Relevant

INTRO

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Are God and the Bible irrelevant for today?

Let’s have a look at this, as this is what many people say and think. But is it true? If you say or believe something only because others say it then you’re a clone. If you say or believe something but you haven’t checked it out for yourself then you won’t know what you’re talking about! The only way to see if something’s true or false is to take a look at the evidence and truth, and make your mind up.

Bible characters and their issues!

Sex – Solomon – this guy was a busy man and probably had to deal with a few jealousy issues!

Drinking – Like Abraham who got drunk. Caused a few problems…

Relationships – Loads of them, left right and centre. God said, ‘go forth and multiply’ and people did – and he wasn’t talking about maths!

Violence – first couple of sons of Adam and Eve had a terrible fight and one gets killed causing lives and cities to be smashed up

Depression – Saul got David to play a harp to him when unhappy. This would have made me feel worse!

Technology – The Tower of Babel was the world’s first skyscraper. Not very stable though and was going to lead to problems so God knocked it down.

Fear and worry – A young guy called Joshua gets told by the leader of an entire nation, ‘right pal it’s over to you now..’ God says don’t worry, I’m always with you!

Having a laugh – The Bible says have a laugh, Read Proverbs 17.22. Plus Jesus had a laugh with his mates..

Doing mad stuff – Through the Bible, people do some exciting and crazy adventurous things like travel, visit new countries, move to new lands without knowing what’s going to happen, battle, meet new people, and and help others

Music and creative arts – See Exodus 31.3 where Bezalel was given God’s Spirit to be a creative designer, sculptor and artistic genius! David the Psalmist was a great writer, the world’s first rapper!

SOME OF THE ISSUES ABOUT LIFE

Money – Debt – Teaching – Hope – Families – Housing – Health – Death

CONCLUSION

God and The Bible doesn’t sound irrelevant to me.. the Bible is full of stuff about life today. OK so it doesn’t talk about computers or r&b music but does that mean we don’t use it? Do we forget about Shakespeare because he didn’t talk about computers or r&b music? I don’t think so. We may not like Shakespeare but it doesn’t mean we ignore his plays, claim he doesn’t exist or forget him.

We believe that the Bible is relevant for us today, for real. And unlike ‘your stars’ or people’s opinions, the Bible has around 400 things that it predicted would happen, that happened exactly!

OK, LET’S LOOK AT STUFF WE THINK IS RELEVANT

Back in the 1960s ‘The Beatles’ were a big band. Today, they mean something to a few people but not much to others. In the 1980s, there was a fashion where people were wearing braces like your grandad. Sad but true. There was a big thing in the 1970s about being a hippy. Not exactly big today. There was a movie in the 1990s called Trainspotting. Influential? It was for some people but I bet loads of you haven’t even heard of it. Big boy bands come and go, like Backstreet Boys, New Kids on the Block etc. You probably haven’t heard of them either!

You see, what is relevant now is only what seems relevant. Most things we’re into are temporary. I’m a DJ and I’ve got some vinyl from 2000 where people don’t remember the tunes. I’ve got a top that I don’t wear and I only got it a few years back. You see stuff is temporary. What’s in today is gone tomorrow. Singles are only number 1 for a few weeks at most.

SO WHAT LASTS, WHAT IS MORE THAN TEMPORARY?

Ask some older people what they think is important. Here’s some answers I got from a survey:

– relationships
– people
– love
– family
– children
– doing good
– passing on values
– making a difference
– loving people
– being caring
– God

You see, let’s think about what people would write on your grave if you were to die tomorrow and they were being really honest. What would it say?

‘He was a bit of a laugh’

‘She was pretty good looking and a mate’

‘He was arrogant, full of himself.’

‘She was a bit of a cow to be honest..’

WHAT ABOUT GOD?

Well, we’ve seen that God and The Bible has a whole host of advice for people. Christians try to follow this advice because it helps them. It’s not a rule book that has to be obeyed but a way of life that Christians want to follow because they want to obey God. God is like an inspiring leader, good friend, loving father all rolled into one. That’s why God and The Bible are relevant – because as a Christian I believe we all need God.