“Understanding Faithlessness:  

The Hard Heart of Mankind”

All three readings

Intro:  Knowing Jesus all my life

I.  The Human Condition with Regard to God

A.  What happened to us in the Garden?

B.  God is knowable, but people don’t know Him

C.  The things of the Spirit of God

1.  Not just learnable

2.  Not logically obvious

3.  Must be received from the Spirit

II.  Does God Want Us All or Not?

A.  For God so loved the WORLD

B.  God wants ALL men to be saved

C.  Isaiah’s sad commission

1. Speak to people to harden them, not save them

2.  Why would God do this?

3.  A remnant of Israel, and a remnant of the rest

D.  Jesus shocks us

1.  Six hundred years later the hardness is still in force

2.  Jesus now hardens them

3.  Few find the narrow door

III.  What do we do with this information?

A.  Rejoice:  It has been granted to you

B.  Proclaim:  Whether to convert or to harden (Panning for gold)

C.  Do not judge:  We cannot know the mystery of faith in a person

How did today’s message make you feel?

What would you ask Jesus about these things, if He were standing in front of you?

Ephesians 3:14-21

Intro:  We seem so limited, so we doubt our ability to contribute

I.  The Abilities That We Have

A.  Natural or Inborn

B.  Learned or Developed

C.  Our insufficiency for the work of Kingdom

D.  The original disciples are held back

II.  Spiritual gifts

A.  The most fundamental:  faith

B.  The love of God

C.  His power at work within us

1.  Direct power over the Kingdom of Satan

2.  Anything you can imagine if it fits God’s purpose

3.  Things you wouldn’t even imagine

D.  All of this in jars of clay

III.  What might it be like when we aren’t “clay” anymore?

A. Limits imposed by sinful nature and the curse

B.  No growing weary

C.  Bridging Heaven and Earth

D.  Enjoying the visible presence of God

What is something that you can imagine that you would like to be true in Heaven or the New Earth?

If you could receive any spiritual gift, what would it be?  How would you use it?

Intro: Do you get into survival mode?

I. Gathering Strength from the VineA. Typically Jesus’ disciples have not been people of excess means B. A successful disciple of Jesus

1. Doesn’t lose track of the purpose of life2. Understands that it is Jesus working through him or her 3. “Abides” in Jesus4. Follows Jesus’ commands out of love5. Is saved by grace6. And yet is highly rewarded

II. Losing Track of Why You Are AliveA. Not many have had great examplesB. Our walk with God becomes a religion/cultureC. Wilting under pressureD. Getting drawn into a purpose of entertaining yourself

III. Loving Workmanship A. Chosen by Jesus

B. Appointed to God-given purpose C. Fruit that remainsD. Jesus’ joy and ours

Do you find yourself looking for how God can use you often, or does it rarely cross your mind?

How do you think you can be better prepared to be fruitful for God’s Kingdom?

2 Corinthians 4:16-5:5

Intro:  Concerns about mental health in the midst of Covid

I.  Outwardly we are wasting away

A.  The course of this life is typically descending

B.  Our physical decline

1.  Aging

2.  Exhaustion with our work

3.  Battles with illness, finances and other problems

C.  Feeling the weight of the world

1.  The pandemic

2.  Divisions

3. The fragile nature of many things: peace, economy, environment

II.  These things are “light” and “momentary”

A.  Paul’s context

B.  How are they “light”?

C.  How are they “momentary”?

D.  An eternal glory that far outweighs them all

III.  What we have through a connection to Jesus

A.  Paul speaks of our bodies as a tent

B.  We have an eternal house in Heaven

C.  We groan, but for what?

D.  We can face any problem, because we understand our purpose and destiny

Do you ever feel like you just can’t endure something any longer?

When you think of your future, do you ever imagine your existence beyond your death?

When Forgiveness isn’t Easy:“God’s Forgiveness Didn’t Come Easy” (Part 1 of 3)

Intro: The Need for Forgiveness

I. And Jesus said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for You.” – Mark 14:36a A. Almighty aligned with Character

1. “…in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised before the beginning of time.” – Titus 1:2

2. “Therefore, just as sin entered into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned.” – Romans 5:12

B. The Price of Justice1. “We all like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, each of us, to

his own way; and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” – Isaiah 53:6

2. “Without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins.” – Hebrews 9:22 (Leviticus 17:11)

3. “Since, therefore, we have now been justified by His blood, much more shall we be saved by Him from the wrath of God.”– Romans 5:9

