...1. What are some ways the Christian gospel is perceived in our culture? There are several different views and beliefs of the Christian gospel. Some include: the Bible is a nice story but is just that a story; if I just say a Salvation prayer I am saved; if I treat others well and do good deeds I will get into Heaven; and, the Bible was written so long ago that it is not really relevant in today’s time; to just name a few. The Christian view of the gospel is one of good news. The gospel, in the Bible tells us that God loved us as sinners so much, He sent His only Son to pay the price for our sinful nature by dying on the cross. By understanding, and believing in our minds, our bodies (heart), and our souls that: we are sinners; that God sent His Son to die for our sins; that Jesus died, was buried, and rose from the dead; that the only way to God is through Jesus Christ; and by believing these things in our hearts and professing it with our mouths, we are saved. 2. What are some specific moral reasons people may reject the Christian gospel? One moral reason someone might reject the Christian gospel is that of greed. More and more today’s generation seems to be one of greed. The “me” generation; the “g” for greed generation; the “feel-good” generation; these generation examples seem to want whatever they desire and want to have it now, simply because it makes them feel good. This generation is full of people who have a selfish view of the world and what it can offer...
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...The Gospel Message The Apostle Paul said, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek” (Romans 1:16). Paul should know, since his life was radically transformed when Jesus confronted him on the road to Damascus (Acts 9, 26:4–18). Once he knew Jesus and His power, nothing held him back from telling others about the risen Christ. He shared this gospel, the “good news,” with anyone who would listen to him, regardless of their religion or moral background. Paul once wrote to a group of Christians telling them about this gospel. He said: Moreover, brothers, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). Be assured, this same gospel that changed and motivated Paul is for you and me today. In understanding the gospel message we find out that: • Jesus paid the price for our sins (I Peter 3:18). • Our sins can be forgiven (Ephesians 1:7). • We can have eternal life by trusting in Him (John 3:15). The word “gospel” is mentioned over 100 times...
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...1. What are some ways the Christian gospel is perceived in our culture? In our culture the Gospel is perceived by some as a way to get into Heaven. They believe that to get into Heaven, they must be saved. They must believe in God, give themselves to Him, and accept Him as their personal savior. However, there are people who believe that the gospel and God are a myth. These people are surely damned. 2. What are some specific moral reasons people may reject the Christian gospel? Many reject the Christian gospel because of the bad things that are happening in the world. Their thoughts are “if God truly existed, why would He allow all the suffering and death that’s happening?” They find it hard to believe that loving God would not step in and get rid of the murders and rapes. 3. What are some specific emotional reasons people may reject the Christian gospel? People may reject it because of past dealings with Christians who caused havoc in their lives. People who were the subject of abuse by someone in the Church may reject the gospel because of the pain – mentally and physically – that they endured. Their thoughts would be “why would I want to be a part of a religion that has someone like this in it?” They associate their pain with the religion. Another reason could be the death of a loved one. “Why would a loving God take my mother who spent her life serving Him? Why didn’t He heal her?” They fail to realize that she was healed – just not on this side. 4...
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...OFFICIAL RULES FOR THE “New TOYOTA CAMRY GIVE-AWAY” NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. INCREASE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING A PURCHASE WILL NOT SWEEPSTAKES PERIOD: The N EW TOYOTA C AM RY GIVE - AW AY Sweepstakes (“Sweepstakes”) begins on May 14th , 2012 at 12:01 am EDT and ends on July 31, 2012 at 11:59 pm EDT (the “Sweepstakes Period”). HOW TO ENTER: During the Sweepstakes Period, there are two (2) ways to enter: (1) Online: Visit http://www.theglen.com/Camry/Giveaway and follow the directions provided to complete the entry form and submit to receive one (1) entry into the Sweepstakes. All online entries must be submitted by July 31, 2012 at 11:59 pm EDT to be eligible. (2) Via Mail: Handprint your name, address, city, state, zip code, daytime and evening phone numbers (including area codes), and date of birth on a 3" x 5" card and mail the card, with proper postage affixed to: “New Toyota Camry Give-Away” c/o Watkins Glen International, Attn: Ryan Pedersen, 2790 County Route 16, Watkins Glen, NY 14891. All mail-in entries must be postmarked by July 19, 2012 at 11:59 pm EDT and received by Sponsor no later July 23, 2012 to be eligible. Entries generated by script, macro or other automated [or mechanical] means or by any means which subvert the entry process are void. Limit one (1) entry per person, per email address and per household, regardless of method of entry. Entries received from any person or email address or household in excess of the limitation...
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...1. Define effective communication in the setting of a church. Cite three examples of typical church events that require effective communication. Communicating effectively in a church setting means the speaker provides a message that allows the power of the Word and Spirit to be articulated and understood through thoughtful persuasion and style, along with sound reasoning of the Gospel, while preaching genuinely and fervently, reflecting one’s true personality (Merida, 2010, p. 168-169). Three church events that require effective communication include Sunday morning worship, Bible study groups, and Men’s/Women’s Retreats. 2. In your experience, how do church leaders demonstrate effective communication skills? Cite three examples of ineffective communication skills within the church emphasizing why you consider each ineffective. Church...
