Why?
Original URL Sunday, March 12, 2023
Transcript
good morning brothers sisters family friends our Lord Jesus Christ I have to apologize in advance for uh our av team fearlessly setting us up and tracking on the camera for those online I admittedly am a kinetic thinker so if I move I think better it flows so I'm gonna try to move around a little bit exercise the freedom that we have in Sunday school to move just you know keep things more dynamic before we even start into our classes I would try to ask that if you do have a writing utensil notebook pen and paper for those of you here those you online please come armed and ready with your pen in hand because we are going to be doing some writing we'll be doing some thinking some talking as our brother Rich Dineen says you know I could be the sage on the stage or the Scribe on the side so I I want to be described on the side here and and really have a a collaborative discussion and one that I hope is is thought provoking and to that end we're going to start with y start with why first want to ask those here those online ask yourself why am I here Maya here because fair enough now there we go so that's exactly Steve just asked the the exact question you know at a macro scale how did you how did you look at this did you look at this on a macro you know is this why am I here why do I exist why am I breathing how how did I come to be or on a micro scale you know why am I sitting here in this room right now what's the reasoning behind it we're going to ask some of these questions as to why um first and foremost and and also when you ask why am I here on a macro scale generationally think about all of sequentially what had to happen in order for you and your genetic composition to be but then also you know generationally what came into play so that you're sitting in the seat on a micro level um you know are you a third generation Chris adalphian are you here for the first time because you you you fell in love or you were just asking certain questions and trying to figure out how did uh how did all this come to be and to prompt this iterative session of of considering wise allow me for a second to contextualize why we are having this class so I was asked um last year to lead the New England cyc weekend and two thoughts immediately popped into my mind number one they are really getting desperate for speakers number two what can I engage what can I explore that is something that's really pertinent to our teenagers and our community at Large and last year speaking for myself my family and likely the Ecclesia there was a lot of Heartache a lot of Heartache due to some attrition within this occlusion it was a conversation that we had we went to um in Ontario uh they called it the the cyc 25 plus I don't know if it was the the oldest young people of christadelphia are the youngest old people of christadophia we couldn't figure that out but point being is I I we had this conversation that they asked me to speak there for a lecture and I and I just opened up my heart and said this is where we're at and come to find out that um this concern of attrition is pervasive across the entire spectrum of christadelphia in Canada and in the U.S so I started doing some research and I come to find out that this isn't solely a Christadelphian issue that this is ubiquitous across the entirety of Christianity so I did some research and this is the Barna group in conjunction with the UCLA they pulled it was a significant sample size of teenagers I think it was something around twenty thousand um and I can I can get back to the exact number but it was it was significant this wasn't this wasn't hundreds and it was from uh essentially during covet 2019 to 2022. and then you and you look at some of these sobering statistics of how the next generation are gen ziers perceive uh just religion in general right 33 believed gender is how a person feels about the birth sex uh half believe happiness defined by financial success uh 34 believe lying is morally long wrong or two-thirds essentially believe you know what lying's okay 30 believe science and scripture are complementary meaning 70 percent mean that science and scripture are diametrically opposed that's a uh that's a sobering item that we really have to address 60 believe many religions can lead to eternal life there is no one True Religion you just live your truth just figure it out you know it's it's all we're all trying to I've heard this a lot we're all going at the same Hill we're all going to reach the same Summit 50 to 70 percent of young Christians walk away from the church by the time they're in their college Years 40 50 of students in youth groups struggle in their faith after graduation so this is the most vulnerable time is when our when our young people kind of go from inside the house right the parents rules we're going Sundays you know we're going to church and then all of a sudden they're they're given autonomy they're giving the freedom to make their own decisions and how do they How do they act upon those decisions there are there's some good news 90 of Americans essentially believe that there is some sort of God right on the whole we're still um a spiritual country 60 of uh 30 18 year olds say that they are Christian yet gen Z is the least religious generation and then 46 of gen Z teens say that they need factual evidence to support their beliefs and so that's going to be the impetus for this talk we're going to talk about how why we're going to talk large scale and then we're going to start trying to substantiate our faith um evidentially facts to be able to help mitigate some of these sobering statistics and the way in which we're going to to do this is to substantiate the what's with two y's now what do I mean by that what is those are your Jeopardy questions right that is what we as christad alphians as a I would say an academic uh focused brand of Bible scholars really do well as a Sunday School student I remember you know you go through the lines you go to lineage of of David you understand the the where's the the the hows things were happening but you ultimately the the locations the names the lineages right uh all of the what's we do are an exceptional job objectively of talking through this and um I'm not saying by any means that we should deviate from that that the what's is is foundationally a great a great starting point but if you think of what as well we'll use an example of you know a body right the what is is the body but now you need two Y's for every what and those two y's are essentially your legs that's going to give function to the what now what are those two y's and this is by all means please um this is a good opportunity to write this down because we're going to use this after the fact that as part of an exercise so whenever we're talking about what we're discussing biblically to ourselves to our spouses to our children to our friends right we want to tether that to two wise why is the biblical view true or why is this what that we're talking about why is it true and if you can back that up then also second why why does it matter if we're not tethering off these what's to two y's all of a sudden all of this this disinformation you know sometimes there's there's no there's no inherent value to our young people or to just anyone we're talking to unless we tether it substantiate it to a why so think about that so your what is your body and your why why is it biblically true why does it matter in order to stand up our what's we need to substantiate it with two y's so now this is going to be our our first exercise pen and paper ready for those here those online I'm watching you online um please take a second to write down what you believe what do you believe and the BASF while an amazing document we're not using that as a cop-out what do you personally distill your beliefs what do you believe so we're going to take a couple minutes and just write that down when I see the the Quorum of heads that look back up I'll assume that we're done but for the time being please just take a moment and and write down what do you believe and if this is hard good that's that's the intent remember when I did this in cyc um I was trying to I handed out all the the notebooks to the kids and I asked the the parents in the back if they want a notebook they said we don't need notebooks like no this is this is for everyone so