I'm Matt Hofert, one of the pastors on staff. I want to begin this morning by asking you a series of questions. Okay? And so these aren't hard questions. They're pretty straightforward. They're not trick questions. And the first question is really easy. So I want you to either raise your hands or shout the answer out. Okay? You guys go with that? Okay? What is this Bible? You guys are one for one. Very good. This is a Bible. Okay, question number two. How many of you have one of these? Show of hands. Okay. Almost everybody raised their hand. Now, if you did not raise your hand, you really might not have one. And. Or if you do have a cell that has the Internet and or apps, you actually have access to God's Word. Okay? So I'm going to just for our purposes this morning, assume that almost every single person in here by show of hands, either has a Bible and or has access to one via their smartphone. Okay? Most people in the room this morning. Third question. How many of you would say you're Bible people? Now, before you raise your hands, let me explain what I mean. Okay? You have a Bible. You love your Bible. You read your Bible almost daily, if not daily, right? You delight in God's Word. God's Word shapes your life. People who know you well would say, this person loves their Bible. This person is a Bible person. All right? Now, show of hands. How many of you would say you are a Bible person? Couple. It's great. Isn't it interesting how almost every single person in the room is like, I have a Bible. Most of us probably have like 5 or 10 or 15, right? And if you don't, you have your smartphone, which you can access it at any time, anywhere, any place. And yet when we say how many of you are Bible people? You love God's Word. You delight in God's Word. You know God's Word. You read God's Word, you memorize God's Word. God's Word shapes your life. So I think we can conclude that there's a big difference between owning a Bible and being a Bible person, or TAs. We are in the midst of a rhythm series, right? We're not talking about, like, just any generic rhythms or habits. We're talking about spiritual rhythms and habits. Okay? And so every time about this year, we do a message like this, and it truly is our goal to look at the rhythms that you have in your life and look at ways in which we can abide in Christ. And before we move on, I want to reread the passage that Jess shared this morning. It's from John 15, 4, 5. And it simply says, this is Jesus speaking. He says, abide in me and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit. For apart from me, you can do nothing. So once again, this is Jesus speaking. And he's saying, you have to abide, you have to remain in me, for apart from me, you can do nothing of spiritual significance. And so just a few minutes ago, we had parents on the stage and we commissioned them. I'm a parent, I have a few kids, right? And parenting can be this, like, wonderful, incredible, fun thing. It can be this not terrible, this really hard, like, frustrating thing also. And so many times we try to parent by our own power, try to parent by our own accord. And fast forward days and months and years, we're like, what the heck's happening? Well, often we try to parent and do other things by our own power, by our own will. And this passage is saying, you can do nothing of spiritual significance on your own power, right? You can't will your way to being more loving, to being more patient, to being more godly, to being more gentle, to being more joyful. You can't will your way. You can't work really, really hard and produce fruit in your life. God has to do that. And so as we talk about spiritual rhythms, we're simply saying, what does it look like for you as a follower of Christ, to abide, to remain in him, to continually do things that hear his voice and speak to him and spend time with him. Because when it says, apart from me, you can't do nothing, it really means that. And so often we as followers of Christ, try to do it all on our own. And we wonder why there's no fruit. And so as we dive into this series, I know Jordan was here last week, but as we continue in this series, I want to simply ask the question of, like, how am I abiding in Christ, or am I abiding in Christ? What are my habits? What are my rhythms? I love this time of year, kind of end of the year, beginning of a new year. I have some big life events that happen this time of year. So my birthday ended in December, So I turned 43 years old, which is great. Kind of My anniversary was December 31st. And so New Year's Eve, right? Been married for 19 years. Now it's also a new year. So we flip the calendar from 24 to 25. And so the way my mind works is kind of how I'm wired. I like to evaluate the past and look forward to the future. Like, what has God done in my life? What might God do through Veritas? What's he calling me to do? What does it look like to be a faithful follower of Christ? What does it look like to steward the time and the talents and the energy and the resources and the relationships that I've been given? I'm not simply saying look ahead to the new year, New year, new. You do whatever you want to do. Make a name. No, no, no. That's not what we're saying. We're saying to evaluate and simply ask the question of like, am I being a faithful, obedient follower of Christ, am I abiding in the Lord? And one of the best ways in which we can abide in Christ is to read his word is to be a Bible person. And so before we even jump into any more scripture this morning, I want to just simply say that followers of Jesus are Bible people. Notice I didn't say followers of Jesus have Bible. No, no, no. Followers of Jesus are Bible people, right? They love God's Word, they delight in God's word. They read God's Word, they memorize God's Word. God's Word actually impacts their lives. Followers of Jesus are Bible people. And so what is the Bible? Well, I'm glad you asked. Many of you probably know this, some of you might not. There are 66 books in here. Okay, 39 Old Testament, 27 New Testament, written over about a 1500 year span, written by about 40 authors that included fishermen and kings and shepherds and doctors and priests, written in three different languages. And yet we see in second Peter 1, verses 20 through 21. Knowing this, first of all, that no prophecy of scripture comes from someone's own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man. But men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. And so ultimately, the Word of God, the Bible, is authored by God. He inspired, he penned the words of scripture. And so, church, we are incredibly, incredibly privileged to be able to raise our hands and say, I have a Bible, I have access to the Word of God. Because that hasn't always been the case throughout church history. And Even though there's 66 books, 39 Old Testament, 27 New Testament, it tells one story. It tells the story of God's plan of redemption through Jesus Christ. And so we have access whenever we want to God's Word. And yet many of us leave our Bible or our Bibles on our shelves unopened, sitting there collecting dust and what a shame that is. Second Timothy 3, 16 and 17 says this. It says all Scripture is breathed out by God and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. You see, God authored the Bible. It's useful for teaching, for rebuke, for correction, for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete and equipped. You see, at Veritas, we want to raise up mature disciples and send out everyday missionaries to the glory of God. We cannot be mature disciples if we don't have God's Word, if we don't know God's Word, if we don't read God's Word. And so if we are regularly in our Bibles and other spiritual rhythms, God will move, God will work, God will produce fruit, God will mature us. God will mold and shape us into who he wants us to be. And yet so often we do life our own way. We make our own goals, our own schedule, our own resolutions apart from the Word of God. And unfortunately, many of us are living our lives cut off from the vine. We're wilting, we're dying, because we are not abiding in Christ. Hebrews 4:12 says this. For the Word of God is living and active, sharper than any two edged sword, piercing to the division of the soul and spirit, of joints and marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. You see, God's Word says, God's Word is living and active. So when you read something in scripture and think, I feel like God's talking to me, or you read something and you're like, I feel like I've read this before, but this has never stuck out to me or this has never impacted me like this. That's because God's Word is living and active. It's because he uses it to mold you and to shape you and to transform you. And so reading the Bible cover to cover once, and then you'd be like, oh, did that, like that. That's not what we're called to do. We're called to spend time in God's Word daily over the course of years and over the course of a lifetime. I don't know about you, but I can at times focus on myself and be a selfish person. Okay? And I have noticed without any question that when I am regularly in God's word when I am regularly reading my Bible, when I am regularly in spiritual rhythms. I am a better husband. I'm a better father, I'm a better friend. I'm a better neighbor. I'm a better pastor because I'm basing my life on the truth of God. And I can also tell when there's seasons, for whatever reason, where I'm not in my Bible as much. My parenting suffers. I'm less patient. I probably exasperate my kids from time to time. I'm less patient with my spouse. My marriage has more friction. I'm not as good of a pastor, friend, neighbor. I can see that. And I think you can probably feel that as well. Psalm 119, 105 says, Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. Now, I don't know how many of you, like, rarely find yourself in dark situation. I'm talking, like, physically dark, like dark dark. Not like there's a night light over there. I'm talking, like, dark. Now, I like the outdoors. I love the mountains. I love northern Minnesota, Canada. And so I, believe it or not, often find myself in, like, completely black situations. And I don't know where I'm at. I can't see my hand in front of my face. And yet the second. The second I flip the switch of a flashlight, I have clarity. I can see there's a rock, there's a hole, there's a cliff. There's danger. Here's the path. We live in a spiritually dark world, and yet many of us are in complete darkness. We're blind, so to speak, because we're not opening the word of God. We don't know what is true. We don't have clarity. And so I guarantee you, if the lights in this place went out and for whatever reason, like, the windows were blocked and it was complete darkness, it would not take us very