Charlie Loften: Hello, and welcome to The Grove Church podcast. I'm Charlie Loften, the lead pastor there, and we are so glad that you're joining us. Whether you are a member and you're just catching up on a sermon that you missed or you're someone who's brand new, we are really glad that you are joining us. And if you are new in some way, and I know that a lot of people will do that, we'll listen to sermons first before they visit. I want you to know that we would love to meet you at any point.
You can join us live in our services on Sunday, nine and 10:30 or our streaming service at 10:30. Either way, we would love to be able to get to know you. And regardless of why you are here listening to this sermon today, thank you so much for joining us.
Mark Freeman: All right. Well, hey, good morning. My name is Mark. I am excited to be together. I was thinking about this.
I, I don't know if, if you've been here long enough to figure this out, but this is just a pretty incredible group of people right community of faith. And I just encourage you to get to know the awesome people that are around you because there's something really special here. And I'm excited to get the chance be upfront this morning and then talk through some of these things and just to be a part of it. So thank you guys for showing up today. We are going to start this new series like Charlie was talking about, where we're looking at these ancient paths.
And if you'll remember, if you go back April, if you were around, had a series there where we talked about the off ramps that seem to come up in life and the things that can take us off the good path. And the sermon that kind of launched that, we looked at a passage from the book of Jeremiah, and he talks about these ancient paths. In fact, here it is, Jeremiah chapter six verse 16. Thus says the Lord, stand by the roads and look and ask. So we we talked about how he's calling us to pause, to look, to ask, to seek, to yearn for the ancient paths.
This word ancient in Hebrew is halam. It's the eternal paths. It is the everlasting paths. It's the idea of a horizon that you would look out and, you know, like you go to the ocean and you look out there and you can see, but you can't see the end of it. And it's that way looking forward, it's also that way looking back, that these are eternal, tried and true, proven paths.
This path where good way is, the good path. And don't just find it, don't just identify it, but but walk in that path. And on that path, it leads to this incredible rest for your souls, the the thing that we are we are all longing for, the thing that we are all sinking that's that's possible on these these ancient paths, that this is where they lead. And he calls out, this is them in Israel. The prophet is speaking to them, calling them, yearning them, and they say, We will not walk in it.
And they didn't. So the possibility that you would one would choose, even though the good path is possible, even though this destination is possible, to walk the ancient path, they would choose to say, We would choose to say, I will not walk in it. And so in series before, we were talking about those things that might distract us and take us off that path and just had a lot of conversations with you guys both personally and as we discussed it, it's like, well, maybe we need to spend a little time identifying what's on the path. We talked about what would take us off of it, but what does it look like to stand, to look, to ask, and to identify are the past. These are the things.
These are the eternal things, the the steps that God would have us take. I don't know if this is a great illustration, but it got me thinking about Birkenstocks. I got a you know, We've got older boys, 20, 23. It was true for them. Now we've got the twins, Jack and Darcy, that are 12.
I'm not going do this anymore. They're 12. My boy Jack, of all of our kids, he's the one that cares the most maybe what he looks like. I mean, he's got the chains, he's got the watch, he actually puts on cologne. He's the one that's fixing his hair the longest in the morning.
Jack, he's just a smooth operator. And he's he and Darcy have both been been wanting Birkenstocks. Now that's that's kinda crazy. Right? I mean, Birkenstocks, they they've been around a long time.
In fact, I I went and looked. Do you do you know when they first came up with Birkenstocks? It was 1774 in Germany. Two hundred and fifty years ago, y'all. Birkenstock's been around a minute.
By the time you got to 1925, they were all over Europe. They came to The States in in 1966 and just took over. I got my first pair in 1995. I remember this because I wore them to the first day of college into the calf, and I got made fun of because the other guy said they look like girl's shoes. So I put them back in my closet, pulled them back ten years later, and guess what?
