[84] 52b - The Kingdom of God

[88] 55 - Faith in Action VI - Standing Strong in Our Faith

To conclude the series, we go through one final Faith in Action Drill: critically evaluating worldviews. We examine what a worldview is. It is a map of our beliefs that lead to our behaviours. A worldview is made up of four interconnected levels and we will examine what they are and how we can use this understanding to analyse the worldview of someone we’re engaging with so we will know where they are coming from. We can also use the drill to check if we are thinking biblically. Then we go into how to review all that we have learnt by going through the 55 challenge statements. And we conclude with six final thoughts on the importance of continuing our study of Scripture so that we know Yahweh better and better, and therefore know how to live, how to respond to the world around us and what to expect of God in the future. The whole point is become a thriving disciple who is able to disciple others into spiritual maturity. Access the notes at: https://interlocked.online/s/55-Faith-in-Action-VI.pdf

[87] 54b - Faith in Action V - Evaluating the Pagan Worldview

The class works through the statements in the Faith in Action exercise. The first step is to identify the assumptions, its sources of truth and the type of logic used. Then we draw on the biblical events and use God’s truth as revealed in the biblical events to respond to the statement. We learn how to take apart the idea for ourselves, then if needed, we form a polite, respectful response if we need to reply to someone. This is how we use the biblical framework to “think God’s thoughts after Him”. Access the notes at: https://interlocked.online/s/54-Faith-in-Action-V.pdf

[86] 54a - Faith in Action V - Evaluating the Pagan Worldview

Another Faith in Action drill is learning how to evaluate thoughts, ideas and philosophies that come from a non-biblical worldview. We first examine the book of Acts to see how the apostle Paul shared the gospel with Jews and God-fearing Gentiles, people with an understanding of the Hebrew Scriptures. Then we compare that with how he shared the gospel with the philosophers in Athens. At the Areopagus, he used a different approach. He used the biblical framework to surround or flank their worldviews. He began by addressing the gap in their knowledge about the Creator-God and he explained who Yahweh is, what He has done in history and how He holds all people accountable to Him and how He would come to judge the world in the future. This comprehensive speech resulted in a number of the people putting their faith in Christ. Then we will follow Paul’s model and work through an example of talking to a friend who holds a non-biblical worldview. Access the notes at: https://interlocked.online/s/54-Faith-in-Action-V.pdf

[85] 53 - Faith in Action IV - Evaluating “Biblical” Statements

We’ve concluded our journey through the Bible’s meta-narrative from Genesis to Revelation. We have examined the major events of history and have looked ahead to the major events of the future. We can now construct an interlocked network of truth, or a biblical framework, which we can use as the foundation of our worldview. Using the biblical framework, we can then critically examine the Christian material that we read, watch and hear. In this faith in action exercise, we will first go through the key doctrines that the New Testament events are teaching us. Then we will go through what it means to think biblically and how to use the framework to analyse so-called Christian material to see if what we’re reading, watching or listening is truly biblically or poor teaching or even false teaching. Access the notes at: https://interlocked.online/s/53-Faith-in-Action-IV.pdf

[84] 52b - The Kingdom of God

We conclude the narrative of God’s Word by first examining how it is possible that there are so many unbelievers in the Kingdom. The problem with fallen mortal mankind is that the sin nature still leads people to rebel against the God whom they can see and personally interact with. Then we continue with the final battle, also named Gog and Magog where an untold number of rebellious mankind follow the released Satan for one more battle against Jesus; we see Satan’s defeat and permanent banishment to the Lake of Fire; and we see the Great White Throne judgment where all unbelievers from across human history are brought before Jesus to be judged. We see Jesus sentence the unbelievers to the Lake of Fire and also get rid of death and the grave, for He no longer has need of them after this. Then Yahweh brings in the new heaven and new earth and the new Jerusalem descends from heaven to the earth. God is moving to live with immortal mankind on earth. His home is with His people. The new creation is a place of perfection, untouched by sin and evil. Immortal mankind will reflect God’s glory and enjoy God forever. Access the notes at: https://interlocked.online/s/52-The-Kingdom-of-God.pdf