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Make effort to establish connection and conversation…
• Explain reason for visit – (following up with visitors in our community, etc.)
• Ask about their experience at the worship service or event
• Share about our commitment to be a church for our community; ask about their church background
Transitional Question #1: Do you consider yourself to be a Christian?
Transitional Question #2: What would you say it means to be a Christian?
We want our community to know the story that the Bible tells. It’s a story about:
1) How we were created for relationship with God (Creation)
2) How that relationship has been ruined by us (Fall)
3) How that relationship is restored by God’s grace (Redemption)
Reflection Question #1: How fulfilling would you say your life is? (“On a scale of 1‐10”)
Reflection Question #2: What would make it more fulfilling?
What we think is wrong (the wrong diagnosis)…
• For you it is _________ but for others it might be that relationship, job, vacation house, success, etc.
• These things arouse in us anticipation of something, which, as it turns out, never really occurs.
• Our desire for that something to fulfill us is a longing no lover or career or achievement can ever satisfy. There is
a nagging dissatisfaction that never seems to leave.
What is really wrong (the right diagnosis)…
• The world is not as it should be (just watch the news)
‐ Life in general doesn’t work right (tragedy, suffering, disappointment)
‐ Relationships don’t work right (interpersonal brokenness)
‐ We don’t work right (personal brokenness)
• We know deep inside that things are not the way they’re supposed to be. Could it be that this points to the fact
that we were made for something more?
• Let’s be honest: we are all chasing after that something more. We are always looking for the cure – the one thing
that we believe will fulfill us, secure us, save us.
• This brings us to the Bible’s diagnosis of the problem = SIN (analogy of wanting the right diagnosis from doctor)
• Sin is more than simply breaking rules and doing bad things. It is primarily a relational category.
‐ Sin is ultimately about wrecking our relationship with God
‐ It is building our lives on something other than God (Exodus 20:3‐4)
‐ It’s ignoring God and trying to make life work apart from Him (Jeremiah 2:12)
‐ It’s making good things into ultimate things (Romans 1:25)
• Sin always results in slavery (Romans 1:25)
‐ We were not made for sin (fish out of water analogy)
‐ We are caught in this vicious cycle of looking for satisfaction in the wrong things
• We were designed for relationship with God. Our dissatisfaction comes from our separation from Him.
How we think it is made right (the wrong remedy)…
• There are 3 basic approaches to fixing our dissastisfaction. The first two fall short.
1. The non‐religious approach (autonomy)
‐ Attempt to cope by seeking greater personal freedom
‐ “I don’t really have to obey anyone but myself”
‐ Emphasis on tolerance and freedom
Criticisms:
Underestimates how morally flawed and deeply broken we are; tends to overlook or ignore our dissatisfaction;
naïve to the fact that everyone worships (lives for something).
2. The religious approach (moralism)
‐ Attempt to cope by personally atoning for past failures
‐ “I obey, therefore God/others/myself accepts me”
‐ Emphasis on rules and legalistic obligation
Criticisms:
*Underestimates how morally flawed and deeply broken we are; tends to deal with the outside, but not the
inside – our actions, but not our hearts; keeps the performance treadmill going (makes us either crushed or
hypocritical if we fail, or arrogant and judgmental if we succeed.
The first two approaches seem so different, but they are really the same…
‐ They are both ways to keep control of our lives (self‐salvation strategies)
How it is really made right (the real remedy)…
3. The gospel approach (grace)
‐ Admits that I cannot personally cope – I need help from outside of myself
‐ Rightly identifies the root of problem – a fractured relationship with God
‐ Accurately assesses that the humans are too broken to fix the problem
‐ Understands that relationship with God is only restored by His grace
‐ “God accepts me, therefore I obey”
Unlike, the first two approaches, the gospel asserts that God is both merciful and holy…
The nature of God:
Merciful and holy
The work of Christ:
Lived a perfect life, died a sacrificial death, rose from the dead
How we respond…
• Repent ‐ admit that you have been living as your own master, ask forgiveness, and turn from your previous
stance with a willingness to center your life on God.
• Believe – Rely on the perfect record of Jesus to make you acceptable to God, not on your imperfect record.
• Pray – “I see I am more flawed and sinful than I ever dared believe, but that I am even more loved and accepted
than I ever dared hope. I turn from my old life of living for myself. I have nothing in my record to merit your
approval, but I now rest in what Jesus did and ask to be accepted into God’s family for his sake” (Tim Keller).