Queen's Road Cell

 In today's study we look at 3 aspects of Christian life: 1. The God we are to know We are called to know God intimately, not merely to know about Him 2.The life we are to live We are called to use our days well in the light of eternity 3. The purpose we are to embrace We are called to be focused on a life goal I said that this was a summary of the life of a disciple, and that there was no better Scripture passage to study than Phil 3:7-14: 7  But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8  Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9  and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— 10  that I may know him and the power of his resurre...

Eugene shared about how respondents to the Evangelism Explosion program he was attending were probably a biased sample because they were willing to sit down with those sharing the gospel. The questions asked seemed very simple intellectually, with many assumptions about core beliefs like 'heaven' and 'God'. That raised the question as to whether only somewhat simple-minded, non-intellectual people would receive the gospel and be saved. On one hand, we must affirm that the Christian faith is robust enough to handle any amount of intellectual questioning. On the other, there is no doubt that part of the glory of the gospel is that it speaks to the foolish and the weak in the eyes of the world (1 Cor 1:26-29). We are not saved by being either foolish or wise - we are saved by the power of God unto salvation! I shared the importance of  having a world view that explaiedn 1) origin 2) meaning 3) morality and 4) destiny. This is not something that is explained by the cycle ...

Faith in God and Salvation Heb 10:36-11:6, For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9  not a result of works, so that no one may boast. (Eph 2:8-9) 1.        The meaning of faith a)       Faith is knowing and accepting In Heb 11:1 the writer tells is that Faith (Gk. “ pisteos ”) is not a vague hope. “Assurance” and “conviction” speak of certainty . The KJV translates the Greek word for ‘assurance’ as “substance” and the word   for ‘conviction’ as ‘evidence’.   Faith substantiates the hope we have. If you get lost hiking in the jungle, you can have faith that you are rescued. But if you see a helicopter overhead with people waving at you, that helicopter substantiates your hope. Faith is evidence – it points us to the unseen truth, just as policemen gather tangible things like fingerprints or bloodstains to prove a case. Peop...

In this paradigm there are 3 attitudes we are asked to cultivate: 1. Nothing to prove 2. Nothing to lose 3. Nothing to hide. I point out that even non-Christians can express these attitudes! How are Christians meant to have these attitudes in ways that are different from non-Christians. "Nothing to prove" is an attitude where we have a sense of sufficiency and security. A non-Christian at the pinnacle of his or her success can certainly say this - that his or her worth cannot be questioned.because of a record of achievement that cannot be easily matched. People generally respond with this attitude when their achievements are questioned and they are asked to validate their worth. For a Christian, worth is not ultimately found in our possessions or achievements. Our worth is found in our identity as children of God for whom Christ died. We may not be successful in the way the world counts success. But our security in Christ suffices for us to stop trying to ...