Teach A Person To Fish.
My oldest son, Foster loves fishing. Regularly, he’ll say,
“is everyone else thinking about fishing right now?”
“No buddy. Nobody is thinking about that. Just you.”
He loves it. He loves the calm and quiet. He loves the excitement when you get a nibble. He loves being in nature. It is his passion right now. He’s new on the journey, but he is jumping in, head first trying to learn everything about fishing that he can.
I was really more of a music, theatre, and dance kid. I went fishing with my dad a few times growing up. I love people. I like nature. I don’t love extended periods of quiet waiting…so fishing is not really my thing.
So, I’m not a great leader when it comes to guiding my son in his fishing pursuits.
In fact, the other day, we went out with some guys from church to go fishing and Foster says to me,
“Dad, are you looking forward to really going fishing for the first time?”
Hold up bud. I may not be an avid fisherman…or even own a fishing pole…or know the difference between a lure or bait…or how to hold a fish properly when you catch it so you can take a photo and look awesome to show off the size of your fish…but this ain’t my first fish rodeo.
I cannot be the person to lead my son in fishing…but I know the solution.
I need to invite great people into the journey with us.
My dad loves fishing, knows a lot and is willing to share.
My friends love fishing, know a lot and are willing to share.
My neighbors love fishing and know a lot and are willing to share.
I am not the resource for leading my son in fishing, but there are great resources out there.
As followers of Jesus, we cannot always be the sole expert on the Bible or on our faith…but I know the solution.
I need to invite great people into the journey with us.
Sometimes we think we have to be the expert on everything. We have to know all the facts, give all the details, understand all the parts to be able to follow Jesus and give lectures on your faith at a seminary level…and if not, why even try…but it turns out…
you don’t.
Your responsibility is to faithfully follow after him, to grow in your faith to become more like him, to live in such a way that you do what Christ would do if he were you.
Or as we say around here…follow Jesus and be formed by him by; abiding in him, changed by him, and embodying his ways for the glory of God and the good of others.
Which means, you don’t have to be a walking wikipedia page or spend 3 years in Arabia like Paul…you need some great resources that can help guide you in this life long journey of following Jesus.
You need people who love Jesus, know a lot and are willing to share.
When you have great resources like that and you take them up on it, and it turns out you will someday be a great resource for someone else.
At our house, almost every single day, Sarah or I will say to the other,
“I was thinking about (some weird obscure Bible teaching, thing about Jesus, or theological concept and the implications it has)…have you ever thought about that?”
I’m waiting for the day my kids over here and respond with,
“No. Nobody is thinking about that. Just you.”
But my hope is, they will learn to love the scripture and our faith like Sarah and I do. That they will have sweet memories of their childhood, church, and faith. That someday, they will help lead others to know the scriptures and help them to follow after Jesus too.
That was the Hebrew tradition with rabbis and disciples, that was the system with Jesus and his followers, that is still what we are called to do today. Grow in our faith and help others to grow as well…but we all need some resources to help along the way.
If you were at worship yesterday, I shared a sermon on wrestling with scripture faithfully. We are meant to continue to do this all the time. We don’t just take things at a surface level, but we dig deep, know the history, context, literary style, find the connections, take a look at the Greek and Hebrew and see what it meant for them then and for us now. This is a long slow process of learning and growing, but it is the best way.
I heard a pastor one time talk about how he worked through scriptures and books, marking pages, taking notes, and cataloging ideas and he said that it was the long, slow, inefficient way…but it works.
Following Jesus, growing in our faith, wrestling through scripture is not a sprint. It is a long, slow, inefficient way, but it’s at the speed of Jesus…and it works.
I hope you will join us in the long slow journey as we work to know Jesus more, wrestle with scripture more, and let it change us to be more like him.
The following resources are not the official or only resources out there, nor do I necessarily agree 100% with everything they say or do. But they are a great step in the right direction to grow in your understanding of the Bible. Almost all of the resources below are free and incredibly helpful.
The Bible Project. https://bibleproject.com/
They have simple Bible videos, podcasts, blog posts, recommended books and other lectures, and even seminary level classes. They are an amazing resource that is wildly comprehensive. And everything is free!
Bible Hub. https://biblehub.com/
This resource gives you the ability to look up words in Greek and Hebrew, to cross reference other locations, you can see commentaries from a variety of other theologians and scholars. It is a great way to learn more about a word or passage in a very accessible way…and it is free.
Study Bible. There are tons out there. They all have great stuff in them…some more than others. We usually teach from the ESV at The Chapel, but you can study from whatever version you like. New Interpreters and Harper Collins Study Bibles are rich with great notes. Sarah has a NLT Chronological Life Application Study Bible that she loves. I’ve heard it said, the best version of the Bible is the one you will use. I also will use a study resource called People’s Commentary that I think is pretty great. It isn’t a study Bible, but it has incredible notes and commentary.
Bible Gateway. https://www.biblegateway.com
This site is convenient because you can easily bounce between versions. As well, everything is free.
You Version. https://www.youversion.com/
This is an app on your phone. Lots of Bible versions, reading plans and more.
I hope you will take the steps to grow in your faith, to wrestle faithfully with things that are challenging and beautiful in the scriptures and see how you are changed on the other side.
Join us this week as we continue to wrestle faithfully.
- Like always, we have prayer at noon on Tuesdays at The Chapel. It is a wonderful and simple time where The Chapel partners with 30A Prays and we get to spend about 60 minutes simply to pray and be with God in the beautiful Chapel. Come and go as you need.
- Bible studies will kick off next week, the week of August 21st and 22nd. Our Men’s Study on Wednesday meets from 8am-9am, note the new time. And the Women’s Study on Wednesday meets 9:30am-10:30/11am, also note the new time. We will study the book of Exodus. Our young adult/20’s and 30’s group meets on Thursday mornings 8am-9:15am. They are also studying exodus. We’ll send more info about that soon.
- New Small Group Communities Launch, Sunday, August 25th – Join us for for our new communities launch right after church. 11:30am-12:30pm in The Chapel. We know that some people will be gone. You can also join us via Zoom on Monday, August 26th at 7:00pm CST if you cannot make it in person. please click on the link below to register.
https://thechapelatseaside.churchcenter.com/registrations/events/2434265
- 11th Annual Stock The Pantry Event with Food for Thought. Each year we are proud to partner with Food for Thought to help fight food insecurity in our community! They are collecting food items and raising funds. Food Items may be brought to The Chapel between now and Sunday, August 25th. To help support their efforts, we are giving 50% of our offering this Sunday, August 18th straight to Food For Thought. If you want to bring food, please bring the following.
- Granola Bars / Fruit Wraps
- Snack Crackers / Breakfast Bars
- Applesauce / Fruit Cups
- Pop Top: Soup, Tuna, Chicken, Chef Boyardee
- Mac & Cheese
- PB&J / Cereal / Oatmeal
The crowds have dropped significantly now that school is back in session. If you have been away for a while to avoid the crowds and hot temps, I hope you will join us again this Sunday.
- We are still providing water bottles for people sitting outside on Sunday. If you are willing to help with this, click this link and sign up for a Sunday or two to help out.
- To sit inside, you really need to be at The Chapel by about 9:40. It usually fills up by 9:45am.
- If you are traveling or back “home”, we hope you will join us if you can. We stream our services, so if it is too hot, your under the weather, or you want to make space for others, you can worship online from our church website, thechapelatseaside.com and from our Facebook page, www.facebook.com/TheChapelAtSeaside/.
- Our sermons are usually available the same day on our website and likely wherever you stream podcasts.
Let me know if you need anything or have any questions. See you soon.
Blessings.
Andrew