Welcome to the Truth Defended Conference, a ministry of Truth Defended. Our conference theme is, Does Faith Need Defending? Well, it certainly does. I'm Steve Harness, and I'll answer answering skeptics in session one. In session two, Pastor Rob Newcomb will answer atheists. And then in session three, I'll give an answer for culture that includes worldview questions. Thanks for participating in Does Faith Need Defending? A Truth-Defended Ministry Conference. And we have a book for everyone here today, Scientific Facts in the Bible. And the man you saw interviewing people in the pre-service, that man, his name is Ray Comfort. He wrote this little booklet, and it'll give you some ideas of how to convey and share your faith with other people. So we're in the book of Romans. the Book of Romans. My name is Steve Harness, and we have a lot of guests that are here, so we're glad you're here today. Pastor Rob gave the announcements, and he's glad you're here, and our church family, we're all glad you're here today on this beautiful day. And everyone that comes through the door, you are important to God, you're also important to your family, and you're important to us as well. So we're in a Book of Romans. Chapter 3. We'll read what may be a familiar verse here in just a moment. And we're going to talk about answering culture. That will be the theme of our message today. Now, our conference, we called it, Does Faith Need Defending? 1 Peter 3, 15 says that we should be able to give an apologetic. The word is an answer. to those who are asking us of the hope that lieth in us. Like they are wondering what it is that you believe, and why is it that you live this way, and why is it you conduct your life in this way? And so we talked about the idea of conveying our faith, we're being equipped to answer skeptics. That was my session. And then Pastor Rob gave a great message about how to answer atheists. Maybe you have somebody that you know, and they're kind of debating, like, is truth really truth? I mean, is there really such a thing as truth? Go back and listen to those that will all be posted on truthdefended.org. Probably later on today, those will be finished being posted. But for now, does faith need defending in our life? And when it comes to culture, and the short answer is yes, the Bible tells us to be able to give an answer. So the last couple years, I've been studying theology and apologetics, and I'm in these classes, and it's with a cohort, so other students that are in this study, and so I have to defend the project, and the project is this, is this truth-defended ministry, and so I have to defend it, and my opening statement each time is this, the congregation of the Wilton Baptist Church in Wilton, New York must be equipped to defend their faith. We must be equipped to defend our faith. And there's many other passages that we could use, and I chose 1 Peter 3.15 about giving that answer, giving that apologetic. So you see the logo there, it's kind of like a castle-looking thing there. It's a defensive posture that the Christian has to be able to articulate, and people are seeking, people are searching, And there are some that are searching that are here today. And maybe they're here because they asked another Christian or an attender of our church. And there's going to be people in the workplace and in the schoolhouse and on the bus ride and down the neighborhood. And when you get together for Thanksgiving and at Christmas time, you can give an answer. for why it is what you believe. And if you don't know the answer, it's okay, you can find out the answer, but why is it that you believe what you believe? Does faith need defending? The greatest mission field, one person wrote, that we face is not in a faraway land. A strange and foreign culture most evangelical Americans fear. It's not across the ocean. It's barely across the street. The culture most lost to the gospel is our own culture. The culture that we live in, the people that surround us, the ones that we can affect with the truth as we defend the truth. The culture is a culture that can't say two sentences without referencing television or a pop song, cannot remember what it's like to grow up without changing channels or swiping across a tablet or a device. It's culture. Culture's all around us, and I'll share how that is. It's all around us, and we can use the culture. We can use our experiences. We can use what we see and hear. in our lives and in society to point other people to Christ. And I'll do my best to attempt to show that to you today. So I need your help. Here's some commercials. And here's a commercial. And answer what commercial this is for. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there. That's culture. Can you hear me now? That's a little bit older one. That was Verizon Wireless. Remember that guy? He was always walking around like, can you hear me now? This is an even older one, but some of us, we just can't forget it. It's I've fallen and I can't get up. Wendy's? No. It's life alert, life alert. Okay, this is all culture in sports, in a football world, America's team. What is that known as? That would be the Dallas Cowboys and some people are saying the Chiefs are overtaking as America's team. How about in boxing or any other sport? You'll hear newscasters or sports commentators sometimes say, this matchup is like David versus Goliath. That's actually a Bible reference that's ingrained in our culture. There's other things, like Job said something about the skin of his teeth, and that's ingrained in culture. That's a Bible reference. People don't even know it sometimes. How about this? Wise men say only fools rush in. Who's that? That's Elvis. Some of the younger ones are like, what's he talking? What's he doing? You know? Yeah. All right. How about how about this one? I don't want a lot for Christmas. There is just one thing I need. I don't care about the presents underneath the Christmas tree. Mariah Carey, yeah, it don't matter if you like it or not. It's culture. It's culture. Culture is all around us politics. I like Ike. Yeah, that's Eisenhower 1952. That was a slogan back then. Make America great again. Okay, that's Trump, that's culture as well. I have a couple more. Change we need and change. Anyone remember that? Not too long ago, that was Obama in 2008. Most recently, a new way forward. Who says that? It's not as catchy perhaps, or you haven't heard it as much, but that's Harris, that's the Harris campaign. So you have make America great, and you have a new way forward. Here's something else that's in culture, AI, artificial intelligence, did a search on the internet, and if you do a Google search, now it'll come up with not just dictionaries, like if you're looking for dictionary definitions, like you look for Oxford or New American Dictionary or something like that. A Google AI search says this, and this is part of culture now. AI is part of culture now. And so it summarizes all these definitions of what culture is. Cultural expression is a term that refers to the way in which cultural values, meanings, and identities are conveyed through creativity. It can include a wide range of artistic and cultural activities such as music, dance, art, design, names, signs and symbols, performances, ceremonies, architectural forms, and handicrafts. Cultural expression can also manifest in the way people think about and experience the world, including how they consider their health and medicine. Examples of cultural expression include traditional cultural expression. Sometimes there's folklore that's passed down through generations, things that are integral parts of a community's identity and heritage. Food, ingredients, and history of culture. can be told through food, Italian pizza, Chinese dumplings, Mexican tacos. There's culture within food, and you see that all the time. With clothing, clothing can be a form of cultural expression. You go to some parts of the world, and men and women wear certain things, and sometimes it's climate-based, sometimes it's based on what materials they had available to make clothes with. That's all cultural things. emotional expression. Studies show that different cultures have distinct differences in how they express emotions. You know, some nations and some people groups are known to be very stoic, and then others are very emotional, or others are very animated, and it's all culture. culture is all around us. What is culture? It's not an easily defined term. The New Dictionary of Theology, one that I like to read sometimes, says, however, if culture is taken to mean the way of thinking and behavior shared by a substantial social grouping, which gives them identity in relation to others, then it is obvious that all persons participate in one culture or another. Part of the impact of the emergence of sizable Christian communities in areas of the world other than Western Europe and North America has been the recognition that the theological traditions of Western Christianity are culturally determined and therefore not universally normative. So how people worship in different parts of the country or different parts of the world, sometimes it takes on different forms because of the culture in which it is in. Culture changes from people group to people group. You just ask somebody from the south a question and ask somebody from the north a question about culture, it's going to be different. Different taste, different things. You ask somebody from the mountain, he may like Appalachian type mountain music. And you ask somebody from the city, he may like a different type of music. And a lot of that is based on what their culture is. A man in Russia or Germany or Korea, he's gonna live life and look at things a lot different than the American male today. And it's because of where they're at and the culture in which they are living. Culture is found in society, in states, in geography, in schools, in sports teams, in entertainment, in families. And culture is very context-driven. It's very local and environmental, it's relational, and it's experiential. It's something that all of us experience every day. So let's look at our passage here. We'll