1. Being thankful
in a very
thankless
world!

2. A wordle is an animated
“word cloud” in which greater
prominence is given to words
that occur most frequently in
the source text.

3. A Wordle of Lincoln’s
Gettysburg Address

4. A Wordle of “Away in a Manger”

5. A Wordle of the Apostle’s Creed

6. A Wordle of the Gospel of Mark

7. 9:00 Service

8. 10:30 Service

9. Combined services

10. Our Four Core Values
God’s Glory, Our Focus
The Bible, Our Authority
The Gospel, Our Passion
Christ’s Church, Our Family

11. Our Four Core Values
God’s Glory, Our Focus
The Bible, Our Authority
The Gospel, Our Passion
Christ’s Church, Our Family

12. The Bible MUST be our authority!
1. The Bible claims to be God’s Word,
and these claims are undisputedly
straightforward!
Over 3800 times the Bible claims to be the very
words of God!
“Thus says the Lord” -- over 400 times!
There are over 300 quotations of the Old
Testament in the New Testament!

13. The Bible claims to be God’s Word!
2 Timothy 3:16-17
All scripture is given by inspiration of
God, and is profitable for doctrine, for
reproof, for correction, for instruction in
righteousness, that the man of God may
be complete, equipped for every good
work.

14. The Bible MUST be our authority
1. The Bible claims to be God’s Word,
and these claims are undisputedly
straightforward!
2. The Bible is an incredibly unique
book!

15. The Bible is an incredibly unique book!
 It is a book of remarkable unity!
Written by 40 different authors over a span of
1600 yrs; These men were from all walks of
life; they wrote on dozens of controversial
subjects!
Yet it tells ONE STORY!

16. The Bible is an incredibly unique book!
 It is a book of remarkable unity!
 It is a book of uncommon accuracy!

17. From the field of archeology
 The existence of the Hittite Empire?
In 1906, Hugo Winckler unearthed the
ancient Hittite capital, and recovered
thousands of Hititte texts!
 King Solomon’s great wealth?
In 1925-1934 Henry Breasted, unearthed one
of Solomon’s chariot cities at Megiddo!

18. The Bible is an incredibly unique book!
 It is a book of remarkable unity!
 It is a book of uncommon accuracy!
 It is a book that is astounding in it’s
fulfilled prophecies!

19. The Bible is astounding in it’s
fulfilled prophecies!
Jesus fulfilled 200 Messianic
prophecies in his first advent!
The odds of him fulfilling just eight of
these?
Greater than one in one quadrillion!
1,000,000,000,000,000! (1015)

20. The Bible is an incredibly unique book!
 It is a book of remarkable unity!
 It is a book of uncommon accuracy!
 It is a book that is astounding in it’s
fulfilled prophecies!
 The Bible is a book with
unparalleled popularity!

21. The Bible is a book with
unparalleled popularity!
“Bible”
351,956 results!

22. The Bible is an incredibly unique book!
 It is a book of remarkable unity!
 It is a book of uncommon accuracy!
 It is a book that is astounding in it’s
fulfilled prophecies!
 The Bible is a book with
unparalleled popularity!
 The Bible is a book of ongoing
indestructibility!

23. “We might as well put our
shoulder to the burning wheel of
the sun and try to stop its
flaming course, as attempt to
stop the circulation of the Bible.”
Anonymous

24. WHY must we embrace the
Bible as our authority for faith
and practice? For what we
believe and how we behave?

25. The Bible MUST be our authority
1. The Bible claims to be God’s Word,
and these claims are undisputedly
straightforward!
2. The Bible is an incredibly unique
book!

26. The Bible is an incredibly unique book!
 It is a book of remarkable unity!
 It is a book of uncommon accuracy!
 It is a book that is astounding in it’s
fulfilled prophecies!
 The Bible is a book with
unparalleled popularity!
 The Bible is a book of ongoing
indestructibility!

27. The Bible MUST be our authority
1. The Bible claims to be God’s Word,
and these claims are undisputedly
straightforward!
2. The Bible is an incredibly unique
book!
3. Jesus Christ viewed the Bible of his
day (The Old Testament) as HIS
authority for faith and practice!

28. Jesus’ view of the Bible of His Day
Over and over again throughout his life, Jesus
gives evidence that he viewed the Old Testament
Scriptures as being from God.
-He ordered his life by them!
-He resisted the Devil by quoting them!
- He taught them (in fact, he quotes from the Old
Testament almost 80 times in his teachings and
alludes to its teaching far more!).

29. Jesus’ view of the Bible of His Day
Matthew 5:18
For truly, I say to you, until heaven and
earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot,
will pass from the Law until all is
accomplished.

30. The Bible, Our Authority?
The Bible, YOUR authority?
1. The Bible claims to be God’s Word,
and these claims are undisputedly
straightforward!
2. The Bible is an incredibly unique
book!
3. Jesus Christ viewed the Bible of his
day (The Old Testament) as HIS
authority for faith and practice!

31. Carpe Diem
(Seize the Day!)
A Spiritual Growth
Initiative for 2014
The Bible cannot be our authority ...
Our “polaris” ... Our reference point for life
IF we do not KNOW it!

32. How this LIFE Journal can help
you . . . (p. 7)
Listen: “I will teach you and instruct you in
the way that you should go...”
Inquire: “You will seek Me and find Me when
you seek Me with all your heart.”
Faith: “Discipline yourself for the purpose of
godliness.”
Experience: “If you know these things, you
are blessed if you do them.”

33. How to use LIFE Journal (pp. 8-9)
- The S.O.A.P. method of Bible Reading
Scripture
Observation
Application
Prayer
- A Key question: “How will I be different
today because of what I just read?”
- Be flexible (approx. 90 daily pages in journal)

34. Choose a plan . . .
1. Enjoy the view from 10,000 feet – read
through the entire Bible in 2014!
2. Drop down to ground level and watch the
Gospel unfold – read through the New
Testament and Psalms in 2014!
3. Zoom in on a few books or section of the
Bible with your own plan, one chapter a
day minimum (about 30% of the Bible)