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Basic Christianity

Join Bishop Mike Lowry's Brown Bag Book Study on Basic Christianity by John R.W. Stott. Open to all with a prayerful willingness to challenge perceptions and engage in respectful learning. Class requirements include reading the assigned chapters before attending, bringing a brown bag lunch, and being on time. The study will finish by 12:50 p.m.

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Basic Christianity

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  1. Basic Christianity Brown Bag Book Study 2016 Bishop Mike Lowry February 18

  2. Class Requirements • Open participation and a prayerful willingnesstochallenge your own perceptions • An attitude of grace and respectful learning with regard to fellow classmates • Read the chapter(s) before you attend. (No exceptions!) • Brown bag your lunch and be on time. We will finish by 12:50 p.m.

  3. John R.W. Stott April 27, 1921 - July 27, 2011 http://us.langham.org/

  4. The Life and Witness of John Stott “As a typical adolescent, I was aware of two things about myself, though doubtless I could not have articulated them in these terms then. First, if there was a God, I was estranged from him. I tried to find him, but he seemed to be enveloped in a fog I could not penetrate. Secondly, I was defeated. I knew the kind of person I was, and also the kind of person I longed to be. Between the ideal and the reality there was a great gulf fixed. I had high ideals but a weak will... [W]hat brought me to Christ was this sense of defeat and of estrangement, and the astonishing news that the historic Christ offered to meet the very needs of which I was conscious.”

  5. Life & Witness of John Stott (cont’d) • John Robert Walmsley Stott CBE was an English Christian leader and Anglican cleric who was noted as a leader of the worldwide Evangelical movement. He was one of the principal authors of the Lausanne Covenant in 1974. In 2005, Time magazine ranked Stott among the 100 most influential people in the world. • Stott was ordained in 1945 and became a curate at All Souls Church, Langham Place (1945–1950) then rector (1950–75). • In a November 2004 editorial on Stott, New York Times columnist David Brooks cited Michael Cromartie of the Ethics and Public Policy Center as saying that "if evangelicals could elect a pope, Stott is the person they would likely choose."

  6. Life & Witness of John Stott (cont’d) “The death of John Stott will be mourned by countless Christians throughout the world. During a long life of unsparing service and witness, John won a unique place in the hearts of all who encountered him, whether in person or through his many books. He was a man of rare graciousness and deep personal kindness, a superb communicator and a sensitive and skilled counsellor. Without ever compromising his firm evangelical faith, he showed himself willing to challenge some of the ways in which that faith had become conventional or inward-looking. It is not too much to say that he helped to change the face of evangelicalism internationally, arguing for the necessity of 'holistic' mission that applied the Gospel of Jesus to every area of life, including social and political questions. But he will be remembered most warmly as an expositor of scripture and a teacher of the faith, whose depth and simplicity brought doctrine alive in all sorts of new ways.” (Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury)

  7. Background for Basic Christianity • First delivered as a series of lectures at Cambridge University in November of 1952 • First of some 50 missions – speaking engagements in Universities around the world. • Stott's best-known work, Basic Christianity, has sold two million copies and has been translated into more than 60 languages. • Noted Biblical Scholar and author, he has written eight volumes in The Bible Speaks Today series of New Testament expositions.

  8. An Important Pause for Consideration What makes up the non-negotiable core of the Christian faith for you? What is at the heart of the Christian faith?

  9. Christ at the Center “If Jesus is not God in human flesh, then Christianity is thoroughly discredited.” (p. 14) “evidence to which an honest person can subscribe without committing intellectual suicide.” (p. 14) What did he intend to achieve? – “He came into the world to save sinners” (p.15) “Christianity is not just about what we believe; it is also about how we behave.” (p. 15, Orthodoxy and Orthopraxy)

  10. Christianity Anchors on Foundational Doctrines (teachings) Christianity anchors on foundational doctrines (teachings) and foundational behavior. It is a “both/and” not an “either/or.” Stott posits at the beginning a doctrine of a seeking God (incarnation) and the empirical reality of sin. Basic Christianity is built on two core claims: 1. God is seeking us. 2. We must ourselves seek God. (p. 15)

  11. The Right Approach 1 Christianity is a religion in which God takes the initiative. • created • spoken • acted “It is supremely a declaration of what God has done.” (p. 18) Which leads to a doctrine of Revelation! • Nature – General or natural revelation • God’s self disclosure – Special revelation (spoken - supernatural)

  12. The Right Approach 2 God has done something! “Christianity is a religion of salvation, and the fact is that there is nothing in any of the non-Christian religions to compare with this message of a God who loved, and came after, and died for a world of lost sinners.” (p. 22) Notice the doctrinal implications: 1. God acts (Word and Deed!)  revelation  incarnation 2. sin  salvation 3. High doctrine of Scripture without being fundamentalist.

  13. The Right Approach 3 Our Response: 1. We must seek. 2. We must seek seriously. 3. We must seek humbly. (i.e. confessionally, in need of revelation) 4. We must seek honestly. 5. We must seek obediently. a) a moral challenge at the heart of faith. b) Intellectual prejudice and moral self will = fear

  14. The Right Approach 4 “We do not find because we do not want to find..” (p. 25) [Jesus Christ] “honors all earnest searching.” “And I tell you: Ask and you will receive. Seek and you will find. Knock and the door will be opened to you.” (Luke 11:9)

  15. Q & A

  16. Next Week Part One: Who is Christ? The Claims of Christ The Character of Christ The Resurrection of Christ

  17. Basic Christianity Brown Bag Book Study 2016 Bishop Mike Lowry February 18 A replay of the webcast will be available later this afternoon. An edited version of today’s discussion with slides will be available for viewing, downloading and sharing by 5 p.m. Friday, Feb. 19 Please go to ctcumc.org/BBBBS16-replay to access replay and downloads.

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