begin in Romans 3, verse 21. and you can follow along, it'll also be on the screen. The scripture tells us, but now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets. Now, the book of Romans is penned by the Apostle Paul. It's known as the Constitution of Christianity. A lot of great doctrine is found in this book. It's an amazing book. And let's continue there. He says, even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe, for there is no difference. For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." And coming short, that's an archery metaphor, and they would know what that term meant back in the The Roman culture, somebody's taking a bow and arrow, and they come up short of their target. That's the imagery. That's how this word was used back then. And that's how we come short. We don't hit the mark. We miss the target with our lives. So let's all read verse 23. For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. We miss it. We miss the mark. The best worldview, the best attempt, the best try that you give falls short of God's glory. being justified just as if I... just as if I have the righteousness of Christ, freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation. That means a removal of the wrath is taking place. Faith in his blood to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are passed through the forbearance of God. Is my mic dropping out a little bit? Is that a battery issue, guys? Do you know? Not a battery issue, it's just an issue. Okay. Isn't that wonderful? Oh, man, I love it when stuff doesn't work. I'm kidding. Notice this, to declare in verse 26, I say at this time his righteousness that he might be just in the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. Notice verse 27, where's the boasting then? I mean, if we could live a life and boast about our own righteousness, he says, where's that? We're not going to find it. We're not going to find that righteousness. It is excluded. He says it's not going to be there. By what? By what law? No. Of works? Nay. But by the law of faith. I wrote beside this in my Bible, the non-biblical worldviews do not. Non-biblical worldviews do not work. Should I grab a handheld microphone? Would that help maybe? So let's keep reading them. Therefore, we conclude that a man is justified by faith, just as if I never sinned, by faith without the deeds of the law. He it is, is he the God of the Jews only? Is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also. Seen it is one God which shall justify the circumcision by faith, and uncircumcision through faith, do we make void the law through faith? God forbid. Yay, we establish the law. Here's just a phenomenal, a fabulous passage here that every Christian needs to know about. Is this working now? Is it working? You can hear me okay? Okay, Paul is talking to the Roman people about Jewish law, but he's not really talking about Jewish law. He's talking about how Jesus actually fulfilled Judaism. He fulfilled the Jewish law himself by coming to this earth and being the one who died on the cross, being that final and perfect sacrifice. The law is not the only way to see God in His righteousness. He's talking about in a way that these Christians then, as they are following Jesus, that they also are a testimony then to the Lord and to His righteousness as well. So, God demonstrates relationship, which is the Bible worldview. God sent His Son. Jesus willingly, freely came to take your sin. That's relationship. We can have fellowship with God the Father through the person of Jesus Christ. That's relationship. So when we talk worldviews, That has to do with, in the Bible, a Bible worldview, its relationship. Now, why are you suddenly talking about worldviews when you're talking about culture? Because your worldview affects your culture. Your worldview is essentially your culture because culture is how you tend to look at things. And a worldview is what shapes the culture of your own life, the culture of your family, your church, and our society. So notice here in verses 25 through 26, we find his blood is being declared. And this should be part of our Christian culture, and this certainly should be our worldview. In verse 25, he says, whom God hath set forth, that means to set before publicly, to put on display, he set Jesus forth publicly to be a propitiation, to remove the wrath. We deserve wrath. You deserve judgment. I deserve condemnation. But propitiation is the removal of divine wrath. Jesus's death is the means that turns God's wrath from the sinner. And notice how this happens. To declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past. All your past, all your sin, all your wrong ever done, that's all covered and cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ. And that's then declared. He says it's declared then as pointing out a proof. That's pointing out a proof. He says to declare, I say at this time, his righteousness that he might be just. and a justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. And here we have his blood is being declared. That means our past