“10 Truths Your Kids Need to Know”
(Phil. 4:8…part 2)
Dr. Richard S. Koole
Chapel Pointe
February 8, 2009
I. Introduction
A. Text…Philippians 4:8
(8) Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
B. What is truth?
1. Koole’s list of 10
2. Booklet and Web Site at end of service
a. CD on our “Core Values
b. All are free
II. Last Week…
1. The truth about the Bible
2. The truth about God
3. The truth about Jesus and Salvation
4. The truth about the Holy Spirit
5. The truth about the Church
III. Today…
6. The truth about Creation
All that exists was created out of nothing by God
Importance
1. Who is man?
a. Did mankind evolve?
b. Is man more than a smart animal?
c. What does it mean to be created in the image of God?
2. How did God do it?
a. Six 24 hour days
b. Day ages
c. The “Gap” (between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2)
3. DVD ….. “Is there a God?”
4. We believe God created everything out of nothing (ex nihilo)
5. The “Big Bang”
a. May explain the “first event”
b. But doesn’t explain the “first cause”
Our Statement of Faith
We believe in the Genesis record of creation in that God created the heavens and the earth including all life, each after its own kind, by direct act and not by the process of evolution.
Key Scriptures
1. Genesis 1
(1) In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth
(26) Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea, and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground. (27) So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
2. Jeremiah 10:12
“He has made the earth by His power, He has established the world by His wisdom, and has stretched out the heavens at His discretion.”
3. John 1:1-3 (role of Jesus)
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.
7. The truth about Prayer
Each Christian has available the privilege of 24 hour a day access to our prayer-answering God
Importance
1. Trent’s email
“Somebody is praying; I can feel it. Somebody’s praying for me. Mighty hands are guiding me to protect me from what I can’t see. Lord I believe, Lord I believe, somebody’s praying for me”
2. Prayer is the Christian’s source of strength and direction
a. God cares…God listens
3. Prayer helps move the hand of Almighty God
4. Praying for each other during these tough times
a. Is somebody praying for you each and every day?
b. Who are you praying for each and every day?
5. Pray for God’s power to fall on the people of Chapel Pointe
Key Scriptures
1. The “ask” in fundraising
2. Matthew 7:7-11
7 Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. 9 For what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? 11 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!
3. James 5:13-18
13 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms. 14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 16 Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. 17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. 18 And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain and the earth produced its fruit.
4. James 4:2-3
2 You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss that you may spend it on your pleasures.
5. My prayer for the people of Chapel Pointe in 2009
a. Prayer is more important than programs
8. The truth about the Family
The Family was established by God to be the fundamental center for training, support, nourishment, and love.
Importance
1. Middle school students on retreat
a. Challenges they are facing
b. Challenges faced by their parents
2. The break down of the American family
a. Greatest impact on our society
b. Vision for our children’s ministries
3. Marriages on the rocks
4. The church needs to step up to assist the family
5. Parents need to pour their lives into parenting
a. Families need to teach their kids the truth of God
6. There is hope for your marriage
*it’s never too late
7. Next week…. “As pure as the driven snow”
Key Scriptures
1. Husbands and wives Ephesians 5:22-33
22 Wives, submit to your own husbands as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. 24 Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything.
25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for it, 26 that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, 27 that He might present it to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish. 28 So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself.
29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church. 30 For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones. 31 For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. 32 This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church.
33 Nevertheless let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.
2. Children Ephesians 6:1-3
1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 Honor your father and mother, which is the first commandment with promise; 3 that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth.
3. Parents Ephesians 6:4
“And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.”
9. The truth about Satan
“While Satan and his demons exist and possess evil power, the believer has the ability to resist him.”
Importance
1. How Satan tries to discourage you
a. He’s certainly been after me in recent weeks
2. Don’t make it worse by encouraging Satan’s influence
a. When Christians do “stupid” things
b. Gives Satan an opening
3. Have you ever heard the phrase “collateral damage?”
a. Death threats in California
1. Meeting with the Jews
2. Counsel General of Israel was main target
3. I was considered “collateral damage”
b. You are a collateral target in Satan’s war against Christ
1. Disappointment, discouragement, distraction, division
4. Yet we will not yield or lose courage
a. Press on!
b. Step up our game!
c. The battle belongs to the Lord!
Our Statement of Faith
We believe that Satan is a fallen angel and a distinct personality; that he is the god of this world, the author of all powers of darkness and sin, the spirit who works in the unbelieving and is destined to the judgment of an eternal justice in the lake of fire. As believers, we are exhorted to resist the devil.
