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Bible Classes 9:30 AMWorship 10:30

AM 5:30

PMWednesday Bible Classes 7:00 PM

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Psalm 95:6

Come, let us worship and bow down;

Let us kneel before Jehovah our Maker.

Hymns Invitation

Red Songbook - - - - - -

Supplemental - - - - - -

Considering “Liberalism”

What Is “Liberalism”?Typical dictionary definitions “Not literal or strict: loose” “Broad-minded; esp.: not bound by authoritarianism, orthodoxy, or traditional forms.” “Favorable to progress or reform”

What Is “Liberalism”?“Liberalism” is NOT a doctrine

It refers to a view of doctrine

“Liberalism” is not necessarily wrong

Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.

Galatians 5:1

What Is “Liberalism”?“Liberalism” is NOT a doctrine

It refers to a view of doctrine

“Liberalism” is not necessarily wrong

he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who

leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.

Romans 12:8

“Liberalism” is not the issue

Authority is the real issueNow these things, brethren, I have figuratively transferred to myself and Apollos for your sakes, that you may learn in us not to think beyond what is written, that none of you may be puffed up on behalf of one against the other.

1 Corinthians 4:6

What Is “Liberalism”?

The danger of “liberalism” is that it rejects the Mind of God towards authority and Bible interpretation

Error of “Liberalism”This error is among believersIt is a reoccurring mindset Nadab & Abihu (Leviticus 10) King Uzziah (II Chronicles 26) Galatians (Galatians 1) Diotrephes (III John)

“Liberal” churches/Christians do not

identify themselves as liberal

They reject “liberalism” emphatically

“We are not liberal”

“We are not ultra-conservative”

Signs of “Liberalism”

Liberal Identifications Have social programs/agendas

Celebrating HolidaysFellowship halls

1 Corinthians 11:22 What! Do you not have houses to

eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and shame those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you in this? I

do not praise you.

Liberal Identifications Have social programs/agendas Support institutions for church works

Orphanages & homesTV, radio & printed organizationsSchools

1 Timothy 5:16 If any believing man or woman has widows, let them relieve them, and do not let the church be burdened, that it may relieve those who are

really widows.

Liberal Identifications Have social programs/agendas Support institutions for church works Teach weak or contrary to morality

Not teaching on hard subjectsTeaching falsely on subjects

Acts 20:27 "For I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God.

Liberal Identifications Have social programs/agendas Support institutions for church works Teach weak or contrary to morality Refuse to act as a church should

DisciplineDecently and in order

1 Corinthians 5:6 Your glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens

the whole lump?

Liberal Identifications Have social programs/agendas Support institutions for church works Teach weak or contrary to morality Refuse to act as a church should Obsession with titles and positions

Matthew 23:8-11 "But you, do not be called 'Rabbi'; for One is your Teacher, the Christ, and

you are all brethren. Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. And do not be called teachers; for

One is your Teacher, the Christ. But he who is greatest among you shall

be your servant.

Liberal Identifications Have social programs/agendas Support institutions for church works Teach weak or contrary to morality Refuse to act as a church should Obsession with titles and positions Unequal emphasis of church works

Church above the ChristianCertain church works preeminent

1 Corinthians 14:1 Pursue love, and desire spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy.

Liberal Identifications Have social programs/agendas Support institutions for church works Teach weak or contrary to morality Refuse to act as a church should Obsession with titles and positions Unequal emphasis of church works Focus on emotion over truth

Emotion equals spirituality

Deuteronomy 29:19 (When a false man) hears the

words of this curse, that he blesses himself in his heart,

saying, 'I shall have peace, even though I follow the dictates of my

heart' -as though the drunkard could be included with the sober.

Liberal Identifications Have social programs/agendas Support institutions for church works Teach weak or contrary to morality Refuse to act as a church should Obsession with titles and positions Unequal emphasis of church works Focus on emotion over truth Antagonism of “ultra conservatives”

2 Corinthians 10:10"For his letters," they say, "are weighty and powerful, but his

bodily presence is weak, and his speech contemptible."

Fruits of “Liberalism”Once begun, digression continues

So Manasseh seduced Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to do more evil than the nations whom the LORD had destroyed before the children of Israel.

2 Chronicles 33:9

Fruits of “Liberalism”Once begun, digression continues

It ultimately destroys all involved

Can a man take fire to his bosom, And his clothes not be burned?

Proverbs 6:27

ConclusionsLiberal approach to authority is condemned

Liberal christians are recognizable

Liberal churches bear specific fruits