please please write down um what it is that you believe all right hopefully we have at least some meat to work with and and by all means we can come back and and revisit this and and build it out further because this is going to be an iterative uh session uh but is anyone willing to share with how how so far where they've started on what they believe Chris so I wrote down for a what all the Earth shall be filled with the glory of God someday I love it it's a saint beautiful hopeful and uh why that is important it tells us the end from the beginning oh Chris hold on a second look at you trying to get extra Stars we're gonna go we're gonna get into that Chris oh he's he's already he's already unbelievable we're gonna we're gonna jump right into the wise I love it um but anymore on the what's I mean the glory you know all the Earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord I mean that's that's such a succinct uh beautiful distillment of what we believe anything else anyone wants to add something supplemental to that Gordon hold on let me get you let me get you a sphere here I can run it in the god of Abraham Isaac and Jacob and then that belief everything else falls into place I love the fact that the eyes were closed for that this is not the first time you've had to you've had to state that belief I love it anything else any other takers it's a great session Steve I'll let you hold on to this thing all right so Chris is dirty jumping into it you know why so we have our what now we're gonna put the first leg up first leg to our what why do you know that it's true you know it's for in First Peter 3 and 14 but even if you should suffer for righteousness sake you will be blessed have no fear of them nor be troubled but in your hearts honor Christ the lord as holy always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you do not yet do it with gentleness and respect so we talked about our hope right all the Earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord what's the reason why do you know that it's true so take all right Siri even she's getting involved now so this is our first why you can just write essentially a first why why do you know that beliefs are evidentially true I knew I knew when we were actually practicing this on the way uh when I when I asked when we were preparing this and um prepared to ask this question Cara spoke up she's like I know Butch is just going to jump at this one so I had to give you the mic first but do you have why do you know what you believe is true but the scriptures are inspired by God and they prove themselves to be accurate well said well said anything else supplemental there is no right or wrong on this but it's essentially how can you defend your position I said uh that because the Bible tells us it's so uh I would then add that mine eyes have seen the coming of the glory of the Lord and God has delivered me out of all these things as Paul says so I know that God is them so when we look from life's experience through service and uh worship of God that he has provided for us on our lives so he's given us ample evidence both within our lives and within the scripture I love that I love that it's so true it's so true there's enough evidence in and outside of the book right there he is hey Mark it's on um I'm assuming we're going on the basis that whomever we may be talking to has belief in Scripture depends yeah because a lot of what we're saying you know is based on scripture right and if the person we're talking to doesn't believe it then you kind of defeated right there but if I'm talking which I'm talking to people at work and I have one person that is so she goes to church every Sunday and her point is God should just wipe it all out and start over again yeah and our discussions are based on well part of that is true there'll be a day of the Lord that comes and things will start new the Earth will not be destroyed and she goes well how do you know this and there are facts but one of the big things Italian with what we're talking about is one scripture tells us our God is not a god of confusion and he cannot lie so if you talk to somebody on that basis and they accept that then what Chris said and everybody else said is you know besides living and seeing it firsthand you know you have faith in that absolutely so love it bye I just wanted a little clarification about we missed a few minutes so what about this generation what are they believing in regards to their faith yeah so we we can definitely we'll get into that and that's essentially we have to be armed to essentially bring them to scripture so how do we how do we verify and validate scripture outside of scripture right but when I listen to the young people speak what they're talking about is environmentally we're gonna we're going south monetarily uh globally uh that there they have no hope and I think it's because people couldn't answer these questions get into a dialogue so especially during pandemic that create a whole mess and then now they still haven't found their way they're really kind of looking and they're holding on to things crazy in a kind of way the things I'm hearing they're involved in like they'll help animals but they won't help people and it so I don't mean to belabel this but I'm very involved and a lot of times it's a question you can ask like how are we doing with this you know and ask them well what do you think is going to happen and then offer them something and just something little not on you know what I'm trying to say 100 and get that out to them that wow what do you think is going to happen right right right and they'll often ask once you genuinely just begun a dialogue the AV team is is they want to hear it um no that's so what what ampani's saying um sister Bonnie's saying sorry I still have to get used to that she was my Sunday school teacher so she's always not bonded to me and she's always going to hand me a snack at the end of this um so uh but it's a great question right how do you how do you substantiate am I am on how do you substantiate um scripture when they don't even want to go there they're like hey I don't even want to get into the book right now because everything I see around me is is so dilapidated um that I don't even want to go there yet because you got to meet me where I'm at we're going to explore that that's that's a very very pressing topic because we're so conditioned we're so and it seems like that was that was the battlefield of 100 years ago everyone was like all right scripture is Common Ground let's let's go toe-to-toe within scripture but now the the battlefield so to speak the the discussions have you really have to be able to um solidify substantiate your argument for scripture first to get them into the book and then kind of build it from there but you have to Corral them uh and I say them I mean I was the same exact way this was this was very much something that I personally struggled with too is is making sure that I felt comfortable in validating scripture so we're going to get into that archeology uh science I think science actually really does a fantastic and we'll get into that in one of our classes um prophecy there's a lot history there's a lot of ways that we can bring them to scripture without scripture and I think that's that's going to be the almost the art form of how we proceed with with trying to really uh rally the younger Generations Sandy you had something oh come on you know I think of The Wonder of creation and The Wonder of Miracle of birth and all we see around us and I don't think for me I never asked why it was almost why not you know what else is there and I think you live through life experiences and you get through things and reading of the scripture and God does not lie and you know and I think um you know what else is there what else can man do man can't fix anything and never has and this is why not you know and and you and uh you almost no it's not Blind Faith but you think just just just believe you know it's so anyway I had um I had put down as uh as my first belief that I believe in the one God who created the heavens and the Earth and then for a why I said I believe uh the beauty and complexity of the world demonstrates that there's a Creator God and not a universe formed by chance well said so there's our first why and now here's a second why right why does it matter to us in other words who