Renovaré Fall Series:
Faith Seeking Understanding
1. IF GOD EXISTS, WHY IS HE HIDING?
Read Hebrews 1:1-3; Acts 17:22-31
1. If God exists, how do we convincingly point to His existence?
2. If God exists, how do we distinguish Him from the gods of other religions?
God exists. But isn't the objection of many people, yesterday as today, quite understandable? Why doesn't He reveal Himself more clearly? Why doesn't He give everyone more tangible and accessible proof of His existence? Why does His mysterious strategy seem to be that of playing hide-and-seek with His creatures? Reasons certainly do exist to believe in Him; but-as many have maintained and still maintain-there are also reasons to doubt, or even deny, His existence. Wouldn't it be simpler if His existence were evident?
2. WHY IS THERE SO MUCH EVIL IN THE WORLD?
Read Hebrews 4:14-16
1. How do you personally answer this question to yourself satisfactorily?
2. How would you respond to someone who asks this question:
Just out of curiosity?
Who has just struggled a tragedy?
And yet, we cannot forget that in every century, at the hour of truth, even Christians have asked themselves a tormenting question: How to continue to trust in a God who is supposed to be a merciful Father, in a God who-as the New Testament reveals-is meant to be Love itself, when suffering, injustice, sickness, and death seem to dominate the larger history of the world as well as our smaller daily lives?
3. WHY DOES GOD TOLERATE SUFFERING?
Read Psalm 79, 88
1. Why does God seem to tolerate so much suffering without seeming to do anything about it?
2. How do we respond to those who are suffering and asking for answers?
Faith affirms that God is omnipotent. Why, then, hasn't He eliminated-and does He persist in not eliminating-suffering in the world He created? Aren't we being presented with a sort of "divine impotence," the kind spoken of even by people who are sincerely religious, though perhaps deeply troubled in their faith?
4. WHAT IS THE USE OF BELIEVING?
Read Hebrews 11:1-19
1. Today, many who have been formed-or deformed-by a sort of pragmatism and a utilitarianism (a belief that seeks to maximize pleasure and pain in life), seem to ask: "When all is said and done, what is the use of believing? Does faith offer something more? Isn't it possible to live an honest upright life without bothering to take the Gospel seriously?"
5. WHY SO MANY RELIGIONS?
Read Acts 17
1. But if God who is in heaven-and who saved and continues to save the world-is One and only One and is He who has revealed Himself in Jesus Christ, why has He allowed so many religions to exist?
2. Why did He make the search for the truth so difficult, in the midst of a forest of rituals, of beliefs, of revelations, of faiths which have always thrived-and still do today-throughout the world?
3. What should our attitude be to other religions?
6. BUDDHA
Read Ecclesiastes 1, 2:24-26; Job 38; Hebrews 9:27-28
What do you think Buddha and Buddhism teaches?
Why do you think Buddhism is so popular in the world?
What would you say to a Buddhist to persuade him or her about the truthfulness of Jesus?
Buddhism offers a "doctrine of salvation" that seems increasingly to fascinate many Westerners as an "alternative" to Christianity or as a sort of "complement" to it, at least in terms of certain ascetic and mystical techniques.
7. MUHAMMAD
Read Zechariah 12:2-3
1. Is Islam a religion of peace?
2. Why is Islam popular around the world today?
3. How do we respond to Islam?
8. JUDAISM
Read Isaiah 53
1. What have you heard or know about Judaism? Why is it important to understand this religion as a follower of Christ?
2. What should our response be to those who practice Judaism?
9. WHAT ABOUT DIFFERENT DENOMINATIONS AND BRANCHES OF CHRISTIANITY?
Read John 17:1-21 (What about passage about others preaching)
1. Are different Christian branches and denominations a good or bad thing? Why?
2. How should we respond to the different branches and denominations?
10. WHAT GIVES LIFE MEANING?
Read Ecclesiastes 1-3
1. Without being spiritual, count all the things in your life and name the bigger things that you live for? What are the things that make life worth living for you?
2. What gives life meaning and why?