Sermon Tone Analysis

This is going to be a sermon series on the routines we need to be spiritually healthy

Bible reading,

prayer,

fasting,

Christ-centered community

The Bible

2 Timothy 3:14-17

14 But you must remain faithful to the things you have been taught.

You know they are true, for you know you can trust those who taught you.

15 You have been taught the holy Scriptures from childhood, and they have given you the wisdom to receive the salvation that comes by trusting in Christ Jesus.

16 All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives.

It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.

17 God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.

True North.......

Obviously there are various understandings about where true north is

We need something to be the authority and be something we can Trust

Compass...

The world has numerous ideas about many things

Not since the enlightenment of 1715-1789 has our western society re-examined what governs the morals of our culture

They were overthrowing the Monarchy & The Church’s hold on life

Enlightenment ideals of liberty and equality and science

Immanuel Kant (German philosopher 1724)

Kant identifies enlightenment with the process of undertaking to think for oneself, to employ and rely on one’s own intellectual capacities in determining what to believe and how to act.....the lack of courage to use one's reason, intellect, and wisdom without the guidance of another.

Tremendous advancement in equality, the arts, political reform,

FREEDOM from old ideas

Newest revolution of thinking started in 60’s and continues today with social media (revolutions around the world)

As Christians we have chosen to trust the bible

Luther/reformation freed us from the controlling interpretations and understanding of the bible

Today…traditional evangelical interpretations and applications of the bible are being challenged

Role of women racial equality

Marriage morality

To be effective Christians…we need to know what the bible says AND what it means AND how to live that out properly

Psalm one describes a kind of person we would all want to be

They are like trees planted along the riverbank,

bearing fruit each season.

Their leaves never wither,

and they prosper in all they do.

Verse two just ahead of it tells us how to be like this:

But they delight in the law of the Lord,

meditating on it day and night.

Proving the bible is true-reliable

No one will believe in the bible just because of some powerful facts about its authenticity

It is believed because it changes a person life

The greatest piece of scientific empirical evidence that the bible is true is YOUR CHANGED LIFE

So why do we have to read the bible as Christians....?

2 Timothy 3:14–17

But you must remain faithful to the things you have been taught.

You know they are true, for you know you can trust those who taught you.

You have been taught the holy Scriptures from childhood, and they have given you the wisdom to receive the salvation that comes by trusting in Christ Jesus.

All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives.

It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.

God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.

The most important thing is that it is inspired by God:

What does this mean…?

God breathed

The Scriptures are not something breathed into by God, rather, the Scriptures have been breathed out by God.

Without God’s Inspiration

There would be no prophecy

1,239 prophecies in the Old Testament

Isaiah 53…the suffering messiah

Daniel’s Statue…future governments

Psalm 22....Jesus on the cross…Father, why have you forsaken me

How did the authors know about:

today genetics has verified that there is only one human race.

Stars follow a predictable pattern (Jeremiah 31:35)

Earth is round, not flat (Isaiah 40:22; Psalm 103:12)

Earth hangs on nothing (not built on pillars) (Job 26:7)

Geology

Water cycle (Ecclesiastes 1:7; Isaiah 55:10)

Sea currents (Psalm 8:8)

“Fountains of the deep broken up” (Genesis 7:11)

In our scripture from timothy Paul is telling us:

1) In order to have wisdom we..................................... need to know the bible

What is wisdom:

Fear = respect…but also reverence

Respect/fear the ocean because it can kill you!

It teaches you to look at the ocean and know when it will kill you or not

The world lacks wisdom...

2) In order to know salvation we ..................................need to know the bible

“given you the wisdom to receive the salvation that comes by trusting in Christ Jesus”.

Jesus simply asked people to follow him

rich ruler to give up his riches… ........... to be come rich in ways that matter

Peter to give up his nets............. to become a fisher of men

Mary to give up prostitution........... to become a daughter of God

What is God asking you and I to give up....to repent of..... so we can better follow Christ

Salvation is an ongoing process

3) In order to know what is true we ..............................need to know what is in the bible

Today: To say a statement is true is simply to say that a person or culture believes it to be true

Jesus prayed to the Father for us and said...

Knowing the truth freed the disciples from deceptions, errors and heresies.

Truth is revealed in the Bible as the character of Christ, His teachings and His promises.

Anything that does not agree with the Bible is false, error, deception or heresy.

There is an evil entity that is trying its best to challenge truth

Never has Christian held truth been so universally attacked

We need to know what God’s opinion is on life and how it is lived

Churches are splitting over perceptions of the truth

We need two things in ever increasing amounts:

Knowledge of God’s word (bible study & reading)

The Holy Spirit to reveal it to us (Prayer meetings and personal prayer)

The Bible is true, not because: