GLIMPSE OF ONE DAY RETREAT; SUMI CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP
THEME:"Let the Word of God dwell in you richly..........."Col 3:16
Tyrannus Hall ( Sept 15,2007)

MAKING THE TRUTH STICK!(Exposition by PRABHAT THAPA

We use lots of things to stick. When we were small we use to make a paste of moida, then came gum. Now people use fevi- stick, glue- stick, dendrite etc We also need to stick spiritually in order to be well cemented in this world

“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom and as you sing Psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your heart for God” ( Col 3:16)
The theme for the One Day Retreat is “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly”. As I think about this theme I am reminded of a young man in the Bible.

Having grown up in Babylon, he had just moved with his nation to study and work in Jerusalem (Ezra 7:6-8)

Ezra was well acquainted with God’s truth: “He was a scribe skilled in the law of Moses” (v.6a) from childhood, he had studied the Scripture, and as a Scribe, he knew them better than anyone.

Young people are also in transition from the familiar to the unfamiliar as they move from protected home environment into a new world.

Can you recall your first few days as a freshman in the college? Like a mouse you may have moved timidly through a crowded maze of hallways, trying to be inconspicuous as possible?

Many Christian young people can explain the stories of the Bible with great skill. They, too, have been taught God’s Word ever since they can remember.

A final point of comparison is that Ezra walked with the Lord. Three times in chapter 7 it says that the hand of the Lord was on him (vv.6, 9 & 28)

Many Christian teens can also see the hand of the Lord on their lives. They have trusted Christ for salvation, they’ve been baptized, and they probably know more about the Bible than some Christian adults.

God wants to cultivate that knowledge, slip His hand in theirs, and lead them in paths of ministry that only He knows, He wants all that information to stick with them and produce the fruit of wisdom as they mature in Him.

Ezra clung to his wealth of knowledge by developing four character traits- four secrets of making the truth stick that we can communicate to young people and learn ourselves:

SECRETS OF MAKING THE TRUTH STICK: (the Word of Christ to dwell in you richly)

Ezra 7:10

Let’s magnify each section of this verse to examine Ezra’s life in great detail.

He made a personal commitment:

The first thing we notice about Ezra is that he made a personal commitment to the Lord: He “set his heart”. Daniel, as a teenager, pledged himself in a similar way when he

... made up his mind.... (Dan 1:8a)

“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly”-

“ to dwell”- It means literally to “dwell in”, to take up residence, make one's home in or among. To live in, inhabit; dwell in.

Grant Richison writes that...

The word dwell means to keep house. We should live in the Word of God like we live in our homes. We are familiar with our home where all the closets are, where we have items stored. We must thoroughly acquaint ourselves with the Word. The Word should become so familiar to us that we know it like the back of our hand. The idea is to let the Word of God dwell inside and live at home in our lives. The Word of God needs to inhabit us. This is more than just reading the Bible. God wants us to let the peace of Christ rule in our hearts (v. 15) and the Word of Christ dwell in our hearts.

The Christians that God uses in powerful ways always begin thier journey by making up their minds to follow Jesus Christ- even if that means sailing against the popular currents of their day. In fellowship, floating with the Christian crowd is easy. Outside the fellowship, however, most people are moving away from God, and no Sunday school teachers or pastors are there to keep us in tow. Young people must individually make up their minds to follow the Lord- nobody else can make that decision for them. And until they make that decision, the truth will never stick.

He became a Loyal Student of Scripture:

Second, Ezra became a loyal student of Scripture, for he “set his heart to study the law of the Lord”. One of the quickest ways to take the fun out of Christianity is to stop studying the Bible and rely on someone else’s spiritual meals.

Study God’s word regularly. Carry them wherever you go. Studying takes discipline but discovering God’s truth becomes more meaningful and joyful.

“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly”-

YOU MUST READ IT, OR HEAR IT FOR UNLESS YOU DO YOU WILL NOT KNOW WHAT THERE IS IN IT.

He put the action into truth:

Third, Ezra not only studied the Scripture, he “sets his heart ................... to practice it” He puts the truth into action. The truth will stick when, as James advocates, young people become “doers of the word, and not merely hearers” (James 1: 22) James illustrates his point

James 1:23-25

Illus: Imagine climbing out of bed in the morning. On one side of your head, your hair is flattened smooth; on the other, it stands straight up. Your eyes are puffy, your breath would knock your dog over, and creases from your pillow are etched in your face. As your stumble into the bathroom, you flip on the light and glance in the mirror. “Aaaagh!” but instead of brushing your hair and washing up, you turn off the light, get dressed, and inflict your self on the world.

It is hard to believe that anyone, adult or teen, wouldn’t fix the problems they see in the mirror. Yet that is what James says we do when we look in to the mirror of God’s word, see all our shortcomings, but do nothing to correct them. The truth mean nothing if we do not put it into practice.

“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly”-

He shared What He Learned with Others:

Ezra’s fourth secret for making the truth stick was setting his heart “to teach (God’s) statues and ordinances in Israel” (Ezra 7:10b) In other words, he shared what he learned.

“TEACH & ADMONISH”

One of the best ways to learn a subject is to teach it to someone else, because you then have to look at from a completely different perspective. Encouraging young people to share what they’ve learned causes them to think through their views of God one-step at a time. They have to confirm whether their hearts believe what their mouths are saying. They may think they know what Christianity is all about, but not until they share their knowledge does it anchor itself in their lives.

We are to seek the profit of other by it.

“Praying is the stalk of the wheat, but praise is the very ear of it. Praying is the leaf of the rose, but praise is the rose itself, redolent with the richest perfume.”

Give us, O Lord, a strong desire
to look within Your Word each day;
Help us to hide it in our hearts,
lest from its truth our feet would stray. --JDB

When the Word of God dwells in you,
the love of Christ shines through you.