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Church of Christ
Sermons and Lessons for 2011 |
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Bobby Stafford |
The Existence of God
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Apologetics |
June 12, 2011 |
Sunday AM Sermon |
The Existence of God
Introduction:
Does
God exist? This is possibly the most important question in all the
world. If He does exist, what is He like and what does He desire of
me? The answers to these questions are of the utmost importance.
It is the first of these questions that we will turn our attention
to now.
Body:
I. The Need for This Study
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If God
does exist, all people are answerable to Him. Everyone is under
His authority and obligated to Him for his own existence.
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Those
who claim to believe in God must prepare to defend their
belief. I Peter 3:15 – provide a reason for their faith.
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God
claims to exist and that He is the only true
God. Isaiah 41:21, 44:6-8, 45:18, 20:22,
46:9-10
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Therefore, this study is vital!
II.
Cosmological Argument
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The
universe and all that it contains is undeniable evidence for the
existence of God.
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The
universe exists; therefore, its existence must be explained in
some way. It cannot explain its own existence. Something else
must account for it.
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We know
that when something exists, it can’t come from nothing. Stated,
differently, every effect must have an adequate cause, something
sufficient to produce it. Hebrews 3:4 At the beginning, there
must be an initial cause, a being with no beginning and no end,
the “I Am.” Romans 1:19-20
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The only
reasonable explanation for the existence of this world is an
eternal Creator!
III. Teleological Argument
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Our
universe, from the smallest particle to the largest, exhibits
design. Psalms 19:1
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Who in
his right mind would ever believe that a computer, with all of
its many intricate parts, came together by accident?
Ridiculous! But yet many believe crazier things than that –
like our human bodies came together by chance. Psalms 139:13-16
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Not only
is design evident in our world, but so is beauty. Where did
beauty come from? “He has made everything beautiful in its
time.” Ecclesiastes 3:1
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Note:
Christ’s words in Matthew 6:28-29
“So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the
field, how they grow: They neither toil nor spin; and yet I say
to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like
one of these.” NKJV
IV. Moral
Argument
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Almost
all men everywhere believe in the existence of right and wrong.
They possess a sense of justice. Where did this come from?
Could minerals and air mix and develop a human mind over time?
Ridiculous!
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The fact
that humans possess a moral nature is strong evidence for a holy
and just God from whom they received it. Romans
1:18-20
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Note
especially Paul’s reasoning in Athens. Acts 17:22-29
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He not
only gave men a moral nature, but He is also going to judge
them. Acts 17:30-31
"Then
Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and Said, “Men of Athens, I
perceive that in all things you are very religious; for as I was
passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even
found an altar with this inscription: To the Unknown God.
Therefore, The One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim
to you: God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is
Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with
hands. Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed
anything since He gives to all life, breath, and all things. And He
has made from one blood every nation of man to dwell on all the face
of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the
boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord, in
the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is
not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and have
our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are
also His offspring.’ Therefore, since we are the offspring of God,
we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver
or stone, something shaped by art and man’s devising. Truly, these
times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men
everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a day on which He
will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has
ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from
the dead.” NKJV
Invitation:
Ample
evidence exists to convince anyone of the existence of God, an
infinite, all-powerful Being.
We will
be called into account for what we have done with that evidence.
Bobby
Stafford
June 12,
2011
What Must One Do to become a
Christian and be saved?
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