cares right so it's let's let's a couple minutes here and write down why does the what we believe why we know it's true why does it matter to us individually and once we can substantiate that in theory that's that's how we can then make it matter to someone else so we'll take a couple minutes there and talk and and write through why does it matter to you I apologize in advance at least who wants the first crack at the the why it matters Ben yeah so the things that we believe matter um you know I I think it's easier to kind of take approach from a negative perspective right there's this problem with sin and death that we have we have sinful desires and they lead us ultimately to death if you're not a religious person maybe you don't frame it that way but we all have this problem with mortality that's undeniable um so IT addresses that problem but I the better approach I think is that if it's true that there is a Creator God he made all things he made us and he's offering a relationship with us that's just a marvelous thing to take advantage of and to to be invited to participate in um we have all these these problems in society that seem Unstoppable it seems like the bad guys win for whatever reason that's just the prevailing Trend that we've seen to know that there is the opportunity for for justice and real hope and and change in the world um who who wouldn't want that that's a great thing to believe in 100 percent why not yeah all right sadly enough for the sake of time we're gonna revisit this but uh we're already running out of time which is heartbreaking because I I could talk about this for hours I love this stuff we'll leave this right here with you Ben um so this is so this is actually going to be the culmination of um but what two wise right so we have our our body of our what we have the two legs we just stood it up two wise what direction Are We Now moving with this what and two wise so we have our beliefs we we have what you believe why you know it's true and why it matters right we've just we just written that down those here those online so now what are you gonna do with it you know how does your faith impact your Paradigm your world view so you you have the what the two wise what mountain is we see these Mountaineers summoning um a specific Mountain amidst all these other mountains why are you summoning this mountain relative to the rest of them you know wealth whatever it's glory whatever whatever it is Friends however you want to substantiate the value of your life how were you substantiating your mission your purpose essentially uh what is your mission statement what is your North Star what is the mountain that you specifically are trying to climb and this is a this is a great one for young people too but we'll get into that but first and foremost just a quick synopsis distill it what is your mission statement all right hopefully we at least have a a start towards the mission statement and before I I continue to ask people to share theirs which is certainly a personal ask um I'm gonna take a quick moment to share mine so Proverbs 3 is actually a verse that really embodies um the hard lessons that I've learned and it's something that we've actually uh wrote along the entirety of the wall in our living room trust in the Lord with all your heart and not on your own understanding and always acknowledge Him and He will make your path straight so this photo right here this was taken uh on a return trip from the Branford Ontario Hockey Challenge this was 2016. I was six years into a relationship started it my senior year of high school all the way through college two years into my professional life I got baptized uh two years prior to that in 2014 after graduating college I was essentially the prodigal son woke up in the pigstyles metaphorically and realize this is not the way I want to live had some great Sunday school teachers along the way that really beat it into me like this is this is not the way and I ultimately I committed myself to baptism but I was still stuck I was still lukewarm I was in this relationship where I was trying to convince her to come along and come to church and she wasn't for me but I still loved her and I went to Brantford Ontario Hockey Challenge and I saw I tried to actually bring her she's like not I'm not interested so I went my sister and I saw couples that were yoked I saw that you know that the couples holding the same hymn book the same hymns talking about classes afterwards and I realized I needed that otherwise I will always be lukewarm I don't have the spiritual strength endurance to do this on my own so I had a tear-filled conversation after seeing this rainbow which was which essentially that my way that was God speak to me I felt in my heart get your act together commit yourself to me and I will make your path straight I will you will find that evenly yoked person in your life so sure enough um drove home at an eight-hour drive went right to my girlfriend's house tears just pouring down on my face because I loved her I said listen this is my mission statement I want to go this direction I want to serve God you have to after three years of trying to convince you to get on board you're not into it and ultimately I I don't have the stamina to carry both of us and then just an absolute uh devastating night remember just just crying all the way home we we had to we had to break up and what that did was it allowed me to be available to now commit myself fully and by doing that fast forward a year I met Cara um and you can probably hear some of the squeaks underneath us in the in the uh in the the nursery um so we all kind of know how that story ends so we actually Revisited that space on the way to that that um Ontario cyc weekend over the summer and and I just I was floored to see the trajectory of the rainbow right I mean this is the lowest point of my spiritual walk it's like you gotta completely start from scratch in your relationships and now I'm with my brother and I'm with my beautiful wife Cara and we were able to um you know see that the optimism how how different that whole dynamic is I mean here's Cara feeding Joel she's she's nursing Maddie she has um and she's doing she's doing the slides I mean as if I could put these slides together it was all Kara we all know this so I mean that's that's the level of commitment that she has for our family we and we distilled our mission statement to this raise a family that reflects God's love acknowledging God's love our purpose and essentially saying you know we don't even really need to emulate it's it's essentially you just learn of God's love and you can it's it's really easy to start reflecting it we've actually since made an amendment that they gave this class uh in September and that was after a really edifying conversation with Stephen Sandy when they came to our house and we've actually the amendment now is raise a family that reflects God's love through Joy and this is something that God willing I hope to explore in my ex store in May but realizing that Joy ultimately has to be the vehicle in which we convey God's love no matter if there's if things are happening um that are that are challenging everyone has challenges right but are you embracing those challenges with Joy are you embracing every Sunday with Joy are you are you just just omitting the joy uh that that comes with knowing and sharing God's love so that's our mission statement try to be succinct to something that we can exchange to our kids that they can kind of start to memorize themselves so they know this is what we're about this is where we're heading does anyone else want to uh share their mission statement for for their family or themselves what mountain are you trying to Summit all right I can run it um I I always try every day to remember the words of Psalm 19 verse 14. let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable unto thee O Lord my strength and my redeemer um you know we I you always try at least I do and and I try to stress this on my family and I'm sure we all think the same way every day when you awake is a gift from the Lord and every day I put my two feet on the ground I try to think of those words first and foremost before I do anything else uh because I think joy that mindset you how you start your days usually is how your day will carry through not that it happens all the time because you know work school