(All sermon notes are provided entirely from the outline provided by Rice Broocks for the God's Not Dead preaching series. If churches or ministries are interested in using these materials as a resource, visit godsnotdead.org to download content. God's Not Dead books and evangelistic materials are also made available on godsnotdead.org.)
INTRO: We've come to the conclusion of this series. It's time to look at the impact of God and His grace on Cultures, Countries, and Countless lives of individuals.
VERSE: Acts 1:3 “After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive.”
1. CULTURES:
John Lennon sang what has become the international anthem of unbelief:
"Imagine"
Imagine there's no heaven It's easy if you try No hell below us Above us only sky Imagine all the people…living for today
Lennon made the challenge that if there were no religion, the world would be a better place.
One of the tactics of the new "skeptics" is to try and take every bad thing done in the name of religion and group it together into one monstrous picture. In philosophy this is called a "straw man argument"—painting a false picture of something and then arguing against it.
This is as big a logical fallacy as you can make. It's also grossly unfair. It attempts to remove any distinction between different religions, and also between those who call themselves Christians.
If you get rid of all religion, do you think that evil would end?
That's what happened in the 20th-century communist world of it’s co-founder Vladimir Lenin: Millions of people died...more than all the wars and crusades of history.
While horrible things have been done in the name of religion, the real story is this overwhelming reality: The impact of God and His grace on the world has given us too many blessings to count!
Imagine a world of paganism and darkness 2000 years ago: • No rights for women or children • 1/4 of Rome's citizens were slaves • 1/3 of Athenian citizens were slaves
In fact, God had given the human race the first taste of deliverance (or redemption) from human bondage when He brought the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt.
It was God's word that introduced rules for treatment of those called servants or slaves and lead ultimately to their freedom from bondage.
God's purpose from the beginning has been to free men and women on the inside first and then the outside as well. It's called redemption.
The unfolding of the plan of redemption gave humanity the startling picture of a slave becoming free in Christ and becoming a brother or sister to those that formerly enslaved them.
It would be people like William Wilberforce, a committed follower of Christ in England, that would lead the way in seeing the evil practice of the African slave trade abolished.
The impact of grace has been felt in crucial areas of our culture. (More information on pages 195-207, GND)
• Protection of children: Children had no rights or value until Jesus came and talked about the value of children...
“Unless you become like a child” “Whoever causes one of these little ones to stumble it would be better to have a millstone around your neck and thrown into the sea”
• Elevation of women: The Bible teaches that women are co-heirs of the grace of life.
• Charity: The concept of giving to those in need came from Scripture.
• Hospitals: …and care for the sick, eg: The parable of the “Good Samaritan.”
• Education: The first 100 Universities in America were built to teach and promote education in the Christian faith.
Overall, it is the Christian concept of the “strong serving and protecting the weak” (instead of the evolutionary mindset of the “strong dominating the weak”) that originated from Jesus, not Darwin, and gave our culture the sense of everyone’s human dignity.
(For more, see the testimony of the Fiji Islands on page 196 of GND.)
2. COUNTRIES: The Growth of Christianity across the world.
VERSE: Acts 19:20 “The Word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed.” The growth of the Gospel around the world has been astounding. This growth flies in the face of the notion that you become a Christian based on being born in America.
• AFRICA In 1900, Africa was 8% Christian…Today it’s almost 50%.
There are gatherings of millions of believers in places like Nigeria and Uganda.
• ASIA The largest Churches in the world exist in this area of the world.
In China, where Western missionary activity is basically illegal, Christianity has grown to over 100 million believers.
One-hundred years ago, Korea had no evangelical believers…Today it’s over 25%.
Indonesia is the world’s largest Muslim country and yet has more Christians now than are in Korea.
• SOUTH AMERICA It hosts some of the world’s largest churches as well.
There are massive gatherings of 2 million people in Brazil for simple worship services.
• AMERICA & EUROPE Nominal faith is declining, but there is a growth in churches where Christ is preached and Scripture is valued as the guide to life and morality.
3. COUNTLESS LIVES:
The God’s Not Dead book records the testimonies of 7 people who went from atheism to faith. For more, see those stories to share with others about the many lives that have been changed through the Gospel.
CONCLUSION:
The Cross and Resurrection set Christ apart from every other philosophy or religion.
VERSE: Revelation 1:18 “I was dead, but am alive forevermore.”
Second City Church- God's Not Dead Sermon Series 2015