The Prophet

Today on Summit life with JD Greer. God has left the red in your heart when we exercise God out of our lives through the Hort home group that will find something to substitute for you will find something to worship you will turn some creative thing into an ultimate thing. It is a hunger in your heart that you might JD. I'm your host Molly, but Mitch okay let's just acknowledge that the holiday season is in full swing by now. Right and kind and is a Christmas story baby in the manger.

The shepherds being visited by angels and its familiar beautiful and even comforting. But have you ever quietly thought that maybe it all sounded a little larger-than-life maybe a little too perfect, like it's just another fairytale that's a part of the season will today. Pastor JD explains what set the nativity apart from any of the other stories to tell at this time of year where learning why we can trust the Bible as we kick off a new teaching series called foretold Pastor JD begins with a message.

He titled start joint – Euler alert about this introduction.

If you have young children as I do, and they are still really into all the stories that we tell the Christmas you catch my drift. I want to warn you that there might be a couple of things in this introduction that could challenge those stories a little bit.

You follow what I'm saying it's only last for a couple minutes and then I'll be done. Want to try and be very subtle but still got young kids in here now might be a really good time to take a family bathroom break. We track and I stopped right in the introduction enough that you be totally safe. Okay right so if you have been a Christian for a while, especially if you were raised as a Christian then there are a lot of things about what we believe as Christians that you probably take for granted and you don't realize how absurd and how unbelievable they sound until your explaining them to somebody who doesn't believe the doctrines of Christianity, as your explaining that you were caught yourself you like yeah this is totally crazy what I'm telling you to talk with me recently with my kids as we the Christmas season. We unpacked the manger scene I'm explained to them what the different pieces are about a little baby in the manger in the head. That's God you don't believe that when he came millions of angels appeared in the sky. Shepherds and they saying to them all night long and nobody else heard them but we believe they were there at a woman with no husband claimed that God made her pregnant and we all believe we all believer you say these things.

You sound like me outside… Without a chimney. Not true. Jesus returning in the clouds on a white horse that's true flight reindeer be serious flight horsemen of the apocalypse. Of course you can say to get outside is like so I know that Christianity appears to many on the outside like it's unbelievable how many of you here are that way and sometimes it strikes me that way to try one explained today one of the most important reasons why I believe the Bible is true and why I believe that it is God himself speaks to us in the Bible that the Bible is the very voice of God. You have your Bible, and I hope that you do open it to Deuteronomy chapter 18 Deuteronomy 18.

Deuteronomy is the fifth book in the Old Testament give a Bible knowing our use of this open the very first page and just keep going right you had some sort of the D.

That's Deuteronomy that is you getting there. Let me explain you what's going on in the book of Deuteronomy set the context for a little bit.

Moses is giving his farewell speech to the nation of Israel see Moses and had a moral failure as a leader and because of that moral failure. He is not going to be allowed to accompany Israel into the promised land that they are about to go into and so in chapter 18 is giving them his farewell address and starting in verse nine he gives them a very important instruction and then he makes an incredible prediction will look at both of those things right again here in verse nine he tells them when you come into the land of the Lord your God is giving you. You shall not learn to follow the abominable practices of those nations. There shall not be found among you, anyone who would burn his son or his daughter is offering anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens or who read Paul or does horse coach or fortune cookies. Okay, maybe that's what you get the drift, or a sorcerer or a charmer or a medium or a wizard or Harry Potter or necromancer for everyone who does these things is an abomination to the Lord and because of these abominations the Lord your God is driving them out before you, but the Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you from your brothers and it is to him that you solicit tell me explain what just happened. God is explaining to the Israelites that when they go into the land. They are not to try and access the divine the supernatural that supposed to try to communicate with the supernatural, the way that the people of the land.

The Canaanites, they do see every culture has its ways of connecting with the supernatural bear certainly did and he refers to a number of them. I would say that in our culture. There are basically four views about how we connect with the supernatural or the divine so apply it to our context. Let me outline those four views for you fairly quickly here you number one. What is that there is no voice of God to be heard in the world got to be heard in the world so don't listen for him. This view has three main varieties doing what is his atheism, which of course is that there is no God, so obvious, it is no point driving urine, then there is its stepsister. Agnosticism which says that were not sure if there's a God and there's no way we can know so we can't listen to him on earth because he's not really speaking and then there's the cousin Deism.

Deism says that there probably is a God out there somewhere, but he never gets involved with what's going on in Europe considers the purpose of looking for him listening for his voice. This view says that we should always look for perfectly natural explanations. Whatever happens on or science believes can always eventually explain whatever happens, so we should entertain no hypotheses about God's intervention in science or history that would make clear, I believe science and the historical method are wonderful advancements in things that I would suggest you arrived right out of our study of the Bible, but this view can actually become listen to and become quite close by the purest form of the scientific method is that you would follow evidence wherever it leads right even if the evidence contradicts some of your preconceived theories and so if from the outset.