everything else that we deal with tends to eat away at that but I think if you start your day that way by doing the readings I remember Uncle Bob Davis I used to he asked me when did you do your readings Mark and I said usually it's late at night and he'd say when you're tired and I said yeah so now I do it the other way I usually do it first thing in the morning while I'm awake you know so that's mine this is Psalm 19 verse 14. and I think it it might be yours too brother Steve I know you've quoted that verse many a Time I am I actually chose a mission statement uh several years ago by accident I happen to notice way back when when email first started tell you how old I am um the people put quotes at the bottom of their emails so I thought oh that's a cool idea so I'll put a quote on that so I looked around I just chose a quote and I chose I can do all things uh through Christ um and since then because people see it on my email I get presents I've got a couple different cups I've got t-shirts I've got I get all kinds of stuff from people and it's it has in essence become a mission statement without ever really uh giving it that title I love that a great way for just preaching with it let them know immediately what you're about other mission statements oh here we go Steve this is not my mission statement but this is Paul's the Apostle Paul's so in Colossians chapter 2 he says my purpose is that you may be encouraged in heart and United in love so that you may have the full Riches of complete understanding in order that you may know the mystery of God namely Christ and whom is hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge yeah so I like that and he's certainly committed to that mission anyone else interested in sharing question was why do we come here sure yeah you know and I look at it deep inside and I say well what's in it for me and just knowing in this crazy world that is so sad is so sick that God has promised us place that we can't imagine you know and it keeps you getting out of bed on Sunday you know and being with your brothers and sisters makes a difference too you know so mankind does um look at what is in it for them you know it's just human nature human yeah human nature it's it's uh we're for donkeys too right I mean it's it's there's quite the carrot for this one and I always thought that was you know interesting that um you know with us clearly when you look at scripture you know the hell Gahanna not being a literal hell you know being that the pit so to speak here that the junkyard so to speak it's like what a loving God would he incentivize with a stick or a carrot right you would you would definitely it would be the carrot Sandy I have a comment um I think it's our outlook on anything we do is is how it comes forth you know and um a great example my parents are my mom um uh when my sister died Gail died at home my mom was with her I don't know is this weird to say no go Sandy so um so my sister Gail died at home um yeah so she um bled she so she she had a tragic death and you know anyway my mom was there with her and she called my mom and my mom sat with her and my sister died and um and I remember coming back from the hospital with Steve and my sister and my brother-in-law Steve probably 2 30 quarter three in the morning just kind of like getting back to her house and like okay deciding what we do and and my mom we're just standing there and she looked at us and she said I'm so blessed and she's always said that and I think to come from a point of that um it's a mentality it's how you look at things you know and it's it's whether it's your life experiences that you learn from but it's how you look at something that this has happened to me but I'm so blessed and I think that such an example and um that's all thank you for sharing that Sandy Auntie Norma always I remember when I'm struggling most my teenage years right I mean I've candidly um you know parents forced me to go to church and I'm still trying to recover from the night before right and whenever I'm at my lowest I would always go to Auntie Norma because she always exuded that Joy right that Resolute Joy um and that just just so excitational you know how Auntie Norma lived her life it lives her life as um mission oriented um that absorbing regardless of circumstance the ultimate blessing you know no matter what happens in the chapters 1 through 99 we all know chapter 100 is is going to ultimately be just an incredible incredible ending of each and every one of our stories so mark told them loud enough to not need a speaker but I moved at home yeah at the end of the day you know on the selfish side you know I I want to be on the earth that day that it's filled with God's glory right but moreover I want everyone else to be there too I want them all to feel the same joy that we do knowing that that day is coming so selfishly I want to be there and I want others to be there too and you know we know that day is coming so mark thank you so much for that um absolutely Gordon we are told to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling to that end we need to put our trust in God to help us because we are told that if we diligently seek him he will help us he will reward us thank you Gordon I thank you so very much for that um we'll do it quick uh recap and then um I'll do a quick uh introduction of what we're going to be talking about God building next Sunday first Sunday school we'll do a quick recap here next class so just through a quick regroup you should have this all in your notes already um your what what do you believe why is it true why does it matter to you right and we're going to explore this and how it's pervasive throughout um all biblical spiritual Concepts uh and then for next class we'll talk about world view um we call it the tab world view and we'll go through that in detail but essentially that's a tab being the theology apologetics beliefs we're going to explore uh how that world view compares to other World Views out there um and what we can do to really ensure that we we condition our faith to have a resilient worldview around the theology apologetics and beliefs so I look forward to by all means after after memorial service if you want to continue this discussion what's your mission statement maybe even sit down you know for those of you with with kids at home uh have a dinner room discussion hey what is our collaborative mission statement have the kids have some buy-in on that what's what's the mission statement for our house you know make sure that there's a certain level of involvement that they feel some sense of ownership on that um but certainly a really edifying conversation that we've had in our own families is we've evaluate it do we add what do we want to do um you know and make sure that we're all essentially walking in that in that an analogy in the same directionFlexing Faith
Original URL Sunday, March 19, 2023
Transcript
good morning brothers sisters family and friends our Lord Jesus Christ the great morning is it a little fresh uh a little cold but but beautiful um so this is class two for those of you that noticeably that the attendance is a lot less for class two which you come to expect you know um I've already worn out some some welcome but uh for those of you who haven't been uh weren't with class one or actually haven't had your notes ready yet for class one we're going to do a quick uh Rich Dineen Lee Cap all right we're gonna get a leak happen so we have two wise for every what does anyone remember what the the two wise for every what was what were those what's the what what are the two whys yeah what do you believe or whatever we're discussing biblically you know it doesn't matter what whatever the what is but more foundational is what are the two whys why is it true why does it matter now we're up we're up and running today we have the two wise and uh the what that's exactly if we remember anything from the first class that was it two wise uh for everyone now we're gonna and we we talked also about the mission statement essentially now that we've stood up our faith our what has the two y's what direction are we going that's our mission statement I hope that prompted some discussion uh after class it certainly did for our family um and you know certainly something that more than happy to dive into after meeting as well if we want to continue that discussion so now