Key Scriptures
1. Ezekiel 28:14-15…..His background
14 You were the anointed cherub who covers; I established you; you were on the holy mountain of God; you walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones. 15 You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, till iniquity was found in you.
2. Isa. 14:12-15…..His fall
12 How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations! 13 For you have said in your heart: I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; 14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High. 15 Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, to the lowest depths of the Pit.
3. Rev. 12:4…..His demons
His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her Child as soon as it was born.
4. Ephesians 6:10-12…..His power & demons
10 Finally my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.
5. Rev. 12:7-12…..His destiny
7 And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, 8 but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. 9 So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceived the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. 10 Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. 11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony and they did not love their lives to the death. 12 Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time.
6. Rev. 20:7-10…..His eternal punishment
7 Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison 8 and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea. 9 They went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them. 10 And the devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
7. Ephesians 6:13-18…..Our defense
13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. 14 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; 18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints--
8. I Peter 5:8-9…..Our resistance
8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. 9 Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world.
9. James 4:7-8…..Our victory
7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.
Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double minded. 9 Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom.
10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he will lift you up.
Satan’s favorite tactics (Fred Dickason, pp. 145-149)
1. Accusing and slandering us before God (Rev. 12:10)
2. Planting doubts in your mind (Gen. 3:1-5)
3. Tempting you to sin in various ways
a. To lie (Acts 5:3).
b. To engage in sexual sins (I Cor. 7:5).
*Next week… “What Jesus had to say about lust”
c. To be preoccupied with this world (I John 2:15-17; 5:19).
d. To rely upon human wisdom and strength (2 Ch 21: 1-8; Mt. 16:21-23).
e. To have pride in spiritual matters (I Ti 3:6).
f. To be discouraged (I Peter 5:6-10).
4. Inciting persecution against the true church (Rev 2:10)
5. Preventing you from serving Christ (I Th 2:18)
6. Infiltrating the local church
a. Through false teachers & disciples (2 Co 22:13-15; 2 Pe 2:1-19; Mt 13:38-39).
7. Promoting division (2 Co 2:10-11)
10. The Truth about Heaven and Hell
“Believers in Christ have the firm assurance of a glorious future with Christ and fellow believers in a holy and triumphant kingdom forever; whereas the unsaved are destined for a literal and eternal place of judgment called Hell.”
Importance
1. Mankind’s belief in life after death
a. Egyptians crossing the river Styx
b. Native Americans and the Happy Hunting ground
c. Hindus and Nirvana
d. All go to heaven
2. What happens when people die?
a. Annihilation
b. Turn into disembodied spirits
c. Reincarnation
d. Go to Heaven or Hell
3. We believe that the Bible issues a clear message of both hope and warning regarding a literal heaven and a literal hell.
4. Love warns
Our Statement of Faith
We believe in the bodily resurrection of the dead; of the believer to everlasting blessedness and joy with the Lord in a literal Heaven; of the unbeliever to judgment and everlasting conscious punishment in a literal Hell
Key Scriptures
1. II Cor. 5:8
“We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.”
2. Phil. 1:23
“For I am hard pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better.”
3. I Thes. 4:13-18…..The Rapture
13 But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. 15 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. 16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.
4. Rev. 21:1-7
1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. 2 Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God. 4 And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying; and there shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away. 5 Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” And He said to me, “Write, for these words are true and faithful.” 6 And He said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. 7 “He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son.
5. Rev. 19:11-16…..The Second Coming
11 Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. 12 His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one know except Himself. 13 He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. 14 And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses. 15 Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. 16 And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written:
KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS
6. Rev. 20:4-6…..The Millennium (Rev. 20:4-6)
4 And I saw thrones, and they sat on them and judgment was committed to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. 5 But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy is he who had part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.
7. Rev. 20:10-15…..Hell
10 And the devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. 11 Then I saw a great white throne and him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their words, by the things which were written in the books. 13 The sea gave up the dead who were in it and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged each one according to his words. 14 Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 15 And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.
8. Luke 16:19-31
19 There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. 20 But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate, 21 desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. 22 So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. 24 Then he cried and said, “Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.” 25 But Abraham said, “Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented. 26 And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.” 27 Then he said, “I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father’s house, 28 for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment.” 29 Abraham said to him, “They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.” 30 And he said, “No, father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.” 31 But he said to him, “If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.”
9. Love warns
Closing comments
1. Invitation to join me in heaven some day
a. The thief on the cross. (Luke 23:43….next series?)
“I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.”
b. Salvation
2. The glories of heaven
a. I Corinthians 2:9
No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him.