Key Scriptures Every Christian Should Know By Heart

Key Scriptures Every Christian
Should Know By Heart

“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.” (Col. 3:16) Below are 60 foundational verses to begin your journey of hiding God’s Word in your heart (Ps. 119:11).  Start by working your way down the Foundation Column.  Once you have completed that column, go deeper and memorize the Building Column.  The goal:  Know all 60 precisely.

        FOUNDATION         BUILDING

LIVE THE NEW LIFE 

Christ the Center 2 Corinthians 5:17 Galatians 2:20 

Obedience to Christ Romans 12:1         John 14:21 

The Word         2 Timothy 3:16 Joshua 1:8 

Prayer         John 15:7         Philippians 4:6,7 

Fellowship Matthew 18:20         Hebrews 10:24,25 

Witnessing Matthew 4:19         Romans 1:16 

PROCLAIM CHRIST 

All Have Sinned         Romans 3:23 Isaiah 53:6 

Sin's Penalty Romans 6:23         Hebrews 9:27 

Christ Paid the Penalty Romans 5:8 1 Peter 3:18 

Salvation is not by Works Ephesians 2:8,9 Titus 3:5 

Must Receive Christ          John 1:12 Revelation 3:20 

Assurance of Salvation 1 John 5:13 John 5:24 

RELY ON GOD'S RESOURCES 

His Spirit         1 Corinthians 3:16 1 Corinthians 2:12 

His Strength Isaiah 41:10 Philippians 4:13 

His Faithfulness Lamentations 3:22,23 Numbers 23:19 

His Peace         Isaiah 26:3 1 Peter 5:7 

His Provision         Romans 8:32         Philippians 4:19 

His Help in Temptation Hebrews 2:18         Psalms 119:9,11 

BE CHRIST'S DISCIPLE 

Put Christ First         Matthew 6:33         Luke 9:23 

Separate From the World 1 John 2:15,16         Romans 12:2 

Be Steadfast 1 Corinthians 15:58         Hebrews 12:3 

Serve Others         Mark 10:45 2 Corinthians 4:5 

Give Generously Proverbs 3:9,10 2 Corinthians 9:6,7 

Develop World Vision Acts 1:8         Matthew 28:19,20 

GROW IN CHRISTLIKENESS 

Love         John 13:34,35         1 John 3:18

Humility         Philippians 2:3,4 1 Peter 5:5,6 

Purity Ephesians 5:3         1 Peter 2:11 

Honesty         Leviticus 19:11 Acts 24:16 

Faith Hebrews 11:6         Romans 4:20,21 

Good Works Galatians 6:9,10 Matthew 5:16

Motivation for Memorization*

Often when Christians today are challenged to memorize Scripture their reaction is tantamount to modern-day martyrdom.  We react with about as much eagerness as to a request for volunteers to face Nero’s lions.  Maybe it is because we associate it with memorization in school:  uninteresting and of limited value.  Some say they have a bad memory.  But what if someone offered you $5,000 for every verse you could memorize in the next seven days?  How many Scriptures could you quote by next week?  Any financial reward would be paltry compared to the accumulating value of the treasure of God’s Word deposited in your mind.  You CAN memorize Scripture if you set your heart and mind to do it!

In his book, Spiritual Disciplines of the Christian Life, Donald Whitney lists several benefits to memorizing Scripture:

1. Memorizing supplies spiritual power (Ps. 119:11; Eph. 6:17; Matt. 4:1-11)
2. Memorizing strengthens your faith (Prov. 22:17-19)
3. Memorizing deepens witnessing and counseling (see how much Peter quotes in Acts 2:14-40)
4. A means of God’s guidance (Ps. 119:24)
5. Stimulates Meditation (Ps. 119:97)

Methods for Memorization*

1. Have a plan.  Use the list on the first page to get you started.  Or, if you are deeply struggling with some issue right now, then let your first verses center on that.  For instance, if you are struggling with a habit, find some verses that will help you experience victory over it.
2. Write out the verses.  
3. Repeat and remember one phrase at a time.
4. Draw picture reminders or use hand gestures to help you visually remember it.
5. Memorize word-perfectly.  Don’t settle for getting close.  The Enemy has a knack for  throwing you off with a subtle misquote.  “Did God really say...?” (Gen. 3:1)
6. Find a method of accountability.  Because of our tendency toward sloth, most of us need someone to hold us accountable.  Find a Scripture memory partner or two and hold each other to it.
7. Review and meditate daily.  

