We Believe

APOSTLE’S CREED

I believe in God the Father almighty, maker of heaven & earth;  and in Jesus Christ his only Son, our Lord; who was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the of the Virgin Mary; suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead & buried; On the third day he rose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father almighty; from where he will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit;

the holy Christian church; the communion of saints;the forgiveness of sins;the resurrection of the body;and life everlasting.

Moments in Time: Divided Monarchy

Assyrian 3

700 – 630 B.C.

Assyrian king putting out the eyes of captives and holding others by

hooks through their lips

Primeval History

Patriarchs Sojourn & Wilderness

Conquest & Judges

Before 2000 2000-1700 1700-1400 1400-1050

Adam & Eve

Cain & Abel

Noah

Babel

Gen.1-11

Abraham

Isaac

Jacob

Joseph

Gen.12-50

Moses

Plagues

Red Sea

12 Spies

BalaamExodus-Deut.

Jericho

Joshua

Crossing Jordan

Joshua

Gideon

Samson

Ruth

Jephthah

Judges-Ruth

Hannah

Samuel

Ark Captured

1Sam.1-7

Pre-Patriarchs Patriarchs Exodus & Wilderness

Conquest Judges Transition to Kingship

Pyramids

Minoan Crete

Sargon

Gilgamesh

Hammurabi

Shang Dynasty- China

Babylon Grows

Troy flourishes1750 BC - A

colossal volcanic eruption at Mount

Veniaminof, Alaska.

beginning of the Bronze Age in Central Europe.

Hykos

18th Dynasty

Thutmoses I

Kassites

HittitesMercury has been discovered in Egyptian tombs, rubber balls,

leavened bread in Egypt,

the windmill in Persia,

last species of mammoth became extinct on Wrangel Island, Earliest remains of domesticated ferrets found

Tut, Ramesses

Armana

Trojan War

Babylon sacked

Mycenaean GreecePharaoh Amenhotep II connects the Nile and the Red Sea with a canal.

1400 BC - Estimation: Thebes, capital of Egypt becomes the largest city of the world, taking the lead from Memphis in Egypt.

c. 1400 BC - Assyrians became very powerful.

20th Dynasty

Aramaeans

Moments in Time: Historical Periods of the Bible

Moments in Time: Historical Periods of the Bible

United Monarchy

1050-1010 1010-970 970-930

Saul

David & Goliath

Jonathan

Abigail

1Sam.8-28

Takes Jerus.

Coven-ant

Absal-om

2 Sam

Temple built

Succes-sion

Wisdm request

1Kgs.

1-11

Saul David Solomon

Formation of Aramaean states

Weakness among ancient near east allows David to

build empire

Earliest evidence of farming in the Kenya highlands.

Latins come to Italy from the Danube region.

Phoenician alphabet invented.

Queen of Sheba

First extant evidence of

written Aramaic language.

The earliest known settlement in Plymouth, England dates back to this era.

Creation of ceremonial golden hats in Central Europe

Ben-Hadad

Sheshong

Carthage founded by Phoenicians

Adena culture appears in present day

Northeastern United States.

The Adena lived in a variety of locations, including: Ohio, Indiana, West Virginia, Kentucky, and parts of Pennsylvania and New York

Shalmaneser

Hazael

Battle of Quarqar

The Rise of Assyria

rebirth of the Assyrian Empire and the greatest external threat the Israelites had faced since the beginning of the Kingdom, Israel was self-destructing. The Northern Kingdom would never recover

Golden Calves

Elijah

Jehoshaphat

Asa

1 Kgs.12-22

Elisha

Jehu

Joash

2 Kgs. 1-12

Aramaean Assyrian 1

930-850 850-800

Divided Monarchy

Moments in Time: Historical Periods of the Bible

•Ashurbanipal King Of Assyria Conquers Egypt- •Empire Of Japan Established •Assyrians Destroy Babylon/rebuilt again•First naval battle in Greek recorded history, between Corinth and Corcyra•The first standard coinage is in use in Lydia (western Turkey) •Incubators are used in Egypt to hatch chicken eggs. •A large-scale iron-manufacturing center grows up at what is now Hallstaat, Austria •The true potter's wheel that can be rotated continuously is introduced• Homer•Cities developing in the Near East build aqueducts to keep their residents supplied with water.

Mannasseh

II Kings 21

Assyrian 3 (300 year Reign)

700-630

II Kings 13-15

Olmec & Mayan Civilizations

Fall of Samaria

Sargon

Founding of Rome

Uzziah

Jonah

Amos

Hosea

Ahaz & Isaiah

Hezekiah

II Kings 15-20

Resurgence Assyrian 2

800-750 750-700

Divided Monarchy

2 Chronicles 33:1: Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign; and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. 2 He did that which was evil in the sight of Yahweh, after the abominations of the nations whom Yahweh cast out

before the children of Israel. 3 For he built again the high places which Hezekiah his father had broken down; and he reared up altars for the Baals,

and made Asheroth, and worshiped all the host of the sky, and served them. 4 He built altars in the house of Yahweh, whereof Yahweh said, In Jerusalem

shall my name be forever. 5 He built altars for all the host of the sky in the two courts of the house of Yahweh.

6 He also made his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom; and he practised sorcery, and used enchantments, and practiced sorcery, and dealt with those who had familiar spirits, and with wizards: he

worked much evil in the sight of Yahweh, to provoke him to anger. 7 He set the engraved image of the idol, which he had made, in the house of God, of which

God said to David and to Solomon his son, In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, will I put my name forever: 8 neither will I any more remove the foot of Israel from off the land which I have

appointed for your fathers, if only they will observe to do all that I have commanded them, even all the law and the statutes and the ordinances given by Moses. 9 Manasseh seduced Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so

that they did evil more than did the nations whom Yahweh destroyed before the children of Israel.

Jesus Christ— Lord and Savior?

Islam Bahai Judaism Hinduism Buddhism

The balance of good and bad deter-mines place in eternity

Faith in the manifestation of God- knowing & living by principles & good works

Prayer, repent, obey the law; improve society (divided views)

Release from the cycles of reincarna-tion- thru yoga & meditation- can take many lifetimes

Reach nirvana by eliminating all desires or cravings- reincarnate

to another

Means of Salvation in Other Religions and Cults

Jehovah’s

WitnessesMormon Christian

ScienceScientology Unification

Church

Earn everlasting life by doing “door-to-door” work- salvation in heaven is limited to 144,000 already there

Resurrected by faith- but saved by good works- must be member of Mormon church

Human-ity is already eternally saved- sin, evil, sickness & death are not real

Salvation is freedom from reincarnation- there is no sin or need to repent

Obedience to & acceptance of the true parents (Moon & his wife) eliminates sin & results in perfection

Means of Salvation in Other Religions and Cults

POINT: Christianity is Unique… calling us to a

personal relationship with a Savior who expects growth- not just the meeting of rules

and principles

Stories of Faith• What is yours?

Next Thing You Know by Matthew West and Sam Mizell I remember when I was thirteen I saw a picture on my T.V. screen The

Reverend Billy Graham and the people singing "Just As I Am" And it felt like You were talking to me And the whole world seemed to fade away Until I heard my mother say "Son, are you okay? Do you wanna pray?"

And that became the hour I first believedChorus: Next thing you know I'm high and flyin' Next thing you know My heart is in your hands Next thing you know There's no denyin' Next thing

you know I'm a brand new manWell, I wish I could say I always stayed right there And I did until my

freshman year But the world was pulling me a long way from thirteen And you were calling but I didn't hear Still I knew there was something more

So, one day my knees hit the dorm room floor I said, "If you're there, and if you really care, Come and talk to me like I was thirteen."

Got a picture in my head today of how heaven might look someday I see the people there, so I pull up a chair And their stories, they blow me away 'Cause I can see it on every face The evidence of grace And as I listen it

occurs to me Everybody's got their own thirteenSo, what's your story about His glory? You gotta find your place in the history of grace Yeah, what's your story about His glory? Come on and

find your place

Can a person receive Jesus as his Savior

without receiving Him as his Lord?

The Lordship Debate: 2 Sides Those who affirm "Lordship" salvation oppose the idea that one may have saving faith without submitting to the Lordship of Jesus in daily obedience. We are saved by faith alone, but not by the faith which is alone.  Opponents of lordship salvation insist that such a view introduces works into the gospel and compromises grace. Faith should, but may not, produce works of obedience. According to this view, you can be a Christian without necessarily being a disciple; you can receive Jesus as Savior without necessarily submitting to Him as Lord. How you live and what you believe after you profess faith in Christ has no bearing on whether you really believed in Him in the first place. 

Saved by Faith?• Matthew 7:24-27• Matthew 12:48-50“• Luke 13:6-9 • Luke 8:11-15• John 14:15• John 15:2• John 3:36• Romans 6:12,14 • 1 Corinthians 6:9-10• Hebrews 5:8-9• Hebrews 10:36• 1 John 2:4 (1 John 3:1-10.)• 1 John 2:17

• Matthew 7:21-23• John 5:28-29• Romans 2:6-10• Galatians 6:9• 1 Timothy 5:8• James 2:17,26

Saved By Faith?

