Thursday, March 28, 2013

Humanism and the Stumbling Block

Humanism- a group of philosophies and ethical views that emphasize the value and agency of human beings. Humanists generally elevate reasoning and experience over established doctrine or faith.

How do you, a believer in the gospel of Christ, tell non-believers about the Creator?
Pull out your bible, which you know to be the truth, you share the gospel and they walk away.
Hum, that didn't go so well, now what?
The lost do not want to be hit over the head with the Bible.
God is Creator and Judge!
They need to know that there is a righteous Creator who spoke the world into existence!
He alone is the Sovereign Lord of heaven and earth!
They need to know that we have been given a certain amount of days to live here on earth!
They need to know that at the end of those days is an appointed time where the Creator will judge His creation, the human being!
God created us to be in a relationship with Him!
We rebelled by replacing God with gods we made!
God demands that we repent!
They need to know that from the beginning, all men sinned and therefore were are separated from holy God!
They need to know that there is an eternal destination where the soul of man will reside, heaven or hell!
They need to know that Christ is the only way that God will forgive you!
The risen Lord Jesus has conquered sin and death!

The gospel is a stumbling block to those who have confidence in their flesh.
The gospel is the saving power of God to those who place their faith in Christ!!

Acts 17:16-34
16Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he saw that the city was full of idols. 17So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons, and in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there.18 Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also conversed with him. And some said, "What does this babbler wish to say?" Others said, "He seems to be a preacher of foreign divinities"--because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection.19 And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, "May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? 20For you bring some strange things to our ears. We wish to know therefore what these things mean. "21Now all the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there would spend their time in nothing except telling or hearing something new.
22 So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: "Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious.
23 For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, 'To the unknown god.' What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you.24The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man,25 nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.26 And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place,27 that they should seek God, in the hope that they might feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us,28 for "'In him we live and move and have our being'; as even some of your own poets have said, "'For we are indeed his offspring. '29Being then God's offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man.30 The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent,31 because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead."32Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked. But others said, "We will hear you again about this."33So Paul went out from their midst.34 But some men joined him and believed, among whom also were Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris and others with them.

1 Corinthians 10:31
 So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

1 Corinthians 10:18
 Consider the people of Israel:are not those who eat the sacrifices participants in the altar? 

Philippians 2:9-11
9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 
10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. 

Matthew 7:13-14
13 "Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. 
14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few. 

Romans 9:33
33 as it is written, "Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense; and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame." 

1 Corinthians 1:22-24
22 For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, 
23 but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, 
24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 

Romans 1:16
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 

1 Corinthians 1:18, 24
18 For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 
24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 

Thank you pastor Jim!!!

No comments:

Post a Comment