Knowing Your Gear

Today, we continue in our new series titled “Facing Your Enemy.”  Last week, Carl introduced the series and talked about “Choosing Your Battles.”  I told Carl afterward I thought it was one of his best messages.  It really struck home with me.  I often feel like I have a hard time articulating what brought me from where I was in my walk with Christ to where I am now.  And as Carl was talking, I could relate again and again the mistakes and pitfalls he described to my poor decision making and how I was confused along the way over the years.

The biggest point was how we can easily get pulled into fighting the wrong battles.  In particular, I used to exert a lot of energy in praying that I do not sin or praying repentantly after I have sinned.  I’ve got journals at home with those kinds of prayers written on pages and pages.  There was not a point in my life where I remember thinking, “I’m fighting the wrong battle.”  But, I don’t dwell on myself nearly as much as I did, but rather put my focus on Christ.

Choosing Your Battles

Welcome! Today we begin a new series entitled Facing Your Enemy. I hope you enjoy the illustrations; Isaac has made one for each message in the series. The character in the illustrations in one from a comic strip Isaac has been developing that he calls Iggleton.

I am really excited about this series and where it will take us. We will have multiple speakers as we go through this topical series, but our approach is not to micromanage what each person will speak on. Each speaker is given the title, just as you can see the list of titles in your bulletin, and that is really all they are given! We don’t plan out the details but instead pray and trust that the Spirit will direct each speaker and, combined with each speaker’s own gifts and life experiences, we pray that the Spirit will weave together the messages into a powerful unified whole.

The Gospels vs. Claims of Contradiction

Welcome! Today we have our final installment in our series on the reliability of the gospels. Two weeks ago we focused on atheists’ and others’ claims that the gospels are fabrications. We looked at when the gospels were written, using as evidence early copies, letters by Christians, and writings by those who were neutral or even opposed to the Christian faith. We saw strong evidence for a very small gap in time between the events in Christ’s life and the writing of the gospels as well as overwhelming evidence that the gospel accounts were not “doctored” in the following centuries.

Last week we focused on claims that the gospels must be in error based on what the gospels say. We focused in on the miracles of Jesus because that is one of the things people have a hard time with. As the atheist Christopher Hitchens has said, “Exceptional claims demand exceptional evidence.” I think we showed evidence that was pretty exceptional. Our main approach was to show that alternative explanations for how the gospels accounts were written and came to be strongly believed as fact were all severely flawed. For example, we talked about how if you start with the presumption that the miracles were “added in” you find the problem that the miracles are completely integrated into the entire story and, beyond this, essential! 

The Gospels vs. Claims of Error

Welcome! Today we continue our series on the reliability of the Gospels. Last week we began by explaining that we were focusing in on the Gospels because they are the most central documents of the Christian faith; they are “ground zero” for the fundamental claims of Christianity. If one accepts the Gospels as true accounts, the fact that Jesus and the Gospel writers clearly believed the Old Testament makes it natural to trust in the Old Testament as well. Similarly, the other material in the New Testament can also be believed because the fundamental teachings are clearly based on the historicity of the Gospels.

Last week we also focused in on atheists’ claims that the Gospels are fabrications. We addressed this by looking in some detail at when the Gospels were likely written, as evidenced by early copies of the Gospels, as evidenced by Gospel fragments, as evidenced by other early letters by Christians referring to the Gospels, and as evidenced by early letters by those who were not Christian but who acknowledged some Christian claims along with some historical events in the life of Christ. 

This week I want to discuss claims that the Gospels must be wrong, must be in error, because of what they say. There are two common types of arguments along these lines. First, people try to find and point out specific errors in the details between one gospel and another or between a gospel and a non-gospel piece of evidence such as an item from archaeology, another document, geographical data, etc. This category I will refer to as contradictions, and we will look at this next week.

The Gospels vs. Claims of Fabrication

Welcome! Today we begin a three-week series that is something significantly different from our usual Sunday morning. Normally we have a message that is either based on a particular passage of Scripture (sometimes our series take us through a book of the Bible), or a topical message that looks at a variety of passages from the Bible to see what it has to say about a given topic. Although these two types of messages have differences, they are the same in that the Bible is what we go to in order to learn.  

Personally, I trust the Bible. I love the Bible. I have been a Christian for close to 25 years, and over that time, my respect for the Bible as a source of wisdom, as being a trustworthy account of history, as being a tool God uses to personally speak to my life, has only grown year after year after year. In contrast, my respect for the world as a source of these things has fallen continually. In addition, my respect for myself, apart from the wisdom I have gained from the Bible, has also only become less and less over time. This has not happened because I have become increasingly brainwashed, or because I am losing my mind; it has happened because the Bible has proven itself again and again to me. Things I thought might have been wrong in the Bible have turned out be because I misunderstood what the Bible was saying or because I was led astray by other sources, Christian and otherwise. 

