1) God’s Passion for the Unrivaled Preeminence
of Jesus Christ.
(Colossians
1:13-18)
2) The Church’s Mandate to Reach the Lost with Gospel Truth.
(Mark
16:15; John 8:32)
3) The Berean Call to Compare Every Doctrine & Practice with Scripture.
(Acts
17:11; 1 Thess. 5:21)
Last Sunday's sermon can be downloaded for free at http://www.lakecountrybible.org/ or by clicking here
For Further
Reflection/Application:
There are many former Roman Catholic converts who are
now part of solid, evangelical churches (including LCBC). Ask a former Catholic to share their
testimony of how God brought them out of the Catholic church (Ephesian 2:1-10)? This would make for great lunch fellowship.
When is the last time you shared the gospel with
someone? Are you as intentional in your
witnessing as the Lord calls you to be? If
not, explain why this is such a struggle and seek out another believer who
could disciple you in this important area of our Christian walks.
Explain how God’s passion for the unrivaled
preeminence of Jesus Christ is related to Roman Catholicism’s “veneration” of “our
Holy Queen of Heaven and Mother of mercy?”
Our Holy God is a righteously jealous God (Exodus 34:14; Isaiah 42:8). How has this doctrine of God impacted
evangelistic fervor (both near and far)?
"Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship
is. Missions exists because worship doesn’t. Worship is ultimate,
not missions, because God is ultimate, not man. When this age is over and
the countless millions of the redeemed fall on their faces before the throne of
God, missions will be no more. It is a temporary necessity. But
worship abides forever” (John Piper, Let the Nations Be Glad, p. 11).
If our Christian friends in India loving call Hindu and
Muslim friends and family members to not worship anyone but the true and Living
God, shouldn’t American Christian’s challenge their Catholic friends about
their exaltation and worship of Mary?
Have you ever lovingly done this before?
What kind of response did you receive?
Remember, our job is simply to sow the gospel seed and to speak the
truth in love.
How does the Catholic theology of Mary impact a practicing
Catholic’s prayer life? Their thought
life? Their worship? Their hope of salvation? Their view of God and Jesus Christ?
What is the practical significance of the following
quotes from prominent Roman Catholics: God’s spiritual family (the
Church of Jesus Christ) is “INCOMPLETE without
a loving mother!” “The breakaway Christian churches (speaking of evangelical Protestants)
that diminish Mary’s role inevitably end up feeling like a bachelor’s
apartment: masculine to a fault; orderly but not homey; functional and
productive—but with little sense of beauty and poetry.”
Read
all the “Mary” passages listed below. Compare
what Scripture (alone) says concerning Mary with what the Roman Catholic Church
teaches.
In
this sermon the preacher noted that “careful
bible study (2 Timothy 2:15) obliterates
a host of errors.” (explain why this is true and how it is related to the
past 3 messages on Mary)?
“Just because someone cites the Bible does
not necessarily mean that what they’re saying is biblical.” What
examples has the preacher given of how this is often the case with Roman
Catholic teachers (hint: think Revelation 12; Luke 1; & 1 Kings 2 to name
but a few).
Is
it unloving to ask our lost friends who are religious to reconsider what God’s
Word actually says about the REAL Mary, the Jesus, and the TRUE gospel?
Related Biblical Texts:
Matthew 1:18-25; Mark
3:31-34; 6:1-6; 15:40; Luke 1:26-46; 2:1-52; 11:27-28; John 2:1-12; 19:25-27;
Acts 1:12-14; Galatians 4:4-5; Colossians 1-2; John 19:25-27; John 1:12; Matt.
12:46-50; 1 Kings 2.
