The young adults will meet tonight from 6:30-8:00pm to have some fun playing games, exposit God’s Word, break into discipleship groups, and enjoy some refreshments!

Over the next several months, we will be taking a break from the gospel of Mark to talk about 7 objections to the Christian faith that are common in our day. Here are the topics we will be discussing…

April 10th: “Christianity is too restrictive.” In our individualistic society it’s not too uncommon to hear this objection to the Christian faith. Typical counsel from the world is to just “follow your heart.” We will discuss three evidences of the instability of such a position, and then defend the liberating position of Christianity which says, “For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it” (Matthew 16:25).

April 17th: “The Christian sexual ethic is dehumanizing.” If truth is located within us, “I determine what is right and wrong,” then one area of life that gets twisted is our sexuality. And from such a place it is no wonder that objection like this one would be lodged against Christianity. But we can offer an defense of this objection with a truth and tone that corresponds to Jesus’. We will craft a response here that will allow us to defend both our biblical conclusions about human sexuality and our rationale for believing what we believe about human sexuality.

May 1st: “The Christian faith is for people who believe things without evidence.” As Christians we must first admit that we have presuppositions—we assume things we cannot prove. But the same can be true about the atheist. We all have our presuppositions about life that there is no scientific evidence for. In this lesson we’ll establish that common ground in forming a response. Included in that response, however, will be the gentle correction that Christians actually have good reasons to believe what they believe.

May 8th: “I can’t believe in God because there is so much evil and suffering in the world.” If we were pressed to give a primary reason that people offer for not believing the God of the Bible it would be the objection mentioned here. And let’s face it, evil and suffering are not simple knots to untie. Nonetheless, we must equip ourselves to give a defense for the hope that is within us as it relates to the gospel story that tells us about a God who has put together a plan to defeat all evil and suffering. We shall answer this objection by looking at the experiential and logical problems of evil and suffering, formulating a Christian response to both.

May 15th: “I can’t believe in a God of judgment and wrath.” This objection, believe it or not, has become a popular one only since the dawn of the modern era. Traditional cultures had no quibbles about a God who executes judgment and wrath. As such, this objection must be reframed and then answers must be provided from the Scripture about the justice and wrath of God but also the kindness and mercy of God in the cross.

May 22nd: “The Bible is unreliable and cannot be taken seriously.” We could spend a great deal more time on this objection, which could be said about most of these objections. But the accusation against the Bible as unreliable has many different angles of attack. Without getting too lost in the weeds we want to address the area that seems to engender the greatest fervency: the gospels, particularly the resurrection of Jesus.

May 29th: “The Christian doctrine of the Trinity is confusing and illogical.” The doctrine of the Trinity is a mystery, granted. How it is that God is three persons yet one in essence ranks up there with how it is that God is sovereign and man is responsible. But the fact that it is a mystery in no way discredits its truthfulness. Even atheists must admit a degree of mystery in their own views. Establishing this ground we shall then give a response that explains the biblical testimony on the doctrine of the Trinity. Furthermore, we will show how the doctrine of the Trinity informs our understanding of love and relationships. And finally, we shall demonstrate how God as Triune sets the God of the Bible apart from other religions.

If you have any questions about our student ministry, please feel free to contact our youth pastor, Matt Harkey.