You just decide that there there there can be no supernatural appearances on the earth that makes you close by. If you are not open to evidences that would contradict the worldview that you have been at that point, you have become scientific you become a bigot is prejudice when you're not open to certain evidence because your frequency. Example we discovered at our church office that somebody was stealing money from our office so we call the Popo they come over there doing an investigation and they said you were to make a list of suspect tech could begin to write down suspect Melissa like we got guys on that list is that we have suspect of my knowledge and putting them in the other only women. Why is it logical beginning the Geiser office would steal money only want you to investigate the women.

His response to me would be what you got. Explain that bias, because if you go into this investigation. Bias, you might miss some of the clear evidence it's right in front of you. You see what I'm getting at. For you to not be open at all to where God might have revealed himself in history is not scientific. It's actually quite prejudiced: same as that you should at least be open to wherever the evidence might lead us on pleading for now.

For those you that are in science, which I realize in this area is quite a few bulimics make clear that I'm not talking about simply plugging God into the gaps you wherever we can come up with a good scientific explanation yet but you just shrugged her shoulders.

They've got a got you left the door open with you. Now you know must be God. I'm not talking about that. I'm just saying that you ought to be open to a supernatural explanation, where science is not able to give a satisfactory answer, where science is not equipped to give an answer. For example, naturalism has to conclude about the universe.

Nothing times. Nobody equals everything you say.

That doesn't make sense to me is not satisfactory when you look at what birth this incredible movement known as Christianity. But you at least be open to the fact that Jesus really might have been raised from the dead, the way that he is followers of his predecessors all claim he would be and I just want you to be willing to investigate the evidence on its own terms. That's fair right here is view number two beautiful wonders no voice of God to be heard in the worldview number two is like the opposite of that God is in everything so we can all access him equally. This is to varieties what is called pantheism, which literally means God is everything it's got a cousin Deism, which means God is in everything God is in you just gotta get in touch with your inner deity of the force is strong with you young Skywalker and Mrs. Buddhism this is Star Wars.

This is the pot show progress of the gospel according to Oprah goes into this view right here.

View number three in our culture is that there were multiple deities and spirits at work in the world. There are multiple deities and spirits work and that's what you see here in this passage that he is addressing has got to varieties wonderful polytheism, which is the belief that there are many gods that's what the Romans and the Greeks, and many Hindus believe been related to that, as of you called spiritism, spiritism, etc. lots of spirits of the world. We can tap into the occult horoscope superstitions for people to read the twilight series of Harry Potter series.

I think this is probably based on a true story at this now. Interestingly, a lot of Christians have their own version of spiritism and superstition believe you just don't want to Google and type in virgin Mary appearances and you will be overwhelmed where poor Mary has been at work here in our world recently. Poor Mary is always showing up in a bowl of soup or a slice of bread somewhere as a way of God. People were not how God speaks for Christians who think God is always giving them signs everywhere. I know if it was God's will for me to ask her out or not on the way home I was driving us all doable. The first of the Billboard first name last two digits of the bone of the billboard were her age so I think I was telling me to ask her out. That's not how not reporting a real counseling situation. Rajeev yet. It is a key people safe.

Now let me point out, point out real quick irony for the year before. One was the voice of God to be heard. View number two is is everywhere. View number three is with multiple spirit speaking.

Here's the irony. People who espouse you want, but there's no voice of God to be heard in the world end up gravitating toward you. Just two or three right toward the end of last century, there was a set of a very scholarly book that came out megatrends that analyzed cultural developments of the 20th century and the introduction of the authors who were not Christians explain that one of the things that they found most surprising in this study. For the most surprising things in the 20th century was the growth of religion and spiritualism in the Western industrialized nations they had expected that as technology and science was able to explain more and more of the natural world. They expected that the desire for spirituality and religion would go down.

What they found to their surprise was that people at the end of the 20th century were more religious and spiritual than people at the beginning of the 20th century. As science and technology went up so did religion Rodney Stark in his incredible book which I would commend to you: what Americans really believe points out that the percentage of atheists in our country has stayed consistent at 4% from 1944 began to 2007 and he says and I quote despite all the biological and technological advancements. The predicted godless age has never gone.

The reason is because God has created you for interaction with the divine sociologist Peter Roszak. Again, not a Christian, said that said that trying to cut worship, religion or spirituality out of your life is like, try to put a cork in Old Faithful you might be able to stop it once or twice would eventually build up so much pressure blows everywhere. If you don't think there is a personal, creating God behind creation. You end up turning the creation in the God worship something as I've explained to you before you can no more quit worshiping by not being religious than you can turn off your sex drive by remaining single you will turn something into it.

Ultimate thing and you will give it the weight of divinity real quick decision for this article to study showed that atheist end up being some of the most superstitious people the world was an article in the Wall Street Journal earlier this year that did a study on what kinds of people were most prone to believe in paranormal activity in paranormal stuff like Bigfoot, goblins, aliens, Loch Ness monster little cytometric assaulting Chucky that kind of stuff in the study showed that people look at this Wall Street Journal article.