They were still cool. They were cooler then. Terry, you know, she she teaches in the middle school, my wife, and her choice, and we gotta have every color anyway, she she she's wearing Birkenstocks. Why? Because if you're gonna be on your feet all day, what is the magic thing that somehow they figured out with cork, and they put it on a shoe, and it and you don't get tired.
I'm gonna wear these shoes today, and I guarantee you, these tennis shoes, and I could wear those running shoes with that eight inch sole, and my legs and my feet would still be tired. You wear a pair of Birks, you're okay. Transcends time. How is that possible? Now even more, if if the ancient tried and true proven weighed and measured shoe that does that is a Birkenstocks, how much more these ancient paths that God has has called us to?
And here's here's some of them. Today, we're gonna tackle scripture memory and meditation. As we move through this series, we're gonna talk about confession and celebration, baptism and communion, simplicity and fasting, service and witness, fellowship and mentorship. And if you look at those, you're like, well, okay. Yeah.
I mean, I at least are familiar with those terms and have some familiarity with with what that means, but are but are we walking in it? And if we're not walking these paths, it begs the question, why? If we know this is the good path, if we know these are the things, they they take us to life, not not just, you gotta do it, because because we all embrace. Right? Or if we understand the gospel well, we understand that God we're fully loved.
We're it's not we're doing things to earn his favor. We have his his favor, but in response to that, and because rest for your souls and the good life is found on his path, why are we not walking it? As I ask myself that question, I wonder, you know, is it is it my understanding of the path? Have I have I stood and watched and asked and really evaluated it well enough to understand the path so I can I can look at it rightly? Is it is it motivation?
Is is my want to broke? There's there's I'm just I'm just missing it, and I'm not I'm not motivated to chase it. Have I not seen a a really good model of it? You know? I've read I've read books about monks that did it and or some of these things, and it's like, well, that was cool for them, but my life looks very different than that.
And so I explain away my discipline around it, my accountability around it because it just doesn't play today even though deep down in my soul, I know that it does. And I know this is probably an overused illustration, but it's close to my heart right now because I'm on a little bit of the get right plan physically, you know, trying to we talk about spiritual health and physical health. There's all these ways that you kinda those two things kinda mirror one another or look very similar, and I'm trying to cut back on my cocoa pebble consumption. You know? There's some things I know.
I know I know those Coco Pebbles don't aren't aren't the thing that's gonna gonna get me to the physical state that I need to be in. But y'all, when I wake up in the morning, I would love to say that it's it's God's word that wakes me up and gets me out of bed. And and that follows, but you know what the first thought I have when I'm really having a hard time and the alarm went off and I'm trying to get myself up? It's Cocoa Pebbles because they're good. They're not good for you.
They're not even made out of real chocolate. I'm not even sure what's on there. But you know what? They get me out of bed in the morning, but I gotta cut that back. I gotta I gotta gotta cut back a little bit on, you know, my I like first breakfast.
I like second breakfast. I really like third breakfast. And and that third helping of lunch and dinner is also my favorite. That's when it really starts to taste good by the time you get to your third plate. That's not okay.
Right? I don't drink water. I don't sleep enough. You know? I'm trying to exercise the way you're supposed to, you know, but I gotta up that too.
Are any of those things, like, new thoughts? No. That's what if any of us go to the doctor tomorrow, he's gonna say the same thing. And I know there's all kinds of new ideas. I saw a machine out there out the other day that you put your feet on and you go like this, and the guy that was doing it had a six pack.
And I'm like, he didn't get that six pack. He he didn't get he didn't get that six pack doing that. And I I know there's a lot of things out there that promise that you just pay the money, you get the thing, and it'll fix the problem. And at the same time, every single one of us knows there is a path that leads to that place, and we're not unwilling to take it, even though we know it, it goes there. And when we do, when we do, it happens.
