Cornerstone Curriculum, Official Certification Edition

LESSON 1 | CONVERSION AND CALLING: THE WORD THAT CREATES / 93

• What exactly is the relationship between the Word of God in Jesus and the Word of God in Scripture? Which one is to take precedence over the other; are they meant to be taken and revered in the same way? • How are we to relate to the Holy Spirit, practically speaking, so we can know that he will teach us as we study the Word of God? • If I am to study the Word of God in the context of community, what is the role and importance of my personal study of the Word of God? What if I disagree with some of the things that are being taught in my church, or by my pastor – what am I to do then? A Serious Case of Disagreement As a church has been going through a series of teachings on the Second Coming of Christ, a young Christian leader has encountered teachings in the pastor’s sermons that she doesn’t understand, and, on first glance, does not agree with. She has spent some time discussing with the pastor some of the points, and none of them are critical, in the sense that they deny anything taught in the Scriptures. The pastor has made it plain that these are merely his opinions about the Scriptures, but is a strong teacher and many are finding his ideas convincing. The pastor is a biblical leader, a fine Christian teacher, and a humble brother in Christ. What ought the sister to do in this situation? A Denial of the Faith? In a science class at school, one of the students in the youth group is having to write a term paper on the theory of evolution. This same student has been learning at church how God created the worlds through the Word of God, and even more specifically, through Jesus Christ. He believes the Scriptures, that the Bible’s teaching on creation is correct, and yet the Bible does not appear to address all of the issues that he is encountering in class about science. He does not want to turn his science class into a religious discussion group, but he is struggling with finding a way to talk about the Bible’s view of creation in his high school science class. If this young brother came to you for advice, what would you counsel him to do or not do?

CASE STUDIES

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B i b l i ca l S tud i e s

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