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Defending the Faith

Defending the Faith Jude 1:3 Dear friends, I had been eagerly planning to write to you about the salvation we all share. But now I find that I must write about something else, urging you to defend the faith that God has entrusted once for all time to his holy people. The Fall The Resurrection.

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Defending the Faith

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  1. Defending the Faith • Jude 1:3 Dear friends, I had been eagerly planning to write to you about the salvation we all share. But now I find that I must write about something else, urging you to defend the faith that God has entrusted once for all time to his holy people.

  2. The Fall • The Resurrection

  3. Dealing with doctrinal conflicts

  4. Creeds • The purpose of a creed is to act as a yardstick of correct belief. The creeds of Christianity have been drawn up at times of conflict about doctrine: acceptance or rejection of a creed served to distinguish believers and deniers of a particular doctrine or set of doctrines. • Confession of a defense of the faith

  5. The Nicene Creed I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds; God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God; begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made.

  6. Who, for us men and for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary, and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate; He suffered and was buried; and the third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures; and ascended into heaven, and sits on the right hand of the Father; and He shall come again, with glory, to judge the quick and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end.

  7. And I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of Life; who proceeds from the Father and the Son; who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified; who spoke by the prophets. And I believe one holy catholic and apostolic Church. I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins; and I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.

  8. Development/Reinforcement of a Biblical Worldview • Worldview - the way we look at life—impacts everything we do. The moral choices we make; the way we spend our money; the kind of relationships we have; the priorities we set.

  9. The Nature of God Defending the Faith

  10. Richard Dawkins – evolutionary biologist, author of best seller – “The God Delusion” • Considers religious instruction a form of child abuse and suggests that governments should put a stop to it

  11. Chuck Colson - founder Prison Fellowship, public speaker and author • People influenced by cultural prejudice

  12. I. Knowledge of the Holy One • Proverbs 9:10 Fear of the LORD is the foundation of wisdom. Knowledge of the Holy One results in good judgment.

  13. Tension – Incomprehensible yet knowable • Isaiah 55:8-11 • God’s ways and thoughts are higher than ours • He sends His word to accomplish His will • 1 Corinthians 2:9-10 • Eyes have not seen, ears have not heard, no mind imagined what God has prepared for those who love him • But God revealed these things by his Spirit

  14. Moses’ Pursuit of God - Exodus 33 and 34 • Let me know your ways that I may understand you more fully • Show me your glorious presence • Yahwey! The Lord! • The God of …. • God’s display is of his character and nature

  15. “We have in our hearts organs by means of which we can know God as certainly as we know material things through our familiar five senses. We apprehend the physical world by exercising the faculties given us for that purpose, and we possess spiritual faculties by means of which we can know God and the spirit world if we will obey the Spirit’s urgings and use them”

  16. John 17:3 And this is the way to have eternal life—to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth.

  17. II. God Almighty • Revelation 1:8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega—the beginning and the end,” says the Lord God. “I am the one who is, who always was, and who is still to come—the Almighty One.”

  18. Omniscient – All knowing • Omnipresent – Everywhere all the time • Omnipotent – All powerful • Not limited to dimensions of time and space • Yet self limiting • Cannot lie • Cannot go against his word • Chooses not to usurp the free will of man

  19. Romans 1:20 For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.

  20. Hebrews 1:3 The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God, and he sustains everything by the mighty power of his command. When he had cleansed us from our sins, he sat down in the place of honor at the right hand of the majestic God in heaven. 

  21. 1 John 5:20 And we know that the Son of God has come, and he has given us understanding so that we can know the true God. And now we live in fellowship with the true God because we live in fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ. He is the only true God, and he is eternal life.

  22. III. In His Image • Genesis 1:26-27 • Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us • They will reign over the earth • In the image of God he created them, male and female

  23. Partakers of His Nature • 2 Peter 1:3 - 4 3By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence.  4And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.

  24. Self Reflection or Table Talk • Do you see evidence of the existence of God in the things of creation? Give some examples. What do these things “witness” about concerning God? • Reflect on your own coming to believe in God. What reasons or explanations were used to help you see your need of God? Why were these effective with you?

  25. People today have become accustomed to dismissing the idea of God as completely irrational. In fact, just the opposite is true. God is revealing Himself in many ways. Suggest some ways that you might begin to be more conscious of the ways God is “speaking” to you, through the scriptures, through revelation of Jesus and through the things of creation.

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