Faith in Today's Secular World - the Christian

Larry Dickens

October 26, 2014 PM

 

Text:    2 Cor 3:2-3 You yourselves are our letter of recommendation, written on our[a] hearts, to be known and read by all. 3 And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.

 

Introduction:

            A.        Many Do Not Read The Bible!

            B.        Many are “Turned Off” by “Organized Religion”                                                    

            C.        You may be The ONLY Letter of Christ which they are reading at this time.

            D.        The Power of Influence

                        1.         Salt and light (Matt 5:13-16)

                        2.        Children of God in the midst of perversity (Phil 2:14-16; Psalm 19:1-4)

                        3.         How accomplished?

 

I.          Personal (transparent) moral purity (Phil 2:5; 1 John 2:15-17)

            A.        Immorality Not Once Named (Eph 5:3-5)

            B.        Not like the World (1 Peter 4:3-4)

            C.        No Fellowship with Evil (Eph 5:11-12; Rom 1:32)

 

II.        Lovingkindness in Practice (Matt 5:16; Matt 25:34-36, 40; James 4:17)

            A.        The Example of Dorcas (Acts 9:36, 39)

                        1.         Men as well (Titus 2:6-7)

                        2.         Love without hypocrisy (Rom 12:9; 13)

            B.        The Example of Jesus

                        1.         Jesus loved him (Mark 10:21)

                        2.         Jesus told him what he needed to hear (Mark 10:17-21)

            C.        The Example of  Paul (Rom 9:2-3; 10:1)

            D.        The Example of  John (1 John 4:7, 1; 3 John 1, 9-10)

            E.         The Believing Wife (1 Peter 3:1-2)

 

III.       Personal Evangelism (2 Tim 2:2)

            A.        Are We Convinced of God’s Salvation Plan? (John 8:24; Luke 13:3; Matt 10:32-33;  John 3:3,5; Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38)

            B.        Are We Convinced that those not obedient will be lost eternally? (2 Thess 1:7-8; Heb 9:27; 2 Cor 5:10; 2 Tim 4:1-2; 2 Cor 5:11)

 

Conclusion:     Will You Be Persuaded? (Acts 26:27-29)