Note: The time signatures [00:00] below indicate the start of a question if you'd like to skip to a particular one of interest in the audio file.
[02:53] - Q: When was Jesus born? Why do we celebrate on December 25th?
[03:54] - Q: Is celebrating Christmas ordained or supported by scripture?
[06:17] - LIVE AUDIENCE Q: I have a friend who is young in her faith yet she got a tarot card reading. I’ve been mentoring her about her faith and she also has a young daughter. I’m trying to figure out the best way to talk to her about these tarot cards and she’s also asking about her horoscope. How would you confront her in a loving way about this.
A: See 1 Peter[08:23] - Q: I believe that an important aspect of the virgin birth is that in order for Jesus to be sinless, He needed to be free from Adam’s sin. I think that Adam's sin is perpetuated in humanity through the seed of man. By being conceived by the Holy Spirit instead of the seed of a man, Jesus was not conceived with Adam's original sin and can start completely sinless. Do you agree?
A: Yes![09:33] - Q: What is HBC principle on tithe and offering?
A: See 2 Cor 8:3 - For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own accord…
2 Cor 8:12 - For if the readiness is there, it is acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have.
2 Cor 9:7 - Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
Re-listen to the I Love to Give sermon series on God’s view of money.[16:16] - Q: God is always referred as 'He' and 'Father'. Does this gender pronoun and title refer to a physical characteristic of God of His relationship with us? I.E. If the Holy Spirit is God; should we refer to it (Holy Spirit) as 'He'? Typically we don't assign a gender pronoun to spirits in the English language unless were able to assign the spirit to a person's gender.
[19:06] - Q: Why does God forbid women to be an “elder” or hold some authority in church?
A: See 1 Timothy 2:12-14 - I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. For Adam was formed first, then Eve; and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor.[24:45] - LIVE AUDIENCE Q: Can you help me understand the verse (James 2:17, 22-24), “faith without works is dead”? Doesn’t that contradict what we’re taught to believe that we’re just fine “saved” through faith and not works as it says in Romans?
[29:44] - Q: If we came from Adam and Eve shouldn't we all have the same last name and be the same family?
A: See Acts 17:26 - And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place…[32:52] - LIVE TXT Q: How do we guard ourselves against legalism? I.E. If I abstain from drinking, how do I guard against pressing others to not drink or get self-righteous or prideful in my abstinence?
[36:46] - Q: Where did Cain's wife come from?
A: See: Genesis 3:20 - The man called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all living.
Genesis 5:4 - The days of Adam after he fathered Seth were 800 years; and he had other sons and daughters.[37:58] - Q: At what point during a human's development is it "issued" a soul? At conception? Sometime while in the womb? Or at the baby's first breathe?
A: See Luke 1:41 - And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit…
Psalm 139:13 - For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb.[39:44] - LIVE TXT Q: If John knew when the rapture happened (when God showed him) why doesn't it say in the Bible when the rapture will happen?
A: Soon!
Any question that was missed due to time constraints during the service Pastor Jeff will address the answer on the blog.
Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!
Small Group Questions (Whole Group):
Review the questions submitted above. Discuss any of these that stuck out to you, or that maybe your group finds particularly interesting.
Breakout Questions:
Pray for one another!