Sunday, September 27, 2009
New Study Begins Next Week
A four week study entitled, "One Month to Live" begins next week. This study is a companion study to the sermon series of the same name. Class discussion will be based on the Book of Philippians. The study is set up with daily readings and activities for each week. The participant guide is available on the church website under the Community Group’s page at www.pleasantvalley.org/groups. If you have trouble accessing the guide to print it, please let me know.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
The Truth of it All
First, let me thank each and everyone of you for your willingness to discuss these important but difficult issues that are being raised through this sermon series. Your response to this is just one more evidence of why we keep saying you are an incredibly wonderful group!!
There are some fundamental principles that are discussed at length in the book, UnChristian, that you need to know. Since many have not had a chance to read the book, yet, I thought I would explain a couple of key concepts.
First, The authors of this book are not suggesting that we change the message of truth: God's gospel of love as demonstrated through the life and death of Jesus Christ. The truth of that message is constant and unchangeable. What the authors are suggesting is that we need to take a look at how effective we are in communicating that message. This isn't denying the role of the Holy Spirit in awakening the heart of an unbeliever and leading them to realize who Christ is. However, they are asking us to seriously question whether the words we say and the actions we take are assisting the Holy Spirit or hindering Him. In other words, can people see Jesus in us, or can they not see Jesus because of us? That is a tough question. The research that the authors did indicate that the message that is being received is often not what we intended.
Second, the authors' also talk about something called "world view." This concept was mentioned just before our time ended today. We will go into that more next week. Basically, your "world view" will be reflected in how you do life. That means that your attitudes and behaviors reflect who or what is in charge of the world. If you believe that God created the world and has been actively engaged in the world since then your actions and attitude would reflect that. You would see historical events as a part of God's plan. You would believe that you are a part of God's plan and seek God's guidance in making decisions. You would also believe that God has already won the battle with Satan and know that even when the world around you seems chaotic, you would have peace.
If you believe that that there is no God or that God is not actively engaged in the world, you put yourself in the driver's seat and the world becomes all about you. Your life choices will reflect that.
Please let me know what you are thinking. We will continue this discussion next Sunday.
There are some fundamental principles that are discussed at length in the book, UnChristian, that you need to know. Since many have not had a chance to read the book, yet, I thought I would explain a couple of key concepts.
First, The authors of this book are not suggesting that we change the message of truth: God's gospel of love as demonstrated through the life and death of Jesus Christ. The truth of that message is constant and unchangeable. What the authors are suggesting is that we need to take a look at how effective we are in communicating that message. This isn't denying the role of the Holy Spirit in awakening the heart of an unbeliever and leading them to realize who Christ is. However, they are asking us to seriously question whether the words we say and the actions we take are assisting the Holy Spirit or hindering Him. In other words, can people see Jesus in us, or can they not see Jesus because of us? That is a tough question. The research that the authors did indicate that the message that is being received is often not what we intended.
Second, the authors' also talk about something called "world view." This concept was mentioned just before our time ended today. We will go into that more next week. Basically, your "world view" will be reflected in how you do life. That means that your attitudes and behaviors reflect who or what is in charge of the world. If you believe that God created the world and has been actively engaged in the world since then your actions and attitude would reflect that. You would see historical events as a part of God's plan. You would believe that you are a part of God's plan and seek God's guidance in making decisions. You would also believe that God has already won the battle with Satan and know that even when the world around you seems chaotic, you would have peace.
If you believe that that there is no God or that God is not actively engaged in the world, you put yourself in the driver's seat and the world becomes all about you. Your life choices will reflect that.
Please let me know what you are thinking. We will continue this discussion next Sunday.
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