For our Summer preaching series, we are going to look at questions raised and addressed in the book Confronting Christianity by Rebecca McLaughlin (order the book here). The book engages 12 of the most common questions asked by skeptics of the Christian. Our goal is to engage these questions by preaching Christ from the Scriptures, while at the same time giving reason to believe. It is our hope that the series will strengthen our own faith by giving reasonable proofs of the authenticity of the Christian claims, while at the same time raising our compassion for those who raise these questions and strengthening our witness to those in our culture. While we will be looking at the question from each chapter, these sermons will not be in the order set forth in the book, so wanted to post our sermon schedule with corresponding chapters below.
Our hopes for you during the series is that these sermons and the content from the book will help us grow in our own assurance, and at the same time lead to conversations in the context of relationships with skeptics and people who are asking these questions. We also hope that this series will give us more empathy and compassion for those who are skeptical of the Christian faith leading to our ability to give a reason for the hope within us with gentleness and respect (1 Peter 3:15).
From Confronting Christianity cover:
Although many people suggest that Christianity is declining, research indicates that it continues to be the world’s most popular worldview. But even so, the Christian faith includes many controversial beliefs that non-Christians find hard to accept. This book explores 12 issues that might cause someone to dismiss orthodox Christianity—issues such as the existence of suffering, the Bible’s teaching on gender and sexuality, the reality of heaven and hell, the authority of the Bible, and more. Showing how the best research from sociology, science, and psychology doesn’t disagree with but actually aligns with claims found in the Bible, these chapters help skeptics understand why these issues are signposts, rather than roadblocks, to faith in Christ.
- June 4 – Jesus Is Exclusive/How can you Say there is One True Faith? (Chapter 3)
- June 11 – Aren’t We better Off Without Religion? (Chapter 1)
- June 18 – Doesn’t Christianity Crush Diversity? (Chapter 2)
- June 25 – Doesn’t Christianity Denigrate Women? (Chapter 8)
- July 2 – Guest Speaker, Ramon Rivera
- July 9 – Doesn’t Religion Hinder Morality and Cause Violence? (Chapters 4-5)
- July 16) – How Could a Loving God Allow So Much Suffering? (Chapter 11)
- July 23 – Doesn’t the Bible Condone Slavery? (Chapter 10)
- July 30 – Isn’t Christianity Homophobic? (Chapter 9)
- August 6 – Hasn’t Science Disproved Christianity? (Chapter 7)
- August 13 – How can you Take the Bible Literally? (Chapter 6)
- August 20 – How Could a Loving God Send People to Hell? (Chapter 12)