and not a message. Scribes who are not disciples become hypocrites. “Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ” (Rom. 10:17). Unless the Word that we study and prepare works in our own lives and generates faith, the messages we deliver aren’t likely to accomplish very much. The LORD says that just as the rain and the snow cause the seeds in the earth to produce life, yielding “seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that