. Now I don't know about you but what we just read sounded a lot less like construction, tools, the opposition they had been facing as they're trying to rebuild the wall, and what we read sounded a lot like revival, a church service where people hear the word of God and they they worship. Right? We've switched out our tools for our hymn books.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:And I think that's really important because there is a pivotal shift now in the story of Nehemiah where they go from rebuilding the walls to having their own lives be rebuilt. Because although the walls were completed in just fifty two days, it would take much longer for God to begin his real transformative work in rebuilding the people. And that's his desire today as it was then for the people. And so let's look at how he does this beginning there in verse one. It said, all the people came together as one in the square before the Water Gate.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Now let's pause there to get a picture of what's going on. Earlier in, Nehemiah seven verse 66, it says specifically that there were 42,360 people in total. That's a lot of people. Not in a church building, mind you, but where are they? Out of the Watergate.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:They're in the street. Now to put this into context, my favorite basketball arena in Downtown LA, what I still call Staples Center, where I believe God's favorite basketball team plays, holds just under 19,000 people. So imagine what this scene is in Nehemiah eight is not just one sold out stadium, but two sold out stadiums of people in the streets and with one voice. What are they saying to Nehemiah as it continues? They told Ezra, excuse me, Ezra the teacher of the law, that's a new person that we're introduced to, not the governor Nehemiah who's helped rebuild, but now this is Ezra, the scribe, the preacher so to speak.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:And I want you to underline this phrase, bring out the book of the law of Moses. Bring out the book they say. 42,000 people, men, women, and children, anyone who could understand were told with one unifying voice, what do they want? Bring out the book. Man, what a declaration.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Can that be said of us right now? Notice the hunger in their voice, the appetite they have for the word of God. They want the book to be brought out. Is that you in your current state right now? Do you long for the word of God to be brought out?
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Man, what if this became the cry of our generation again? Bring out the book. When I need hope on a day to day basis, where do I look? Bring out the book, the people say. When when life is life ing, bring out the book.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:When I'm anxious, bring out the book. When I need wisdom to work through conflict or just to become a better version of myself in Jesus, bring out the book, friends. There is a time and a place for a podcast, for a sermon, but ultimately what you need to hear is the book brought out to you in your life. That's what you need. And in our text today, the people in one voice say, bring out the book, Ezra.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:We wanna hear scripture. And we're told that they stand from morning till daybreak. That's it. Guys, that's six hours. My my my.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:My knees I mean, my my dog start barking after three songs at church. I gotta take a seat. They stood for six hours Reading what Nehemiah writes as the book of the law of Moses, that's the the Torah, the first five books of the Old Testament, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, they stood for six hours hearing the story of God reshape their own personal stories. Many of them, remember, they've been in exile. They've never heard the word of God before.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:And for the first time in their life, they are hearing God's story make sense of their own story. Do you remember what that was like for you in your own life? The first time you heard God speak. Because this is not just kinda surface level consumption. This is not like kind of a a grab and go fast food version of scripture intake.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:They listened attentively, the story says, which is important because attention, listen, is the currency of love. We give our attention to what we treasure. So what does that say about us when the people we claim to love most say that they don't have our attention in our lives? Attention is the currency of love. And the people of God in this moment gave their time, their bodies, their reverence to hearing scripture reshape their imagination.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:When I think about the story, I think about that opening psalm, Psalm one where David says, the blessed person, you know this psalm, walks not in the counsel of the wicked nor stands in the way of sinners nor sits in the seat of scoffers, but they delight in the law of the Lord. And what? They meditate on that law day and night, what the people of God were doing in this scene. David then goes on to describe that they are like this tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit. Its leaves its leaves don't wither.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:In other words, there's a sense of stability. In all that it does, it prospers. I would imagine at some level you guys long to be like that tree, do you not, that bears fruit, that has a sense of stability. And the the picture here is that that happens as you meditate. The principle becomes very clear.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:I am rebuilt as I reflect on God's word. Meaning to the degree that you and I learn to reflect will be to the degree that we are rebuilt in our relationship to God. There is a direct correlation between your ability to meditate and how much you mature as a Christian in Christ. There's a strong connection between those two things. And to help us understand this, me just define what I mean by reflect.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:To reflect is to give my unhurried attention. Oh, that's a word for us right now in America. To reflect is to give my unhurried attention to someone or something. To go slow, which is hard because we live in a world built around skimming, scrolling, surface level consumption. And skimming oftentimes tries to shortcut quickly what God desires to form in us slowly, to slowly chew on something.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Now I I wanna just be really clear. When I say reflect or meditate, some of that, you know, that freaks some of you out because if you're like me, you can't sit crisscross applesauce. Right? Or you your life is not like that of a monk in a monastery. Like, you're you got a busy life right now.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:But I want you all to hear me. We all are very good at reflecting. We actually are much better at meditating than we might think. For example, have you ever gotten a great text message from someone, Maybe a spouse or a friend. It was on your birthday and they just sent you a long list of why they're so glad you're alive.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:What'd you do? You read that thing. You reread that thing. You made every word just sink deep into your heart. You reflected.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:The same is true if you get a scary email from a boss. You start to rehearse what that conversation's gonna look like. Am I getting fired? Am I gonna have a job? Like, what's going on?
