How We See Life:
1. We take the Bible to be the Word of God. We have two reasons for this: 1. A good look at the people who wrote the various books in the Bible tells us that they were honourable men. In all their writings they urged their readers toward decent, honest, merciful and just living. They can therefore be trusted when they say, "God told me to tell you this."
2.There is the witness of our hearts. Having become followers of Christ and having received His Spirit, we recognize Him when we see Him. And He is the eternal Word of God (John 1:1). Therefore, when we open the Bible, we find Him reflected there, and we hear Him speaking to our hearts there, strengthening in us the desire for godliness.
The great evangelist of another age, D.L. Moody, once said, "I believe that the Bible is inspired, because it inspires me."
There are other reasons, such as fulfilled prophecy or the support of archeology, but the above two are enough.
We insist that there is only one God. But within the "Godhead" there is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. To understand God as invisible and governing the world, is easy for most people. But then came an extra-ordinary Man, calling Himself The Son who had come from the Father. And when people came to know Him, the Son of God, Jesus Christ, they were forced to the conclusion that this also was God. And again there came an inner, personal experience of God - the Spirit of Holiness, and there was no other solution but to call Him God, too. So now we end up with three Parties or Persons in one God. That's a little difficult to talk about, because as creatures we really don't understand Eternity. Nevertheless, the Trinity is the pattern for Christian fellowship.
We see God as absolutely sovereign. We just cannot conceive of God in any other way and still call Him "God." Where there seems to be a conflict between the sovereignty of God and the "Free Will" of man, we tend to come down on the side of the supremacy of God.
We just bask in the knowledge that God is Love. He is very, very, good. He is Light, and there is no darkness in Him (1.John 2:5).
We rejoice that God came into this world in the Person of Jesus Christ to bring us to Himself. And we can't see any other way to God. Every human being has sinned, and sin kills. Therefore Jesus had to pay the penalty with His own life. (He did this by giving Himself into the hands of those who hated Him). But He was also able to conquer death, and now He invites us to join Him and be transformed into His likeness. This blessing has to be every bit a gift from God, and can in no way be earned by good deeds. The only "good deed" we can do, that counts with God, is to accept Jesus Christ for who He is - Saviour and Lord (John 6:29). We believe Him when He says that some day He will come back with eternal punishments and rewards. This may even happen sooner than most think.
We also cannot see anything good in turning from the God Whom Jesus came to reveal. There simply can be no other place to go from there, except this incomprehensible "outer darkness," away from all love, but never away from our pain, our limitations and frustrations - a place called Hell.
From those points of view comes everything that we build our lives on.
1. We take the Bible to be the Word of God. We have two reasons for this: 1. A good look at the people who wrote the various books in the Bible tells us that they were honourable men. In all their writings they urged their readers toward decent, honest, merciful and just living. They can therefore be trusted when they say, "God told me to tell you this."
2.There is the witness of our hearts. Having become followers of Christ and having received His Spirit, we recognize Him when we see Him. And He is the eternal Word of God (John 1:1). Therefore, when we open the Bible, we find Him reflected there, and we hear Him speaking to our hearts there, strengthening in us the desire for godliness.
The great evangelist of another age, D.L. Moody, once said, "I believe that the Bible is inspired, because it inspires me."
There are other reasons, such as fulfilled prophecy or the support of archeology, but the above two are enough.
We insist that there is only one God. But within the "Godhead" there is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. To understand God as invisible and governing the world, is easy for most people. But then came an extra-ordinary Man, calling Himself The Son who had come from the Father. And when people came to know Him, the Son of God, Jesus Christ, they were forced to the conclusion that this also was God. And again there came an inner, personal experience of God - the Spirit of Holiness, and there was no other solution but to call Him God, too. So now we end up with three Parties or Persons in one God. That's a little difficult to talk about, because as creatures we really don't understand Eternity. Nevertheless, the Trinity is the pattern for Christian fellowship.
We see God as absolutely sovereign. We just cannot conceive of God in any other way and still call Him "God." Where there seems to be a conflict between the sovereignty of God and the "Free Will" of man, we tend to come down on the side of the supremacy of God.
We just bask in the knowledge that God is Love. He is very, very, good. He is Light, and there is no darkness in Him (1.John 2:5).
We rejoice that God came into this world in the Person of Jesus Christ to bring us to Himself. And we can't see any other way to God. Every human being has sinned, and sin kills. Therefore Jesus had to pay the penalty with His own life. (He did this by giving Himself into the hands of those who hated Him). But He was also able to conquer death, and now He invites us to join Him and be transformed into His likeness. This blessing has to be every bit a gift from God, and can in no way be earned by good deeds. The only "good deed" we can do, that counts with God, is to accept Jesus Christ for who He is - Saviour and Lord (John 6:29). We believe Him when He says that some day He will come back with eternal punishments and rewards. This may even happen sooner than most think.
We also cannot see anything good in turning from the God Whom Jesus came to reveal. There simply can be no other place to go from there, except this incomprehensible "outer darkness," away from all love, but never away from our pain, our limitations and frustrations - a place called Hell.
From those points of view comes everything that we build our lives on.
Englehart Baptist Church