Core Convictions – Study #2
GOD’S WORD and OUR CONDITION
Sunday’s Teaching: We have launched our CORE CONVICTIONS series. We heard “core convictions” defined as “truths imbedded by the Holy Spirit in the heart of a disciple of Jesus by which he/she understands reality and lives accordingly.”
In this Connect Group Study, our focus is on Article 2 and 3 of the Evangelical Free Church of America Statement of Faith (SOF). All 10 Articles are below.
Let’s get STARTED – warm up by discussing the following:
Do you think the Bible is under attack in these days? Where do you see this happening?
Have you ever found yourself in question about the Bible’s truthfulness? What honest questions has your heart entertained now and then?
Let’s Explore in the WORD – Our study this evening will be to explore the different “metaphors” which describe the Bible’s value, impact, and difference-making ability in our lives. Sunday’s teaching offered the following 17 word-pictures for the Scriptures. In your group time, explore as many of the metaphors as you would like as a group, asking and answering the following questions with each.
(1) What is the metaphor, and what does it communicate about the power/impact of God’s Word?
(2) Has the Bible (or God’s word) had this impact in your life? Share how…
breath from God’s mouth (2 Timothy 3:16-17)
goad which jabs prompting action (Ecclesiastes 12:11)
lamp to one’s feet, a light on one’s path (Psalm 119:105)
library because that is literally what it is, a small, supernatural library of 66 books
mid-wife who helps in the birth of life (James 1:18)
milk for growth (1 Peter 2:2, Hebrews 5)
mirror showing us our condition and what needs to be corrected (James 1:22-25)
nail which driven in brings firmness (Ecclesiastes 12:11)
nourishing food (Jeremiah15:16)
rock foundation under a home (Matthew 7)
rules, commands, statutes, testimonies, precepts, laws (Psalm 119)
seed sown/planted in soil that brings a crop (James 1:21, Matthew 13)
sweet honey, drippings from the honeycomb (Psalm 19:10, Psalm 119:103)
sword, two-edge sword (Ephesians 6:17, Hebrews 4:12)
treasures of gold and silver (Proverbs 2), to be mined and sought after
pure water that cleanses and purifies (2 Peter 3:5, Ephesians 5:26)
wind and rain which coming down from above sprouts life in the earth (Isaiah 55:10)
Let’s Prioritize APPLICATION
Finally…if you’ve not yet downloaded the Christ Community Church (Ames IA) app and listened to the “Beyond the Sermon” podcast, download it HERE….and listen in this week! Pray for one another!
The Evangelical Free Church of America SOF
Statement of Faith articles
God
We believe in one God, Creator of all things, holy, infinitely perfect, and eternally existing in a loving unity of three equally divine Persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Having limitless knowledge and sovereign power, God has graciously purposed from eternity to redeem a people for Himself and to make all things new for His own glory.
The Bible
We believe that God has spoken in the Scriptures, both Old and New Testaments, through the words of human authors. As the verbally inspired Word of God, the Bible is without error in the original writings, the complete revelation of His will for salvation, and the ultimate authority by which every realm of human knowledge and endeavor should be judged. Therefore, it is to be believed in all that it teaches, obeyed in all that it requires, and trusted in all that it promises.
The Human Condition
We believe that God created Adam and Eve in His image, but they sinned when tempted by Satan. In union with Adam, human beings are sinners by nature and by choice, alienated from God, and under His wrath. Only through God’s saving work in Jesus Christ can we be rescued, reconciled and renewed.
Jesus Christ
We believe that Jesus Christ is God incarnate, fully God and fully man, one Person in two natures. Jesus—Israel’s promised Messiah—was conceived through the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He lived a sinless life, was crucified under Pontius Pilate, arose bodily from the dead, ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father as our High Priest and Advocate.
The Work of Christ
We believe that Jesus Christ, as our representative and substitute, shed His blood on the cross as the perfect, all-sufficient sacrifice for our sins. His atoning death and victorious resurrection constitute the only ground for salvation.
The Holy Spirit
We believe that the Holy Spirit, in all that He does, glorifies the Lord Jesus Christ. He convicts the world of its guilt. He regenerates sinners, and in Him they are baptized into union with Christ and adopted as heirs in the family of God. He also indwells, illuminates, guides, equips and empowers believers for Christ-like living and service.
The Church
We believe that the true church comprises all who have been justified by God’s grace through faith alone in Christ alone. They are united by the Holy Spirit in the body of Christ, of which He is the Head. The true church is manifest in local churches, whose membership should be composed only of believers. The Lord Jesus mandated two ordinances, baptism and the Lord’s Supper, which visibly and tangibly express the gospel. Though they are not the means of salvation, when celebrated by the church in genuine faith, these ordinances confirm and nourish the believer.
Christian Living
We believe that God’s justifying grace must not be separated from His sanctifying power and purpose. God commands us to love Him supremely and others sacrificially, and to live out our faith with care for one another, compassion toward the poor and justice for the oppressed. With God’s Word, the Spirit’s power, and fervent prayer in Christ’s name, we are to combat the spiritual forces of evil. In obedience to Christ’s commission, we are to make disciples among all people, always bearing witness to the gospel in word and deed.
Christ’s Return
We believe in the personal, bodily and glorious return of our Lord Jesus Christ. The coming of Christ, at a time known only to God, demands constant expectancy and, as our blessed hope, motivates the believer to godly living, sacrificial service and energetic mission.
Response and Eternal Destiny
We believe that God commands everyone everywhere to believe the gospel by turning to Him in repentance and receiving the Lord Jesus Christ. We believe that God will raise the dead bodily and judge the world, assigning the unbeliever to condemnation and eternal conscious punishment and the believer to eternal blessedness and joy with the Lord in the new heaven and the new earth, to the praise of His glorious grace. Amen
What have you learned from the first three Articles as we’ve studied them in our Gather Worship Teaching?
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