Living the Word Daily Week 6
Sermon notes from Pastor Joel Gregory at Linked UP Church: God's Word as a daily lifestyle, producing stability, withstanding storms, and shaping generations.
Living the Word Daily Week 6
Pastor Joel Gregory | Linked UP Church
The Word of God is alive and powerful. It will accomplish what it was sent to do in the life of the person who believes and acts on it.
17 For the gospel reveals the righteousness of God that comes by faith from start to finish, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”
The Gospel Is the Power of God
Paul was not ashamed of the gospel of Christ because it contains the power of God.
- Power: Pastor Gregory explained dunamis as miraculous ability, force, strength, and abundance.
- Salvation: He described rescue, safety, deliverance, health, and wholeness.
The gospel has power to produce wholeness, but Paul identifies who receives it: everyone who believes.
The just live by faith. Trials may come, but faith enables believers to overcome them.
You Are Right with God
The just are those who have been declared righteous. God deals with believers according to what Christ has done, not according to their past mistakes.
This confidence does not remove the need for repentance. Repentance means turning and changing the way you think. Renew your mind, learn from your mistakes, and grow out of them.
God's Word Is Not a Season. It's a Lifestyle.
Living by faith is a way of life, not an occasional experience. Watch what you actually live, not only what you say about yourself.
During 40 Days in the Word, we have been reading, studying, meditating, speaking, and applying the Word. The purpose was not simply to finish a program, but to establish a new pattern.
The campaign may be seasonal, but our devotion must be continual. The 40 days may be ending, but the lifestyle is just beginning.
Daily Rhythms of Faith
If faith comes by hearing the Word, living by faith requires consistently hearing and acting on it.
- The Word is not merely for Sundays.
- Prayer is not merely for problems.
- Worship is not merely for church services.
Turn your car, kitchen, or another ordinary place into a place of worship. Learn to pray about what you face rather than depending entirely on someone else to pray for you.
You cannot consistently live by faith while continually neglecting the Word that produces faith.
1. The Word Produces Stability and Fruit
A believer should demonstrate stability. Knowing and quoting Scripture is not the same as living it.
Pastor Gregory described seeing people with extensive biblical knowledge whose lives did not reflect that knowledge. His challenge: do not merely learn a lot while living very little.
2 But his delight is in the Law of the LORD, and on His law he meditates day and night.
3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water, yielding its fruit in season, whose leaf does not wither, and who prospers in all he does.
Rooted and Sustained
Be careful where you receive counsel. The person described in Psalm 1 delights in God's Word and meditates on it day and night.
The strength of a tree is its root system. Pastor Gregory connected the rivers of water with the sustaining supply of God's Word.
The picture is of a life that bears fruit, does not wither, and remains stable even when surrounding conditions change. He emphasized God's provision as enough to meet needs and help others.
5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
2. A Word-Rooted Life Withstands Storms
Storms come. The question is whether you are prepared.
Jesus described two builders who faced the same rain, floods, and wind. The difference was not what they encountered, but what they had built upon.
25 The rain fell, the torrents raged, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because its foundation was on the rock.
26 But everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.
27 The rain fell, the torrents raged, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell—and great was its collapse!”
Build on Jesus and His Word
The wise builder hears Jesus' words and does them. Rather than doing whatever we want and asking God to bless it, we are to follow His instructions.
Pastor Gregory emphasized that Jesus is alive and called believers to speak openly about their faith, respectfully and in love.
Practice What You Hear
Both builders heard Jesus' words. One practiced them; the other did not.
You play like you practice. Daily obedience prepares you for the moment when your foundation is tested.
Which foundation are you building on: rock or sand?
23 For anyone who hears the word but does not carry it out is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror,
24 and after observing himself goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.
25 But the one who looks intently into the perfect law of freedom, and continues to do so—not being a forgetful hearer, but an effective doer—he will be blessed in what he does.
Hearing Is Not Enough
A hearer who does not act deceives himself. Pastor Gregory emphasized the description of someone who walks away and forgets what kind of person he was.
The contrast is the person who continues in the Word and becomes a doer of the work. The promise is not merely blessing in what someone hears, but in what that person does.