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Right? What is worry? Worry is a kind of reflecting, is it not? When you repeatedly return to the same fearful thought until it begins to shape how you see everything. You were first just worried about this, and now you're worried about everything.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:You see, oftentimes what we reflect on either nourishes us or malnourishes our entire being, our entire self. So what have you been reflecting on this week? Maybe for some of you, you've been reflecting on, the ways you messed up, a relational conflict, conversation you needed to have with someone. Maybe you've just been reflecting on your financial situation right now in life. It's difficult.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:What you're doing in the moment, you're you're chewing on it, you're meditating on it, and it is doing something to you. Eugene Peterson in his brilliant little book called eat this book, that's a great title, about how Christians should read the bible. Notice what he says there in this book. He says reading scripture is more like eating than merely studying. The goal is not simply to get through the text.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:The goal is to let the text get through us. My my my. To let it get into our bodies, to assimilate into us. Much like what Peter says there in first Peter two, like newborn babies crave pure spiritual milk. He's referring to the bible.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:He's referring to the word of God. Crave it. Let it get drink it. Let it get into your body, your heart, and your mind so that what? By it you may grow up in your salvation.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Reflection will lead to you being rebuilt, and everyone needs this. Whether you are new to the bible or you've been reading the bible for a long time, everyone needs reflection. Notice in our story, they all stood. They all listened for six hours. Whether they had heard the Torah before or was brand new to them, everyone did it.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:And so I wanna say to this, to some of you who are, you know, reading the Bible for the first time, you need reflection. Because for beginners, the temptation is to quit because they don't understand enough about the Bible. But reflection eventually helps you with that. But then for the mature believers, your temptation is to stop listening because you already think you know enough about the bible. Reflection rescues both of us.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:And before I say that to you, I say that to myself. I deeply need to elevate and increase my appetite for the word of God in my own life. Because as someone who's been reading the bible for decades, it is easy for me to skim, to just read scripture as a way to prepare for a moment like this where I'm freaking out in front of all of you guys. Right? Why?
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Because I already know the word or so I think. So then I find myself in moments like I'm currently in where I'm like, God, I I wish you would speak to me again. I feel like I have not heard your voice in a while. And then it just struck me this week as I was sitting there thinking, man, why would God speak to me on something I already think I have the answer to? And so, man, Lord, increase my appetite.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:And as you do that, would you increase my humility so that I might see the wonder and the beauty again of reflecting. Because some people in that crowd, as I mentioned, had never heard the word of God publicly. Others had heard it from years before, but they all stood in reverence. We're told that this platform was built for him. That's incredible.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Like the first pulpit ever made. I wonder what it looked You see like a literally like a church being designed out on the street so that Ezra can stand up, and they all listen to him. It's beautiful. There's a sense of reverence and authority that's given, and notice the progression of what happens there. It says that the people began to say amen.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:They they bound out and worshiped, then we're told, the Levites with that crazy list of names I barely made it through, they all kinda seem to break up into small group and give understanding of the text. We don't know exactly how it happened, but what a beautiful sight. The Bible's read and then these other people up on the platform kinda helped the crowds make sense of what they were hearing. And as they under excuse me. As they understood God's word, notice what started to happen to them.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Look at what it says there in verse nine. For all the people had been weeping as they listened to the words of the law. This is no longer just a long lecture, but their very bodies are starting to respond. Why? Because their hearts have been cut.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:You remember a time like this, don't you? When the word of God, like someone was preaching and oh my gosh, it felt like they were reading your mail. It's like, God is speaking right to me in this moment. And you you feel like almost a little like, man, embarrassed? Like, am I the only one here?