we're in class two um in class two is a uh we talk about it flexing faith you know so this is It's foundationally set the the stage um we're going to be reading uh First Corinthians 9 24-27. do you not know that in a race all the runners run but only one received the prize so run that you may obtain it every athlete exercises self-control in all things they do not do it to receive a perishable wreath but we in imperishable so I do not run aimlessly I do not box as one beating the air but I discipline my body and keep it under control less after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified so Paul he presents a great analogy here right he he highlights the discipline required for that of an athlete even of those age I mean you look at some of those those Marvel sculptors of uh you know the Romans they were shredded I mean like you know they they uh there was no Planet Fitness you know but they they somehow were able to maintain quite the physique and that came through self-control through discipline and and they endeavored just to have this imperishable this this sorry perishable wreath and Paul's using that analogy of discipline saying we can keep ourselves disciplined to pursue a a venture that's that's imperishable our hope right of Christ's return in his kingdom and it is uh no coincidence that the word discipline is foundational to the word disciple and that we as disciples need to be disciplined in how we approach uh our work right our our Pursuit and to continue the analogy of athletes that Paul uses in Corinthians in order to flex or strengthen our faith like a muscle we have to push against the weight right it is uh there's not much we can do uh as far as muscle growth unless we are in fact exerting it pushing against a weight that way it could be our own doubts but even if we can't resolve our own doubts we need to contend with contrary World Views that's you know once you foundationally kind of get get through your own uh belief system your own you know what why why and once you're moving towards something with your mission you're still going to be encountering a lot of resistance and that resistance inevitably is going to be uh contrary World Views now what is a world view world view answers three fundamental questions and by all means feel free to write these down because this is going to really help as far as our discussions with our neighbors our discussions with our co-workers our discussions with our own children grandchildren because everyone has to have an answer for these or at least consider the question so when we talk about worldview or a paradigm it essentially it explains Origins how did we get here why are we here what can we do about it how did we get here why are we here what can we do about it World Views are fundamental to how we as human beings interact with one another give you an example when I was in college um there was a there was a big phrase YOLO you only live once right and that's what everyone was was shouting as they're doing keg stands right as as they're as they're you know just living for the Friday night but then you also you contrast that with a world view of well actually no we have a hope and we we are actually created right we weren't this wasn't it wasn't a YOLO it wasn't we just all just happened here by accident you know that this this this intricate just just beautiful um creation that we have within ourselves they've got our own bodies you look at the world around us we're like um that's not an accident right there was a creator so that makes us created and now we're trying to determine what that Creator wants of us and when you when you reverse engineer that it's like okay well what do we do with our Friday nights maybe we go to cyc maybe we spend some time with family all of a sudden it changes the way you approach your day-to-day who here has heard the expression uh you are the sum of the five closest people that you spend your time with only Jim okay fair enough well Jim I'm glad you heard it um who who actually believes that right who believes that the The Company You Keep really influences who you are as a person on a day to day Jim Jim's shoulders all right let's go I love it I love it uh and that ties back to you know the my whole story of that even the Yoke relationship um you know my spiritual my spiritual muscles I'm able to flex my uh Faith a lot more because I have Cara that's spotting me right versus before you know I was on my own I was I was suffocating under the bench press of contrary World Views I was suffocating under the pressures of the company that I kept my you know college lacrosse buddies um you know they were not like hey Nate like let's do some Bible readings on Friday night no it was a very different environment so our worldview foundationally starts with the relationships that we keep and by all means for those of you that have your notebooks ready to rock and roll this pyramid is going to be essential to how we contextualize the rest of the class so please you're welcome to do a quick uh triangle get your three lines in there so you have four sections so foundationally the relationships that we keep are going to influence our world view right the the topics you discuss um I always I there's a another quote I'm going to butcher it here on the spot but uh said something like you know normal people talk about um people your um more intelligent more insightful people talk about things right and then your more insightful more intelligent people above that talk about uh missions talk about principles talk about actions right so when you're talking with people are you talking about just you know people uh can you can you believe what happened with Sheila like that's unbelievable or are you are you elevating you're talking about spiritual Concepts you're talking about um less tangible intangible principles and and that really fundamentally boils down to the relationship you keep the discussions that you have and so then your world view how you perceive those three fundamental questions does anyone remember what those three fundamental questions are Ben's checking you wrote them down right Ben don't fail me don't have the third one this guy got a perfect score in his SATs and he doesn't he doesn't have the third ques um unbelievable any help from the crowd what are we gonna do about it so like so what what are we gonna do about it exactly perfect um so our world view it now shapes our priorities and our morals I just talked about that example of the Friday night you know the company that you keep are you a YOLO mentality or you hey I've I've been creative what does my Creator want for me well I could spend my Friday nights learning more and understanding more of what my Creator wants and how I can properly serve that Creator so I can serve my purpose understand my purpose so that world view now all of a sudden dictates my values as I learn about this as I look through my Bible now all of a sudden the fruits of the spirit are going to start to manifest Within Me right and those values all of a sudden dictate our Behavior they shape our choices they shape our actions and that is how we have Kinetic Faith that's how we have the faith that James the brother of Jesus wrote about in his in his uh book you know that's faith in action so there are other World Views and I remember our brother Jim went through this a little bit uh what was it two years ago Jim you kind of went through like the gnostics and uh kind of other pervasive World Views at the time um so that that definitely resonated as I was going through those classes those were some of the World Views that Jesus had to contend with um during his life right uh during uh you know A.D we'll say if you know the height of his ministry 80 30. now other worldviews that are pervasive today we have naturalism God does not exist and natural forces are sufficient to explain everything right it just everything just kind of happened in this you know uninspired yet providential happenstance pantheism all is God and distinctions are artificial and we're all everything's gone it's like it's kind of like this floating nebulous of you know divine um really for me it's like that's that's that's really hard to conceptualize not only get conceptualized but what do you do with that right individualism this is I mean you want to pull up cert you know social media as a millennial you want