This is the 1st of a 3-part series for Reasons We Believe, quoting scripture from various parts of the Bible.
I’ve only heard Pastor Ian speak a few times prior to this sermon, however I still felt there could have been more. It’s a difficult topic sometimes! but I heard there were individuals who have never set foot in a church, enjoyed his speaking, and vowed to return, so I am glad for that.
1 Pet 3:15; as Christians we should be better apologists, we should know our theology and what/why we believe.
- The Word Before Us
- 2 Tim 3:14-16
- God didn’t wind up the world and then walk away to let it operate on its own; He is intimately involved
- The World Around Us
- Rom 1:19-20
- no one is excused from knowing that God exists
- Creation: we see there was a beginning
- Fine-tuning: there are very specific parameters allowing life to happen
- Order: there is structure and regularity in laws of nature
- Beauty: the beauty of the world points us to the beauty of God (Ps 19)
- C.S. Lewis, “…beauty leads us to a longing…”
- Rom 1:19-20
- The Witness within Us
- Rom 1:21
- Morality: the longing for justice
- cannot be a consistent “moral relativist”
- Rom 2:14-15; there is a moral standard on each heart
- Eternity: we long for more
- Ecc 3:11; a sense of eternal significance, a longing in every heart for something more
- “An echo of the Garden of Eden”
- Desire: we long for God
- Augustus, “…our hearts are restless until they return to God…”
- Pascal, “…longing and emptiness points us…back to Him”
- Relationships: we long for love
- Gen 2:18