sins are forgiven. How does that affect you today? Your present life has been declared righteous. You know, today you have a lot of people on both sides of the political aisle claiming moral superiority and righteousness. But the fact is, verse 23 says, all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. And all this is ridiculous, people pointing out the unrighteousness of other Christians sometimes. And it's true, we're all unrighteous. It's the righteousness of Jesus. That's what makes the difference, the righteousness of Christ. Our present life is declared righteous, all because of His blood. Not your works, not your sacrifice, it's His sacrifice. This worldview is sacrificial, it's relational, it's all possible by the blood of Christ. Notice in verse 26, His righteousness is declared. And here he says, I've declared as his righteousness that he might be just. He's the one who is the justifier. And that has to do with, like I've already mentioned, it's like this righteous coin, just as if I never sinned and just as if I have the righteousness of Christ. Well, it's the righteousness of Jesus. He's pointing out Jesus is legit. Jesus is authentic. He is genuine. Jesus is the real deal. And he's making that case here by declaring his righteousness. Then there's no boasting in verse 27. There's no boasting. And I mentioned this already. I wrote in beside that text, non-biblical worldviews do not work because he asked, where's the boasting? Is it in the law? No. How well are you following the law? How righteous are you by what you're doing? No, it's not what it is. It's Christ and Christ alone. There's no boasting in ourselves. We can brag and boast. Can we brag and boast our way into heaven? Absolutely not. Ephesians 2, 8 and 9 tells us we cannot. We are saved by grace through faith and not of ourselves. It's the gift of God. And then there's that beautiful phrase, not of works, lest any man should boast. So it's not your bragging about yourself that makes a difference. It's not being educated or wealthy or my own self-righteousness or somebody being successful in life. That's not it. No boasting gets it done. Then there's answers for all men. and basically verses 29 through 31, your life and society and your personal culture speaks to a world that's being misled with non-biblical worldviews. Now, every culture is driven by a worldview, and it is the way it is because of how or what the culture believes. And so here's some examples. Materialism will save us. If you just got some more, then everything will be okay. This is also known as consumerism. Okay, if I have this much in my bank account, then I don't have a care in the world, I'll be okay. And that's consumerism, that's materialism. If I just get that new car, if I just get this new device, if I get this and Okay, that's salvation through materialism. That's what I really need is stuff. Then there's education. That's a worldview. That education will solve all of our problems. If you've ever taken a philosophy class any time in the last 50 years, you'll probably hear something about, well, people would just be more educated. There'd be less problems in this world. People go to classes all the time and it seems like there's more problems. People are being taught all kinds of things, and there's still more issues. It's because of our sin nature, and you can't educate morality into people. You can't educate society into becoming a wholesome society. It doesn't work that way. Education will not save us. Well, the more we know, you can know everything in the world, but the fact is we still fall short of the glory of God. Their self or ego will save us, and that means life centers around me. Life centers around me and that's ego driven, it's egocentric. This is also known as individualism. This is why Burger King says, you know, have it your way. This is why people are like, hey, you do what you want to do, be who you want to be, change if you want to change, all this different stuff. And it's individualism is what it is. New age, new things will save us. That's new age. anything new, like we need a new era, we need a new golden era, we need to fast forward past this time that we're in and find something new that's new age. And sometimes it's mystical type stuff, but basically it's just like from where we are, we need to find something new. And if we get something new, that new thing will rescue us. There's also scientific naturalism. Science will save us, some will say. Others would suggest that government will save us. Government is the issue, and that's known in, in theory terms, that's known as postmodern tribalism, postmodern tribalism. Sometimes you'll hear people talk about communism or socialism, and those are also ideas which means the government will save you, and that's not a Bible worldview. Health and nutrition. Oh, if you just ate healthy, if you just took your multivitamins, you would be, this, everything would be okay. Then, okay, that's not salvation. There's no salvation there. Here's another big one. This is really big today. Therapy will save us. Therapy