3. God's Truth

Core Value #3, God's Truth, God Revealed

God Revealed

People make all sorts of truth claims about God; who God is, what God’s about, what God does, etc, etc…  These endless claims are overwhelming and inevitably begin to contradict one another.  Even filtering through the various truth claims about God from Christians alone can be grueling - there’s a lot of disagreement out there.

For Christians, belief in any truth claim about God must have its basis in the Bible.  The Bible is our lifeline to understanding God and our only hope for unity as His followers.  It is the Bible that bonds us together and gives us reason for all that we hold sacred.  We believe that all of the information needed to know God rightly and worship Him correctly has been given to us in the pages of Scripture.  As a Christian considers any truth about God or life, it becomes their responsibility to validate that claim with scriptural evidence.

All of us believe what we believe because we were influenced by something or someone.  The reason Christians want to be influenced by the Bible is because we believe it was directly inspired by God Himself, we refer to it as the word of God.  Of course even the claim that the Bible is the word of God is legitimized by what the Bible says about itself, it’s a belief that has it’s basis in Scripture.  Believing in the authority of the Bible allows Christians to be consistent in their beliefs.

The authority of Scripture provides us with a lens through which we examine the world.  This biblical lens is what separates a Christian worldview from others.  Regardless of one’s religious views everyone carries the burden of determining right from wrong or good from evil.  The Bible is infinitely valuable for believers because through it we discern right from wrong and learn how to live in a way that is holy (the way God wants us to live).  If one desires to know who God is and how to live according to His ways then they must have information about who God is and what He wants for us.  It is the Bible that equips us with this information so we can know these truths and live out the implications.

We at The Journey are committed to the preaching and teaching of the Bible in order that we may discern who God is, pursue what is good, rebuke what is evil, and shape our thoughts with truth from God.  We want our convictions to be built upon information found in God’s word.  We feel that to draw conclusions about the God of the Bible that contradict what scripture teaches is to disagree with what God teaches about Himself.  Holding a belief that is not compatible with the bible is to walk away from the most fundamental of all Christian traditions.  We become radically inconsistent with our heritage and religion when there isn’t a scriptural basis for our beliefs.

We’re committed to the the Bible at The Journey because it keeps us grounded in consistent truth, promotes unity within Christianity and proclaims the Gospel message that transforms our hearts and advances God’s kingdom.

 

Related Core Value sermon:  Core Values (Part 3) God's Truth - (Ryan Romine)