For just a moment, I want you to think about August. It’s hot – Real hot, and we can’t wait for the cool days to come (OK, this is a stretch, but work with me here!) Sounds good, doesn’t it?  It’s late summer, so of course, at least here in Wisconsin, the baseball season is pretty much a wash - so everyone is excited about football. 

The Packers show up have been going through training camp for several weeks already – they’ve been doing all those basic disciplines that you’d expect from a football team. They’ve been running, and lifting weights, watching film and throwing the ball around. The runners have been running; the receivers have been catching; the blockers blocking; tackles have been missing…..

And now training camp is over – it’s time for that first pre season game. To thunderous cheers from the stands, Brett Farve runs out to the huddle, the players lean in, excited to hear the first play of the new season, and he says, “TRIPS Left Y-ZOOM 2 1 9 H-SWING .”

And the other guys look at him with blank stares on their faces.

He says it again, “TRIPS Left Y-ZOOM 2 1 9 H-SWING.”

The guys look at him with dazed looks on their faces. “Umm, so where do you want ME to go, Brett?” asks a receiver. “So, is that a run play?” asks the running back. “No, I think it’s a reverse – that’s why he said ‘Swing’ at the end,” chimes in a lineman.

Then Brett realizes the awful truth – no one else on the team studied the playbook! They did all the physical conditioning – they all went through the individual training and fundamentals of how to tackle, block and run a pattern. But he’s the only guy in the huddle who knows how it all fits together! Without studying the playbook the other guys don’t know where to line up, who to block, what pattern to run, so Brett calls a timeout, and individually tells each guy their assignment…

Obviously, that’s not going to work! 

In order for a team to take the field and effectively engage their opponent, it takes more than brute strength and raw talent – there must be a common guiding source of reference – a source that anticipates every possible scenario, anticipates the opponent’s attack, and gives the best offensive and defensive response.

What really happens is this. Every team has a playbook. It is one of the most valuable possessions of the team. Players are required to sign a legal document regarding their responsibility and the confidentiality of the book. Payers get fined $10,000 if they lose their playbook. Generally it is thicker than the New York City Telephone Book, and contains thousands of scenarios and plays. [Show diagrams of plays] Players are expected to know every play and how it affects them. When presented with a game-time decision, the coach sends out a code name to the quarterback, like “TRIPS Left Y-ZOOM 2 1 9 H-SWING.” The Quarterback relays that message to the players in the huddle, and each one knows exactly where he goes, what he does, and what each of his teammates is going to do. 

Now occasionally, a player will line up in the wrong position, and you will see the quarterback quickly correct his stance or placement. Or he may step up and look over the attack that the opposition is throwing at them, and make an adjustment – “Call an audible.” But again, that audible refers to a play that everyone is familiar with – instantly they are able to respond to the attack and adjust accordingly. In order for it all to work, each player must know his playbook – he needs to study and memorize his position, understand his responsibility, and know how his actions fit into the overall operation of the team.

We have just completed a 12-week study that we called “Training Camp.” During that time, we reviewed a dozen or so Spiritual Disciplines. We looked at a variety of personal practices that we can develop that open us to the spiritual growth and maturity that God desires to give each one of us. Around this area, you may have already seen local farmers out preparing their fields for a crop. The farmer does his part – plowing, fertilizing, and weeding his field. God does his part – rain, warmth, sun, germination, maturity and growth. There is a partnership between God and the farmer to get good results.

The same is true in our spiritual lives. God desires that we experience growth and maturity. The Bible repeatedly urges us to “grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Jesus said that if He remains in us, and we in Him, we will “bear much fruit.” But that growth and fruit-bearing results from a combination of God’s amazing work of grace in us – only He can produce spiritual growth and fruit in us – that’s His part -but there is another ingredient – you and me – we have an active role in our growth and maturity – we need to “prepare the soil” of our hearts to be receptive and fertile soil for the growth that God desires. He will do His part – we must do ours. 