to you want to look at kind of the the millennial um mindset individualism life is about me that this new phrase that's coming out that that Cara's even seeing now in uh some of her like her chats and stuff uh I love that for you you know it's like I this is this is your truth this is your thing and you like that's everyone kind of has their own truth reality is is uniquely their own there is no shared reality um and and you cannot your individualism cannot infringe on my individualism uh atheism you know that's that's the lack of belief in God so you know someone's saying hey uh just don't don't believe you know not for me um so individualism kind of comes from salvation comes from finding yourself you find yourself you're safe and there's an irony in that too um where and kind of continue that thought process also humanism truth is subjective not objective it's your truth um and so you you can dictate truth there is no common truth so this is this is kind of what we're contending with here and and to that the whole atheism concept that's um that's an interesting one because I had a I had a lunch with a uh a colleague um and she noted that you know we're talking about her her husband's name I think was like Jedediah I mean it was you know it way it was it was way past Nathanael as far as like old school Old Testament uh names I was like let's let's unpack that like you know of course she said that yeah it was a Jehovah's Witness of her time she said but he's he's no longer into it he's really into science now like he's more like science based and that like broke me a little bit because I found and solidified and substantiated my faith when I was in engineering uh when I was in college because I was learning about these thermodynamics principles I was learning about chemistry and the more I understood about science the more I realized this is not an accident like the complexities required on all facets for us to exist cannot be a coincidence so uh that's really that's that's how knowledge can be divisive and it all depends on on how you have your foundational world view and to that end for our Biblical worldview how do we know that our faith-based worldview is right but before we get into that let's define faith does anyone know the definition of faith oh absolutely that's that's exactly it thank you so much absolutely the faith the substance of things hoped for the evidence of things unseen so here's here's the beauty of of faith and knowledge we talk about kind of science more science based as if as if you know people sometimes people perceive uh Christians as a blind faith right like you're just hoping for the best this is not this is not a you know just a Whimsical like you know this is just better than thinking we're gonna die like this is substantiated through knowledge so we look at this contrast right so knowledge facts information and skills acquired by a person through experience or education the theoretical or practical understanding of a subject classical definition knowledge is Justified true belief or true opinion combined with reason so we talk about faith and knowledge they're actually the symbiotic relationship between faith and knowledge so anytime someone's like you have your faith I have my knowledge no no our faith is foundationally based on knowledge that's why we get so deep into scripture that's why we look at historical context that's why we look at root words we're not here under surface level in hopes and dreams we are here substantively now as a quick aside does anyone want to explain the difference between knowledge and wisdom you want to take a crack at that uh oh it's on armed and dangerous I would suggest knowledge is information and wisdom is interpretation wisdom knowledge is information wisdom is interpretation I love that thank you I love that I aim to please let me give you an antidote right knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit wisdom is knowing to not put a tomato in a fruit salad fair enough fair enough okay so that's exactly it you know it's knowledge wisdom is is applied knowledge over time being able to to reason with it and the reason why we wanted to contextualize all of this is because there is you know when you look at scripture we're not just we're not just talking about this this is not cuddling devised fables like this is uh substantiated in Scripture so let us read a couple real quick uh Proverbs 9 uh Proverbs chapter 9 verse 10. the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and the knowledge of the Holy is understanding first John 5 13-15 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the son of God that you may know that you have eternal life and this is the confidence that we have towards him that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us and if we know that he hears us and whatever we ask we know that we have the request that we have asked of him this is knowledge this isn't just Whimsical Faith this is substantiated knowledge continuing on Colossians chapter 2. verse starting in verse four I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments therefore as you receive Christ Jesus the Lord so walk in him rooted and built up in him and established in the faith just as you were taught abounding in Thanksgiving see to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy an empty deceit according to human traditions according to the elementary spirits of the world and not according to Christ we need to substantiate this right this is this is not pie in the sky just want the facts ma'am you know that's that's really what it boils down to the evidence of things unseen comes from knowledge all right so with that with a discussion around world view um the discussion around how we in our spiritual our Biblical our scriptural worldview is substantiated through knowledge through wisdom which is what every other every other Sunday school class that we we sit down in you know that's that's really what we're hammering here we're hammering what's we're hammering why we believe what we believe so what can we do with that there's another there's another uh hold on one second I lost I lost a uh that's sad I lost the slide um real quick because I want someone actually to look this up for us if they're if they're willing because it's a I think it's a really I don't know why we lost you buddy um who here can read for us First Corinthians chapter one 18-31 and I'll yeah I'll who's up for a good reading Corinthians chapter 1 verse 18 to 31. for the preaching of the crosses to them that perish foolishness but unto us which are saved it is the power of God for it is written I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent where is the wise where's the Scribe where's this disputer of this world hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world for after that in the wisdom of God the World by wisdom knew not God it pleased it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe for the Jews require a sign and the Greeks seek after wisdom but we preach Christ crucified unto the Jews a stumbling block and under the Greek's foolishness but unto them which are called the Jews and Greeks Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God because the foolish foolishness of God is wiser than men and the weakness of God is stronger than men for you see your calling Brethren how that not many wise men after the flesh not many mighty not many noble or called but God hath chosen the foolish things of this world to confound the wise and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty and base things of the world and things which are despised has God chosen yes and things which are not to bring to not things that are that no flesh should glory in his presence but of him a ye in Christ Jesus who of God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and Redemption that according as it is written he that glories let him glory in the Lord so that was uh King James fantastic so quick translation here on the ESV this is this is you know uh verse 31. so it is written that the one who boasts boasts in the Lord you know this is how we apply the two Y's for everyone in our Biblical worldview right so he who boasts or or worry but I kind of like the the principle of boasting um not of ourselves but of the Lord the confidence that we have so let's uh one second here here we go so with that in mind with with