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...Works and Words: Why You Can't Preach the Gospel with Deeds And why it's important to say so. Duane Litfin [ posted 5/30/2012 10:43AM When it comes to the enduring question of word versus deed in the Christian's calling, the issue is always one of balance. How are Christians to think about the relative roles of words (proclaiming the gospel) and deeds (loving action) in what Christ has called his people to be and do? We need to set our scales to a balance that matches Scripture. "Balance" may sound simple, but finding and maintaining our equilibrium on such a complex subject is never easy. It's like walking a tightrope. Only one direction will keep us upright and moving forward, and any number of missteps could lead us to fall off one side or the other. Misguided claims abound. Here's a prominent example. How often do we hear these days, with passion and approval, the famous dictum attributed to Francis of Assisi: "Preach the gospel at all times. Use words if necessary"? In this saying, the word-versus-deed question rears its head, stressing in this instance how important it is for Christians to "preach the gospel" with their actions. Let the gospel be seen rather than spoken, it's implied. Words may serve a useful backup role, but our actions must take center stage if we are to make a difference in the world. At first blush, this sounds right. Except that it isn't. According to those who know the relevant history well—the Franciscans—Francis never uttered these words...
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...multiple methods to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Those methods all contained several characteristics that set Paul apart from all other missionaries, as these are used today. As Paul went about fulfilling the great commission his legacy can be identified by these key characteristics. Paul ministry was focused on planting a church, his goal to spread the Gospel and convert individuals not just preach to local crowds. Paul’s method of operation was to come into a community begin to evangelize, establish the congregation and the church. These communities of Jews and Gentiles formed by Paul and his team established the local church and he moved on to another location. The path chosen by Paul in his commitment to preaching Jesus Christ to those in the who would listen. Paul preached to all that Christ died for all sinners and every person was in an equal position before God as a sinner. Paul preached redemption through Christ Jesus for all. One the important characteristics Paul had was that he preached to the crowd, he had an understanding that the message would identify with the audience as the Gospel related to that community, by no means did Paul change the word of Christ, he was an educated man and used it in his work spreading the Good News. Throughout Paul's travels he was willing to endure hardships and persecution in his mission to the proclamation of the gospel of the Kingdom of God. Paul understood that he would suffer for the message we was destined to deliver, even...
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...Summary of the Chapters In chapter one of Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God, J.I. Packer doesn’t waste time explaining the general truths. He already expects his readers to know that God is sovereign over His world. He is the author and source of all things, therefore, our prayers do not force the Lord of all to do anything. Packer wants his audience to realize that because the God is sovereign, we cannot save ourselves. Our salvation comes through Him and in Him; it is nothing we did ourselves. Packers gives two examples, that he believes can prove that God is sovereign in salvation. The first, he argues that we (Christians) thank God for our salvation. By doing so we acknowledge that God is solely responsible for our salvation. We do not thank ourselves for being saved, do we? No, because we know that it is God who is in control. The second way we acknowledge that God is sovereign in salvation, is that we pray for the conversion of non-believers. Packer defends his reasoning by saying, “Do you limit yourself to asking that God will bring them (non-believers) to a point where they can save themselves, independently of Him?”[1] Again, by praying to God for the salvation of others we practice the act of acknowledging God is sovereign. Proven now, that God is sovereign, in chapter 2 the author explains what an antimony is and how to deal with hardships that come along with it. An antimony is an appearance of a contradiction between conclusions which seem equally...
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...awesome lesson to learn from, especially when it comes to a particular method to evangelize, “the lesson should be” “what really works most effective for one person, may not work the same for someone else”. The LORD say to Jeremiah, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations” (Jer.1:5 NKJV). How comforting it is to know, that Christians can go the One who knows everyone, better than anyone on earth and in this truth, “everyone can be free, to be who he or she were created to be”! “The Christians true identity is through God’s deity”! Newkirk 2 To evangelize is to tell a good message. In the New Testament the term implies a good message, as in a victory. While some people might attempt to make us...
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...for utilitarian ware. For more expensive vessels, the potter first refined the clay by treading it out in water. Clay pots found many uses. Items of value could be kept in them, and clay jars were especially popular for storing liquids because the pottery hindered evaporation and kept the contents cool at the same time. Even broken pieces of pottery, or "shards," found a use as writing material for notes, receipts and messages. In verses 7-15 Paul compares the gospel minister to a piece of Palestinian pottery. We have this treasure in jars of clay (v. 7). This treasure is the glorious good news about Christ (vv. 1-6). Jars of clay is actually "earthenware vessels" (ostrakinois skeuesin). The noun skeuosrefers to a vessel serving a specific purpose (such as a jug, cup, pan or pot). When used of people it often carries the sense of "implement" or "instrument" (Maurer 1971:358-67). So to be God's "vessel" is to be his instrument in carrying out a specific service--in this case, the gospel ministry. The marvel of Paul's statement is not to be overlooked. The gospel minister is a vessel made of common,...