II. “Remove this cup from Me.” – Mark 14:36bA. “By oppression and judgment He was taken away; and who can speak of

His descendants? For He was cut off from the land of the living, stricken for the transgressions of My people. He was assigned a grave with the wicked and with a rich man in His death, although He had done no violence, nor was any deceit in His mouth.” – Isaiah 53:8–9

B. “God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” – Romans 5:8

III. “Yet not what I will, but what You will.” – Mark 14:36cA. “God our Savior desires all people to be saved and to come to the

knowledge of the truth.” – 1 Timothy 2:4

B. “Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush Him and cause Him to suffer. When His soul makes an offering for sin, He shall see His offspring; He shall prolong His days; and the will of the LORD shall prosper in His hand.” – Isaiah 53:10

C. “Fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” – Hebrews 12:2

D. “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.” – Ephesians 2:8–9

What do you think were the thoughts and feelings of Jesus as He went to the cross?

How is your life impacted knowing the sacrifice Jesus made for you to be personally forgiven?

Faith and Proof:“Is Jesus the Real Thing?” (part 3 of 3)

Intro: Were you there?

I. Faith and Proof RecapA. Proof does not create faith B. Purpose of Evidence

1. Remove intellectual obstacles to faith 2. Encourage and support faith3. Embolden witness

C. Primary tenets of faith1. Creation – Article 12. Resurrection – Article 2

II. Is our source (i.e. the New Testament) reliable?A. Bibliographical Test: Reliable copies of original?

1. Time gap2. Number of copies3. Agreement among copies

B. Internal Evidence Test1. Historical narrative, not propaganda or legend2. That…which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes,

which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life…and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life… that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. – 1 John 1:1–3

3. Motive – Why risk death for a lie? C. External Evidence Test

III. Evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus A. Jesus was really killedB. Jesus was really buriedC. Jesus’bodywasnotstolen

D. Jesus did appear to be alive againE. This appearance was not a hallucination or confusion of identity

IV. “Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.” – Acts 2:36

How important is evidence to you in matters of faith?

How might evidence play a role as you talk to others about Jesus and His resurrection?

“Faith and Proof: By Design”

Intro:  What we have riding on our faith

I.  Has Science Disproved God?

A.  Materialism abandons God as a possibility

B.  Smoke and Mirrors:  Chance, Time and Natural Selection

C.  God’s Qualities Made Evident

1.  The universe had a beginning, but God transcends it

2.  The universe is highly ordered

3.  We are on a most fortunate planet. God is still active here

4.  Mathematical and understandable

D. The Complexity of the Most Simple Lifeform

E.  The Limits of Natural Selection

F.  Consciousness and human will

II.  How Do You Address Those Who Reject God

A.  It is rejection or ignorance but not proof

B.  Can you identify the poison?

C.  When someone defends their worldview

D.  Sowing the seed with love

Do you know somebody who is a committed atheist?  Do you know why they have arrived at this worldview?

How does the proof of God’s existence, power and goodness found in nature make you feel?

Faith and Proof:The ‘Foolishness’ of God (Part 1 of 3)

Intro: A story of a faith that failed

I. What Produces Saving Faith?A. Not “being raised that way”B. Not investigation of the factsC. Neither compulsion nor attractionD. Saving faith (not merely cultural faith) is a mystery E. It is a Holy Spirit product

II. So What Stops the Production of Saving Faith? A. Isolation from the Word of GodB. “Strongholds”C. Worldviews

D. Taking offense E. The love of evil

III. God’s Ways Are Not Our WaysA. We want to simplify God and predict His responses B. He is illogically mercifulC. He works through unusual meansD. He is rarely on our clockE. We are not equipped to judge, only to trust

Did you find today’s message to be comforting or frustrating? Did you ever have a crisis of faith? What happened?

What Satan Doesn’t Want You to Know: “You Can Push Back” (Part 3 of 3)

Intro: Questions for which I don’t have answers

I. What is Satan and what can he do? A. A guardian cherub

B. Observed capabilities and use of means1. Until Christ: Used the law against us and for himself 2. Fight in some capacity3. Influence human minds/Deceive4. Impact health5. Impact weather6. Possess a person

C. Defeated: Now the Law applies and condemns Him D. His time is short

1. Motivated by anger and bitterness2. Particularly with both Christians and Jews 3. Some aspect of the Law still protects him

E. On earth is not his equal

II. An Asymmetric and Unconventional WarA. The power of the WordB. The power of the SpiritC. Draw near to God (Prayer, Scripture, Worship, Obedience/Confession) D. Resist

Do you understand the devil to be a real being? Why or why not?

If you do, what impact do you think Satan has had on human history or current events?