The Core of Christianity, Part 1

Welcome & Announcements: Daniel

Sunday School: This Sunday is the first week of Sunday School.

Today we will be doing an overview and introduction. 

There will be a brief volunteer training time before Sunday School this week.

Small Groups: This coming Thursday (January 27th @ 6:30 pm), we will be meeting at Daniel & Lynette's new house.

Content: We will be watching a series called, Gentle & Lowly. 

Fellowship Sunday: We will be having a Fellowship Sunday after service on January 30th.

Call to Worship in Song:

Bless The Lord/10,000 Reasons

All I have Is Christ

Scripture Reading: Someone Needed

Old Testament Text: Psalm 33 New Testament Text: John 1:1-5

Offering & Pastoral Prayer: Daniel

Since I mentioned last week about the ordinance in the state of Indiana, I will mention it again today. If enacted, it would criminalize faith-based counseling to minors on issues related to human sexuality with the threat of a fine from the police of $1000 per day. While we do not condone Conversion Therapy, 31-21’s definition of “Conversion Therapy” casts such a wide net that it knowingly or unknowingly undermines:

personal liberty (people should have the right to select the counselor of their choice),

parental rights (parents must be the ones who choose their child’s counselor),

religious liberty / the separation of church and state (faith-based counselors must have the freedom to counsel people based on their deeply held religious convictions without government harassment or discrimination).

The second reading of Ordinance is scheduled for Feb. 7 at 6:30 p.m.

Adoration

Accessibility

Confession

Thanksgiving

Supplication

Marian Mason (Kaye)

Bill Shillingburg (Kaye)

John Sine (Molly)

Jared

Pray for our baby

Jeremiahs Grandfather

The family of Ed Holterman

1 John 1:1–4 ESV

1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— 2 the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us— 3 that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. 4 And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.

Prayer

The New Testament is abundantly clear, the core of Christianity centers upon the person and work of Jesus Christ.

C. Crucified

O. Obedience

R. Resurrection

E. Eyewitnesses

If this CORE is simply myth or legend, we SHOULD reject it.

If this CORE never really happened in time and space, we SHOULD run from it.

EVERY religion that has ever been founded began with one man, or a few individuals having an experience.

Buddhism - the pursuit of Nirvana and peace

Islam - Muhammad literally claimed to have received the Quran by himself on a mountain.

Only he could understand the vision and others followed him.

Mormonism - A weird mutation of Christianity, but again this time Joseph Smith believed that an angel gave him golden tablets that only he could read.

Especially the NEW AGE Spirituality - Literally founded upon everyone’s individual experiences.

Sharing with the Girl in the Lane Center

I was sharing one time at Frostburg with several high school students.

The girl who was learning to share was sharing about her experience with Christianity, and how Jesus has changed her life.

She was doing an exceptional job of sharing her testimony.

At the end of it, the girl she was sharing with looked back at her and began sharing her experience.

Her experience was NOT the same…

She hated her experience with Christianity.

She then turned and shared how she has started experimenting with Buddhism.

It then turned into a discussion of experience.

As I reflect on that story, I am reminded of the importance of sharing the CORE message of Christianity.

We live in a time where everyone is enamored with experience.

They love to share their experiences and compare experiences.

We have whole shows and genre’s around people’s experiences.

And in the realm of faith the argument goes, “My experience is just as valid as your experience.”

But John is showing us that Christianity is radically different.

He is NOT saying that experience is NOT important.

But He is helping us reorient around the SOLID CORE foundation of our faith.

The Historicity of the CORE

When John writes, he does so with a kind of certainty which many today find unsettling.

He writes as one who witnessed something first hand.

This makes sense because he tells us exactly what he is doing in verse 3.

He is not just telling us a story, he is proclaiming to us.

That means he is not trying to give his opinion alongside every other opinion in the culture.

He is proclaiming.

Declaring, Announcing, what is true.

There is a sense of urgency and potency with this message.

What exactly is he proclaiming to us?

Notice in the first sentence, he doesn’t even tell us what the subject of what he is saying is.

1 John 1:1 ESV

1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life—

The word which is rightly translated “that which” in our Bibles is a pronoun.

A pronoun is: a word (such as I, he, she, you, it, we, or they) that is used instead of a noun or phrase

Verse 1 does not even have a subject.

We don’t exactly know who or what exactly John is talking about yet.

He says that it is about the “word of life”

It sounds kinda like a message, but a message would not be sufficient.

It’s not possible to look upon a message, or touch a message.

He goes on to explain in verse 3 that “his Son Jesus Christ” is actually the subject.

1 John 1:1 (ESV)

(Jesus Christ whom) was from the beginning, (Jesus Christ whom) we have heard, (Jesus Christ whom) we have seen with our eyes, (Jesus Christ whom) we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life—

In a sense, “that which” is a fill in the blank for the person, the works, and the words of Jesus Himself.

Now if you remember how John begins his gospel, it sounds strikingly similar and yet drastically different.

John 1:1 ESV

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

So in John’s gospel, he begins with eternity past.

He talks about the WORD being in the beginning, and the WORD being WITH God, and the WORD actually being God.

Now if you were to hear that, it would be possible to think.

“John, you were never there in the beginning, how would you know that to be true.”

“What’s the proof? What the evidence you have for that?”

You could hear how far removed and “distant” in a sense that would be from the reader.

