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Bonds of Fraternal Feeling: the post Civil War unifying dream of Abraham Lincoln

A special Thanksgiving message.

“With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation’s wounds…to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations.”
-Abraham Lincoln, Second Inaugural Address, Sat, March 4, 1865

Abraham Lincoln established Thanksgiving Day and as we move towards sitting together as families and friends around the Thanksgiving feasts, we need to be equipped as peace-makers and reconcilers without compromising justice, mercy and truth.

This message is intended to help building bridges instead of barriers in this post-election season. I lay out some Kingdom principles that can help Christians work towards national and local unity in the midst of our cultural diversity.

“The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew, and act anew. We must disenthrall ourselves, and then we shall save our country.”
-Lincoln’s Second Annual Message to Congress, December 1, 1862.

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6 Truths of Human Fullfilment Revealed at Jacob’s Well: John 4:4-26, 39-42

This sermon in our Gosple of John series looks at how a relationship with Jesus meets six human needs. The Christian worldview doesn’t just address the great questions of human existence, it also speaks to the deep longings of the human soul.

Influence Need

Spiritual Need

Relational Needs

Religious Needs

Intellectual Needs

Legacy Need

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Speaking the Truth at Night: John 3:1-21

Here’s the main points from this sermon:

  • Postmodern Apologists must be accessible and approachable….3:2
  • Postmodern Apologists must be assured of primary truth…3:3
  • Postmodern Apologists must be comfortable with a culture of doubt…3:9
  • Postmodern Apologists must hold the tension of mystery & meaning…3:8
  • Postmodern Apologists must be able to connect the cross to the chaos…3:14-15
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Are the Gospel’s Reliable?

Have you heard someone say:
“The Bible we have today is a copy of a copy of a mistranslation of a copy of a copy of something that was an account by someone who wasn’t an eyewitness to the events.”

You may believe this or have heard this argument used to weaken or invalidate any defense of the historicity, modern relevance or authority of the Bible.

If you’ve ever wondered or worried about these issues?:
-The 400,000 textual discrepancies in the bible manuscripts.
-The fact that we don’t have any original letters, only copies.
-Were the gospels just wishful later era reinterpretations of who Jesus was and what he did?
-What about the alleged and/or obvious contradictions?
-Is the bible really inerrant (without error)?

Arguments Against the Reliability of the Gospels
1. We don’t Have the Original Gospel Manuscripts.
“The copies of copies of copies argument”

2. The Gospels are later-era reinterpretations of who Jesus was and what he did.
“The myths & legends argument”

…to be continued next week

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Discerning but not Discriminating

John said to Jesus, “Master, we saw someone using your name to cast out demons, but we told him to stop because he isn’t in our group.”But Jesus said, “Don’t stop him! Anyone who is not against you is for you.” -Luke 9:49-56

1. Understanding the Differences between Pluralism & Tolerance:

2. Understand the differences between Conviction, Conscience, Compromise & Custom

3. Defining biblical boundaries without compromising biblical values.

4. Upholding Biblical truth in the middle of Cultural Change

Why have this conversation?

-People are killing one another.

-People are angry and scared. 

-People are hurting instead of helping one another with poor dialogue and debate skills. 

-Hard Left-Progressivism & Hard-Right Conservatism are the major cultural influencers.

-Christianity is losing it’s voice of privilege and authority in the culture.

-The authority of truth is being debated in churches and culture. 

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