I I came across a picture the other day of of me at 20. And and I remember because I was in a class where we did this. We we tested our body fat percentage. I was 7% body fat. We are not gonna do that test today.
Don't worry. But I'm telling you what, I didn't start out at 7% body fat because when I was a kid, if I showed you that picture, I was they called me Roly Poly, and I liked Fritos and Bean Dip and Little Debbie's and watching Good Times and San Francisco on the TV a lot. And if you need to watch those shows, you need you need to watch them. But yeah. And my my parents finally came in one day and just shot me some truth and said, if you continue to do this, you're gonna have a problem.
And I looked at myself and realized, I'm I need this I gotta I gotta change my ways. And what do I do? Drink water, exercise, stop eating the junk. Right? Well, when we talk about spiritual growth, it comes down to these these ancient paths that we're gonna have to walk.
And one of them is scripture memory. Not just reading it, not just hearing somebody talk about it from the stage, but memorizing it, planting it deep in your heart. And one thing that this is just kind of a revival in in my own life with this. Been working through this book with some guys. It's gonna be something you're gonna hear more and more about.
It's just a simple book, walks through some of the basic foundational truths to kinda set us up on the path, and whether you're new and just learning about Jesus, curious about Jesus, just began walking with Him, or whether you've been walking with Him a long time, this is just a really good book to work through. And it's good because it helps us dive into some passages, but the first time, I've been looking for a while for a really easy resource for us to use. And I was working with some guys, and one of them, our elder statesman that's a lot more experienced and wise than me, I threw this out on the table, and he said, That's it. I said, hold on. Time out.
You haven't said that about anything else. Why why are we saying this is it? And he says, because I went through that book years ago with a group of guys, and it and it changed everything for me. Okay. So so explain to me, what is it about it that changed everything?
Every week, there is one verse that you have to memorize. And when you come to group, you have to be ready to say it from memory without looking at it. And you have to, again and again and again, relate it to whatever topic we're studying that week, plant it in your heart. And that accountability and that putting it in our hearts changed all of us. Y'all, there's just there's just power there.
I remember I remember the first group. I was about 20 when I was a part of my the first I've been part of Bible studies my whole life, but the first Bible study that I was a part of that the leader said, hey, we're gonna memorize verses every week. And I remember the first topic that there were two verses tied to it. We used what's called the topical memory system. So you got like a hanger in your closet with a topic, and then you've got some verses that go with that so that it triggers, you know, the topic triggers your heart to know these things.
And the first one was Christ being the center of our lives, the place where all the power comes from. The first one was second Corinthians five seventeen. If anyone is in Christ, he's a new creation. The old has passed away. Behold, all things have become new.
He's in Christ. If you're in Christ, it's not a renovation. It's not a painting putting some paint over the top of an old building. It's burning the building to the ground, and it's a whole new thing if Jesus is in you, if you have put faith in him, a new a new creation. That's you know, that's life changing.
It's life changing to hear it. It's another it's another thing when it continues to be in your heart, and it's just rotating in your mind. The other one, Galatians two twenty, I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live. Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the flesh, I live this life, not by my strength, by faith.
The one who loved me and gave himself for me. Powerful, ancient truths that are will always have always been true, will always be true, but I can't access them unless they're planted in here. Scripture memory, one of the ancient paths. Colossians three, we're gonna look at a few passages here that talk about it. Colossians three, it says, if then you have been raised with Christ, then if that's true, then seek the things that are above where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.
Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died again, the old is gone, you've been crucified. There's there's a theme here. You've died and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. And so set your mind on things that are above.
The the power of that. If you're able to, instead of setting your minds on the things here, you're able to set your mind on these truths and these things that are above. But the only way that you can set your mind there, it has to be there. You have to have the the station on the radio to be able to to turn the dial and find it and then lock into that station. But isn't it powerful when you find a radio station or a Spotify station or whatever that you just a band that you really love?
