What do you believe exactly?

I get that question a lot as I'm out and about in the community. People ask me what our church believes, what we teach, what we do. Most people, especially those who don't attend church and don't consider themselves too religious have a kind of vague notion as to what churches do.

I typically give them this answer. "Check our middle name." We're Gages Lake Bible Church. That is to say Gages Lake preaches, teaches, and applies the Bible to life. We believe the Bible to be the written revelation of God to man.

We discussed this a few Sundays ago in our message, "Why We Believe What We Believe - About the Bible."

Well, saying we believe the Bible is a great answer to the "what do you believe question." But its not the whole answer. Because if you could boil down Christianity to one singular question its the question of a Person. Jesus Christ. In fact, if you believe the Bible to be God's Word, then you'll know that the Bible's pages demand you reckon with the question, "Who Is Jesus Christ?"

And to personalize it, "What will you do about Jesus Christ?" Well, if you've wondered that, then join us Sunday as we share, "Why We Believe, What We Believe - About Jesus Christ." 

 So  my job on Sunday is really easy. Explain the Trinity in a 40-minute sermon. 

Actually, no, I won't explain the Trinity, because the Trinity is unexplainable. But what we will do is explore the Trinity as we continue our series, Why We Believe What We Believe. 

Why do we talk about the Trinity? Isn't that one of the boring, dusty doctrines of old? Well, this is why we should explore what the Bible says about the Trinity. 

Because this is what the Bible says about our God. And its very important that we know who God is, what HIs nature is, and what we believe about God. It gives us clarity in our doctrinal perspective. 

I would also argue that a study of the Trinity inspires our faith. Because we are suddenly confronted with the "bigness" of God. We're also confronted with the "smallness" of ourselves. I hope that as we go through this study on Sunday that we are compelled to do one thing and one thing only: bow our knee before our holy and righteous God. 

For me, this week's study was intense, but highly rewarding. I felt like I dove into the deep end of the theological pool. But I came up with a newfound reverence and awe for the God of the Bible, the one true God, who is three distinct Persons and who is not just powerful, but personal. 

A God like this demands our worship, He demands our obedience. 

 When I was a kid, we sang this song, "The Bible Stands." You can find the words to the song here. Its a simple song with profound theology. 

This Sunday we're talking about Why We Believe What We Believe About the Bible. I thoroughly enjoyed this study. Its a powerful study. What do we mean when we say we believe the Bible? Do we believe all of the Bible, part of the Bible, most of the Bible? And do we believe it is really God's Word? We're going to dive into some words like verbal, plenary, inspiration, and inerancy. 

What seems like big, fancy words actually are simple. And when you unwrap our statement of faith, you really find this simple belief: The Bible is the Word of God, whose words were inspired by the Holy Spirit, using human agents as authors. 

As a pastor, husband, and father, I'm glad we stand on the Bible. We live in a world with shifting values. We live in an age of the church with shifting values. i'm glad to know we can anchor our church, our famlies, and our lives on something concrete. God has spoken, this we believe, and if God has spoken, we know His Words can impact the way we live.

Its Tuesday and I'm in the office doing the usual pastoral stuff--checking mail, following up with people from Sunday, catching up on church business, etc. But I'm still basking in the glow of a wonderful Sunday this week. As a pastor, I look forward to Sundays, I look forward to preaching, I look forward to the fellowship of the saints. 

But this Sunday was especially cool, because we began a new series, "Why We Believe What We Believe." This was a series that I felt God wanted us to do for sometime, rekindling again a focus on the core doctrines of our faith. 

Sunday we set the tone with a message with a rather bland title: "Why Doctrine is Important." A title like that doesn't exactly inspire. Its not going to end up on the top-ten sermon titles of all time. And I'm sure some thought that perhaps it was as exciting as watching paint dry (or World Cup Soccer-sorry soccer fans, please forgive me this once). 

But it turns out that people were really clued into the message this week. I was pleasantly surprised at how many of our people were excited that we're going to have a renewed emphasis on the core doctrines of our faith. And the truth is that I'm pretty pumped myself. 

It's amazing, when you begin to study the Bible, you come away so incredibly inspired. The doctrines don't have to be dull. They are life. They are teaching. They are faith. What we believe really does matter. Proverbs says "as a man thinks in his heart, so is he." 

Which leads me to this coming week. Fitting rather nicely into this series is a guest speaker this week, Dr. Elwood Chipchase, former president of Calvary Bible College and a longtime friend. He's going to deliver three messages on the Second Coming of Christ. That's right, we here at GLBC believe Jesus is coming again and it will be soon. 

Knowing and studying the Second Coming helps us live now in this world. It helps us open the newspapers and realize that while Satan is currently enjoying some success, ultimately God is in charge and has a plan. 

Plan on being here on Sunday, attend all three messages: 9:45 am, 10:45 am, and 6pm. You won't be disappointed.