FEBRUARY 11, 2007

Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect , keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. (1 Peter 3:15-18, NIV).

Are you prepared to give an answer for the reasons your have to believe God?

Do you say it in a way that is respectful of others?

Is your behavior is decent witness for what you believe?

Have you chosen to live out of a clear conscience with God?

I. Our human inclination to do wrong is the often the reason for the myths that drive worldviews contrary to reality. Sin is the inclination in us all to disappoint God and distort our worldview away from truth, but God has revealed Truth in a Person of Jesus Christ.

A plain truth reading of the Bible shows God has been very truthful about the fact that earth isn't heaven .

Religion is man's attempt at constructing gods, and earning the approval of those gods through legalism.

The New Testament reveals a worldview that's wholesomely distinctive from all the others.

II. From philosophy and religion, these are popular approaches to dealing with problems in the world:

1. The political approach.

1. The educational approach.

1. The financial approach.

1. The psychological approach

1. The sociological approach

All these approaches to make life better may help, but they fall short. Why? None of these attempts at solutions solve the problem that's in the human heart .

III. From the New Testament we find that God's grace of salvation will change the heart .

In every culture of the world, there are five heart diseases:

•  Guilt . In Psalm 38:4, My guilt has overwhelmed me like a burden too heavy to bear.

•  Addiction . There are things in your life that you know are not good for you, but you do them anyway. Romans 7 says this, What I don't understand about myself is that inside one way but then I act another, doing things I absolutely despise. The real question is “How can I change?” The answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ can and does. He acted to set things right in this life of contradictions where I want to serve God with all my heart and mind, but I'm pulled by the influence of sin to do something totally different.

•  Confusion . Proverbs 12 says, “An anxious heart weighs a man down.

IV. The Good News is that Jesus Christ specializes in heart transplants .

A. Jesus is the Truth because through His Mission of the Cross, He took away the curse of futility that religious legalism put on us. Galatians 3, Christ took away the curse the law put on us.

B . Jesus is the Truth because through His life in us, he takes away the futility that lawlessness put on us. God said, The wages of sin is death. God said , I'll pay those wages at the Cross. Jesus has already paid the death penalty for your sins.

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