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.
„X Sometimes green food is not popular, but it is necessary.
„X READ 2 TIMOTHY 4:1-5
„X We must be bold and unafraid. We must not be afraid to teach the truth. People throughout history have DIED because they were not willing to back down from the truth. Remember that next time you are worried that someone might be mean to you.
„X The world needs to know it is lost without Jesus. The church needs to carry that message to a dying world.
3. The truth prepares us to serve Jesus. (2 Timothy 3:16-17)
„X 2 TIMOTHY 3:16-17 All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.
„X The Word of God can equip us to be ready for every good work.
„X I wonder if some of the lack of desire to serve the Lord comes from not being raised on the truth. This passage tells us the Word is profitable for teaching, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness. Maybe we are not prepared because we have not been trained in the word of God?
„X Our desire to serve Jesus increases as we allow the Word to penetrate our lives.
„X The Word of God is our training manual!
II. THE GOAL OF OUR TEACHING. CHANGED LIVES!
1. Lives cannot be changed unless we connect people with the truth.
„X Bob Russell states the following in his book, ¡§When God Builds A Church¡¨:
o The Word of God has tremendous power when the preacher or teacher applies it in a way that builds a bridge to the daily lives of the listeners.
„X HEBREWS 4:12 For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
„X If the message we teach is anything but the word of God, we will not be able to invoke the changed life the person who hears it desires and that God wants.
„X The Koran, The Book Of Mormon, books from some of the greatest authors to ever live do not have the power to divide the soul and spirit, they do not have the power to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
„X Dr. Phil, Dr. Laura, Judge Judy cannot do this either.
„X I used to listen to Dr. Laura a lot. What she said was most of the time very good, but what she said had no power to change people, only the Word of God can do that.
„X 1 THESSALONIANS 1:5 for our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction; just as you know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake.
„X Pop psychology will not change people¡¦s lives, only God¡¦s word can do that.
„X The church is all about connecting people with Jesus. If the world cannot understand what we are teaching, if it does not connect with them, it will not help them.
„X Drama is a great teaching method. Drama connects with people. Drama is great when drama illustrates the truth to people. Whatever method we use, it must connect the people with the truth
2. The truth can change our hearts. (1 Timothy 1:5)
„X 1TI 1:5 But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.
„X We are not in the business of numbers; we are in the business of changed lives.
„X For the person to change, the heart needs to change. LUKE 6:45 "The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart.
„X I am an example of a changed heart that lead to a changed man.
„X For that heart to change, they need to hear the truth, the word of God!
„X ROM 10:17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.
„X 2CO 5:17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.
3. The truth frees us from the bonds of sin so that we can experience real change. (John 8:32)
„X JOHN 8:32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free."
„X Notice, it is knowing the truth that will make you free! If the church tries to win people to anything but the truth, we are not truly freeing them to be new creations in Christ!
4. The truth helps us to mature in our faith. (Ephesians 4:11-15)
„X READ EPHESIANS 4:11-15
„X Until we are grounded in the truth, we will be tossed about by the next current popular wave of teaching. We are open to being deceived and tricked by deceitful people.
III. THE SPIRIT IN WHICH WE ARE TO TEACH. GRACE AND LOVE!
1. There is a difference between teaching the truth in love and loving to teach the truth.
„X PREACHER STORY.
„X History has seen too many Christians who proclaim truth, but do it in a hateful spirit. It is easy to pound the pulpit and snort fire. There is a difference between being passionate about something and being rude, mean, and angry. Teaching truth with the right spirit is another matter. There are times when preaching the truth will break our hearts because of what that truth will mean in the life of the person who will not abide by it.
„X We can teach technical truth, but if it is not in the right spirit, it is not real truth.
„X When Jesus was approached by the rich young ruler, we are told that Jesus felt love in His heart for the young man with whom He knew would not give up his wealth to follow Jesus. MARK 10:21 Looking at him, Jesus felt a love for him and said to him, "One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me."
„X Jesus did not yell insults to him as he left, Jesus was brokenhearted, yet Jesus did not change His message to win this potential convert.
2. Jesus was full of grace and truth. (John 1:14)
„X John 1:14 tells us Jesus was full of grace and truth. We must realize when we are teaching people the truth that our teaching needs to be wrapped in grace.
„X We ALL have issues we struggle with. Remember, to God, sin is sin no matter what sin it is. We must be gracious when we teach. We must let people know that God wants them to succeed, that God loves them, but also that God loves them too much to leave them the way they are.
„X People need to know it is natural to struggle, they need to know we are not perfect, but we are try the best we can to live for Jesus.
„X People need to know they are not a failure when they stumble, they need to be taught the truth and have grace extended to them so they will try again.
„X My daughter is a pitcher. When she first started, she was very wild, she hit a lot of batters. She sent one to the hospital and had one team so scared they did not want to hit against her. Another game we had to pull her because she hit too many batters in one inning. I used to get my exercise chasing her wild pitches all over the place when I worked with her.
„X Now, if I would have told her how terrible of a pitcher she was, how she would never amount to anything, what do you think the outcome would be? For the record, she was our best pitcher this last season winning 13 games, saving 2, and she hit only one batter in 110 innings pitched and led the team in most pitching categories.
„X She would have quit! She would have been too discouraged to keep working.
„X What do you think happens when people teach truth without grace and love? People give up!
3. We are called to teach the truth in love. (Ephesians 4:15)
„X EPH 4:15 but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ,
„X People will listen to you if they know you care. We used to have a man Rev. Skelton. He used to preach on the square in my home town. He would tell people they were sinners, they were going to hell. I would see him with his daughters at the skating rink, never a smile.
„X Did he have a lot of people listen to him? Not really. Later he left the ministry over a moral failure.
„X People do not care what you know until they know that you care.
CONCLUSION
„X Believe the truth, teach the truth in love. Truth spoken outside of the context of love is not the message of the gospel. Can we get tough with people and still teach them in love.
„X Yes, we do it all the time with our children.
„X Jesus taught the truth in love. I hope you will take the time to study Jesus to see how He reached people with the truth.
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