Sermons

Details
Series: General
Date:
Additional file: 2014-08-24 We Believe Because - Alan Yeater.docx


S.R. Acts 17:16-34                                                                                                                          

Introduction

  1. Bible Basics: What do I need to know to get started?
    1. There is a God and He created everything good.
    2. Jesus of Nazareth is His Son and God brought him back to life after men killed Him.
    3. The Bible is God’s record about His interaction with us His created ones.
  2. God wants us to make a “defense” for our hope (1 Peter 3:15)
    1. Hope needs defending. Hoping for a million dollars. On what do you base that hope? Hoping to graduate…
    2. 1 Peter 3:15 “But sanctify (set apart Christ as Lord – NIV) the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear; (gentleness and respect – NIV)
      1. “give an answer, make a defense”
      2. Philippians 1:17
    3. Gk. apologia – to give a defense in behalf of – Term Apologetics
  3. Examining the Evidence:
    1. Hard evidence – material that you can look at, touch, taste and handle.
      1. Purdue focuses a lot of attention on the “hard sciences.”
    2. Soft evidence – reason, rational thought and logic applied with wisdom to ascertain what cannot be seen, by what can be seen. (Philosophy) an example.
    3. The scientific method, as formalized by Sir Francis Bacon (1561-1626), requires experimentation, and observation in order to develop a hypothesis.
    4. “In order to do science one must assume that the universe is orderly, stable and rational, but this assumption does not make any sense in a pagan or evolutionary worldview.” (Vernon Cupps, Ph.D. Indiana University, Nuclear Physics Dept.)
      1. Astronmer Robert Jastrow (an agnostic) “There is a kind of religion in science…every effect must have its cause, there is no First Cause…This religious faith of the scientist is violated by discovery that the world had a beginning under conditions in which the know laws of physics are not valid, and as a product of forces or circumstances we cannot discover. When that happens the scientist has lost control.” (Jastrow, God and the Astronomers. 113-114)

Outline

  1. We Believe God Created Everything Good
    1. Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”
      1. Created Heb. Bara Latin ex nihilo (out of nothing)
      2. Mind came before matter.
      3. God spoke the universe into existence by his powerful word.
        1. “And God said” (Genesis 1:1-11)
        2. His Son came to earth and demonstrated the same power to create, heal and control nature by His powerful word (cf. Matthew 8)
    2. B.“God made” is the basis for all laws, natural and moral.
      1. Gen. 9:6; Eccl. 7:29; Jer. 10:12; Mark 10:6-7
    3. We believe God created the heavens and the earth and you and me.
      1. God created humans distinct with a soul and spirit and capable of special relationship with God based upon free will.
      2. We believe design is the result of a designer (Heb. 3:4) “For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything.”
      3. We believe life comes from life. (Acts 17:22-31)
    4. Summary Statement: We serve a Creator God (Rev. 4:11) "You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being."
  2. We Serve a Resurrected Lord, Jesus of Nazareth
    1. Eye-witness testimony (Acts 2:32) You killed Him, God raised him and we…
    2. Consequences if Christ was not raised (1 Cor. 15:12-19)
      1. There is no resurrection of anyone from the dead (vs. 18) “perished”
    3. Romans 1:4 “who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord,”
  3. We believe the Scriptures are God – breathed messages from God to us.
    1. We believe they are accurate based upon His character and His preservation of the text.
      1. God claims to be the ultimate author and He cannot lie (Titus 1:1-2)
        1. If He is God. He is the Eternal, Self Existent One, Who by His Nature Cannot Lie. He is the very definition of Good.
    2. These Scriptures are once and for all delivered and completely sufficient for all our spiritual instruction. (2 Peter 1:3; 2 Tim. 3:16-17)
    3. By reading the Scriptures we can know God’s will for our life. (Eph. 3:3-5)
    4. Conclusion: John 5:28-29; 12:48; Mark 16:16.