ScriptureStream

By Mark WatsonSociety & Culture Religion & Spirituality Christianity Philosophy

ScriptureStream episodes

October 23, 2013A Story That Produces Faith
The lead up to the leap of faith.
A persuasive message that speaks to something inside us. Romans 10:17
The message of salvation in Christ runs through the Bible. It produces faith in those who see it.
John 5:39
Luke 24:26-27,44-45
Threads that tie together in Christ
The sacrifices of atonement
A law giver like Moses
…
Colossians 2:17
Physical family → spiritual family
Earthly family → heavenly nation
Physical deliverance → spiritual deliverance
…
Redemption is realized in Jesus Christ. Ephesians 1:7
The end of the story of redemption
Revelation 20-22
A story with a beginning, middle, and end.
Revelation 20:10 – Satan deceived Eve; Christ defeated Satan; Satan will be judged.
Revelation 20:11 – The world was cursed; Christ came into the world to save man; the world is destroyed.
Revelation 20:12-12 – Adam brought death; Christ overcame death; all will be raised.
Revelation 21:1-2 – Physical Jerusalem; spiritual Jerusalem; heavenly Jerusalem
Revelation 21:3 – Tabernacle, God dwells with Israel; the church, the temple of God; God’s people dwell with Him fully in Heaven
Revelation 21:4 – A curse inflicted; a curse borne; a curse removed.
Revelation 21:4-5,9-14 – 12 tribes; 12 apostles; the glorified people of God.
Revelation 21:15-16,21-22,24 – Nations divided; nations invited; nations redeemed.
Revelation 22:1 – Rivers of Eden; …
Revelation 22:2 – Tree of life; the tree that gives back life; the tree of life.
Revelation 22:3 – Sacrificial lamb; the lamb of God; the lamb who reigns.
Revelation 22:4,14 – Cleansing of the priests; washing of regenerating; washed in the blood of the Lamb.
Revelation 22:16,20-21
Conclusion
The story of redemption began in Eden and will end in Heaven.
In Jesus, God provided deliverance from the curse of sin and death.
When we see the story woven and tied together it produces faith in us.
How will the story end for you?
30 min
October 23, 2013 The Bible and the Origins of Writing
[Sorry, no notes available for this lesson.]
30 min
October 22, 2013Evidence for Faith
The leap of faith
Romans 1:19-20
Exhibit A: The universe
Cosmic microwave radiation background of the universe
The universe contains over 170 billion galaxies
Galaxies contain 10 million to 100 trillion stars
Estimated total of 70 sextillion (7*1022) stars
The law of cause and effect
For every event there must be a cause sufficient to account for it.
God, the universe creator
Only a being of infinite power could bring such a universe into existence. Genesis 1:1; Psalms 19:1; Isaiah 40:25-26
Only a force which is itself eternal could be a sufficient first cause.
Something must start everything. Revelation 1:8; 22:13
Only a force of nature could bring it about.
Exhibit B: The laws of physics
The 1st and 2nd laws of thermodynamics
Nothing new is being made.
Everything is moving toward a disordered state.
No natural cause can account for the existence of the universe.
All energy progresses to a more disorderly state, thus the universe cannot always have existed.
Psalms 102:25-27
Exhibit C: The fine tuning of the forces of nature
Genesis 1:1-3
Isaiah 45:19 – God created the universe to be orderly.
Physical values finely tuned to incredible precision
Electron to proton ratio
Electromagnetism to gravity ratio
Must be correct to 1 in 1*1018
30 min
October 21, 2013Is Faith Irrational?
We must build up our faith!
Irrational: not endowed with reason or understanding.
The charge that faith is irrational:
It is not based on observable evidence.
It is not based on reason.
It is not verifiable by experimentation.
It is a blind leap of faith accepted on the basis of revelation.
It amounts to superstition.
People believe because they want to.
The response of the Bible:
The charge that faith is irrational is a dishonest effort to stigmatize believers and cut off debate.
This is an ad hominem attack and is not reasonable at all.