will save us. And so you have therapeutic counselors, you have clinical counselors, you have people that are psychologists and psychiatrists and counselors. I'm a counselor, but let me tell you something, counseling does not save a person either. Therapy, therapy will not save. Morals will save us. If we just had more morals, if we had more laws that taught morals, and we have a lot of laws already, it's not a matter of new laws that teach morality. Moral relativism is what that's called. And that won't work either. These things cannot save us. we fall short of the glory of God. Now, how can we evaluate culture? Let's say you're looking at something in society or you have a question about something. Let me give you four worldview questions. One of my seminary teachers wrote a book about this. Great questions. These are very helpful questions to determine what the worldview is. It's who are we? where are we, what is wrong, and what is the answer? You can use these questions to determine the culture's worldview. So what is the cultural item that you're looking at? It could be an idea, it could be a thing, it could be a film, it could be a song, it could be a politician. You could filter through these people and these things through these questions. And I'll give you some examples of this. Let's talk about music for just a moment. Here's Taylor Swift. She is absolutely popular, especially among young adults and young people and teenagers. And one of her best-selling songs this year, brand-new song this year on the ERA's tour, is I Can Do It With a Broken Heart. I Can Do It With a Broken Heart. So let's analyze this song and use this as an example. I Can Do It With A Broken Heart is a song by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift from her 11th studio album, here's the name of the album, The Tortured Poets Department. The Tortured Poets Department. Here's how the song goes. I can read your mind. She's having a time of her life. There in her glittering prime, the lights refract sequined stars off her silhouette every night. I can show you lies. One, two, three, four. Because I'm a real tough kid, I can handle my curse word. They said, babe, you gotta fake it till you make it, and I did. Lights, camera, curse word, smile. even when you want to die. He said he'd love me all his life, but that life was too short. Breaking down, I hit the floor. All the pieces of me shattered as the crowd was chanting, more. I was grinning like I'm winning. I was hitting my marks because I can't do it. I can do it with a broken heart. One, two, three, four. I'm so depressed. I act like it's my birthday every day. I'm so obsessed with him, but he avoids me like the plague. I cry a lot, but I'm so productive it's an art. You know you're good when you can even do it with a broken heart. I can hold my breath. I've done it since he left. I keep finding his things in drawers, crucial evidence. I didn't imagine the whole thing. I'm sure I can pass this test. One, two, three, four. It goes back to the other course there. Who am I? Taylor Swift. Who am I? I'm a multimillionaire with thousands of followers called Swifties who follow me. I'm a successful businesswoman with tremendous success. People often call me and my brand once in a generation. I'm an influencer in the arts and beyond in America and in other parts of the world. Where am I? I live in the United States. I travel the world. I cannot go anywhere without being recognized and followed. I am in Nashville, Tennessee, Arrowhead Stadium sometimes, and anywhere my Arrows tour takes me. I live in a prosperous land with millions of people streaming my songs. Music and fashionable clothing are my brands that people find a way to purchase in this land. I'm more significant than the labels, music streaming services, and the NFL. What's the problem, Taylor? This is all from her song. I want to die. I'm depressed because of all the attention. I am incredibly productive and empty inside. Faking it till I make it is not working for me. Grinning like I'm winning. But my heart is broken. All the pieces of me shattered as the crowd was chanting more, but I have no more to give. I am insecure in who I am as a young woman and searching for where my value comes from. What's the answer, Taylor? I need to toughen up. I need to act like it's my birthday every day. I didn't read that part to you, but it's part of the song. I need to act like it's my birthday every day to try to cope with the fame and the fortune and expectations. I am the answer to my problems. I will fake it till I make it, even though I'm dying inside. What's the worldview? Individualism. Ego. I will save myself. I will deliver myself. Taylor needs something more. She needs Jesus. She needs Christ. While talented and coveted after and looked up to, Taylor is empty inside. Her wild success in entertainment, business, and life have left her feeling a hole in her heart. multiple relationships with successful men have not fulfilled her innermost longing. After growing up in the Bible belt, singing in church and hearing of Christianity in her