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...An Analysis of "Is Jesus the Only Savior?" By: Ronald H. Nash By: Gregory Baize, Sr. Student #23344343 May 9, 2012 THEO 313-D03 Prof. Chuck Tabor An Analysis of "Is Jesus the Only Savior?" Part II Inclusivism Nash started his work with an in depth analysis of pluralism, the beliefs and arguments developing his thesis as well as developing a strong case against pluralism. Now in the second part of the book “Is Jesus the Only Savior?” Nash leads us in a study of inclusivism. Defined as or the belief that “The work of Jesus is ontologically necessary for salvation (in other words no one would be saved without it) Nash indicates not epistemologically necessary (in other words a person need not be aware of the work in order to benefit from it).” [1] One must keep in mind that Exclusivism is in disagreement with any second proposition. Strength of his Argument As you read through Nash’s work you find that Nash quotes a number of Inclusivists extensively. He also notes that one has sufficient evidence of their view points and the many arguments made by their own writings. This author displays great integrity in that he identifies even the elements of disagreement between inclusivists. Those of the Inclusivists thought believe that a general revelation is sufficient to bring an individual unto salvation. As Nash began to look into scripture he found Romans chapters 1-3 supported his ideology that a person’s broad revelation is not quite...
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...There was no doubt about it, by most any standard Saul was good. In his letter to the Philippians, Paul describes himself likes this: if anyone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless. In short, Saul had all the credentials that you could ever ask for in a religious person. And he made sure that these principles by which he lived were enforced. His preaching was a preaching that was unambiguous as to its expectations. Moreover, these expectations had “teeth” in them. They were enforced and held accountable by laws and rules strictly enforced. That’s what Saul was doing one day as he made his way to a town called Damascus. Armed with letters from the high priest giving him authority to arrest any who opposed him, Saul made his way to Damascus with the intent of taking prisoner as many Christians as he could. These people were going to know the rules. And they would obey...or else. You’ve got to admit, there is a certain appeal to that line of thought. It really simplifies things. All you have to do is say, “these are the laws...these are the rules, and if you don’t follow them, then we will impose this or that sanction on you.” It’s so simple; and all the while one can readily assume and heartily believe that he is...
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...About the Arthur of this book “The Art of Personal Evangelism”, the Arthur is Will McRaney. Will McRaney having served a variety position of evangelism. He earned his Ph.D. in Evangelism from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary in 1992. And He has served as assistant professor of evangelism at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. He also works for the Ministry Enhancement Group as co-founder for training and consulting group in the areas of church growth and leadership development. He presently is director of the Evangelism Strategy Department of the Florida Baptist Convention. According to his introduction, McRaney states his purpose is to blow the dust off the biblical essentials and help the readers connect the timeless message of the past with the postmodern culture of the present in which God means everything and...
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...liberty.edu/eleu/vol2/iss1/7 This Book Review is brought to you for free and open access by the Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary and Graduate School at DigitalCommons@Liberty University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Eleutheria by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@Liberty University. For more information, please contact scholarlycommunication@liberty.edu. Book Reviews Abstract Review by Russell Meek of Existential Reasons for Belief in God: A Defense of Desires and Emotions for Faith by Clifford Williams. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2011, 188 pp., $22.00. Review by A. Chadwick Thornhill of The King Jesus Gospel: The Original Good News Revisited by Scot McKnight. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2011, 177pp., $19.99 USD. Keywords Existential, belief, faith, God, Clifford Williams, Jesus, Gospel, Scot McKnight Cover Page Footnote Various authors. This book review is available in Eleutheria: http://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/eleu/vol2/iss1/7 Eleutheria 2:1 Winter (2012) 94-98 Existential Reasons for Belief in God: A Defense of Desires and Emotions for Faith by Clifford Williams. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2011, 188 pp., $22.00. Christian apologetics primarily focuses on what Williams calls evidential arguments for belief in God—arguments that focus on facts, such as the “first cause” argument for God’s creation...
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...The Christian gospel is defined as good news from the translation of “Greek euangelion: g d, good + spel, news” in the American Heritage Dictionary. However, people in our country have diverse views of Christianity and the gospel. I know from personal experience that the Bible scares some people. I am still not comfortable enough in my own testimony that I can easily have a discussion with fellow Christians for fear of them seeing how much I don’t know. Many people view the people who present the gospel as fanatics and turn away from the gospel before they can even hear the news of salvation contained within. The gospel is rejected by many as they feel it infringes on their rights. For example, some sections of our culture are taught that the option of abortion is the woman’s right to choose, not a moral question. If they were to hear the Word of God and become saved, they would ‘lose’ that right. Someone who has experienced a recent loss of a loved one to cancer or some other horrific death may question the Word. They may ask how a loving God could allow such suffering and pain. Their emotions can block the Word from entering their heart. There are some who attempt to reason away the miracles of the Bible. They try to use their intellect to defeat any argument a Christian has as to the validity of the claims of the Bible. They have been taught to believe in scientific answers for everything, such as evolution versus creation. A Christian should know...
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