Acts 26:24-26
Name calling does not prove anything.
One man’s reasonable is another’s crazy.
Religious faith is in fact based on observable evidence.
Romans 1:19-20 – The invisible attributes of God can be seen through what He has made.
Acts 14:16-17
Believers cite lots of evidence.
We see the same things as unbelievers.
We reason to a different conclusion.
Two interpretations of the same evidence.
Religious faith is based in part on reasoning from the available evidence to a logical conclusion.
Acts 17:2-4
I Peter 3:15
We reason from the evidence.
We conclude faith is more reasonable.
Does unverified mean irrational?
Faith may not be verifiable at the present but many things in science are accepted as possible or even likely without current verification:
Dark matter
Gravity waves
Black holes
Certain sub-atomic particles
Life on other planets
Basic assumptions of science:
There exists a single unchanging set of laws which govern all events in the universe.
Human beings are able to understand the workings of the physical universe.
The laws which describe the universe are describable by mathematics.
The response of the Bible
Much religious faith is based on revelation, but revelation itself is a type of evidence.
John 20:30-31
Acts 1:3
II Peter 1:16
It’s called testimony
It’s the basis on which we “know” just about everything we know.
Equating our faith with superstition is disingenuous.
John 7:45-46
Luke 24:32
Faith does not involve choice that goes beyond observable facts
Hebrews 11:1
John 20:29
The evidence only takes us so far.
There is a moral or spiritual choice that takes us the rest of the way.
Faith is reasonable but not provable.
God has intentionally made it this way. I Peter 1:8-9; Hebrews 11:6
30 min
October 20, 2013Not By Bread Alone
Matthew 4:1-4
As humans, we have to bear the lot of humanity. We cannot just make it go away.
Lessons
We all face temptation. It is an unavoidable part of the human experience.
God is with us in our hour of weakness and helps us to defeat temptation.
Behind our temptation is the devil who seeks our destruction, but he can be defeated.
Where Israel failed, Christ was able to succeed and show us the way. Matthew 4:4; Deuteronomy 8:1-3.
Matthew 4:4
“Man” - The devil wants to convince us that we are just animals, that if we have a desire, we should just fulfill it.
“shall not live” - There is a part of us that needs more than just physical nourishment to live. There is a spiritual side of man. There is a part of us that suffers without spiritual nourishment. Why do celebrities and pro athletes live such messed up lives? Because they try to live by bread alone!
“on bread alone” - Society tries to teach us that bread alone is enough.
“on every word” - Even the universe exists because of the word of God.
“that proceeds out of the mouth of God” - Our soul and spirit thrives on the word of God.
Conclusion
By His temptation Jesus took on our burden and carried it.
He shows us that there is much more to life than our physical existence.
He shows us that to truly live we must come to fully trust in God.
That life comes through every word of God.
30 min
October 20, 2013The Samaritan Woman
[Sorry, no audio available is available for this lesson. We are attempting to recover it from another source and will update this post if it becomes available.]
John 4:4-29
The text is about:
A testimony of faith.
John 4:41-42
We also have to come to faith by reading testimonies of Jesus.
The quality of worship
John 4:21-22
John 4:23-24 – Worship must be in spirit and truth.
Can you worship in spirit an truth if you do not listen to God (lack of truth) or if your heart is not right (lack of spirit)?
Your true identity
Our identity doesn’t matter to God – we must be true worshipers of God. A true worshiper should be our identity. In God’s eyes, our physical identity does not matter.
Temporary vs. eternal solutions
Conclusion:
Do you believe the testimony?
What is the quality of your worship?
What is your true identity?