I love the way that now, like, especially my my Brendan, he'll he'll send me a band. He sent me one the other day, Sticky Fingers, man. I just really like it. I I turned it on. But a few years ago, I had a friend that keyed me into the to a band called The Gypsy Kings.
Y'all, I'm just telling you, go look up The Gypsy Kings and listen. In fact, I'm gonna I'm gonna play a little bit of it here because because you you gotta kinda feel what I'm talking about. You put on this station when you're feeling really anxious like I'm tempted to get, and there's a lot of weight of the world on top of you, and you need your heart to get a little lighter. You just tune into the Gypsy Kings and you just let it play. And you watch it right now.
Your heart's probably just moving up. It's just getting lighter, starting to float out of the room because you just kinda wanna dance a little bit and then they start to sing. I don't have a clue what he's saying. I I I don't know. But, man, he seems happy and excited about it, and something in my heart just gets white.
Right? If I tune my heart I I have to set my heart and tune it this way, set my mind and not let the weight of the world come upon me. If we set our minds on these things, if they're planted in our heart and we set our mind there, God will literally he will change us. He will change us. It's possible, a life of this this peace and rest that he talks about, but we gotta be willing to walk this path.
A little later in in Colossians chapter three verse 16, he says, let the word of Christ dwell in you richly. Notice that dwell, live there, not just not just visit, not just pass by, not just, you know, every once in a while, check it out, but let it live in you. And live in you, let it dwell in you richly, richly in abundance, more than what's needed, in in excess. Talking about how physically, man, we need to cut back on some food, but when it comes to the water thing, man, all you can possibly get, there's not such a thing as excess. You need to hydrate.
Living water is like that. You can't get too much of it. You need to drink deeply and then drink some more. And then when you think you've had enough, go drink some more. That's what it looks like.
Dwell in it and let it be rich in your heart. And then this is what happens. I love this. Mean, when you when your heart is full of that and you've got these verses rolling around in here and rolling around up here because you've committed them to memory, then look what happens. Teaching and admonishing one another with all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God.
That's what happens inside a person who puts God's word in their heart. They can't keep you can't you can't bottle that up. And you're able to help everybody else. You're able to see truth in your own life and in the lives of others where you can step in and be helpful, and then at the end the day, you're thankful because God is the one that's doing all of this. So much power possible on this ancient path.
Psalm one nineteen verse nine, how can a young man keep his way pure? So we're talking about not taking those off ramps, being able to stay on the path, the good path. How do we keep our way pure? How do we stay away from the sin that draws us away? By guarding, protecting, guarding it according to your word.
With my whole heart, I seek you. Let me not not wander away from those things that draw me away from your from your commandments. How do we do that? Well, I have stored it. I've stored up your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.
We stockpile the word of God in our heart, and that's the way that we battle. That's the way that we keep from going off the path because it's it's there constantly reminding us. You know? We stockpile things to protect ourselves from what might happen in the future. I still don't understand the toilet paper debacle of 2020.
I don't know, stockpiling that. Stockpiling cocoa pebbles makes sense to me. Right? Because I I need that desperately. Toilet paper, I'm not so sure about.
But anyway, we stockpile it in our heart, God's word in our heart, because then we're ready. Jesus provides this model in Matthew chapter four. Jesus provides the model. When he's enduring temptation, his answer to the devil is what? Every time a temptation comes, he says, as it is written.
Jesus had it memorized. He was able to speak back to that directly from God's word because he had it in his heart. If Jesus if that's Jesus, how much more is that true of us? You know, I heard a guy tell me one time, and I know this is gonna sound kinda random, but was telling me how to defeat an anaconda if you happen to be down in the Amazon Jungle. You might need this, so just be ready.