long to take out our phones to turn on our flashlights and be able to see. Now, from a spiritual standpoint, are we as quick to open God's word? Are we as quick to absorb the truth of the Lord as we would be to turn on our flashlights in a dark place? Isaiah 55:11 says this. So shall my word be that goes out from my mouth. It shall not return to me empty. Other translations say, it should not return to me void, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and it shall succeed the thing for which I sent it. You see, when we hear God's word, when we speak God's Word. When we listen to God's Word, when we read God's Word, he works. God brings about his plans. God brings about his purposes. It doesn't just float out there kind of in space. No. God's Word works. Remember when Jesus was tempted in the desert, Right? So Satan says multiple times, if you are the son of God, then do these things. How does Jesus respond? He says, it is written. It is written. It is written. And so we see in Matthew 4, Satan says to Jesus, if you are the son of God, turn those stones into loaves of bread. And then in Matthew 4, 4, Jesus answers, it is written, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. You see, Jesus fights lies with truth. He fights temptation with God's Word. And we should do the exact same thing. We should fight lies and temptation with the Word of God. He says, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. So by what are we to live by God's word. By God's Word. Now, I don't know about you, but I don't go too many days without eating, okay? And most of us in this room probably don't, right? When we're hungry, we go grab food. I think if somebody walked into this room not eating, like after a week or two, we'd probably notice. You look, look a little different. Look, look like you're struggling there. And yet how many of us go a day or go a week or go a month or even months without feasting on the word of God? We need to consume. We need to read. We need to feast on God and his Word. See, I think most Christians today would say, I want to grow in my faith, right? I want to live a godly life. I want to do the Lord's will, I want to grow in my faith, I want to make a difference for the kingdom of God, etc. Etc. Etc. But many of those same people would say, but I don't open my Bible regularly. I don't know God's Word. I don't base my life off of God's Word. In other words, you can have a desire and you can own a Bible or 2 or 15, but that does not make you a Bible person. There was a study that came out over a decade ago, actually, so it's fairly old, but I think it's relevant today still. It was by the center of Bible engagement. Okay. And they did a study in which they provide scientific evidence for what they call the power of four. Like what the heck does that mean? Talk about it. It simply says that there is a huge difference in self professing Christians. So people who call themselves Christians who read their Bibles four or more times per week than self professing Christians who read their Bibles three or less times per week. And here's what they found. They said Christians are losing the day spiritually because they are not regularly connecting with God through His Word. They're not reading their Bibles. They're struggling because while they might own a Bible or five, they're not Bible people. Here's what they found. This is a kind of a paragraph quote, so I'll just read this. It says the low rates of Bible engagement among American Christians have tremendous ramifications for local churches and the body as a whole. Like sheep, we tend to drift away from our shepherd. Living in a world filled with temptation. Disconnection from God's Word can increase those temptations. Without a firm grasp of the Bible nurtured through daily reading or listening, we weaken our ability to defend the faith. We claim we're less confident to share that faith with others and we're more vulnerable to falling prey to false teachers. There was a direct correlation between Bible reading and behavior. And here's what they found from a stat standpoint. People who claimed to be Christians who read their Bibles at least four times per week were 57% less likely to get drunk than those self professing Christians who read their bibles less than four times per week. They were 68% less likely to have sex outside of marriage. They were 61% less likely to view pornography and and they were 74% less likely to gamble. People who read their Bibles at least four times per week were 228% more likely to share their faith with other people. They were 231% more likely to be discipling others. And they were 407% more likely to be memorizing Scripture. These are all marks of mature disciples. And we say as a church we want to raise up mature disciples, right? And so reading your Bible and knowing God's Word and communing with him abiding actually produces fruit. It changes your life. It results in something different than people who don't know and read God's Word. So it's also interesting, there was no difference in numbers when looking at people who never read their Bible. Those who read it between one and three times per week. So in other words, from their study, there is a significant difference in people who Regularly read their Bibles four plus times per week. So just ask yourself, like, is that me? Do I do that? Would I be in the four plus times per week or would I