youth, Taylor has forsaken the truth in search for her own truth. And it's leaving her empty inside. Let's contrast this to another song, a newer musician. Her name is Megan Woods. The song is The Truth. It was released like two or three weeks ago or something. Here's how the song goes. How many times can you hear the same lie before you start to believe it? The enemy keeps whispering to me, I swear these days it's all that I'm hearing. I used to know who I was. Now I look in the mirror and I'm not so sure. Lord, I don't want to listen to the lies anymore. The truth is I am my father's child, capital F for father. I make him, capital H, I make him proud and I make him smile. I was made in the image of a perfect king and he looks at me and wouldn't change a thing. The truth is I am truly loved by a God who's good. When I'm not good enough, I don't belong to the lies. I belong to you and that's the truth. When I feel there's so much noise, living rent free in my head, heaven finds me in a still small voice and it sounds like grace instead. You remind me who I am when I look in the mirror and I'm not so sure, Lord. I don't want to listen to the lies anymore. The truth is I am my father's child. I make him proud and I make him smile. I was made in the image of the perfect king and he looks at me and wouldn't change a thing. The truth is I am truly loved by a God who's good when I'm not good enough. I don't belong to the lies. I belong to the truth. I belong to God and that's the truth. Let's analyze this song. Who am I? I'm a young female vocalist just starting out to create music and my ministry has started to be published and promoted in the music field. Where am I? I'm a young woman living in the Northeast and I look in the mirror often while culture emphasizes appearance and look, sometimes I'm looking in the mirror. What's the problem, Megan? The problem is the enemy plants lies in my mind and the noise sometimes lives rent-free in my head. I am insecure in who I am as a young woman and searching for where my value comes from. So, Megan, what's the answer? The answer is I'm a child of the perfect king. I am valuable to God and the lies will no longer control my thoughts. My value and my self-worth comes from God. My value and identity are found in Jesus. And like her song says, God smiles at me and it's good enough when I know he's good enough when I know I'm not good enough. What a difference in perspective. You see, that's a worldview. Megan's talking about a relationship with Jesus is where she finds her identity and she knows the truth, where Taylor is still searching for the truth when she's come up short every time. What a difference. Here's Megan's testimony. She comes from a small town in Massachusetts, not too far from here. And God planted a love for music in her heart at a really young age, even though she grew up in a Christian home with an amazing Christian family. She didn't have a personal relationship with God. Throughout her entire life, Megan always struggled with self-worth and believing she was worthy of love. She felt like no matter where she turned, she was never good enough, which led her to the lowest point in her life. In that very moment, she got a phone call from a close person in her life who said they had just had a near-death experience happen to them. And they said this over the phone, word for word, Megan, Jesus Christ is real. In her lowest, most desperate moment, she came to believe in Jesus for herself. Megan then got herself into church. She got into the Bible and she started leading worship in her home church with music. And God changed every last thing about her life, she says. Now I want nothing more than to tell people about Jesus through my music and to share the story of the work that God has done in my life. developing her relationship with Christ through her songwriting, began the process of healing, leaning into God's love after coming from a place of worthlessness, shows up in all the songs that she writes. She says, I hope people come to know Jesus how I've come to know him. She says she wants people to know that God, that Jesus loves them. It's a worldview issue. It's a worldview thing. The worldview makes a difference. Either Jesus is the answer or yourself is the answer. Jesus said, for whosoever will save his life shall lose it, but whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. By the way, a conscientious parent, I think you should purchase the music for your kids. I don't know if, I don't think that I would use Instagram or YouTube or TikTok to raise your kids. All that stuff has commercials, and sometimes the commercials are worse than the songs that they could be streaming. I mean, I've heard some of the commercials, they're like, here's where to get an abortion, here's how not to get an STD, and here's what you need to do about this and that. This is the commercials in between a lot of these things. I think you should just buy the music then. It'd be better. Don't let a cell phone raise your child. How about voting? This is a worldview thing. Let's talk civic