WE BELIEVEJohn 20:31

WE BELIEVEJohn 20:31

John 20:31 (ESV)“but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”

WE BELIEVEJohn 20:31

• Theology: two Greek words theos (God) and logos (word or discourse). So theology can be described as study of God or discussion about God.

• Our theology or what “we believe” about God and about what the Bible says informs our understanding of life--we are all theologians.

• Our theology or what “we believe” informs the way we view the world (our worldview).

• Our theology or what “we believe” determines what we value most and what we value most determines how we act in this life.

• Our theology or what “we believe” affects everything. • Embrace being a theologian, and embrace digging deeper

into what “we believe” and why this year in chapel.

WE BELIEVEJohn 20:31

Samuel Playing T-Ball

WE BELIEVEJohn 20:31

Two Overarching Goals of our Series

1. The Great Commandment: We learn more about God so that we can love God with all of our mind.

WE BELIEVEJohn 20:31

The Great Commandment

Matthew 22:37-40, “36 ’Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?’ 37 And he said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.’”

WE BELIEVEJohn 20:31

Deuteronomy 6:4-9, 4 “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. 5 You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”

The Great Commandment

WE BELIEVEJohn 20:31

Two Overarching Goals of our Series

1. The Great Commandment: We learn more about God so that we can better love God with all of our mind.

2. The Great Commission: We learn more about God so that we can make better disciples and teach them better to observe all that Jesus has commanded us.

WE BELIEVEJohn 20:31

The Great Commission

Matthew 28:19-20, “19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

WE BELIEVEJohn 20:31

Some Benefits to this Study

1. It helps us understand and overcome wrong ideas.

2. It helps us to live consistently with what we claim we believe.

3. It helps us to grow as a Christian.

WE BELIEVEJohn 20:31

Understand and Overcome Wrong Ideas

“The cosmos is all that is or ever was or ever will be.”

Carl Sagan, deceased atheist scientist, former host of the PBS television production, “Cosmos.”

WE BELIEVEJohn 20:31

“Almost every religion talks about a savior coming. When you look in the mirror in the morning, when you’re putting on your lipstick or shaving, you’re looking at the savior. Nobody else is going to save you but yourself.”

Ted Turner, Time Warner Vice Chairman, in an USA Today interview

Understand and Overcome Wrong Ideas

WE BELIEVEJohn 20:31

“Human babies are not born self-aware, or capable of grasping that they exist over time. They are not persons . . The life of a newborn is of less value than the life of a pig, a dog, or a chimpanzee.”

Peter Singer, Tenured Professorof Bioethics at Princeton University and Advocate of Infanticide, in his book, Practical Ethics, (pg. 122-123) as reported in The Washington Post

Understand and Overcome Wrong Ideas

WE BELIEVEJohn 20:31

Live Consistently with what We Claim We Believe

83% of Americans identify themselves as Christians, yet only 49% describe themselves as absolutely committed to Christianity.

The Barna Update, 5-21-07

WE BELIEVEJohn 20:31

Live Consistently with what We Claim We BelieveThose without an understanding of a biblical

worldview:• Around 100 times more likely to endorse abortion • Around 80 times more likely to say exposure to

pornography is morally acceptable • 31 times more likely to believe living together before

marriage is morally acceptable • 15 times more likely to believe homosexual sex is

acceptable• 18 times more likely to endorse drunkenness • 11 times more likely to say adultery is OK

WE BELIEVEJohn 20:31

Helps Us Grow as a Christian

• Psalm 119:11, “I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.”

• To repent means to change your thinking. The best way to change your thinking is to learn more about God. You learn more about God by studying His Word. Theology. What “we believe” determines how we live.

WE BELIEVEJohn 20:31

There is a God. God revealed himself to us. This God created us, and we rebelled against Him inheriting a sinful nature. God knowing this would happen sent His Son to provide salvation for us through His substitutionary death. Jesus will come again in judgment.