that whole uh reading and thank you Ben for that reading with that in context we're now going to develop our own worldview our our we call it the tab world view and for those of you with your notebooks and pens at the ready this is going to be essential to lay out our thought process here of how we substantiate how we boast in the Lord right how we apply not World realism but spiritual wisdom to flex our faith to contend against the contrary World Views that we that our children that are brothers and sisters will contend with on a daily basis so how we boast we provide the tab world view so tab starts with uh the T and tab into the cross stick right so theology doctrine that points back to what We Believe okay so what we believe and then second apologetics defense this this brings back to why do we know it's true we're going to go into each and every one of these but let's just lay this out in our notes right now and then three Behavior we just talked about that um the worldview pyramid right It ultimately it the behavior is is the outcome of our world view so demeanor and deeds and that appeals back to why does it matter who cares all right so we're starting with t theology what we believe theology breaks down to uh two root words Theos which is God and logos word or reasoning so does anyone uh subscribe to logos magazine no but you understand where the the the the word uh boils down to right reasoning that's that's how that's how we got that's how they determined uh the editor to determine the title of that right so what we believe is foundational to our two wise so that again that what is that that's what our Christian Community does so well um these are the concepts we learned in Sunday school excorts um our readings you know this is this is what's outlined in our BASF right this is the theology what it is that we believe and so I'm not going to on this topic because this is essentially what we're learning each and every uh Sunday school X sort um you know even our Bible readings right that's that is foundational to our theology and then our theology the what now needs to be stood up right so that's where we get to our apologetics why is this true so it's from the Greek word and I'm going to butcher this I wish we had Brian here that could that could help uh you know help us contextualize some some Greek words um it's a polygamy eye which occurs 10 times in the New Testament um if the foundation just means apologetic speaking in defense this is not apologizing right apologetics is not like hey I'm sorry this is what I believe no it is defending making a case for your theology right it's actually uh and we'll see in within scripture how it's applied it's it's kind of going on the offense not not apologizing but substantiating what we believe why is this true so it occurs uh eight out of 10 times it's coming from the author Luke two occurrences in Luke his gospel and six more times in Acts once in Romans and once again in second Corinthians so apologetics the defense of why it's true you know when we talk about what we believe immediately jumping into substantiating why we believe it and this was of the utmost importance in the ancient world when you had all these types of spiritual Concepts floating around you had the Hellenist you had all these polytheism uh that's pervasive and now you have this you had appearance the Jews were uh essentially monopolizing the the monotheism market and you had this this kind of new interpretation of it and and so there's a there's a lot of mixture here and apologetics was of the Forefront of Defending Your why in the ancient world and it's just as important today it really is so we're getting into some verses here uh to discuss that Luke 12 and 11. so here's some of your examples of apologetics within scripture and when they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers the authorities do not be anxious about how you should defend yourself it's the same root word or what you should say continuation Acts 26 1-2 so we'll grip us at the Paul you have permission to speak for yourself then Paul stretched out his hand and made his defense it's the same thing the Apologetics I consider myself fortunate that it is before you can grippa that I'm going to make my defense there it is again today against all the accusations of the Jews jumping into Philippians chapter 1 verse 7 it is right for me to feel this way about you all because I hold you in my heart you are all partakers with me of Grace both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the Gospel one more time now first Peter 3 and 15. but in your hearts honor Christ the lord as holy always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you you do so with gentleness and respect wouldn't that be great if like you know the millennial that's like clapping away in the elevator on his on the on their tick tock on the you know just just text him just say hold on put the phone down turn to you and says what do you believe and why I mean pretty far-fetched right but hypothetically if it happens are you prepared to respond do you have your elevator speech are you prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you and then continuing on uh Luke 21 and 14 settle it therefore in your minds not to meditate beforehand how to answer this is when giving a defense right so you have to kind of be prepared mentally to give a defense but also like how are you on your feet you know are you able to dance around objections are you conditioned to make a defense when teaching biblical principles to our Sunday school students our children our friends do we focus on the why in other words do we equip our Bible school or Scholars the Apologetics or defense of the what right do we do we give them that Buckler so now we have our theology we have our apologetics and now we have our Behavior why does this matter to me now when I had the uh cyc class I had some verses for this you know the behavior again it explains who am I what is my purpose how I should live but I am instead going to ask that we first and as a collective Sunday School try to look up some verses that help answer who am I so does anyone have a verse off the top of the head or at least wants to do a quick research to explain who am I you know what what are what's what's what are we what's the intent who am I and as you're searching I'll give you one to start and then I uh I welcome any supplemental um verses for this so who am I second Corinthians 5 17-20. therefore if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation the oldest passed away behold the new has come all this is from God who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation that is in Christ God was reconciled reconciling the world to himself not counting their trespasses against them and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation therefore we are ambassadors for Christ God meaning that his appealed through us we implore you on behalf of Christ be reconciled to God so who am I I'm an ambassador no matter what um I'm a new creation and I'm an ambassador for Christ I'm gonna go grab the microphone just to make sure there's a oh Jen has it you have one Ben oh saving coming in late just give you Genesis 1. 1 in the beginning God created the heavens and the Earth so we believe in a Creator which defines who we are that we live in tensional lives we don't live a life based on a world that thinks we just happen to show up here and do whatever you want you live die and be happy um you know it's like Paul says uh if tomorrow we die then eat drink and be happy if there if Christ is not risen so it helps us to live an intentional life that we start with that Foundation that there is a Creator a sustainer with a plan and purpose for each individual on Earth not just haphazardly you know watching uh little Clips all day for those of you at home I'll translate for you that's a Creator and a sustainer we'll have to get subtitles here there he is thank you Jason all right this is from Ephesians chapter four uh verse 23 be renewed in the spirit of your mind and put on the new man which after God is created in righteousness and true Holiness so this is a renewed spirit this is is a spirit sanctification Holiness separateness and renewal it's a beautiful thing I mean there's a it helps us see past ourselves right it's easy to get caught up if we're just self-focused but all of a sudden if if all of a sudden you're a part of something greater you're part of a mission that's a lot bigger than yourself it really helps contextualize the day-to-day struggles anyone else before we go to the next one fair enough what is my purpose I'll leave this with you real quick so while we look up what's our purpose why are we here what are we doing um I'll read a quick one just to get the juices flowing what is my purpose Ecclesiastes um 12 and 13. the end of the matter all has been heard fear God keep his Commandments for this is whole duty of man Fair God keep his Commandments I mean I'm starting but very simple you know we're starting kind of the remedial distilled version but um anyone else what's our purpose Micah six and eight can we get a reader from Micah can you read Micah 6 and 8 for us Ben's flipping without tabs that's impressive under pressure Brett Nancy Micah six and eight he has showed you oh man what is good and what does the Lord require of you but to do justly to love Mercy to walk humbly with your God well done that's that's a beautiful one any others Nancy just knocked out of the park because no need for another app with that one love it how should we live right this is kind of this is this is really the behavior side um first John two four and six whoever says I know him but does not keep his Commandments is a liar and the truth is not in him but whoever keeps his word in him truly the love of God is perfected by this we may know that we are in him whoever says abide in him ought walk in the same way which he walked walk in the same way Chris how should I live well look at look at the way that Christ interacted look at the way that the fruits of the spirit um really just emulate do each and every interaction anyone else on how we should live Gordon let me get you all right brother Gordon there we go I'm sorry we are told to love God and keep his Commandments and that's our whole Duty I love it love God keep his Commandments or you know you know Christ was saying as the number one commandment love God love others you know it's it really is um very simplistic when you boil it down any others all right so we're going to exploit the time the timeline anyways uh as a quick context we're going to dump jump it right into class three this will be a four class series I'm not sure if a little baby Nora is going to give us four classes um Cara's been she's definitely we got the she's the woman in travail right now so we don't I'll I'll feel I'll be blown away if we can um we can wait till mid April for for uh baby number three because it's looking like you know prayerfully um we're holding we're holding on so we'll see we're gonna try to get a four class series into three classes for the time being for that very reason hopefully we'll be done by the the end of the month um so we're gonna jump right into class three which is fortifying faith we talk about flexing Faith right this was the principle of um how do we use the world view our faith as a muscle to push against the weight of contrary World Views right so this is a class two lead cap right we're gonna do a little recap right now uh so we talk about theology you know your Doctrine what we believe the Apologetics is your defense why is this true and through your behavior Dominion Deeds why does this matter so um for those of you that's listening online or you guys can always go back we have a great uh compilation of verses that help to answer these so that's a really um that's key that's key is that we're substantiating all of uh these discussions through scripture so with the world view being a mental muscle we identified that right a worldview is our mental our it's our uh Faith muscle right how do we train it well as with all uh Concepts was first turned to scripture Proverbs 22 and 6 train up a child in the way you should go and even when he was old he will not depart from it Deuteronomy 20 and 5. then the officers I'll speak to the people saying is there any man who lives with a new house and has not dedicated it let him go back to the house lest he die in battle and anchor a man and dedicate it so now this is this is interesting right so in Strong's the root word for training is um it's properly to narrow figuratively to initiate to discipline to dedicate to Trend train up right so that same foundational word of training up a child is the same one that you see for dedicating a house right it's when you train up in that way you're dedicating yourself to a purpose First Kings eight 63. Solomon offered a peace offering the Lord 22 000 oxen in a hundred and twenty thousand sheep so the king and all the people of Israel dedicated the house of the Lord right they they trained they they there's a singular purpose to initiate the discipline second chronicles seven and five King Solomon offered a sacrifice again same sacrifice the king all the people dedicated the house of God so this is this is the instances that we see of training right so the only time we actually see it as a that root word it's it's most often used as dedicating a house but that one time it's Proverbs 22 and 6 probably the most famous application of that work train up a child in the way you should go and even when he's old he will not depart from it dedicate that child to Christ and ultimately to God question for the audience what would you say is the common use of this word you know how do you how do you envision this um looking at these this whole this whole implication of train of dedication how do you apply this in daily life I don't know that so when I think about dedication I'm thinking um very much the idea of being devoted being given over to something and not necessarily um being split in my thinking or my commitments the the dedication is very much about priority and uh exclusivity hmm so that could be you know Sunday morning is always going to be meeting you know this is something I'm determined that I will be here not because I'm virtuous or holy because I showed up on a Sunday morning but because it's something that I do that's part of my identity is to fellowship with my brothers and sisters and and be together it's just it's the way it is yeah there's a sense of permanence um towards this to your point like it's it's when it's dedicated when this house is dedicated when the house the Lord is dedicated when you when you're dedicating a child it's not Whimsical this is this is set anyone else I heard some Whispers anyone want to jump in I'm okay so for the sake of time we're not going to get too far into this but I'm going to give you a quick introduction to at least get this on your notebooks to be prepared to really dedicate ourselves next Sunday God willing to getting into uh training in training foundationally means teaching towards a challenge when we train when we train up our bodies you know we're training for something for me it's just uh trying to avoid the dad bod you know that's why I train that and I just got to make sure you know God willing down the road when Maddie you know finally introduces me to a new her boyfriend I want to make sure you know I still have some semblance of intimidation no no no I would never I would never think of that when I'm when I'm lifting weights never but training is towards a challenge so for me it's meeting Maddie's boyfriend in hopefully 35 years um but that's that's the the attention you know teaching towards a challenge but in reality how do we train our world view how do we train our faith how we Flex how we fortify it so we're going to go through by all means if you want if you want we're going to go through acrostic so when you when you put this in your notebooks which at least try to write this down first um put it as an acrosse stick because then we're going to build these out God willing next week so T Test you know start off with tests um this is part of dedicating ourselves um tests are being required a being armed I involved and nurture so we're going to wrap up because I don't want to get too far into this but um God willing next Sunday we're going to go through how do we test our faith how we test one another how do we require more of each other how do we arm ourselves how do we involve one another how do we nurture one another so um looking forward to next Sunday God willing until then just keep training up your faith thank youFortifying Faith
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