discourse for just a moment. Proposition 1, is a worldview proposition. It's written in a deceptive way to sound like a good idea. I encourage you, turn the ballot over. Now, this is directly from our New York State webpage, the actual state webpage. And here's what it used to say. This is what they're proposing to change. Everything that's underlying is what they're proposing to change. Notice the entire second paragraph. If you take out all the other underlying lines in the first paragraph, the new law is double the size of the old law. They added a lot of stuff to it. No person shall be denied the equal protection of the laws of the state or any subdivision thereof. No person shall be, shall because of race, color, they added ethnicity, national origin, age, disability, creed, or religion, or a big line, or sex, including sexual orientation, sexual or gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, pregnancy outcomes, and reproductive health care and autonomy. be subjected to any discrimination on his or her they took his or her out and added there to include whatever person may say they are civil rights by any other person or by any firm corporation or institution or by the state or any agency or subdivision of the state pursuant to law they added pursuant to law so it's it's prep for prosecution And then here's the whole second paragraph. Nothing in this section shall invalidate or prevent the adoption of any law, regulation, promotion, or program or practice that is designed to prevent or dismantle discrimination on the basis of a characteristic listed in this section, nor shall any characteristic listed in this section be interpreted to interfere with, limit, or deny the civil rights of any person based upon any other characteristic identified in this section. So which worldview is this catering to? It would be individualism, which effectively is be your own god. Be your own God. We don't need God to tell us male and female. We don't need God to protect and preserve or promote or say define what life is. We will do that ourselves. Here's some of the problems with this. Can it be used to force a worldview that's not right on churches and on pastors and on Christians? It's designed to do that. It creates a specialized group of people taking out the his and her to their the original previous text. We would agree with that. Treat people fairly. That's the original. Be nice to people. Treat them fairly. That's enough. That's the Bible. Treat people with love and compassion and care. That's enough. But you're adding all of this. This proposition is open-ended on purpose to allow for special treatment classes of people with transgender. Abortion is a major driver. It's a backdoor for abortion and to prosecute those who stand for a Bible worldview on these matters. Just Monday, I received an email from the education department and the health department told the education department in conjunction that schools, public schools and non-public schools are required to provide feminine hygiene products in not only the girls but also the boys' restrooms. That's a mandate or something like that. Okay, so this proposition is poised to act upon people who don't agree with that. Gender confused people, transitioning people, people seeking sex on demand, which results in abortion on demand, is a result of a selfish worldview, the result of an unfulfilled life, and people who are in pursuit of replacing God because I will define myself. But we're defined by God. You're a man because God made you a man. You're a woman because God made you a woman. And that life is valuable to God because all life is valuable to God. No matter what people say or what this law could be adopted would say, the Christian biblical worldview does not affirm confusion, but lovingly speaks truth into those around us. So, should Christians participate in voting? Yeah, absolutely. And go try to make a difference with things like this. because the roosters are gonna come home to roost really soon in our state and for people like us when rules like this may be passed. So who are we? We are beings created in God's image. Where are we? We are in the world God created. What is wrong? Say it is what's wrong. What's the answer? Faith in Jesus. The gospel is the answer. Jesus Christ is the answer. I have a lot of other things I'd like to share, like the film Gladiator. There's an article that was released. It's about to be released in about one minute. It was coming out at 11 o'clock today. And you can go to truthdefended.org and you'll see a worldview analysis of this film. There's a second film, I guess, coming out about that one. Adrian Monk, I think I'll save this. We're running out of time. I was going to leave you with something happy. If you want to stay a little bit, I can tell you. Adrian Monk. Oh, I'll go ahead and do it. You're so in tune. You're so in tune with this worldview. Okay, take just a little bit. Adrian Monk. Who am I? I'm a former police detective who now serves as an advisor to the police department. I have an assistant, Natalie, who is constantly