Training camp is important – it’s important that we develop those Spiritual Disciplines. But the disciplines alone are not enough. They are like the calisthenics and exercises we go through to get in shape – but strength and discipline alone are not enough – we need to have a source of direction, a master plan that outlines the overall mission, gives us information about our opponents, provides options when we find ourselves under attack, and lets us know how we fit into the overall performance of the team – the body of Christ. We need to study the playbook.

Our playbook is the Bible. Within the pages of this book we find God’s plan. His directions for His people as a group, and for each of us individually. We learn how to walk, talk, run, advance against our opponent, support one another and press on toward the victory – all in God’s playbook.

The great thing about this playbook is that, unlike an NFL playbook, which is tightly guarded and kept hidden – this playbook is everywhere! It’s all around you! Most Americans own a Bible. In fact, 92% of households in America own at least one copy. Of those households that own a Bible, the average number of Bibles is three. This includes not only the homes of practicing Christians but hundreds of thousands of atheists as well. Although most Americans own a Bible, use of the Bible varies significantly. In a poll taken by the Gallup Organization in October 2000, 59% of Americans reported that they read the Bible at least occasionally. This is down from 73% in the 1980s. The percentage of Americans who read the Bible at least once a week is 37%. This is down slightly from 40% in 1990. According to the Barna Research Group, those who read the Bible regularly spend about 52 minutes a week in the scriptures.

Think about those numbers. 92% have a Bible – about half actually read it occasionally, and only a third read it once a week! When it comes to our performance on the playing field of life, most of us come to the huddle on Sunday morning with no clue of what to do next. We come to the huddle expecting that someone is going to be able to call “time out!” and individually walk us through every step of the battle we are facing. Now, it may be that occasionally a pastor or an Elder will notice that you’re lined up in a vulnerable spot, and have a chance to quickly come alongside and give some adjustment, advice or a reminder of some page in the Playbook – but thatt’s not going to be enough to move the whole team to victory.

Are you following me?

It is necessary for each of us to have a working knowledge of the playbook. Each of us needs to be committed to regular, careful study of the Bible. No player in the NFL ever learned all he needed to know by hanging around the huddle on game day – he spends hours studying, reviewing, and memorizing the playbook. We must do the same – the engagement we are in is infinitely more important than any football game – even a Packers/Bears game!

The Bible itself calls us to study. One of the most obvious calls is found in 2 Timothy 2:15. This was a verse that was the motto of the Christian Grade School I attended. It reads, in the King James Bible, “Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth.” 

Let me quickly share with you a couple of observations from that verse:

First, the command - we are given an order here from the Lord: “Study.” The original Greek word that Paul wrote is better translated for us today as “be careful” or “be diligent.” Many of you are reading other translations that use those phrases. We are called to be deliberate, cautious and engaged in our efforts.

Secondly, the goal – we are striving to do one thing – to please our Lord. We want to be “approved by God.” When God looks over our lives, we want him to approve of what he sees. We want to please Him with our behavior – that is our ultimate goal. We do not want to be ashamed when we stand before Him one day and give an account of our lives. (If you want information about that day – we can get you a video of our drama “The Bema” that explains it all.)

Thirdly, the execution – how do we achieve our goal? By “rightly dividing the Word of Truth.” 

How do some of your translations render that last phrase? [Accurately handle; correctly handle, correctly explain.] The Greek word that Paul originally penned would have been well known to Timothy, and everyone else in that day. The Greek phrase literally means, “to cut straight.” It was a word that was used to describe a farmer who made straight furrows in his field, or a carpenter who made a straight cut with a saw, or when a tent-maker sewed a straight seam on material. 

So let’s put those three components together: Our careful, deliberate study of the Word of Truth, the Bible, will allow us to walk the straight line – we will not veer off track – we will have clear, direct understanding of the will of God, and will, as a result, be able to live a life that meets with His approval.

