CHP1 who says Jesus is the only Way?
-how can Christians be so narrow-minded,what about other religion
-why do we say that Jesus is the only way
-Jesus has been believed,received,exalted and worshipped or bashed,ignored,belittled and dissmissed
-people have an opinion about Jesus,God,the bible and faith
(narrow minded -> narrow gate-> God)(open minded->wide gate->destruction)
-majority people are very open in ther views of faith.
-is this a good thing? a politically correct thing? A tolerance thing? or a dangerous thing?
(to the people in the world, it can be a good thing,it is a politically correct thing
and it can also be a tolerance thing,but to Christians its a basic fact that its a dangerous thing)
-religion today, in the world is like a salad bar where people heap on the upbeat beliefs
and leave teh veggies like strict doctrines-behind
-in our current culture,more then seventy percent claim to be christian,we have a mixed bag of faith
-The idea that a person would believe in Jesus as the only way to God and eternal life is becoming a foreign concept
-is believing 'everything' a good thing-eternally?
-believers in Jesus,its even more important that we know what we actually believe
-why,who is Jesus? What does his life,ministries,death and resurrection goota do wif us?
-why does Jesus matter? What makes him so different? What makes him stands apart from other religious leader
-what makes his statements so unique and why are his true followers so passionate about him?
-lets look at a fundamental reality that should set a tone for any convosation about God,faith or religion
-RESPECT
-Fortunately,we live in a country that values freedom of religion...every person is entitled to hold
his or her own spiritual,religious or faith-based beliefs
-its not true around the world
-we have the freedom to choose without forcing or imposing our beliefs to others
-its a great luxury and benefit to every religion
-THIS IS GOD'S NATURE
- God is a pro-choice!He, Himself gives us freedom to choose,doesnt use force for people to believe
-as long as aperson belief is not immoral,unethincal,illegal or inhumane, we owe each person the respect they deserve
to make their own faith choice
-while we respect the beliefs of others there is nothing wrong to be passionate about our own faith
-in fact its advised! we ought to believe what we believe know what we believe and why,should be able to give
an intelligent,gentle and respectful answer
-Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who ask you,do this with gentleness and respect
-ought to have a strong foundation for our faith and deep convictions for what we believe, and
to be compelled by God's Love to persuade others
-we work urgently with everyone,to get them ready to face God.,realise that how much and deeply we care
-THE BIG CLAIM
-whats the difference between Jesus and..Buddha?,Confucius?,Mohammad?,Hindu Gods?
New age icons?,spiritual world?, the spirit in a man or any religious leader?
-Jesus made a big claim that makes him so different from others (john 14:6 NKJV)
-he didnt claim to be a way,or a truth or a life(if it is like this then, believing in other religion will also work)
-Jesus claimed to be the way,the truth and the life.
-he made a distinction when he states that 'no one comes through the father except through Me'
-this is a very dogmatic claim and it makes all the difference
-he didnt suggest that he was just something else a prophet or religious leader
-he claimed to be God
C.S Lewis,Oxford and Cambrigde professor and renowed authors,said'you must make your choice.Either this man was,and is, the Son of God,
or else a madman or something worse.You can shut him up for a fool,spit at Him and kill Him as a demon or fall to your kness and call him
Lord and God.But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher.He has not left that open to us.
he did not intend to
our response to his claims has major ramifications ofthen makes people uncomfortable and the easy reaction is to be 'all inclusive' or 'anti-christ'
about religious thing
In the world today,and the liberal media,its become perfectably acceptable to diss Jesus, the bible and christianity
but not to any other religion..why the apparent inconsistency?