be in the three or less times per week? And does my life reflect that? At Veritas, we don't do scientific studies like that. However, with that said, we meet with a ton of people, okay? And so we do a lot of gospel shepherding, a lot of discipleship. We meet with people who are walking in a variety of situations that might be a bad marriage with conflict, it might be other family conflict, it might be specific sin struggles, it might be relational conflict, cancer, diagnoses, death of a loved one, anxiety, depression, whatever the case might be. We meet with a lot of people and one of the first things that we ask is, how's your walk with the Lord? More specifically, how are your spiritual rhythms? How's your time in God's word? Almost 100% of the time, if not 100% of the time. When people respond with, it's really good and consistent. My rhythms are good, I'm in my Bible. Although they're going through something hard, although they just got diagnosed with cancer or they lost a loved one, or their job is terrible, or their marriage is a wreck, or whatever the case might be, they can say, I have hope, I'm holding on to what is true. I know God's word and it is sustaining me through this hard time. And because they are regularly in their Bibles, they know the gospel. And no matter what they're going through, the reality that they are reconciled to a holy God through Christ trumps everything situation they could potentially run into. They have joy, they have hope, they can move forward. The temptations and the lies that they could believe get overshadowed by God's truth. And the opposite is almost true 100% of the time as well. When we ask that question, people say, not really doing much spiritually, not reading my Bible, I'd like to grow in that, but I'm currently not. When they respond that way, there's little peace, there's little joy, there's little hope. They're a product of their circumstance. If life is going great, they're great. If it's not, they're overwhelmed. It's because the lies and temptations of the world overcome them. They don't have truth to combat those things. I mean, I see this all the time, week after week, and it's incredibly awesome to see somebody whose husband just died of brain cancer. Happened earlier this year. I was in a hospital room three weeks ago with a family with a 49 year old mom who was dying of cancer. And it was so encouraging to be able to open up God's word with them and read from Revelation 21 how when you have hope in the gospel, there will be a day where there will be no more pain and no more suffering, no more tears, no more sorrow. A couple days later she passed away. And talking to their family, they have hope. Yeah, they're sad, yeah, they're grieving, but they have hope in what is true. See, it's my hope that everyone in this room wants to be Bible people. Right? Some of you are. Keep it up, keep going. That's awesome. A lot of you aren't. And I would just say that I want to get a little bit practical with you. Okay, so you're like, yeah, I want to read my Bible. What does that even look like? So I want to give you just a handful of tools, direction, whatever you want to call it that might help you in reading your Bible moving forward. Because church, we have the inspired word of God at our fingertips and yet so many self professing Christians leave their Bibles closed. So many self professing Christians don't know God's word. So many self professing Christians are giving into lies and temptation because they don't have truth to combat those things with. And so if you want to be a Bible person, I would just say start. You're like, well that's not very clear. Okay, we'll get more clear here in a second. Right? But I would say the first thing that can be really, really helpful is to have a time and a place and a plan. Like, I want to be a Bible person, I want to read my Bible more, have a time. And so I would say, what is your time? It might be 6:00 in the morning on your coffee table. It might be over the lunch hour because you have a break from work. It might be when your kids nap because it's the only time you have during the day, whatever that is, come up with a regular time and a place. I'm going to read my Bible at this time in this place, then finally have a plan. You can randomly open your Bible and be like, I'm going to read this today and, and it's better than nothing. Right? But a plan is probably helpful. And so Taylor even said there's some Bible reading plans back there. There's one specifically for youth. I would encourage you to pick up one of those if you don't have one already. Have a plan. So have a consistent time and a place and a plan. Number two, I would say approach God's word with prayer and a humble heart. You see, James 1:21 says, to receive with meekness the implanted word. And so a simple prayer saying, God, give me a desire for your word. God, give me a love for your word. Give me a hunger for your word. And then just simply saying, with a humble heart, like God, I expect to hear from you, I expect to learn from you. Please show me what you want to show me this morning. So you have a time, you have a place, you have a plan, you're entering it with prayer with a humble heart. Here's two methods that can guide your time. The first one's called Bible dwelling. Okay, Bible dwelling. We'll just say that my time and my place and my plan is at what time is it? 10 o'clock, in front of