He says, If an anaconda's after you, just go ahead and give up because he's about to get you. So you need to prepare yourself for what's gonna go down. And so instead of trying to run away and escape, just go ahead and lay down, but position yourself where he starts to take you at your feet because, you know, if he takes you from your head in, that's gonna be trouble. So let him start at your feet, and go ahead and put your hands by your side, and go ahead and let him let him go all the way up your knees, and, you know, get all the way up to your waist. And then when he gets up to about your belly button, reach in your pocket, grab your knife, and stab him from the inside.
That's how you defeat an anaconda, in case you didn't know. But the last rule, he said, is make sure you bring your knife. Now, this is it's a great illustration of life. If you don't have God's word in your heart, you you left your knife at home, and you're in the middle of a battle, then you're not gonna be able to win. But you gotta do the work ahead of time to stockpile his word in your heart so that so that the sword, the word of God is in your pocket ready for use.
It's critical. It's critical. Joshua one eight, this book of the law shall not depart from your mouth. It is constantly here. I don't know if anybody likes the Oceans movies as much as I do, but, you know, I just like guys stealing stealing things, I guess, especially from casinos.
But the Brad Pitt character, every time the camera goes to him, he's always eating a snack. Have you ever noticed that? He's always got food in his hands. If you've watched the movies, at least you'll get this. Maybe me, I've always got a cup of coffee in my hand.
It's always right here. What this says is, do not let the book of the law depart from your mouth. It should be you're constantly, constantly consuming it. Meditate on it day and night so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. And here's another promise, for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.
Meditate on it day and night. Don't just consume it, marinate in it. And I know there's a lot of folks out here who probably, you know, like like to like to cook some meat. You know? I'm not real good at it, but I know that I'm usually making that plan too late and trying to season it too late and just you know, you can buy things you can just throw on the outside of it, and it kinda changes the flavor maybe of the outside.
But if you're gonna get to the center of whatever meat you're trying to cook, what you gotta do? It's it's gotta sit there. It's gotta sit in those spices. It's gotta take those things all the way down to the core. You know, I I love Indian food, and there's nothing I love more than than kebabs.
And, man, in in India, they take those kebabs and they use yogurt, and they they they set them up overnight in in all of those spices and all those flavors. And you could cut to the middle of that chicken, you could get down to the very core, and it's just as strong at the core as it is on the outside. Why? Because it's marinated. Not just a little bit, but a lot.
That's what happens. We get God's word. We learn it, and then we don't just know it just because we're trying to spit up past a test. I mean, not not like I did back when I was trying to learn Spanish. The reason I don't know the words of these songs because because I I got Spanish just enough to pass the test, and then I then I moved on and didn't think about it anymore.
That's not what we're talking about here. We don't just memorize a scripture to go and and say it to somebody and and meet accountability and check it off the box and move on. We memorize it, so then we can we can marinate on it. And when you marinate on it, it starts to change starts to change your life. So the second part of this is, man, meditation is is critical.
And I know being silent for a second may be the hardest thing we could possibly do. If we had more time, I would do the excruciating exercise of just being quiet. If I waited much longer, somebody's gonna start looking at their phone because we can't we can't take it. Right? You just can't can't can't take it.
So the first thing we gotta learn is how to just be still for a minute. Everybody the world over recognizes that if we'll be still for a minute and clear our minds, there's there's power there. Next level, clear our minds, and then the word of almighty creator God is in our heart. And he starts to to speak into life. And that meditation, that's next level, y'all.
That that's the path that's possible that so few people walk. But if it's there, and we'll press out everything else and we'll focus and let let him speak, God God will show up. Romans chapter 12 verse two, it says, do not be conformed to the world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, his good, acceptable, and perfect will. I'll call that out again, good, acceptable, and perfect. Y'all, we're not talking about any to do list for you.
We're talking about, do you want life? Do you want the good, acceptable, and perfect will of God? Do you wanna be able to discern that? Well, it's gonna be this transformation of our minds. This the scripture memory and meditation is the way that he does that.
Conformity is something that happens externally. It's throwing the spices on the outside of of the meat. It presses you into the mold. But transformation is eternal. It starts on the on the inside, and it begins to to permeate outward.
