Sunday Morning Sermon Summary
Pastor Paul Lundberg
Note to the
visitor: These are Pastor Paul’s sermon notes from Sunday
Morning. They probably won’t make much sense if you
weren’t in the service. Feel free to contact Pastor Paul if you’d
like more detailed information. For past
sermons, please visit the Sermon
Archive
Series: “Why Should Anyone Believe
Anything At All?”
Part One: Why Ask? (John 1:6-9; 12:37-41)
January 7, 2006
John 1:6 There came a man who was sent from
God; his name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify concerning
that light, so that through him all men might believe. 8 He himself
was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. 9 The
true light that gives light to every man was coming into the
world. (see also 10-18)
John 12:37 Even after Jesus had done all these miraculous signs in
their presence, they still would not believe in him. 38 This was to
fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet: "Lord, who has believed our
message
and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?" 39 For this
reason they could not believe, because, as Isaiah says elsewhere:
40 "He has blinded their eyes and deadened
their hearts, so they can neither see with their eyes, nor
understand with their hearts, nor turn-and I would heal them." 41
Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus' glory and spoke about him.
OUR MISSION:
Go! Make disciples!
Why should
anyone believe anything at all? 3-part series: 1) Why ask the
question? 2) Why believe anything? 3) Why believe the
Bible?
1. WHY ASK
THE QUESTION?
1) WE NEED TO
ASK IT BECAUSE (like it or not) we
base our lives on beliefs
Believing is
what we do…like breathing
my computer will work, my spouse loves me
(more than his/her old flame, secretary, my sister!), my car will
start, my alarm will go off on time…ADD YOUR OWN!
Tombstone: RIP “until we meet again”
The obituaries in the paper PROVE people die in alphabetical order
A glass of milk: FRESH OR SOUR? (T &
pancake ingreds)
Use our senses:
trust (believe in) our taste
Use reason: trust
(believe in) our ability to judge
Test our senses: ask a friend to taste it
(“Yes, it’s fresh”)
Test our reason:
Friend might say, “it’s fresh but it’s from a different kind of cow.
You’ll get used to it and learn to like it!”
Problem:
Whatever I
hold to be true, I must believe.
2) WE NEED TO
ASK IT BECAUSE we need to know the
answer for ourselves
“I didn’t say you were ugly”
Guy’s Rule: “If something I said could be taken two ways…”
Causes for belief (Why DO I believe?)
Reasons for belief (Why SHOULD I believe?)
Why DO you believe in (resurrection, heaven, hell, etc.) CAUSE
Why (so much rejection in the culture) SHOULD you? REASON
“You
believe in resurrection, I believe in reincarnation,
(s)he
believes in neither (the agnostic says, I don’t know)
Problem:
They can’t all be true. (Something
happens at death)
“What if it’s true? What REASONS do I,
personally, have for believing one thing or another?”
3) WE NEED TO
ASK IT BECAUSE Our mission is to make
“believers”
a. our
culture (our “mission field”) doesn’t believe like we do:
“Personally, I don’t believe in God. I
believe in people and I believe in nature and that’s enough for me.
I believe enough in myself to know that I will be as moral as I need
to be - for me-without having to follow some other law (say, the 10
commandments). I also believe that other people will behave in a
moral way for them because I don’t believe that people are
inherently evil. I think everybody’s pretty decent, as a matter of
fact. And this world, with all its ‘isms’ and faults, is still a
pretty cool place to be!”
b.
our culture (our “mission field”) is being told to believe
that absolute truth doesn’t exist.
“We can choose WHAT to
believe but NOT whether to believe one thing or another.”
Problem:
It’s
impossible to believe in nothing at all
(Can I “give a convincing, even compelling reason for someone to
believe?
(1 Peter 3:15)
REMEMBER: MAKING
DISCIPLES IS OUR MISSION!
Question:
Why DO/SHOULD I
believe (Cause or reason?)
“The only thing
worth believing
is the truth”
(Sire, p. 11)
Next
week: Why should I believe anything?
Part 3:
why should I believe the Bible?
Green: Mission and Vision
Blue: Illustrations and quotes
Red: Scripture
(Email me for
details)