“As a pastor, teacher and counselor, I have repeatedly seen the transformation of the inner and outer life that comes simply from memorization and meditation upon Scripture.  Personally, I would never undertake to pastor a church or guide a program of Christian education that did not involve a continuous program of memorization of choicest passages of Scripture for people of all ages.”  --Dallas Willard

*These sections adapated from Spiritual Disciplines of the Christian Life by Donald Whitney (Navpress, 1991), pp 41-47 

Where is God When it Hurts? Sermon notes

Where is God When it Hurts?

Red Hills Southern Baptist Church, Cedar City, UT

Sermon by Pastor Randy Bond

January 27, 2013 

Eccl. 7:2  It is better to go to a house of mourning 

  than to go to a house of feasting, 

  since that is the end of all mankind, 

  and the living should take it to heart. 

"We do not give the subject of evil and suffering the thought it deserves until we ourselves are confronted with tragedy.  If by that point our belief--not well thought out but deeply ingrained--are largely out of step with the God who has disclosed himself in the Bible and supremely in Jesus, then the pain of personal tragedy may be multiplied many times over as we begin to question the very foundations of our faith." 

--D.A. Carson

"Wimpy worldviews make wimpy Christians.

And wimpy Christians will not survive

 in the days ahead."

--John Piper

1. The Bible deals honestly with the reality of suffering.
1. Suffering is often undeserved.  Job 1:1, 9
2. Suffering is usually unexpected.  Job 1:13-17
3. Suffering can be unimaginable.  Job 1:18-19
4. Suffering is always painful.  Job 2:7-8; 30:17, 27-31
2. Why Do People Suffer?
1. Because of your own sin Deut. 28:58-63; 
2. Because of someone else’s sin Josh 7:1-5
3. We live in a broken/fallen world Gen. 3:17-19
4. To reveal the glory of God John 9:1-3

A word of caution:  The reason for a particular suffering may not be discernible--if ever.  We ask for explanations; God gives us revelations.  (Job 42:5)  Don’t be quick to jump to conclusions about calamity in your life...or others’.      (Job 42:7)  The most important thing we should be looking for is not WHY but WHO.

1. Suffering in the Christian life?
1. Christians should expect to suffer. Phil. 1:29; John 16:33; Acts 14:22
2. Suffering comes from our identification with Christ.  Matt. 24:9; 2 Tim. 3:11-12
3. Comes as a demonstration of God’s love.  Heb. 12:6-7; 1 Cor. 11:32; Deut. 8:5
1. To refine our faith and our character.  Is. 48:10; Heb 12:11
2. To reveal His glory our complete dependence upon Him. Job 42:5-6
3. So we can relate more intimately with Christ.  Phil. 3:10-11

"Because of my sufferings, I will appreciate (in heaven) the scars of Christ and also the scars of other believers. (In heaven) I will see men and women that in the world were cut in pieces, burnt in flames, tortured and persecuted, eaten by beasts, and drowned in the seas - - all for the love they had for the Lord. What a privelege it will be to stand in their ranks! But what a shame it would be if, in conversing with them, we could only shrug our shoulders and prattle Me? Suffer?...... Perhaps we would bite our complaining tongues more often if we stopped to picture this scene in heaven. The examples of other suffering saints are meant to inspire us upward on our heavenly journey home." --Joni Eareckson Tada

1. It is comparatively light.  Rom. 8:18; 2 Cor. 4:17; 1 Pet. 1:6
2. Ends in Joy and Blessing!  Ps. 126:5-6; 1 Pet. 4:13-14; Rom. 5:3-4
1. How to Deal with Suffering
1. If the suffering is the result of your own sin, repent and learn!  Hos. 6:1
2. Trust God’s sovereignty.  Job 1-2  God is sovereign over angels, demons, nations, nature, disease, death, comfort and calamity.

"A nominal Christian often discovers in suffering that his faith has been in his church, denomination, or family tradition, but not in Christ.  As he faces evil and suffering, he may lose his faith.  But that's actually a good thing.  I have sympathy for people who lose their faith, but any faith lost in suffering wasn't a faith worth keeping." -Randy Alcorn

1. Trust God’s love and goodness.  Heb. 4:15; Deut. 31:6

"There is no pit so deep that God's love is not deeper still."

--Corrie ten Boom, Nazi concentration camp survivor

1. Be moldable and teachable.  Is. 64:8
2. Be patient with the process. Jas. 5:11 
3. Choose joy.  James 1:2-4  

You cannot choose if or how you are going to suffer, but you can choose how it affects you.  God does not promise us a problem-free life; He promises His presence and His peace.  John 14:27