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Like, this word is for me. Like, God is speaking to me. And it left you in a place where you were just convicted. Because all of a sudden now through the story of God, you can see your own story. And as you come to meet the God of the bible, you see who you actually are before him, and it leaves you broken and crying and weeping.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:In the words of Hebrews, the word of God is alive and active, sharper than any double edged sword, and it's able to penetrate, to divide soul and spirit. It judges your thoughts and my thoughts and the attitudes of our hearts, and the only natural response is what? We cry. We weep before what we're dealing with. But notice the way that they respond to their weeping.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:It says there in verses 10, notice what Nehemiah said, go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks. Now I love a bible study like that. Take me to that one. Read the bible for hours. I'll get through that because I want the food and the sweet drinks.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:And notice what he says, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. And then he says, do not weep. This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve for the joy of the Lord is your strength. Notice the connection and the progression.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:The word, yes, leads us to a place of weeping, deep conviction, but that is not the destination. Joy is the destination. The whole goal of reading scripture is that you would encounter joy, the joy of the lord, and that what becomes your very strength. Notice the connection. It's not joy you produce that makes you strong.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:No. No. It's God's delight in you that then gives you strength. That's what happens as we encounter him. So here's the point.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Reflection restores my joy. Not only does it begin to rebuild us into who God designs us to be, but reflection has a way of restoring our joy again. Because God is glad that what? We are home. To read the bible, friends, is to go home and to find yourself with God again.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Because oftentimes we assume that God's holiness should make us afraid, and there are times for that. That his holy justice should cause us to weep, to ask for mercy. But also, God has a holy love. His mercy is holy. His kindness is holy.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:That is to say his forgiveness is holy. It is different. It is set apart. And so, yes, conviction is is taken, through the word, but it ultimately it leads us to a place of joy and and to be home and ultimately to have communion with God. That is ultimately what we're after.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Jeremiah says like this in Jeremiah fifteen, one of the most interesting verses you will read. When your words came to me, I ate them. They were my joy and my heart's delight for I bear your name, Lord God Almighty. He ate the words, they became his joy. Much like, what I think Jesus is after when he says, I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:In other words, I have told you this, Jesus speaking about his words. And in giving us his words, he's saying that my joy would be in you. So to take in the words of Jesus is ultimately to allow him to also deposit into your life his joy. That's the hope. That is the very hope.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Which makes reading and taking in scripture not just a practice so that we feel bad about ourselves. Because let's be honest, there are plenty of times where you and I all linger too long in just guilt. But the hope is that reading would take us to a place of communion. Meaning when you open the bible, it is one of those rare times where you read a book with that book's author in the room with you. Meaning we just don't read about Jesus, but we are reading with Jesus.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:He is there with you in the room. Reading in is deeply relational. It's about communion. And so let me just ask you this question. When I open the scriptures, do I expect only correction from God or joyful communion with him too?
Pastor Fredo Ramos:When you open the bible, do you expect to be corrected or do you also anticipate joyful communion with God? Because I'm here to tell you from our story that joyful communion led to a profound display of obedience. We see this unique kind of scene unfold where we're told that the next day the people of God go out and start to get branches. For what? Look at verses 16.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:It said there in the story, so the people went out and brought brought back branches and built themselves temporary shelters on their own roofs. What a what a picture in their courtyards. They put them on, you know, the courtyards in the courts of the house of God and in the square by the water gate and the one by the gate of Ephraim. So just imagine this scene for a second. A rebuilt city, and then there's kids running around, palm branches everywhere.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:What happened? Well, I would imagine at some point, as they're hearing the story of God, they come across Leviticus 23 where God had commanded Israel to live in temporary shelters. And they did this for seven days each year so that every generation would remember that it was God and God alone who sustained them through the wilderness. Before they had homes, before they had rebuilt walls, their real security was in God alone. And so this kind of reflection led to obedience.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Because imagine for a second how weird this would look. Like, if we could take a plane, go back into time, and fly over Jerusalem in this moment. Just imagine that. You fly over the city, you see the rebuilt walls, the paint's not even dry yet, they're so brand new, and then what do you see? Palm branches everywhere.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:They made tents and forts on the roof. It's strange. It's weird. But so is our obedience, isn't it? When you first start to obey God's word, it leads you to come off as a bit strange and weird and different because all of a sudden, you respond differently to people, and it looks strange.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:You're more patient. You have more forgiveness. You're less attached to your stuff. That comes off as strange. Why?
