1. Continue the Theme of Faith Challenged from Friday

• challenge to Faith in our time and the rise of doubt
• consistency of the biblical revelation as the negative test
• every view everywhere rests on faith
• the resurrection is the guarantee of the success

2. New Themes for Today

• from doubt to crisis (in faith)
• the nature of the gospel's power - esp in relation to faith and practice
• hard-hearted churches
• celebration of diversity

3. Review : Source of the Challenge

• traces back to the enlightenment
• a time for the question "how do I know?"
• a time that gave birth to naturalism and reason
• a time that cannot be wound back - cannot un-ask the question
• a time of doubt

4. Review : Meeting the Challenge

• refer to the work of Carl Henry - the prime interpreter of evangelical theology in the 20th century, for whom the Christian revelation is rationally consistent and compelling.
• Divine revelation is the source of all truth, the truth of Christianity included; reason is the instrument for recognising it; Scripture is the verifying principle; logical consistency is a negative test for truth and coherence a subordinate test. The task of Christian theology is to exhibit the content of biblical revelation as an orderly whole.

5. From Doubt to Crisis

• People in our conservative churches, even in our midst, feel the pressure of doubt today, and often our practices, attitudes and expectations are completely unsympathetic and unhelpful.

6. Gospel Power

• digital not analogue - consider the continuum - enables God to forgive and remain righteous Rom 3
• saved to where?
• understanding the difference between faith and practice - justification vs sanctification
• saved to the kingdom (all that is guaranteed)
• no guaranteed interventions in our time

7. Hard-hearted Churches

• our language does not match experience - eg blessed or persecuted
• we treat the hard questions as weakness or failure even though we cannot answer them ourselves
• we do not give any sympathy to the intellectual struggle of our age, either inside or outside

8. Celebration of Diversity

• demonstrated in creation
• demonstrated in instances - bishops, gifts, faith,days
• demonstrated in dialectics - gender, righteousness, Jesus, nature of God

9. Conclusion

• bottom-line - bible presents a God who can be trusted - Christ's death and ressurection attest to this
• the gospel is straight forward - struggle with the expectations of others, or accept the Gospel as it is
• saved to the kingdom, not to conformity with others
• live that freedom and use your diversity to serve God and others, eg Day in Rom 14.

6. Gospel Power

(Rom 3:21) But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished-- he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.

8. Diversity

(1 Cor 12:4) There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men.

(Rom 14:5) One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.