Remember, John was combating a group which claimed they had special knowledge from God (esoteric gnosticism).

They claimed that the Christ came upon Jesus at his baptism and left him at the crucifixion.

They claimed that Jesus never really came in the flesh to begin with.

Which undermined the incarnation, the crucifixion, and the resurrection itself.

But listen to the way that John combats these gnostic ideas even in the first verse.

1 John 1:1 (ESV)

1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard,

John moves from eternity past, a distant thought.

Something which could not be proven with evidence because nobody was present at the beginning of time.

John is connecting this distant past reality of “before the foundations of the world” with what he heard, saw, and touched.

John is connecting it to a present reality.

For John, he is not just talking about some “pie in the sky” reality.

This CORE didn’t happen in some secret fashion.

It DID NOT happen with just a few individuals.

It HAPPENED openly and publically for all to see.

The Five Senses of the Core

1 John 1:1 (ESV)

which we have heard,

John is giving us the actual record from the ears of an apostle of what was heard.

What all would this include?

The parables that Jesus told him firsthand.

The groans of people who were at one time afflicted and yet found healing in His hands.

The proclamation of God the Father over God the Son, ““This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!”

Even the proclamation from the cross, “It is finished!”

All of this, first hand.

This is not just a made up account to make his readers feel good.

This is the actual message from someone who was there.

Now the question is, who is this “we” that John is referring to?

Apostolic Witness

This phrase is used in over half of the verses of 1 John.

This is coming from the actual people who walked and talked with Jesus.

John is saying, it wasn’t just me who heard and saw and touched.

It was the band of apostolic witnesses.

Those who saw, and heard, and touched the body of Jesus.

Think about the difference between witnessing a car accident and experiencing a car accident.

What is our fundamental authority as Christians?

There is a huge difference between witness and experience.

Witness is grounded in an actual historical reality

Experience is important, we should not diminish it, but it must be secondary to the actual witness.

Experience is of value when it comes to confirming and supporting a position.

But it must never arise to the base of it.

This affects the way we discuss Christianity with the public.

Brothers and sisters, this is so important for us.

We must know that the authority we go with is not based upon an experience.

It is based upon the eyewitnesses of what was actually said.

We should NOT EVER shrink back or be embarrassed about what we believe.

In a day and age that every main stream media outlet projects Christianity as being filled with a bunch of mindless fools who are blindly following their traditions.

Brothers and sisters, we need to be bold in our proclamation to the watching world.

Never doubt that!

And if you find yourself doubting that, look to the eyewitnesses who have witnessed the risen LORD.

Okay, well hearing is good, but John doesn’t end there...

1 John 1:1 (ESV)

which we have seen with our eyes,

John is saying that we have looked upon Him.

Notice how John moves from the least to the greatest.

He begins by talking about eternity past, which is impossible to prove.

Then he talks about hearing.

But someone may object, “How do you know you heard him correctly?”

He then moves to seeing, which is even more accurate.

He is saying, “I didn’t just hear what was said, I also witnessed it with my eyes.”

Historical

Just like what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:3-7

1 Corinthians 15:3–7 ESV

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.

This is the very foundation of our faith.

Ephesians 2:19–20 ESV

19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone,

Listen to what John goes on to say...

1 John 1:1 (ESV)

which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life—

John is saying that this Jesus, we have touched him with our own very hands.

Objective Reality

This isn’t simply a misunderstanding with our hearing, or an illusion with our sight.

This same word which is used for touched is not to just brush past and glance a touch.

It is the same word which is used in Luke 24:36-39

Luke 24:36–39 ESV

36 As they were talking about these things, Jesus himself stood among them, and said to them, “Peace to you!” 37 But they were startled and frightened and thought they saw a spirit. 38 And he said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? 39 See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.”

This is not some fairy tale or myth, it is the iron clad reality of the witnessing of the resurrection.

2 Peter 1:16 ESV

For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.

If anyone ever says to you...“Oh, these disciples just had a collective vision of the resurrected Jesus...”

With grace and humility, point them back to the faithful eyewitnesses.

Point them back to hundreds of people who witnessed His resurrection.

Point them back to the examining of Christ’s body.

If you’re a non-Christian here today, I wonder what you think about this message.

I wonder if you are objecting in your mind, or if you’re curious to what has been said.

I want to encourage you to examine the claims that have been made here.

Examine them by studying the primary sources.

I have often heard Christian and non-Christian alike lament...

Oh, wouldn’t it be great if we could have just been there?

Wouldn’t it have been great if we could have experienced what they experienced?

I would submit to you that it would have been NO better if we would have been there ourselves.

John 20:25 ESV

25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.”

And what happens?

Jesus just appears in a room with them!

John 20:26–29 (ESV)

Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.”

27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.”

28 Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!”

29 Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

Don’t miss that last sentence that Jesus says, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

Brothers and sister, if you have trusted in Christ here today, that is you.

So it looks like John is discussing with these believers the message that he has shared with them, but then he says...

1 John 1:1–2 ESV

1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— 2 the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us—

John begins to talk about the life, which is synonymous with the message.

The “word of life” is “the gospel of Christ”

These things are one and the same.

In other words, it is not the “Word” that is proclaimed, but Christ, who is the content of it.

When we say that it was made manifest, it means that it was revealed.

It was made known to them.

John 17:3 ESV

And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.