People struggle with absolutes and perfer relativism,people reject the idea of absolute right and wrong,but rather embrace
a relativisti"whatever-works-for-you"attitude
intrestingly....most relativistic would never apply their ideas on a early morning traffic
the whatever-works-for-you way of thinking dosent works in real life.E.g:if i dont believe in abouslute red lights?
what if i believe that when light is red,it works better for me to go?
if red lights stop you,then by all means stop,but if red means go,then i have to live by my beliefs
there is a ridiculous way of thinking happening of when this attitude takes over the abosolute
-people dont like absolutes.they esp. dont like Jesus blod absolute claim
Unbelivers cant imagine God being so absolute and narrow-minded to make Jesus the only door to his Kingdom
its because they dont know Jesus and whats his point of coming to this hellhole we call earth and their biasness prevents them from receving Him
but Often the believers have not done a very good job of sharing christ in word and deed and wonder why unbelievers are hostile to Jesus
case in point: most school and public places celebrate Halloween.Kwanzaa,Hankukah or a host of other religious events,but
minute someone celebrates Christmas or Easter, there is a bias against Jesus...Santa and Easter bunny are invited while the Son Of God is forgotten
his absolute sets people off
-Jesus is not politically right
oddly doesnt all the anti christ propaganda and jesus bias behaviour around the world serve as a proof for the very veracity of Jesus?
people have no problem talking about God,angels,spiritual things,other religous leaders even prayer but when Jesus name is spoken everyone turns agitated or gets
uncomfatably slient
-the swear word
-what will people say when they hit something hard and it huts them?
-or being irritated of things?
-they want to use words with power,what words they choose?(its not a godly thing to do, but whoose name do they use in vain?)
-the exclaim Jesus Christ
-why?because his name is the name above all names and you never hear people say oh buddha or oh dalai lamaor even conficius
-People wants to use that expletive power, and wants to curse God for the pain and use God names in vain
-Jesus Christ that is ought be evidence that he is in a class of his own,as God
-why cant Jesus be lumped with other spiritual leaders?
-In A league of His own
-Jesus is in an entirely different league thatn any other person or any other religious leader who has ever lived
-Jesus never claimed to be just a religious teacher,rabbi,prophet or aspiritual leader...he claimed to be God!
this put himself into a class of his own(because God is the greatest and no one can share his class)
-Jesus indeed God in human flesh,this difference gives his birth,life,words and death a weight that no other religious leader can claim
-Jesus=God
-at somepoint everyone has to accept what he/she believes about Jesus
who is He? what did He say? why was He here?
-his not a theory.religion.concept.ideology.Jesus is a person.He is the fulfillment of God's
redemptive plan and hundreds of prophecies
-the new testament gospel accounts tell us that Jesus as the Son of God,Son of Man, the Messiah and
light of the world. known as a great teacer a rabbi preacher healer and miracle worker who was full of truth,grace and compassion
called Saviour,LORD,Redeemer,Lamb of God and the Great (I AM)
-Jesus is the same till eternity,forever and ever, millions of believers over the past 2000 years will attest to that as they tell of their
personal encounters with the living Jesus Christ
-his life has changed the human history
-before anything existed,there was Christ with God,he has always been alive and is Himself GOd.
eveything was created by him and then he came for us but altough he made it so well the people living didnt
recognize him when he came->he was like the prophet without honour that he was chase out by his own people
-The Jews, his own people and land, he was not accepted.Only a few would welcome and recive Him.
-to all that recive him,they were named Child of God,they just need to trust
-Jesus came to save mankind that makes a impact...he was on a divine mission, other religious didnt
say they were they to save mankind they just try to explain how human cam about
-Jesus came to save us from the enemy who had us duped since the Garden Of Eden he wanted to give abundant life from the beginning
-for this purpose he was manifested and to destory the works of the devil
Jesus said ' i have come to give life, it was not candy-coat but straightforwardly plain
-so who is JESUS?God with Us? Liar Liar?
-couldnt imagine why a loving God who was so narrow-minded to make Jesus the ONLY way
what about other religion? -if God is so good and so loving how could He crucify and murder His own Son
why the gory and bloody details?
-we need to understand that its more then just catechism,our understanding to be more than just catechism
-why would God sent his own Son to death?why they gory,the bloody details? didnt God have other options??
-Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world,have mercy on me....
-why was Jesus the lamb and why did the sins of the world matter?