with me. Where am I? I am in San Francisco, California. I have my own immaculately clean apartment. I live in an area that has many crimes to solve. What's the problem? Finding the assailant in some criminal cases is difficult, so the captain calls me in to help. Germs are everywhere. What's the problem? Germs are everywhere. I have to have my specific brand of bottled water. I can't drink anything else. I suffer from anxiety, fear, and a plethora of other phobias. My wife, Trudy, died in a car bomb. I have many other moments of reflection. on her? What's the answer, Monk? What's the answer? Dr. Kruger is my therapist. I see him three times a week and on some days twice daily. Therapy is my method of coping. Therapy is my savior. I don't know what I would do without Dr. Kruger. Natalie helps me with the germs by handing me those wipes constantly. Here's a Bible worldview comparison and reflection then. As a fictional character, Adrienne Monk demonstrates a worldview of therapy as savior, dealing with Many phobias and in near constant fear, Adrian leans into Natalie each day and mainly relies on Dr. Kruger throughout the week. As an intelligent police detective with a keen eye for detail, Monk has seen a lot of tragedy that culminates with his wife, Trudy, dying in a car bombing with a bomb possibly intended for Monk. With a consistent sense of guilt and melancholy, Monk takes cases and solves crimes and has some moments of brilliance and relationship breakthroughs with his coworkers and Natalie. However, overall, the therapy still has him coming back for more therapy. The grief of losing Trudy and the shame of being dismissed from the police are constantly weighing down Adrian. Monk could see that therapy can only do so much, helping his thinking and improve his relationships. He could see the shallowness of therapy and find true emotional healing from the great physician. who wants to soothe his soul and calm his anxious heart. While compulsive cleanliness and quirkiness and therapy are monks' go-to, Jesus has made a life of peace, boldness, and contentment available to him. All of this to say, we live in a culture and you can analyze whatever it is, fictional account, non-fiction, what you're voting for, what films or music, analyze those things. And when you're talking to people, you could talk to them about Jesus. What would help Taylor Swift? Jesus. What helped Megan get through her young adulthood? Jesus. So, whenever a co-worker is humming a song or singing a song, figure out what the song is. Find out what their worldview is, then help them find the answer. Whatever the most popular next film is, you can use that to talk to people about Jesus. Go read that article about Gladiator. It has actually a great demonstration of redemption in it. And it's really amazing when you think about it. So use culture to share Christ. Notice that last verse that was on the screen for just a moment. For all have sinned. and come short of the glory of God. If you've not yet trusted Christ, maybe you have one of these other worldviews you're believing in, trust Christ alone. He has a relationship that's available to you. You can know God the Father through God the Son by believing in what Jesus did. Let's talk following the service. Ask Jesus to be your Savior today. Whatever other worldviews you've seen, they don't work. They fall short. Let's run to Christ. Let's take a moment to pray and visit with the Lord. Thank you for your good attention here today. The first question is this. You can see it on the screen. Lord, help my worldview to be biblically informed. Let my worldview affect my choices. My worldview affects my choices. I want a Bible worldview. I need my worldview to be biblically informed. Is that your prayer? Anybody like that? Yes. Study the scripture. Read the Bible. Analyze what you've been thinking about. Number two, I pray for my family, my church, my community. to develop a Bible worldview. I want that relational worldview in myself, my family, our church, our society. God, help me to pray for that. I'm going to pray that we have more of a Bible worldview. Yes, a lot of hands are raised for that. And finally this, are you a Christian yet? Believe the gospel. Have you asked Jesus to be your savior? Trust him today. Let's talk following the service. Father, we thank you. for the Bible worldview, this relational worldview. We thank you for your love. So much love that you sent Jesus, he willingly came and died and rose again, taking our sin, punishment, and suffering for us. And we thank you that he established a path, the path, the way to God, so that we could have relationship with you. We thank you for Christ. If there's one without Jesus as their Savior, we pray that today would be their day. And for the rest of us, as followers of you, let us look at what we're doing what's happening around us, what our choices are, and consider the relational Bible worldview that you've described for us. And Lord, just continue to teach us these things, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, thank you for being here today.