some friends here in Urbana. Okay, up on stage. And then my plan has me in Colossians 3 today. And so I would simply read Colossians 3. So we're actually gonna do that this morning. We have a little bit of time. So if you have your Bibles or your app, please turn to Colossians 3 with me. So I would simply read this two or three times. We'll read it once together right now. But it says this. If then you have been raised with Christ, 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, for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ and God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Put to death. Therefore, what is earthly in you, Sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil, desire, covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these, the wrath of God is coming in these. You too once walked when you were living in them, but now you must put them all away. Anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices, and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised, uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave free. But Christ is all and in all put on then as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience bearing with one another. And if one has complained against another, forgiving each other. As the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these, put on love which binds everything together in perfect harmony. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you, richly teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Wives, submit to your husbands as fitting in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them. Children, obey your parents and everything, for this pleases the Lord. Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged. Bondservants, obey everything, those who are your earthly masters, not by way of eye service as people pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. Whatever you do, work heartily as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. For the wrongdoer will be paid back for the wrong he has done. And there is no partiality. Okay, so I'd read through that maybe twice, right? And then when it comes to Bible dwelling, the first step is take small bites. Take small bites. And so there was a ton of really, really good stuff in here. But when we say take small bites, I'm saying choose a phrase or a verse and focus on that. And so if I'm praying, God, show me something, reveal something to me. What is it that you want me to see today? Hopefully something jumps off the page and there's a ton of really good like one liners in here. If then you've been seated with Christ, seek the things that are above, put to death. Therefore, what is earthly in you, let the word of Christ dwell in you richly. Whatever you do in word and deed, do everything for the name of the Lord Jesus. Wives, submit to your husbands. Husbands, love your wives. Fathers, do not. I mean, whatever it is you choose, choose a line, choose a phrase, choose a verse, and that's your small bite. Okay, so for me this morning, I'm just going to say, if then you've been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above. And so what sticks out to me is the first part of verse one in chapter three. That's my small bite. Okay, then I'm going to chew it up, right? So I don't just simply read something, check it off, listen. No, I want to dig deeper into that and so you guys know what it means to, like, ruminate on something? We got any people with cows in here? No, man. Okay. I remember when I was younger, my aunt had cows, and I was blown away by, like, they just go and, like, bite grass, and they come back and just chew for hours. Like, what the heck's going on? Well, they have four chambered stomachs, and they regurgitate and spit up. And what they're trying to do is extract every last nutrient of their food. And so when we say chew it up, that's what we're like. Extract the nutrients from God's word, Chew it up, ruminate on it, dissect it, dig in. And so as I look at this first line of chapter three, the first word is, if. If, then you have been raised with Christ. Well, that must mean that some people have and some people haven't. Okay? And so then I would ask myself, like, have I been raised with Christ? Yes, I've put my faith in Christ. If I hadn't, that would lead down a different direction. Next, how am I raised with Christ? How have I been raised to Christ? The Gospel. I think about the Gospel for a little bit. The fact that we can be reconciled to a holy God. We can go from an enemy of God to his child through faith in Christ. How? We just celebrated Christmas, right? God sends Jesus down to earth, and he lives a perfect life, and he dies the death that we deserve to die. And through faith in him, we can be made new. We can be a new creation in Christ. Because Easter Jesus defeated sin and death. So I would think about the Gospel. It says, seek things that are above. Do you guys know that we have about 30,000 thoughts that go through our head daily? Isn't that crazy? 