So, practically, how do we do this? Well, for the next few weeks, we are going to talk about several methods for studying the Bible. According to the numbers I shared earlier, it would not be surprising if 70 percent of us don’t study the Bible – we think of it as confusing, and too much for us to handle. But I’m here to tell you that you can have a satisfying and fruitful life of personal Bible study. All you need are a few tools

Here’s a few things that you will need:

External Requirements:

A Bible – A good TRANSLATION – NKJV, NLT, NIV, NASB. Not a Paraphrase (The Living Bible, The Message, Etc.) The Bible was not written in English – it was written primarily in Hebrew and Greek. Every Bible you pick up in English is a translation. I recommend you get one that is reliable and readable. But I also recommend that you have various translations. Every translation is going to be that translator’s best effort to convey the original message – but every individual or group of individuals is going to bring a slightly different perspective to their work. That’s why looking at other translator’s work is a good idea.

If there was an accident outside in the parking lot after church this morning, and it was witnessed by 12 people, but the police took the first person they came upon, and only listened to his account of the incident – they would get an accurate account – but from only that person’s perspective – but as they talk to the rest of the witnesses, they get a more complete, 360 degree picture of the event. The same is true in translations. Unless you are a Greek and Hebrew scholar, you will be reading a translation of the Bible, and a translation means that you are getting a human perspective – therefore I recommend you get multiple opinions to get the full meaning.

A Bible Dictionary – A Bible dictionary will help you with the meaning of words that you may not be familiar with. A regular dictionary of the English language can help, but a Bible dictionary will give you a more specific meaning as it pertains to the Scriptures.

A Concordance – A concordance gives you the location of every word in scripture. You look it up, and it will show you every place that English word is found in the Bible, and it will give you the ability to find the original Hebrew/Greek word, and what that word’s origin and meaning was.

A Journal/Notebook – Get a journal or a spiral notebook to record your observations, thoughts, questions, and directions in. Get in the habit of writing down your notes each day. Some days it may not be a whole lot – some days it will be a lot – but writing it down helps in so many ways. You can go back an review your progress – you can remind yourself later of some thought you had. But most importantly, it helps to impress the truth you are learning into your head.

Those are the basic external tools you need – but there are a few internal requirements as well:

Internal Requirements:

A Reborn Heart – John 5:39 Jesus said, “You diligently study the Scriptures, because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life …” The Bible does not give you eternal life. Lots of people know the Bible inside and out – much better than I – yet they have never come to Jesus and humbly confessed that they are lost without Him. Folks, you can spend the rest of your life studying the Bible, but if you have never recognized your sinfulness, asked Jesus to forgive you, and invited Him to be your Master and Savior – then your Bible knowledge alone will not save you. 

You must be born again. Jesus said those words to a man who was a Bible Scholar – one of the best Bible scholars in all of Israel! His knowledge alone would never be enough, however. First things first – ask Jesus to forgive you and be your Savior.

A Receptive Mind – We dare not come to the Word of God with a closed mind – a mind that is bent on having Scripture back up our preconceived notions of the way things ought to be. Our study of the Bible is not to defend the way we think, but to change the way we think! Paul writes in Romans 12:2, “Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Our goal in Bible study is to hear, understand and obey the Word of God – period.

A Repentant Life – Closely related to a receptive mind is a repentant life. When God speaks to us, and when His word convicts us of a pattern in our lives, it is absolutely necessary that we conform to His word. When we find an area that we need to change – we change. We pray for help from the Holy Sprit. We seek assistance, counsel and accountability from other believers, and we make it our goal to be obedient to what we have learned. Psalm 119:9 says “How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word.” Not by studying your word, not by understanding your word – but by living according to your word.

That’s our ultimate goal – to allow the study of God’s word to impact the way we live – so that we when He evaluates our lives – we will hear His voice of approval.

HUDDLE UP! Here’s the Play:

“Study to show yourself approved unto God” On Three…

Ready?