Christians should be atheists

1. Christians should be atheists Avenue Vineyard January 6, 2008

2. Jan. 6 - Celebration of Epiphany This celebration is intended to celebrate the "shining forth" or revealing of God to humankind in human form, in the person of Jesus. It is usually celebrated by remembering one of two events in Jesus life. • the visitation of the Magi to little Jesus • the baptism of Jesus as an adult

3. The water in the pond had become poisoned and Jesus jumped in using his life as the antidote.

4. The Reality Sin and evil are real and they are to be avoided. There is beauty and good in the created order and it is suppose to be redeemed.

5. Definitions Theism - belief in the existence of a god or gods, esp. belief in one god as creator of the universe, intervening in it and sustaining a personal relation to his creatures. Theist – a person who believes this way. Atheist – a person that does not believe that God or gods exist.

6. The world in Jesus time. Rome promoted a policy of religious uniformity. Basically they said, “all gods are the same, we all worship the same god/gods we just use different names.”

7. C.S. Lewis “If you want a religion to make you feel really comfortable, I certainly don’t recommend Christianity.”

8. During early persecution Christians were actually accused of atheism. The reason for this charge was that instead of worshipping many gods, Christians worshipped only one God and he was invisible!!

9. Worship Our English word derives from the old English word “worthship,” denoting the worthiness of an object to receive special honor in accordance with that worth. So worship is celebrating the worth of someone or something that we have given an elevated status.

10. Some Greek Gods • Apollo - god of music and prophecies (knowing the future). • Demeter - goddess of fertility, grain, and harvest. • Aphrodite - goddess of love, lust, and beauty. • Ares - god of war and bloodshed. • Athena - goddess of wisdom and reason. • Dionysus – god of wine.

11. We’re not as different as we might think from those ancient cultures. Because of this, instruction the Apostle Paul gave to the Corinthian Christians nearly 2000 years ago is still relevant to us today.

12. 1 Corinthians 10 • Paul addresses the issue of idolatry

13. 1 Corinthians 10:14 “flee from idolatry” • is in the Greek present tense and carries the connotation “keep on fleeing”, “make it a practice to flee” from idolatry, from putting anything above loving and obeying God. • this is active, not reactionary

14. 1 Corinthians 10:18-22 “Consider the people of Israel: Do not those who eat the sacrifices participate in the altar? Do I mean then that a sacrifice offered to an idol is anything, or that an idol is anything? No, but the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God, and I do not want you to be participants with demons.

15. 1 Corinthians 10:18-22 cont’d You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot have a part in both the Lord's table and the table of demons.”

16. A Result • We become like what we worship. • The major danger is the deception, the leading away from Jesus that results from worshipping wrong things.

17. St. Ignatius Loyola “Few souls understand what God would accomplish in them if they were to abandon themselves unreservedly to Him and if they were to allow His grace to mold them accordingly.”

18. Exodus 20:3 “You must not have any other god but me.”

19. Luke 10:27 “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.’ And, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”