People who believe in God were three times less likely to believe in all that paranormal stuff. The people who were agnostics or atheists like Bill Mario did the movie were ligula some and all that they were in the worst ones for superstition. The Lord told David Letterman on the David Letterman show that he quit taking his heart pills. Western medicine was all a sham and he should only go with Eastern riots. This study showed that the least developed the least likely group to embrace weird paranormal beliefs born-again Christian college students.

Okay, so you're sitting right beside many of those least likely Rodney Stark said this in his book for those concerned about shielding young people from the problem occult and parable beliefs in our society a better solution to sending in the college seems to be to send them also to a conservative Sunday school class like in the region.

The reason that this happens because you were created for a closeness with the divine, God has left an imprint in your heart for him, and when we exercise God out of our lives. There's a heart hunger that will find something to substitute for you will find something to worship you will turn some created thing into an ultimate thing. It is a hunger in your heart that you cannot turn off all that to say God is saying to them I know I know you going to land you want to hear from me, but don't do it like they do it. Don't try to find spiritism don't commune with yourself. The Jedi strength does not flow from the forest to be found in the horoscope by staring in your alphabet soup. These are what the Canaanites try and do to hear from God. Verse 14 says I find that Bob will strong word to use when your God. I find that a bottle he says a word three times don't do that. Verse 15 the Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you from your brothers. There's your fourth view, God said that he would give us his word to his specially appointed prophets are what we call special revelation view, for God gives his word, be specially appointed prophets special revelation. He says verse 15 it is to him is to that specially appointed profit that you solicit I'll speak to you through my appointed prophets and what I do this you have to listen, you're going to have to be humble enough to listen to what I say about myself because undoubtedly he says I will challenge your views of me putting this out before, but we live in this culture that likes to say well we are certain part of Jesus that we really live like what he says about himself year, but these are the parts we find offensive. And so will take the parts that we, like Jesus, and will jettison the parts that we don't and sometimes as a culture where arrogant enough and historically naïve enough to think that we're the first ones in history.

To do this. This is always been the case that he knew there were things about himself and tell them they were going to do. Jesus now in our culture. This is a good time to your producer by likes Jesus the Christmas Jesus, you know, a pound, 6 ounce newborn infant Jesus believe no word yet still omnipotent, all cute and cuddly neural building pleased. I like that Jesus okay are you aware that quarter move your furniture. You know that it is my got up I like to think of Jesus as a figure skater who wears a white outfit and does an interpretive stance about life journey. I like to think Jesus is wearing a tuxedo shirt. He's full nobody here party yeah parts of Jesus.

Everybody likes parts of Jesus there but I like the Christmas parts as we take the parts of God's revelation that we like and we leave the others as if we are now so enlightened we can tell God what you want to be like God is not a salad bar you'll take apart to him you want to leave the parts you don't. If you want to know God at all.

You're going to have to let God speak for himself.

I'm not saying let me teach you what God is like saying you gotta at least be open to let God defining himself, even when it offends you and challenges and destroys your categories.

This is my prop and he says listen to him who God says of them is your opinions of me think I'm supposed to act when they're cute, but they're pretty much irrelevant you want to be God create your own universe bottle.

You can't use anything that I created in your universe will start from scratch. When you read that universe.

You can be God or whatever.

What you want works of your whole life is gonna listen to what people said about God and you take little parts of you like that I got my God parts that you like. I like that when I got it for my god you've become a hodgepodge this God together would have challenged you before, I'm totally serious about this goal, not at the moment to go home this afternoon's afternoon sheet of paper and just your big boy now so it's time to quit shoot from the hip just to make a list to make a list of everything that you think gotta be like just in one page turn around the back page and make a list of every possible descriptor. You can come up with what I got to be like and then I want you to go back if you don't and read back to that list, and here's what you'll find.

You want to be God you least need to recognize that about yourself that you interpret what God says about himself.

A lot of times, based on what you like what you don't like and I'm not saying I'm right you're wrong and to say that you and I both have to be open enough to let God shatter category because of God is going to give it specially appointed profit who is going to speak for him. He says you ought to at least be humble enough to listen to him listen. I'm not trying to be, you know over the topper jar from the same God is God just make the rules will get to define him. According to our good way to start our new teaching here on MetLife pastor Jeannie Greer if you enjoyed today's message and you want to share with a friend. You can do so online, free of charge@jeanniegreer.com. From the very beginning, God intended for his church to move from person to person household to household neighborhood to neighborhood nation to nation to move into areas of brokenness and despair and justice bringing can't hearing how perfect peace… Today the same thing that lived the earliest disciples 2000 years ago the gospel message the gospel transforms that powers this night tells us because of the gospel reach disciple and we stand that's truly what Senate might only now exactly what her latest Bible study resources about its title. You can work through this new resource at any place that you like a great way to look ahead and what God might have in store for you in 2022.

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