Psalm one forty three five says, I remember the days of old, and I meditate on all that you have done. I ponder the work of your hands. I stretch out my hands to you. My soul thirsts for you like parched land. I love that last line.
The soul that's thirsty for God's truth, to be close to him, to let him speak into our lives. But look what he says, I meditate on all that you have done. This is a forgotten truth, a forgotten path. God has done so many incredible things. And y'all, I know that life will slap you and hit you and knock you down.
And if you're looking at at just what happened yesterday, you're gonna be like, where is he? Where is he? How did I end up here? And if you're not taking the time to stop, to be still, and to rehearse all the things that God has done, you'll miss it. And you'll face this thing today and and not be able to see him in the middle of it.
But if you look back, if you look back, God has has been there. He's been faithful. He's been showing up. He's been chasing you down to make himself clear to you, to help you. But taking the moment to meditate on his word and all the things that you've experienced yourself in your life.
There's power there. Philippians four seven, and the peace of God, which surpasses all under in the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, higher level beyond what we can even understand, that kind of peace, will guard your your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is anything excellent, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Discipline your mind, press out all the junk, and focus your attention. Tune your station to these things, and these things are found here.
That verse the other day, my Darcy was walking out of a of a meeting that she had been at, and she had been encouraged to memorize this verse. And she quoted to quoted it to me in the car. And it was just beautiful to hear my daughter quoting quoting this this verse, but then it was also very convicting to me. I don't have this one down to memory. And it's so powerful.
Right? And it's so true. It's the ancient path that I need to be walking, but I often don't. And again, this is my 12 year old daughter. We talk about this this morning.
You might be like, I don't know how in the world that could ever be a part of my life. Here's a sixth grader. All she did was she got the challenge, and she took the time and effort to try to get her mind and heart around it. It's possible, y'all. I don't know if y'all are very familiar with the Awanas program, but we used to be a part a church that did Awana's where kids would learn scripture.
And there's something called the Timothy Award, where they basically learned the whole Bible. By the time they finished, I was these kids blew me away. It is possible. It is possible in your life. You do a lot of things that are more complicated than that.
Just taking God's word and planting it deep in your heart. But do you believe it's that powerful? That it could make that kind of change in your life? You know, these these paths that we're gonna be talking about, they are well marked. It's like when you go on a hike and, you know, they've got the little the color of your trail and they've got it on trees.
Man, these are signs that are bright orange or, you know, they're they're impossible to miss. Again, we're not gonna talk about anything that's rocket science. However, there are weeds that have grown over these paths because so few actually walked them. So the challenge I want us to embrace is, I guess, pull out the machete and go to town. Let's open up these paths and walk them together.
All right? Let me pray that we would. Father, I I believe that you wanna do that. I believe that we are we are missing out. That's that's the thing.
We're we're missing out on what's what's possible in you. And the world around us, our families, our coworkers, our neighbors, They're missing out on getting to see a model of somebody who's who's walking with you way too often, whether verbally or just because we won't we're not willing. We we say like Israel, we will not walk in them. And God, I pray during this time you would draw us in, and by your power, you would guide us step by step, maybe some baby steps at first to figure out what it looks like. Maybe with this topic today to take your word, plant it deep in our heart, marinate on it, and let it change us, transform us to look more like you.
Amen.
Charlie Loften: Thanks again for joining us on our sermon podcast, and you can learn more about us at thegrovechurch.org. If you go to thegrovechurch.org/connect, there's a form you could fill out. Just let us know that you've been listening. And if you want to dig deeper on some of these topics that we cover in our sermon podcast or just another issues of dealing with culture or theology, those kinds of things, you can check out our cultivate podcast. It's on the same feed however you found this particular podcast.
So again, this is Charlie, the lead pastor at The Grove, and thank you so much for joining us.