(Each Saturday, a faith leader offers a personal perspective in this space. To become part of this series, email religion@recorder.com)
For several years now our associate pastor, Derek Irvine, and I have prayerfully chosen an annual theme for our Sunday morning worship. Our 2022 theme is “Nothing but the Truth.” In a world full of truth claims, what is truth? That’s the very question Pilate asked Jesus when He was brought before him, in response to Jesus’ statement in John 18:37: “For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world — to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to My voice.” Truth is absolute. If something is an essential truth, it is true no matter who or where one is.
We began the year considering what it means to have a Biblical world view. A worldview is the framework from which you view the world and all of life, the foundation on which your life is built, the basis on which you make decisions. It is “a core set of values and principles through which the world is understood … a compilation of an individual’s perceptions of the world — essentially, the way a person understands reality” (compelingtruth.org). A Biblical worldview, then, is a worldview shaped by the word of God, the Bible. Those who hold a Biblical worldview agree upon the following tenets:
1. The Bible is the God-breathed Word of God and is therefore the standard by which all people should live. God has set forth moral order, established by God and revealed in Scripture.
2. God is God alone and the sovereign Lord over all, to whom all mankind must ultimately answer.
3. God intentionally created the world, the universe, and all that are in them, including man and woman.
4. Mankind, created to know God, fell under the curse of sin, even to the extent of total depravity. We are helpless to remedy this malady and are thus separated from God, in need of a Savior (Jesus). The penalty for sin is death (spiritual, physical and eternal).
5. Jesus is the only “way and the truth and the life,” the only means to reconciliation with God the Father (John 14:6). “There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).
6. Our lives are intended by God to be lives of purpose, knowing Him and making Him known. We are to live our lives in relationship with God and be about His business.
7. We are opposed in this life by a very real enemy of God and of our souls — Satan. He is “a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44) and is the personification of evil. He seeks to thwart God’s sovereign plan and “steal and kill and destroy” (John 10:10), though he cannot win and is no match for God.
I’m sure that some of you reading this disagree with what I have written. You may have a different worldview. If so, I would challenge you to consider the revelation of God in His Word, the Bible, and in creation. Consider your need of God and of the Savior provided by Him (the gift of Himself), the Lord Jesus Christ, God’s own Son, God the Son. Through His perfect life and sinless sacrifice on the cross, sin is atoned for all who believe Him and embrace Him as Savior and Lord.
For those of you who hold to this Biblical worldview, my challenge to you is that we must live our lives consistently by what we believe. We can’t do that on our own; we need the Holy Spirit to enable us, for Jesus to live His life in us. Give way to Him within.
As we say each Sunday morning at the close of the message, “That’s the truth and nothing but the truth!”
Vernon Advent Christian Church (Route 142, just over the Northfield, Mass. town line) was founded in Vernon, Vt., in 1860 and is affiliated with the Advent Christian General Conference headquartered in Charlotte, N.C. We meet for in-person worship on Sunday mornings at 10:30 a.m. The service is also live-streamed and available on our public Facebook page (Vernon AC Church – Public Page). We have not resumed our weekly Sunday School since the beginning of COVID, but our youth group and an Intercessors’ Prayer group meet on Sunday evenings at 6 p.m. We have various Bible studies throughout the week. For information, you may call the church office at 802-257-2341. All are welcome to come worship with us.