1. Challenges We Must Face Every generation has their own challenges to face. Nothing new under the sun.

2. Introduction It does not take a person with a doctorate degree to tell us there are challenges to our faith and our church. The best way to meet this challenge is preparation. Ephesians 6:15 “and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace;” Let us notice some things by which we are challenged.

3. The Challenge: To Minimize Authority We already know that very few churches even teach on the authority of God, Christ, Holy Spirit, the apostles teaching, and the Bible. Many people reject any kind of authority. That is one of the reasons our world is in such chaos. We must recognize that God has ultimate authority and that authority has been delegated to Christ, the Holy Spirit, and the men who wrote the Bible.

4. The Challenge: To Minimize Authority God Has ultimate authority. He created the heavens and earth Genesis 1:1 He created man from nothing Job 10:9 He made you for a purpose Ecclesiastes 12:13 He will reward those who serve Him Hebrews 11:6

5. The Challenge To: Minimize the Bible as God’s Word Satan and the world will try to get you to doubt the authorship of the Bible They will say the Bible is obsolete and outdated and does not apply to us today. The Bible is not the only religious book out there, so how can we trust it above the others? 2 Timothy 3:16-17 The Bible IS the word of God

6. The Challenge To: Minimize the Bible as God’s Word You see, when we can discard the Bible, there are not any rules that bind us and teach us how to serve the God of heaven. Each person can do whatever is right in their own minds. Proverbs 16:2,25 The Bible gives us everything we need 2 Peter 1:3

7. The Challenge To: Minimize the Jesus of the Bible Most people do not accept Jesus as the Divine Son of God. The “Jesus Seminar” was created for that very purpose. (only ¼ of the quotes in Bible are real) If they can discount Jesus, they can ignore anything He ever taught anyone. Some of the translations of the Bible seem to make an effort to minimize Jesus as divine.

8. The Challenge To: Minimize the Jesus of the Bible Think about the line of reasoning here: The Bible is not God’s word, so anything written in it does not come from God. Since The Bible tells the story of Jesus. It is just logical reasoning that Jesus is a myth or fictional character. The main reason people minimize Jesus is because His teachings do not go along with their lifestyles.

9. The Challenge To: Minimize the Jesus of the Bible The world only likes some of Jesus’ teachings. John 3:16, and Matthew 22:37-40 The world rejects the difficult things He taught. Most of these things have to do with continued sin or selfish desires. To ignore part of Jesus’ teaching is to deny All of His authority. John 12:48 Matthew 10:33

10. The Challenge To: Minimize The Seriousness Of Sin The world says you must tolerate sin. The world says you must accept sin. The world says you must accept different lifestyles. You must not speak out against sin. Sometimes, remaining silent is enough to tell others you support it.

11. The Challenge To: Minimize The Seriousness Of Sin In other words, you have no right to stand up for your beliefs and principles when sin is involved. You will be called intolerant, discriminatory, judgmental, a bigot, and a hateful person. You must decide what you are going to do. Acts 5:29 To support or encourage sin makes you guilty of such sin.

12. The Challenge To: Minimize The Church The worlds wants you to think you can be a Christian without the Church. The world will give you plenty of reasons for not participating in a church. Acts 2:47 tells us that we are added to the Church when we are baptized for the remission of sins. The world says join the church of YOUR choice. You cannot be a Christian without being involved with the Church.

13. The Challenge To: Minimize Moral Living The world wants you to think that you have to sin in order to be happy. This is a lie directly from Satan. God wants you to be happy, and He knows that true happiness come by serving Him. “Keep your morality to yourself” is the cry of many.

14. Conclusion We face all of these and our children and grand-children will face them as well. What can we do? Get us and them prepared to meet and face these challenges. It starts right now with you. Are you prepared?