Fulfillment
Faith Under Fire • Sermon • Submitted
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· 5 viewsPaul dealt with those who would destroy the faith and destroy his ministry. Paul, by sticking to what Christianity actually taught and living his life in a way that expressed Jesus to others, he was able to deal with the accusations.
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Faith Under Fire - New Series
We face accusations about the Christian faith.
Some are completely warranted, as the church has been on the wrong side of issues in the past.
And, individual believers have committed atrocious actions of abuse and bigotry.
But, these are from people who were not accurately representing Jesus. Not living out the faith.
Many accusations against Christians are simply not true: bigoted, close-minded, anti-intellectual.
I recently was listening to a podcast and they went off on Christians because of a moral stance, and they stated how that view showed a lack of morals. It was really confusing!
False accusations against the church is not a new thing!
Roman church: Atheism. Polytheism. Incest.
Paul was the recipient of false accusations and had to live his faith under fire.
As we experience our faith under fire, how do we live? How do we respond?
The Accusation
The Accusation
The high priest and elders and a spokesperson. Tertullus. Specialist in forensic rhetoric.
Sought to accuse Paul - Categorize. “Serious accusation.”
They wanted to paint Paul in as bad of a light as possible.
But, how did they go about it? In vague accusations.
Part of wisdom is considering the voices of critiques.
Is there truth here? How can things be improved upon?
What is causing this misunderstanding?
Paul addresses the accusations made against him.
The Defense
The Defense
Paul replied to them, making his defense.
Apology. Not apologizing.
Apologetics. From logic.
Christianity is a reasonable faith.
CS Lewis Mere Christianity
It is something you can verify - knowledge (epiginosko)
Some accusations come from a misunderstanding of what Christianity even is!
(Which they call a sect…)
Some don’t understand Jesus or the church because of...
just lack of knowledge / bad experience / preconceived ideas about religion.
Yet, Paul’s teachings were consistent with Scripture.
Same should be true for us.
Any claim we make about our faith should have an address.
Scripture reference.
Paul was also looking for common ground with those who were accusing him.
Too often, we are looking for what is different.
Paul knew the value in having a connection with his accusers. To draw conclusions from same base of information.
Paul kept to the foundation of the resurrection.
What was most important - primary to the faith.
Conclusion / Application
Conclusion / Application
The way brands work.
Mottoes - McDonald’s, Nike, Allstate, American Express, Bounty, Sprite, Wheaties.
Companies that stay on brand.
Live a clear message.
1. Know your faith.
Be able to express it clearly with logic.
Spend some time studying apologetics to be familiar with what people may say.
Cold-Case Christianity by J. Warner Wallace
2. Represent your faith.
Where the church messes up is when it begins mixing in other things beyond the faith.
We confuse other people because we mix in politics or health fads or educational philosophies.
And those secondary or tertiary things push people away from Jesus.
3. Know others.
By building connections.
By looking for things you have in common with them.
Many people will not engage in the truth of the Gospel unless they are drawn to it by people that live it.
We know that we will face those who make false claims or accusations against Christianity.
But, as we genuinely love others and live authentically, it will drain the potency from those accusations.
And it will draw people to the Gospel.