• I Corinthians 15:2

• Ephesians 2:8-10

• Colossians 3:9-10

• John 3:16

• John 3:16

• Romans 8:35-39

• Romans 10:9-13

GOD SAVES CHRISTIANS- BUT

BEING SAVED DOES NOT MAKE YOU A CHRISTIAN

What do you think of this statement?

Spiritual Formation is a More Important

Part of Christianity Than

Salvation

What do you think of this statement?

Where Do You Stand?• Is there a second work of grace

(variously labeled)?

• Can you be saved without living as Jesus is Lord of your life?

• Can you “lose” your salvation?

• What are we to make of discipleship?

An Error About Regeneration(a response by J.I.Packer)

When Scripture speaks of regeneration, which it represents as a new birth, a quickening of the dead, what is in view is an inner transformation of one's being, or "heart," which makes it impossible for one to go on living under sin's sway as one lived before. The effect of regeneration is that now one wants, from the bottom of one's heart, to know, love, serve, trust, obey, and honor the Father and the Son, so that obedient devotion and discipleship spontaneously spring up where there was only resentful hostility to God before. Hodges' account of Christian discipleship as a prudent and fulfilling, though not a necessary option, shows that he does not understand this at all. In particular, he does not see that the faith that justifies only appears as an expression of a regenerate heart.

What Does it Mean?

• Analogy of Marriage

• Analogy of Parents Putting Up A Fence in the Back Yard

• Analogy of an Author

If salvation is nothing more than a bare assent

to the bare facts, then evangelism is reduced to little more than the dispensing of those

facts.

John Piper wrote, “The native hardness of our hearts makes us unwilling and unable to turn from sin and trust the Savior. Therefore conversion involves a miracle of new birth. Thus new birth precedes and enables faith and repentance…. And so when we hear the gospel we will never respond positively unless God performs the miracle of regeneration. Repentance and faith are our work. But we will not repent and believe unless God does his work to overcome our hard and rebellious hearts. This divine work is called regeneration…. New birth comes first and enables the repentance and faith of conversion.” (Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist, pp. 65-66.)

As for the chronology issue: There is no chronological sequence in salvation. The moment

a man believes on the Lord Jesus Christ he is regenerated. Regeneration, justification,

conversion and adoption all task take place in the same instant.

Pastor George Zeller wrote, “If regeneration precedes faith, then this would make faith

unnecessary since the person would already be saved. If a person is regenerated, then he is born of God and a member of God’s family. If you are a

member of God’s family then you are already saved so what need is there for faith?”

The Necessity of Yielding to Christ as Lord in Order to Inherit Eternal Life (Piper)

None of these texts means that salvation can be earned by works of the law. Salvation is by grace through faith; it does not come from ourselves; it is the gift of God (Eph. 2:8). What these texts teach is that the faith which justifies also sanctifies (Acts 15:9). All the obedience of believers necessary for final salvation is obedience that comes from faith (1 Thess. 1:3; 2 Thess. 1:11; Gal. 5:6; Hebrews 10:35-36; 11:8). If it does not come from faith it is legalism and gains nothing but deeper condemnation (Romans 9:32). What is being taught in all these texts is this: “By my works I will show you my faith . . . faith apart from works is barren . . . faith apart from works is dead” (James 2:18, 20, 26). Salvation is by grace through faith. But saving faith is no fruitless mental assent to gospel facts. These texts point to the truth that the faith that saves is a feeding on Jesus with such satisfaction that we are gradually weaned away from the enslaving addictions to sin (John 6:35; Hebrews 11:24-26).

The lordship controversy is a disagreement over the nature of true faith. Those who have true faith will love Christ (Rom. 8:28 ; 1 Cor. 16:22 ; 1 John 4:19). They will therefore want to do His bidding. Jesus as Lord is far more than just an authority figure; He’s also our highest treasure and most precious companion. We obey Him out of sheer delight. So the gospel demands surrender, not only for authority’s sake, but also because surrender is the believer’s highest joy. Such surrender is not an extraneous adjunct to faith; it is the very essence of believing. (John McArthur)

•Election•Effectual Calling

Objective Aspects:Union with Christ• Justification• Adoption

Subjective Aspects:• Conversion• Regeneration

SanctificationPerseverance Glorification

Antecedents Beginning Continuation Completion

The Aspects of Salvation

What does it matter to us?