Jude: Build Yourselves Up in the Faith

Good Morning!  We will conclude our series “Persevering in the Modern World” this morning.  The series is based on three small, single chapter, one page books of the Bible, Obadiah, II John and Jude.  Today we will go through the book of Jude.  Before we do that, I would like to talk about perseverance.  What does it mean?  What function does it serve?  What impact does it have? As I grow older, I feel like the quality of perseverance becomes a more and more essential character quality just to make it through each day.  How else will we avoid becoming weary or tired, avoid discouragement, and not lose heart or give up doing good and right things?

Let’s pray and ask God to give us insight into this crucial aspect of life:  Perseverance

Lord Jesus, we do not want to falter or fail.  God we want to be ones that stand firm for you.  Our modern world does bring us a host of challenges, and yet the lies have not changed.  Apart from You, we are enticed by the same self-serving temptations that have been here since the Fall.  Strengthen our feeble arms and weak knees that we may accomplish Your good, pleasing, and perfect will.  In Jesus’ Name.  Amen.

2 John: Walk in Love

Carl has entitled this series, “Persevering in the Modern World.” The three little books that we are looking at – Obadiah, 2 John, and Jude – each have something to teach us as we live in the reality and the expectation of God’s kingdom. They might be neglected as being small and insignificant, but their message is as relevant now as it was when they were written. God wanted them in the Bible for a reason.

We need to persevere because the world is against us. We are “going against the flow” as followers of Jesus. We ought not to “blend in” with our surroundings and be indistinguishable from other people. What should identify us as Christians? As we look at 2 John today we will find one answer. What did Jesus say should be the primary mark or characteristic that sets us apart as his followers? Is it our doctrinal purity? Is it our avoidance of sin (certainly not a bad thing in itself)? The answer, of course, is in John 13:35:

By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another.

Obadiah: The Kingdom will be His

Good Morning!  Today we will begin a new series.  The theme of the series is “Persevering in the Modern World.”  It is a short, three week series.  We are going to explore three of the smallest books in the Bible, Obadiah, II John, and Jude.  Each book is only one chapter long.  Obadiah comes from the Old Testament and II John and Jude from the New Testament.  Whenever we approach God’s word, it is important to reflect and be aware that it does not return void.  It accomplishes His purposes.  Whenever we pick up a Bible to read, it is a good idea to pray and ask God what he wants to say to you.  Each of these books has its own powerful message that has practical application in our lives today.  Obadiah has a focus on pride and the effects of pride.  It also has promises for God’s people which are encouraging.  Both II John and Jude contain warnings and encouragement and instructions on how we should live.  In combination, these three books give us an overview of God's coming Kingdom of righteousness and how we are to live while we wait for His kingdom to come.

Today, we will cover the book of Obadiah, but before we jump in, let’s take a moment and pray.

Pain in Disappointment

Welcome! Today we finish our “painful” series. I am really thankful for Brian’s, Fred’s and John’s teachings in the series, as there have been things in each that have helped me and made me think and pray differently. Today we talk about pain in disappointment.

All of us experience disappointment; it is a part of life. In the early parts of life, our disappointments often focus on specific actions and events. Let me give you an example from my life. As you all know, I play piano. I began taking lessons when I was five, and continued to take lessons all through my growing up years. As a teenager, I began to enter piano competitions. One of my keenest disappointments I remember at this time was practicing like crazy before a competition, and then, during the competition, playing my pieces well, even perhaps the best I had ever played them. Then we all had to leave the room while the judges deliberated, and when we were told to come back I was nervous, far more nervous than I was when I played for the judges! First maybe they announced the honorable mentions – I was not included. I still had my hopes up; I thought I was at least in the top 5, although I kind of doubted I was the best. One or two just seemed pretty flawless, although maybe I was more musical. Then they announce 3rd place. Not me. I guess I managed to be 2nd, I thought. Then they announced 2nd. Not me. 

Pain in Waiting

Before we pray for a minute, I just want to take you on a little side trip into Hebrews chapter 1:

God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much better than the angels, as He has inherited a more excellent name than they. For to which of the angels did He ever say,

“You are My Son,
Today I have begotten You”?

And again,

“I will be a Father to Him
And He shall be a Son to Me”?

And when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says,

“And let all the angels of God worship Him.”                                        Hebrews 1:1-6