30,000, right? What are my thoughts geared towards? What am I seeking? What am I looking at? What am I looking to? Am I seeking the things above? What is seeking the things above? God's word, Jesus. What are earthly things? What earthly things am I seeking? What am I looking to? What am I going after? You see, when I'm chewing up this one line, my mind goes in different places, and I'm able to, like, actually think about what God's word says. What am I currently seeking? What does it look like to go from seeking earthly things to godly things? And so just in, like, half of a verse, I'm able to dissect and chew this up more in a way that God's word is really impacting me way more than if I just read it and check the box. Next one, digest it in your heart. Words of Christ should impact your joy. Okay, and so what is the good news of this one line that I just read? The good news is through faith in Christ, I've been raised with Christ, and I'm no longer a slave to sin, but I have the freedom to seek what is above. That's great news. That should motivate my day. That should really inspire my day to be a faithful and obedient servant of the Lord. You might ask, like, how do I apply this? What does it practically look like? And then finally, let it come out in prayer. God, thank you so much for your word. Thank you so much that through Christ we have been raised. We are a new creation God. I just confess that I often seek earthly things. I think pursue dumb stuff. God, give me the desire for things of you. Help me to seek and to focus on and to think about you and your Word. That might take 12 to 15 minutes. A second method is called soap. You guys ever done soap? Not like scrubbing soap, but Bible soap? A couple of you maybe? So soap stands for scripture. So for this case, we're Colossians 3, right? We've already done that. We've already read that. Read through it a couple times. Next one is observation. The O is observation. And you're simply reading God's Word and asking questions like who, what, when, where, why, how. You're trying to observe the text. This is where taking notes and underlining and highlighting comes in handy. Next one is application. So if God's Word says this, how should I respond? And finally, prayer. Thank God for His Word, what he showed you. Pray for help to apply His Word. Those are just two really, really quick methods to read God's Word. And here's the thing, you'll get better over time. And so if you're like, I tried it one time and it's kind of weird, well, keep doing it. It gets easier. It's a way to spend 15 to 20 minutes a day in God's Word, extracting the goodness of his Word. And then here's the cool thing. If you do this, God tends to bring it to your mind throughout the day. And so it's easier to seek what is above when I have God's Word in my mind. Veritas. Here's the thing is we have a God who communicates with us. We have a God who have said, this is my word to you. This is who I am. This is what I've done. This is what I'm doing. This is what I will do. And yet for many of us, we don't take advantage of the fact that God has given us his Word. And so my challenge to you or my encouragement to you is be a Bible person. Like, we're not a church of tons of events. We don't have something every night of the week. We don't have programs and events coming out of our ears. We simply want to preach God's word and do things in ways that help you abide. And so even the parent commissioning this morning, that is simply a way to recognize parents, to challenge parents, to challenge the church, to come alongside them in prayer. But ultimately, we're saying, parents, you are the primary disciples of your kids. We want to help you abide in Christ so you can actually produce spiritual fruit. Because apart from Christ, you can do nothing. And so I want to challenge you this morning, be Bible people. If you've never opened up your Bible, great time to start. If you have, but it's kind of haphazard and irregular, it would be a great time to commit to doing it more often. We have the inspired word of God. He has given us his Word. We looked at John 15. So many of us are trying to live life apart from Christ. We're trying to make spiritual impact. We're trying to live a relevant life. We're trying to make a difference. And yet we're not connected to the vine. And many of us walk into churches Sunday after Sunday like a dying, wilting branch. And what might Veritas Church, both in Cedar Rapids and in Urbana, look like if it was full of people who actually abided or remained in Christ? And a great way to start is to open up God's Word. We pray. God, it's humbling to think that you have given us your word, that we have access to it, that we probably have 1, 2, 5, 10 Bibles. God, I do just pray that we would be Bible people, that we would love your Word, that we would read your word, that we would memorize your word, that your word would have impact on our lives, that we can hold on to what is true, that we can fight temptation by your word, by truth. God, I just think of people who devote time and energy to so many things. They have so many rhythms. Lord, I pray that we can be a church, that we can be a body that has healthy spiritual rhythms in which we are abiding in you every single day. God, I pray for people who might not have those, that they can look at their other rhythms, other habits or other patterns and be like, what should I stop doing. It might be I watch less Netflix or YouTube. It might be I'm gonna stop aimlessly scrolling social media. It might be I'm gonna put less attention and focus towards my kids, sports, towards my career. But God, ultimately we want to be a church that abides in you. We pray you would give us the strength and the wisdom to do that. We love you. Your name we pray. Amen.