04-11-2021

04-11-2021
Dr. E. Dale Locke (West, East & Online), Pastor Efrain Silva (Español)
Sermon Series: Mistaken Identity
Week 1: Oops!
English PDF file for printing.
Para imprimir el archivo PDF en Español 

1. “Junk-drawer faith” is when people grow up in some sort of religious environment and collect various ideas that sound good but aren’t genuine Christianity.  Name some ideas that people in our culture have about God that are not based on Scripture. 

2. Karen Armstrong wrote in her book, The Case for God: “Many of us have been left stranded with an incoherent concept of God.  We learned about God about the same time we were told about Santa Claus, and while our understanding of the Santa Claus phenomenon evolved and matured, our theology about God remained somewhat infantile.  And so, not surprisingly, when we attained intellectual maturity, many of us rejected the God we had inherited and came to deny that he existed.…”

What do you think about this?

3. What are some of the reasons why people who grew up in church sometimes begin to doubt their faith as adults?

4. Pastor Dale asked: “What if the god you believe in isn’t actually a god you should believe in?”  What did he mean by that?

5. During the pandemic, researchers have noticed that many people have drifted away from church and are not planning to return after the pandemic. What are some reasons why these people might not want to return to church? 

6. Eight out of ten people who grew up in church abandon their faith during their college years, and studies show that most of them decide to do that within the first 30 days of college.  What do you think might be going on here? 

7. Some people feel they’re disqualified from faith in God because of mistakes they have made. But Pastor Dale said, “Sin doesn’t disqualify us from the Christian faith. It’s actually a prerequisite.”  What did he mean by that? 

8. Pastor Dale referred to “faith trauma,” which is when an “adult thing” happens to you that your “childhood faith” can’t handle, so your faith falls apart or you conclude that God must not be real. If you’ve ever experienced this or seen it in someone you know, tell about that. 

9. Sometimes people have a horrible experience in church that causes them to abandon the Christian faith.  What could you say that might help someone like that? 

10. Atheist author Richard Dawkins wrote in The Devil’s Chaplain, “We’re all atheists about most of the gods that humanity has ever believed in. Some of us just go one God further.”  What was Dawkins getting at? 

11. Read Hebrews 1:1-3: “In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.”

How can people get the most accurate understanding of what God is really like, according to this passage?  What does this passage tell us about Jesus? 

12. What else do you notice in this passage? 

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