Do you have sin to answer for?
Are you seeking eternal solutions?
30 min
October 20, 2013The Defeat of Sennacherib
II Chronicles 32:1-23
A story told three times in the Bible:
II Chronicles 32:1-23
II Kings 18:13-19:37
Isaiah 36-37
II Chronicles 32:7 – This is our faith – that God is with us and is greater than whoever might come against us.
II Chronicles 32:20 – See II Kings 19:14-19 for Hezekiah’s prayer.
II Chronicles 32:21 – God answers Hezekiah’s prayer and destroys Sennacherib’s army.
A great story
A story about the arrogance and unbelief of powerful men.
A story about the faith and perseverance of God’s people in the face of overwhelming odds.
A story about God’s deliverance.
A true story
Hezekiah really was King of Judah.
He really did do the things described.
There really was a King Sennacherib.
He really did invade Judah.
He really did surround Jerusalem.
Sennacherib really was defeated.
Sennacherib really was murdered.
The Biblical and Assyrian records agree.
30 min
October 16, 2013The Work of Local Churches, Part 6
When do you have local church action? (continued)
When there are Christians living and taking action in a particular area?
Is geography the deciding factor? Are Christians automatically part of the church which assembles the closest to their residence?
Acts 9:26-28
When all local church members act together in spiritual work?
I Timothy 5:16
Acts 4:32-5:4. Note the difference between one’s own money, and that which has been given into a common fund. (See also John 12:3-6 – can you pilfer your own money?)
Acts 4:37 - “laid it at the apostles’ feet” implies that the money was under the control of the apostles. It does not mean that the money now belonged to the apostles.
Matthew 18:15-17
Collective: more than a plurality – it’s acting as one.
Singular:
One link of a chain
Christian
Matthew 18:15-17 – You
Plural
Multiple links of a chain
Christians
Matthew 18:15-17 – 2 or 3 witnesses
Collective
The entire chain
Local church
Matthew 18:15-17 – church
Philippians 2:25,30; 4:14-18. Note that Epaphroditus delivered the money, but the work was that of the Philippian church.
I Corinthians 11:17
Philippians 1:27
30 min
October 13, 2013Three Steps Into Heaven
Introduction
Matthew 7:13-14
Selfishness is the root of many if not all sins.
Out of self
Luke 9:23
Ephesians 4:22 – Put aside the old self.
II Corinthians 5:17
Jeremiah 10:23; Psalms 37:23; Proverbs 3:5-6 – Let the Lord direct your paths.
Matthew 6:33 – Seeking God must become first.
John 13:4-15 – Jesus washed the disciples’ feet.
Into Christ
Romans 6:7 – Baptism is the way into Christ
Matthew 28:18; Mark 16:15-16; Romans 10:17 – One must be taught.
John 8:24 – One must believe.
Acts 17:30 – repentance required
Romans 10:10 – confession required
II Corinthians 10:4-5
Into glory
Romans 9:27; I Corinthians 15:51
II Corinthians 5:10; Revelation 14:13 – One must die having lived righteously before God.
Hebrews 4:11
Psalms 126
Luke 17:10
John 5:28-29
30 min
October 13, 2013Your Adornment
I Samuel 16:7
I Peter 3:3
My appearance is important to others.
Genesis 38:15 – Tamar identified based on her clothes.
II Kings 9:30
Proverbs 6:25; 7:10
Matthew 22:11; 23:5
I John 2:15-17
Romans 13:13-14 – Make no provision for the flesh!
Matthew 5:27-28 – Does your dress cause others to stumble?
Don’t make exceptions where God’s word has not?
II Samuel 11:2; 13:1 – David and Amnon succumbs to lust.
Mark 6:22-23 – Herod’s rash vow due to lust
My appearance is important to God.
My appearance is important to my (future) spouse.
My appearance is important to me.
I Peter 3:1-4
I Timothy 2:8-10
Genesis 2:25; 3:7,21 – the coverings of Adam and Eve
A person’s appearance reflects their heart.
30 min

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Just the gospel, plainly spoken. ScriptureStream compiles lessons presented at the Benchley church of Christ, located just north of Bryan, TX. Visit ScriptureStream.com for full notes on each lesson…

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