imagine there’s no heaven it’s easy if you try no hell below us above us only sky imagine all...
TRANSCRIPT
Imagine there’s no heavenIt’s easy if you tryNo hell below us
Above us only skyImagine all the people
Living for today
Imagine there’s no countriesIt isn’t hard to do
Nothing to kill or die forAnd no religion too
Imagine all the peopleLiving life in peace…
Imagine no possessionsI wonder if you can
No need for greed or hungerIn a brotherhood of man
Imagine all the peopleSharing all the world…
You may say I’m a dreamerBut I’m not the only one
I hope some day you’ll join usAnd the world will be as one
Imagine John Lennon
Fastest Growing Religion…
NONE
U.S. Pew Study 46 Million adults (13 million atheists, 33
million “none”)
Not “religiously affiliated” 8.2 percent in 1990 14.2 percent in 2001 15 percent in 2008 20 percent in 2012
Tw0-thirds: “believe in God” but not “religious”
Pew Research Center, Oct. 9, 2012
Why No Religion
Raised totally outside of organized religion
Unhappy with their religions and left
Raised in religious families but never engaged
Unhappy… Left
Fact: not all will accept the gospel. Matt. 13:18ff
Conversely, Christians must provide an environment conducive to promoting fellowship. Rom. 14:1-15:14
Raised Religious… Not Engaged
Most often reason for not feeling “engaged”: message irrelevant to their lives.
Preaching/Bible studies must connect to people… to bring them to a living faith… to be transformed into the image of Jesus Christ! Rom. 8:29; 12:2
Ultimately…Starts/Ends with
Parents Train our children… in the way they
should go (Prov. 22:6)… in the teaching and admonition of our Lord. Eph. 6:4
Provide for them a loving – Christ-like – Environment your children LOVE.
Give them a genuine – RELEVANT – Christian lifestyle.
“All the world’s major religions, with their emphasis on love, compassion, patience, tolerance, and forgiveness can and do promote inner values. But the reality of the world
today is that grounding ethics in religion is no longer
adequate. This is why I am increasingly convinced that the time has come to find a way
of thinking about spirituality and ethics beyond religion
altogether.”
~ The Dalai Lama
The Emphasis is Christ!
Romans 1:17He is God. Jn. 1:1
Born of a virgin. Matt. 1:23
He died for our sins. 1 Co. 15:3
He rose from the dead. v. 4
We (who believe) will have everlasting life! Jn. 3:16