7 Questions for the Church

1. 7 Questions for the Church

2. Question 1 If there was an issue that effected our view of the nature of God, would this be important enough to discuss? Nine characteristics about God

3. The Character of God • He is all powerful – only He can create out of nothing! (Gen 1:1, Jeremiah 32:17) • He is a God of order • He is transcendent (God transcends or rises above His creation. He is not part of it.) • He is the sovereign (absolute) ruler of His creation (Gen 1:1, Col 1:17) Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.(Isaiah 44:6)

4. The Character of God He has a special interest in mankind • All other gods are false gods • He is a perfect God (Gen 1:31) Deut 32:4 (He is the Rock, his work is perfect) 2 Samuel 22:31 (As for God, his way is perfect).

5. The Character of God He is a God of mercy and grace (Gen 3) • He is a God of judgment (Genesis 6-9) In the first chapters of Genesis we discover 9 characteristics about our Creator. If we do not believe Genesis is real history, where do we find out about our Creator?

6. Question 2 If there was an issue that was a central theme in the Bible, would this be important enough to discuss?

7. Genesis 1 & 2 Exodus 20:11 Deut 4:32 Nehemiah 9:6 Job 38:4 Psalm 100:3 Psalm 104:30 Eccl 12:1 Isaiah 40:28 Isaiah 45:18 Jeremiah 32:17 Amos 4:13 Jonah 1:9 Malachi 2:10 Matthew 19:4 Mark 10:6 Mark 13:19 John 1:1-3 Acts 4:24 Romans 1:19-20 1 Corinthians 8:6 Ephesians 3:9 Colossians 1:16-17 1 Timothy 4:3 Hebrews 11:3 1 Peter 4:19 2 Peter 3:4-5 Revelation 4:11 The Theme of Creation

8. Question 3 If there was an issue that effected many of our youth’s relationship to Christ and the church, would this be important enough to discuss?

9. The Next Generation One of the main reasons our youth are leaving the church is that they cannot defend a belief in the Bible An educational study “We are losing our children” 70% of teens stop attending church The Barna Group, “The Barna Update”, www.barna.org

10. Question 4 If there was an issue that was foundational to the Gospel, would this be important enough to discuss?

11. Genesis and the Gospel No perfect creation (Gen 1:31) What did the curse do? Death before sin God is the author of death What will God restore everything to? When does the Bible become real?

12. Genesis and the Gospel No literal Adam and Eve Who is the last Adam? When does the Bible become real?

13. Genesis and the Gospel No Literal Fall Why do we need the Gospel? When does the Bible become real?

14. Genesis and the Gospel Days become long ages Death and suffering before sin Order of creation events changes Local Flood Jesus is confused (Mark 10:6) When does the Bible become real?

15. The Cross Without Creation “And the creationists have also shown irrefutably that those liberal and neo-orthodox Christians who regard the creation stories as myths or allegories are undermining the rest of Scripture, continued

16. for if there was no Adam, there was no fall; and if there was no fall there was no hell; and if there was no hell, there was no need of Jesus as Second Adam and Incarnate Savior, crucified and risen. As a result, the whole biblical system of salvation collapses. . . Evolution thus becomes the most potent weapon for destroying the Christian faith.” Mattill, A. J., Jr., “Three Cheers for the Creationists,” Free Inquiry, vol. 2 (Spring 1982).

17. The Cross Without Creation “Christianity has fought, still fights, and will fight science to the desperate end over evolution, because evolution destroys utterly and finally the very reason Jesus' earthly life was supposedly made necessary. Destroy Adam and Eve and the original sin, and in the rubble you will find the sorry remains of the son of god. continued

18. Take away the meaning of his death. If Jesus was not the redeemer that died for our sins, and this is what evolution means, then Christianity is nothing." G. Richard Bozarth, "The Meaning of Evolution", American Atheist, Sept. 20, 1979, p. 30.

19. Importance of a Foundation If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do? Psalm 11:3 If we don’t have a literal history then Christianity is no different than any other false religion. The Gospel is based on something that never really happened.

20. Question 5 If there was an issue that was foundational to understanding marriage and moral standards would this be important enough to discuss?

21. Doctrines Gospel Marriage Genesis Death Foundation Sin Genesis If Genesis is not real history how can we defend the Gospel?

22. Question 6 If there was an issue that effected our ability to witness to non-Christians would this be important to discuss?

23. Our Witness

24. George Barna, “The Second Coming of the Church: A Blueprint for Survival,” Nashville: Word, 1998, p 2. “People are desperate for spiritual truth – but they can’t find the answer they need in Christian churches. Studies we have conducted over the past year indicate that a majority of the people who made a first-time ‘decision’ for Christ were no longer connected to a Christian church within just eight weeks of having made such a decision!” Q 876a

25. Question 7 Is the authority of Scripture important? Is it more important than what the world views as important and true? What is our starting point The Bible (God’s Word) Man’s Wisdom

26. Scripture and Commands • 2 Timothy 3:16 – All Scripture • 2 Cor 10:4-5 – Strongholds • 1 Peter 3:15 – A ready answer • Deuteronomy 4:2 – Do not add or subtract • Revelation 22:18-19 – Do not add or subtract

27. 7 Questions • Nature of God • Central theme • Youth relationship to Jesus • Foundation for the Gospel • Foundation for marriage • Ability to witness • Authority of Scripture Are these important? Yes Genesis is the foundation

28. 7 Questions • Nature of God • Central theme • Youth relationship to Jesus • Foundation for the Gospel • Foundation for marriage • Ability to witness • Authority of Scripture Why do churches ignore or compromise? Science Lack of knowledge, not interested, and

29. But Man’s Wisdom Says… Man's Wisdom James 4:4 Friendship with the world is enmity with God Science A new god

30. The Old Definition The search for truth “Knowledge as of facts, phenomena, laws and proximate causes gained and verified by exact observation, organized experiment and correct thinking.” Funk and Wagnalls Standard Dictionary, 1962, p.1127.

31. The New Definition Based on Materialism “Any systematic field of study or body of knowledge that aims, through experiment, observation, and deduction, to produce reliable explanations or phenomena with reference to the material and physical world” The Hutchinson Dictionary of Science, 1999, p. 566. Materialism, Naturalism, Humanism

32. Materialism “The Cosmos is all that is or ever was or ever will be.” Carl Sagan, Cosmos, 1980, p. 4.

33. What About Science? Science Evolution

34. Compromise “Although in the past science did not seem to bear out Genesis 1:1, at the present time it does so very closely – just so long as we are willing to accept a longer-than-twenty-four-hour interpretation for the creative days.” Don Stoner, A New Look At An Old Earth, 1992, p. 109.

35. When did people first not believe the Word of God?

36. D's The Three It all begins in Genesis

37. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die Genesis 3:4 Deception

38. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise… Gen 3:6 Doubt

39. She took of the fruit thereof, and did eat Gen 3:6 Denial

40. Deception Did God really mean 6 literal days? For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and HE rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it. Exodus 20:11

41. Doubt Can’t the word ‘day’ can have many different meanings? Haven’t scientists proven the earth is billions of years old?

42. Denial God used evolution Young earth creationists ignore the facts of science The age of the earth is not an important issue