World Religions week 3

ISLAM (part 2)

Songs:

This is Amazing Grace

Christ is Mine Forevermore

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REVIEW:

5 Pilars:

Confess

Pray (five times a day facing Mecca)

Fast (

Give

Pilgrimage (Mecca and Medina)

Key to remember: Do these things and there is still no assurance that you did enough.

Theology:

Reject Trinity

Qur’an is holy book

It’s a religion based solely on what you do but offers no assurance you’ve done enough.

If your good deeds outweigh your bad, then you can hope to enter paradise.

It’s ultimately really simple to the mind of a Muslim.

Submit to God and keep his commandments then you might gain access.

There is no other hope for assurance other than that.

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Knowing all that Tonight here is what we are going to do.

Answer these 5 questions:

1.What does it mean to follow Jesus?

2.What are some marks or defining characteristiscs of a Christian? How would those differ from one who practices Islam?

3. In one statement, what is the central point of being a Christian?

4. How would you explain the trinity to a Muslim (since Islam rejects the trinity)?

5. Why is assurance of Salvation a key difference between Islam and following Christ?

What does it mean to follow Christ? - Luke 9:23, John 13:34-35, Genesis 7:1 , 1 Corinthians 15:3-4

Genesis 7:1 ESV

1 Then the Lord said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and all your household, for I have seen that you are righteous before me in this generation.

Believe in the gospel. (Romans 8, 1 Corinthians 15) Turn from our sin. (Luke 9:23). Trust Jesus’ sacrifice was enough. Show love to others as Christ has shown love to us. Remember the righteousness we have is from God and from God alone (Gen. 7).

2. Marks of a Christian?

Hebrews 11:32-38 (The World was not worth*) <- Key in on this phrase.

Trusting in the promise!

God’s promises ring throughout Scripture.

Joshua 1:9, Hebrews 11, Psalms 91:2, Hebrews 12:1-2, Romans 8:1 .

3. What is central point of Being a Christian?

There is no point in life UNLESS you are a Christian. First of all.

Acts 17:28 “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.’”

In one sentence, God made you by his grace, sustains you by his grace, and wants you to mercifully extend his grace to others around you.

As we already talked about from Hebrews 11, We were not made for this world. THis world is such a small whisper in eternity.

4. How would you explain the Trinity?

Take light for example.

Is all light visible? NO!

In fact most light ISN’t visible.

Take a look at the magnetic spectrum.

Longer wave lengths create radio waves. The type of light we pick up on our car antenna and communicate music, words, and other means via the radio. (Hense radio waves.)

The shorter wave lengths are much more dangerous and can get deep inside of us affecting our very DNA.

However these gamma rays can also attack cancer cells and give more life to someone otherwise condemned to death due to cancer.

And then we have those wave lengths right in the middle that give us colors and allow our minds and eyes to communicate and provide vision for our bodies.

All 3 of these examples are different. They are unique with different roles, but at the same time, they are all examples of light!

Much like water, solid, liquid, and gas, are all water…

While both of these examples are incomplete and not a perfect example, they are helpful to note other examples where one entity (Light or water) have different rolls and different forms.

Genesis 1:26-27 “26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”

5. Why is assurance important for Salvation?

Hebrews 10:22-23 “22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.”

There is no religion that offers 2 things Christianity does.

1. A God who came to us. All others tell us to work our way to Him. Jesus came to us.

2. We can be assured His sacrifice was enough because we aren’t God and could never measure up to His sacrifice.

We need to know what we believe… SO when confronted with others who believe differently, we are able to see the difference and be assured of what we believe!

Know what you believe.

Know what others believe.

Remember that for all of us.

2 Peter 3:9 “9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.”

And it’s always by HIs grace.

Eph. 2:8-9 “8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

*INVITATION:

I want to invite you to pray right now where you are.

I’m going to sing one more song for us and I want you to just remember who Christ is tonight.

Play Christ is Mine Forevermore: