Preaching The Truth In Love Series

INTRODUCTION

„X As our church grows, it is important that we cling to certain principles that will ensure we are building God¡¦s Church God¡¦s way.

„X Last week we looked at principle of truth. We looked at how important it is for us to first believe the truth. We will not build on or proclaim what we do not believe in. This week we are going to look at a second issue involving the principle of truth. Teaching the truth in love.

„X As I said last week, there is a real truth vacuum in the world and in the church. The church has lost a lot of influence in the world because we do not seem to believe things much different than what the world believes. There does not seem to be a lot of conviction concerning teaching the truth.

„X We must be careful not to sacrifice the truth because we think the truth will repel people. Many times the problem is not with the truth, it is with the messenger and how the truth is presented.

„X It is one thing to believe the truth, now the next step is for us to teach and preach the truth. Today we are going to look at the basis of our teaching, the goal of our teaching and the spirit in which we are to teach.

SERMON

I. THE BASIS OF OUR TEACHING. THE TRUTH!

1. The church is to be the home of the truth. (1 Timothy 3:15)

„X 1TI 3:15 ¡KI write so that you will know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth.

„X Have you ever gone to someone¡¦s house expecting a big meal, only to get there and find you get to eat little finger foods. You try to fill your self with the cute little food items, but they just will not do. After you leave, you are still hungry so you head to the local fast food restaurant to get something to fill you up.

„X Many people leave churches on Sunday morning hungry because they were not fed the word of God, the word of truth.

„X The church should be a place where the truth is proclaimed. The truth should be the basis of ALL of what we teach. There are too many sermons that just give you the latest pop psychology instead of the truth of God¡¦s word.

„X Our teaching is to be rooted in the truth of God¡¦s Word!

„X Everything we teach should line up against the word of God. I do not care what John Wesley said about something if what he said does not line up with God¡¦s word. Too many people today are basing their theology on interpretations that happened 400 years ago instead of God¡¦s word.

„X The world is confused because the church has not been the home of the truth.

„X I believe when a person walks through our doors, they expect to find the truth. Most people are not going to walk out the door and complain about getting fed the truth, especially if it is served up in the right way.

„X I love Chinese food. If you want to go to lunch with me, I will ask if you want to eat Chinese first. If you agree, we will go to a Chinese restaurant.

„X Once we get there, you look on the menu and all you see is Chinese food. Do you complain? NO. Because you went to a Chinese restaurant because you expected Chinese food! You did not come for a hamburger and pizza.

„X When people come to church, we owe it to them to teach them the truth, nothing more, nothing less. IF people want Dr. Phil, they will tune in Dr.Phil!

„X Later we will look at why this is so important.

„X When Paul and Silas were having trouble in Thessalonica, they left for Berea.

„X Acts 17:10-11 says, ¡§The brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.¡¨

„X We are called to examine things to see if they are true.

„X 2TI 2:15 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.

2. The world needs to hear the truth even if the truth is not popular. (2 Timothy 4:1-5)

„X What will happen if you let your child eat nothing but candy, cookies, cake, and ice cream? What if they told you when you try to feed them some vegetables, fruit and meat, all they would eat is junk food.