The goal is to move beyond knowing and confessing Scripture to experiencing it. Pastor Gregory emphasized wholeness: provision, health, and peace, rather than strength in one area while another remains neglected.
Build Before the Storm
The time to build is before the storm, not only after trouble arrives. Building on the Word is a daily process.
- Every time you forgive, you are building.
- Every time you choose integrity, you are building.
- Every time you pray instead of panicking, you are building.
- Every time you speak God's promises instead of repeating fear, you are building.
- Every time you say no to temptation, you are building.
Pastor Gregory applied this to sexual faithfulness, marriage, tithing, giving, and generosity. Obedience is not something to postpone until circumstances improve.
Declaration
My life is built on Jesus and His Word.
The rain may fall. The floods may rise. The winds may blow.
But by the grace of God, me and my family will still be standing, in Jesus' name.
3. The Word Transforms Generations
The Word is not just for you. Your obedience, and your disobedience, can affect the generations that follow.
God's intention is for His Word to be kept in the heart and passed down through everyday family life.
7 And you shall teach them diligently to your children and speak of them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.
8 Tie them as reminders on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.
9 Write them on the doorposts of your houses and on your gates.
Faith Belongs in Everyday Family Life
Talk about God's Word at home, while traveling, at bedtime, and in the morning. Include it in ordinary conversations, important decisions, victories, and disappointments.
A children's ministry cannot replace a godly home. A youth pastor cannot carry the entire responsibility for a young person's faith.
Pastor Gregory shared that his grandmother introduced him to God. He also pointed to Timothy's grandmother and mother as an example of faith being passed down.
You do not always have to announce a verse reference. Give children the principle and live it in front of them.
More Is Caught Than Taught
When a storm hits your household, children need to see parents who trust God through it. Your response can demonstrate the Word you have been teaching.
Children also have their own will. As a parent, do your part: share the Word, pass it down, and live it in front of them.
Pastor Gregory urged parents not to remove every difficulty from their children's lives. They need opportunities to know God for themselves.
6 that the coming generation would know them— even children yet to be born— to arise and tell their own children
7 that they should put their confidence in God, not forgetting His works, but keeping His commandments.
Create a Spiritual Inheritance
God commanded fathers to make His instructions known to their children so future generations would set their hope in Him.
Pastor Gregory challenged fathers to take responsibility and provide security and stability in the home. Faithfulness to a spouse also teaches children what faithfulness looks like.
Spiritual influence is not limited to biological parents. You can invest in nieces, nephews, godchildren, younger believers, students, new church members, people you mentor, and coworkers who watch your life.
Have someone you are learning from and someone you are helping grow.
Titus
Declaration: A Legacy of Faith
The Word will not stop with me.
My faith will influence my family, my children, and it will strengthen the next generation.
I will leave a legacy of faith that honors God, in Jesus' name.
Final Weekly Challenge
- Commit to a daily Bible reading plan. The 40 days are over. Pick up another plan.
- Share one testimony from the 40-day journey. Share with a friend, family member, or coworker as God leads.
- Make a personal covenant to remain devoted to God. Write a personal statement. A covenant is stronger than a temporary intention.
Consistency Produces Stability
Pastor Gregory shared three commitments he made to God at age 22:
- Maintain daily devotion for the rest of his life.
- Remain sexually abstinent until marriage.
- Give 10 percent of everything he received to God's kingdom.
He connected these long-term commitments with stability in his spiritual life, marriage, and finances.
He also emphasized personal integrity: living what he preaches and considering how his choices affect the people he loves most.
An Invitation to Respond
You are building your life on something. Choose to build on the rock of God's Word.
Pastor Gregory offered three invitations:
- Begin a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ.
- Repent and rededicate your life if you have been hearing the Word without living it.
- Join Linked UP Church if you believe God has led you there and you need a church home.
He especially challenged men to respond, live what they are learning, and help build strong families.
Live for an Audience of One
Do not let concern about other people's opinions keep you from responding to God.
During the invitation, Pastor Gregory warned about the influence of wrong friendships. He recalled leaving a dangerous situation after a friend was killed, returning home, and getting back into school.
His challenge was to respond honestly rather than continue hearing without doing.
