From a Book

I read a book by Janette Oke while I was visiting my sister and brother-in-law this past week.  I don't notice many great truth's that are written in plain ol' fiction books very often.  I found this book to be an exception.

Closer to the ending of the book, a new pastor comes to the church the main character, Berta, attends.  His introductory sermon basically runs as follows:
    
     "Why am I here? I am here because I believe in God. I believe in a God.  I think it is perfectly reasonable to believe in a God. Not MANY gods.  Many gods would result in chaos.  Lesser gods, greater gods, warring gods, self-seeking gods.  Can you imagine such a world? It wouldn't work. If a god isn't really God of all, then he is no god at all.  Therefore, I believe in one god, the God, the reason for all that is and all that ever will be.  So, to me it has been settled. Forever. Clearly. I believe in one God, Creator and Sustainer of all things."
     "Since the Creator God has given us His Word, then it follows that I must also believe that the Bible, which tells us of Him, is truth.  It is His revelation to mankind.  The oldest and most accurate of religious documents, revealing who He is and what He stands for. So, I believe in one God, Creator and Sustainer of all things, and I believe that the Bible is His revelation to mankind of who and what He is."
     "If I believe that Bible is given by Him, and He is God, the God, then I must accept this Book as it is.  all of it. To dissect it and choose this and throw out that would discredit it all. To pick my own passages to please my own theories or personal pet doctrines, or pattern my own philosophies or religion on what tickles my ears or pleases my fancy, and reject what else it says, would invalidate the whole. So I must believe and accept it all for what it says throughout.  Thus, I believe in one God, the God, One, though triune, Make and Sustainer of all things.  I believe the Bible is His revelation to mankind. I believe the Bible must be accepted and obeyed in its entirety. It is the written Word of God."
     "So all my sermons will come directly from these pages.  We will study together what the Word says.  We will pray for understanding and His wisdom.  We will pray for willingness to accept with open hearts and minds what that means for you, for me, in our everyday.  We face hard questions in our modern world, but the answers are here in this Book.  To find the answers we must first know the Source, God.  God the Father, who loves us.  god the Son, who redeems us.  God the Spirit, who leads us.  On God, yet three in person, in working, a mystery beyond our human comprehension, but one God."
     "Our purpose for meeting here from Sunday to Sunday is to get to know that God.  To know Him better and better so that we can worship Him more fully."

Okay, so I didn't fully agree with the last sentence.  I feel that the purpose of study throughout the week is more to get to know God better, and the Sunday to Sunday meetings are to worship Him with fellow believers. Although, the Sunday sermon is a time to get to know God better.

Anyways, I just thought I'd share with ya'll.  this book wasn't written all that long ago, but I just love the way Oke explained that we are facing mysteries (trials and people outside the church questions or beliefs and trying to shake our foundations, Genesis specifically) and that we MUST go back to the Bible to stand firm.