Sermons on Truth
We are studying from Ephesians 4 and we want to focus specifically on the one another statement here in this chapter. In order to do this, we have to spend time looking at everything else in the chapter. We must always understand a text within its context, because a text cannot mean what it never…
Over the next four weeks, we are going to look at some biblical principles of communication. Of course, it is important to think through “all the possible consequences of your tweet, email, or Facebook post before hitting ‘send,’ [but] the true maxim the title represents is ‘Think before you speak.’” In his book, “Before You Hit Send,” Dr. Emerson Eggerichs suggests that we should ask four important questions before we choose to communicate with others.
1. Is it true?
2. Is it kind?
3. Is it necessary?
4. Is it clear?
We have a responsibility to communicate the gospel effectively. That means that we need to use whatever method is most effective whenever we are sharing the gospel. In our text this morning, we will see that the Apostle Paul used at least three methods for communicating the gospel. The Bible relates the responses to the gospel message too. We need to imitate the Bereans in the way we approach the teaching and examination of God’s Word.
Tolerance has become a buzz word in the twenty-first century. In a study prepared by Probe Ministries International, Scott Scruggs wrote, “In response to a survey concerning beliefs about God, a sixteen-year-old girl replied, ‘In my mind, the only people who are wrong are the people who will not accept different beliefs as being, well, acceptable.’ This girl believed that the only real sin is to not accept or tolerate other people’s beliefs.” If tolerance is respecting someone’s beliefs, does that mean that we are being intolerant if we attempt to convince someone to be a Christian? Does the Bible teach us to be intolerant?
Today, people are constantly saying things like this: “That may be true for you, but it’s not true for me.” In postmodern society, God has been removed as the foundation for morality, human dignity and truth. People in a postmodern society determine/create truth that promotes their agenda. There is no right or wrong—true or false. They do not have any moral absolutes; rather, postmodernists believe that all different perspectives should be celebrated. With this kind of worldview, how can we communicate the truth of God’s Word to them?
We have come to the fourteenth message in this series—TRUTH: Relative or Relevant. Today we ask, “How can the Bible really be the inspired Word of God?” The Bible says, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” You see, the Bible is a human book that people wrote, edited and crafted; and at the same time, it is a divine book that God spoke, shaped, and inspired.
There is an absolute right and wrong that transcends our cultural values and our human experiences. Skeptics push against this idea. This is where the popular saying–“it may be true for you but it’s not true for me”–came from. People are saying that Christians have no right to impose their belief systems about right and wrong on others and that we must maintain a relativistic understanding of morality. Paul addresses this issue and God’s moral law that is written on our hearts in Romans 2.
Society looks at religious beliefs about the origin of the universe as ridiculous and nonsensical. We are often dismissed as ignorant and irrational; and society says that we must keep our secular and sacred lives completely separated! Today, we are going to look at the scientific basis for the claim that there is no God. We will consider several fields of study including: 1) Anthropology, 2) Cosmology, 3) Biology and 4) Astronomy.
The world is divided. The world is confused. The world is antagonistic toward God and His Holy Word. We are not! We believe that the words of Scripture were breathed out by God and “is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17 NLT). So let’s take a moment and read God’s Word!
Science and the Bible–can the two coexist? Modern society considers science and faith to be dichotomous (opposed to one another or entirely different). When speaking of science, people talk about “thinking, evidence and rational justification of facts.” On the other hand, people consider faith to be all about “evading evidence and clinging to non-rationality.” Is it possible that the secularists are wrong and that a Christian worldview isn’t less rational but actually more rational?