QUESTIONS FROM SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2012

What were the quotes and Bible verses put on the projector at today's service on Sept 16? The passages I referenced Sunday were; Luke 15:11-32, 1 Timothy 5:8, 1 Timothy 3:4 and 5, and Philippians 2:3.

If a person believes in God, has learned about Christ, but does not accept Jesus as their savior will they go to heaven when they die?  Before I answer this question, I need to be clear.  God is the only one who will determine who makes it to heaven and who does not.  I am not the judge.  All I can do is tell you what the Bible says about salvation.  First of all, Romans 10:9 and 10 says, "That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved."  This passage clearly defines a saved person as one who confesses with their mouth and believes in their heart that Jesus is Lord.  Jesus being the Lord of your life is the key.  And as this passage says, you must believe that with your heart and only God knows someone's heart.  The Greek word for "Lord" in that passage is recognizing Christ as the ultimate authority in your life.  Or viewing Him as master and you as slave.  So you see here, recognizing Christ as Lord is a life altering decision in someone's life.  We also see in James that its not enough just to believe in God.  James 2:18-20 says, "Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder. You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless?"  Here we see that our faith in Christ as Lord must be evidenced by the way we live.  Someone can't just say the believe in Christ, they must live with Him as Lord, or they are no different than the demons who believe Christ is who He said He is.  Finally, Jesus said in Matthew 7:21-23, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’" Here we see some sobering words from Jesus.  Jesus is again clearly drawing a differentiation between one who says Jesus is Lord and the person who backs up the Lordship of Christ by the way they live.  So to answer your question, I think one definitely needs to do more than simply believe in God and learn about Christ.  Recognizing Him as Lord and Savior is essential to one's salvation according to Scripture.  Jesus called us to be authentic, committed, followers, not half-committed acquaintances.  Thanks for your question!

Questions from Sunday, September 2, 2012

Taking the literal meaning of the last portion of Revelation what are your thoughts on the "extra books" in relation to Catholicism and Mormonism? I assume by this question you are referring to Revelation 22:18 and 19 which warns of people adding to or taking away from "this book."  While we cannot be certain whether this warning was regarding the "extra books" related to Catholicism and Mormonism, you could certainly make that case.  Any time someone adds anything to God's Word, they are in danger.  The extra books in Catholicism are called the Apocrypha and the extra book in Mormonism is called the Book of Mormon.  The term "Apocrypha" means hidden or secret.  This term applied to a collection of books, ranging from 11 to 16 in number.  These books were written between the Old and New Testaments.  Two different groups of Jews differed on the Apocrypha books.  One group highly valued them and the other rejected them.  The Roman Catholic Church in the Council of Trent in AD 1546, declared 11 of the books to be canonical (worthy of being included in the Bible) and these books appear in the modern Catholic Bibles.  The Protestant Church rejected the Apocrypha books because they were never quoted by Jesus, most of the early church Fathers regarded them as uninspired, they did not appear in the ancient Hebrew canon, and they contained an inferior quality of writing compared to the other Old Testament books.  The major theologians that rejected the Apocrypha were Philo and Josephus around AD 100.  The Book of Mormon is completely rejected by both Catholics and Protestants as total heresy.  The story goes that the angel Moroni appeared to Mormon prophet Joseph Smith in 1823 and revealed to him the location of golden plates that contained the fullness of the everlasting gospel.  Along with the plates, Joseph Smith found a pair of magical eyeglasses that he used to translate the words into English.  What resulted was the Book of Mormon.  Smith referred to the Book of Mormon as "the most correct of any book on earth and the keystone to our religion."  The book teaches against the Trinity.  Furthermore, there has been no archaeological evidence to confirm some of the places and people migrating to the United States that are contained in the book.  What's interesting is that Joseph Smith claimed the words in the book came to him directly from God.  However, the book had to be edited and corrected thousands of times to correct Smith's poor grammar and spelling.  Probably the biggest mark against the Book of Mormon is the fact that large sections were derived from the King James version of the Bible, however, according to Mormon chronology, the Book of Mormon predates the King James version of the Bible by more than a thousand years. (Sources used:  Thompson Chain Reference Bible and Hank Hanegraaff studies)

Hi, we attended our first service here and liked it a lot. We were wondering if the church is open through out the week, say to come read a book in the library or something like that? Thanks!  Yes, the church is officially open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.  Feel free to come and use the library at your leisure.  Glad you came and liked it!