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Because you have built these booths in your life, because you remember who God is. Because through their reflection, they discovered this beautiful story in Leviticus 23, and it led them to do something. That means they took time, they changed their schedules, they made sacrifices. In other words, they rearranged their life. Reflection reorders my life around God's story.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:That's essentially what was happening there in this particular moment. Their journey back to Israel was not just their story, it was God's story through them. And that joyful encounter led them to live differently. The word moved from just the scroll being read by Ezra into the streets of their lives. And I wanna share this because for many of us today, our reading of the word has outpaced our reordering of our lives.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Meaning we all know what it's like to get familiar reading scripture and not actually, in the words of James, doing what we have heard, not reordering. Many of you know people in your life who know the bible well and don't seem to have a life that has been reordered, rearranged in the way of obedience. Like what David says in Psalm one nineteen, listen to this beautiful prayer, give me understanding. He says, give me insight, give me wisdom so that I may keep your law and obey it with all my heart. And the hope here in reordering our lives, friends, is that we are not left alone.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:It's easy to read this passage and miss that this was 42,000 people. In other words, they were reading the bible together. One of the most helpful ways for you and I to learn where we need to be obedient is to read the bible with other people and ask for their insights. Oh, and then by the way, to also be encouraged by the spirit of God himself. Your call to obedience, to reorder your life is supported by the beautiful work of the holy spirit.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:And I say that because we find ourselves in a very unhelpful divide in the church today. Meaning we divide between bible churches and holy spirit churches. Between this pursuit of knowing God objectively found in his story versus subjectively experiencing God in my story. By hearing God's voice on the pages of this book and hearing his still small voice speak to our souls. And you know what this is like?
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Will I go to a bible teaching church? Will I go to a spirit led church? Friends, this is a false dichotomy that the bible never ever presents. The spirit and the word work together. Listen to Jesus in John 14 when he said these words, but the advocate, the holy spirit, whom the father will send in my name will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:In other words, the holy spirit is a kind of teacher who brings to us the words of Jesus once again. So the work of the spirit is to work in cooperation, not competition with the scriptures to help you know what it's like to reorder your life. So you're not left guessing, what should I do next? Let the spirit speak to you from the word. Learn to hear his voice.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Now I realize that I can give a whole message on reflection without ever actually offering us a way forward on how to do it. So as we close, we're actually going to close in a unique way where we all practice reading the bible together. And the way we're going to do it is through a a model and a and a way of doing it that for hundreds of years has been referred to as sacred reading or lectio divi divina. Excuse me. It's a way of reading the bible in such a way that it gives you space to slow down and to reflect.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:In this way of sacred reading, are four movements of reading, meditating, praying, and contemplating. Those are a bit fancy for us as Sandals. So for our sake, we're gonna call it reading, reflecting, responding, and receiving. And so we're gonna walk through this exercise together as we close. And so I wanna encourage you, everyone now in this moment, just take a deep breath.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:And now, I'm gonna give a space just to hear from God. I'm gonna take us to John chapter six where Jesus has just got done feeding 5,000. He just got done walking on water, and surprisingly enough people still want Jesus to bring them another sign so they might believe in him. A familiar place, right, where you have seen Jesus do this and that in your life and yet you still find yourself saying, Jesus give me a sign. What do you want from me?
Pastor Fredo Ramos:I'm gonna read a verse from John six thirty five and I'm gonna read it slowly a few times over us and I'm gonna walk us through this practice of sacred reading. So we'll begin first with reading and I'm gonna just read it over you about five times. Just if you need to just close your eyes and allow the word just to kinda wash over you as we practice this. John six thirty five, Jesus declared, I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. I am the bread of life.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. Last time. I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. We move now to the second step which is simply to reflect.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:That is to say what is God saying specifically to me? So I wanna give you some space just to sit with that. What is God saying specifically to you from the words of Jesus about your life? Take some time, again if it helps just to close your eyes to bring your attention to God. What might he be saying to you in this moment?
Pastor Fredo Ramos:From there we move to the third step which is to respond, which is really to now say what do I need to say back to God in prayer? In light of him being bread for you today, in light of you being hungry and thirsty, in light of whatever situations you face, what do you need to say back to God? Respond to him now. Let's take some moments to do that. It's from this place that we move to now the step of receiving.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:To realize that we read not just about Jesus, but we read with the author in the room. So take a moment just to sit in his presence. How often do we not slow down in church? We sing songs about his presence but how long or how often do we take time just to sit in his presence and to receive what he has for us? Because we cannot bring to the world what we have not first received from him and so just receive the loving presence of God in these next few moments together.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Our hope is that we work through this exercise. My hope and prayer is that God would stir in Sandals Church an appetite again for scripture. And that this sacred reading, this simple practice would serve you well whether you are new to the bible or you've been around it for decades that you would learn that the written word leads you to the living word. That Jesus himself just doesn't offer you and I bread, friends, he is the bread of life. And so there I am standing on the steps of Saint Paul's Cathedral puzzled that someone would die so that the bible would be available only to be reminded of the simple truth that it is through the word that we have Jesus.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:And so friends, how is your appetite today? Let's take it to God in prayer now. Lord we pray that through the power of your spirit you would give us
Vivi Diaz:the