teaching apologetics to children - Calvary Curriculum

23 Pages·2014·0.35 MB·English

by  Daniel Koncur

TEACHING APOLOGETICS TO CHILDREN:
PREPARING CHILDREN TO CONTEND EARNESTLY FOR THE FAITH
PRESENTATION NOTES FOR THE WORKSHOP DELIVERED AT THE CHILDREN'S
MINISTRY CONFERENCE
DANIEL KONCUR
TEMECULA, CALIFORNIA
FEBRUARY, 2014

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CONTENTS
I. What is Apologetics?................................................................................................................3
A. Preparation..........................................................................................................................3
B. Confirmation......................................................................................................................3
II. Why do Apologetics?................................................................................................................4
A. The Bible commands it.......................................................................................................4
B. Culture demands it..............................................................................................................4
C. The results confirm it.........................................................................................................4
III. The Role of Apologetics in Children's Ministry....................................................................5
A. A reasonable approach to one's faith..................................................................................5
B. Laying the groundwork for proper understanding..............................................................5
C. The need to define critical words and concepts..................................................................5
IV. Classroom Apologetics.............................................................................................................5
A. Understanding who Jesus is...............................................................................................5
1.Who is Jesus?...............................................................................................................5
2.Why should we believe Jesus’ claim to be God?..........................................................8
3.Why is it important to understand Jesus is God?.........................................................9
B. Understanding miracles must be possible for Jesus to be God........................................10
1.What is a miracle?......................................................................................................10
2.What if there were no miracles?.................................................................................10
3.Why are miracles possible?........................................................................................11
C. Understanding how Jesus is both God and man...............................................................11
1.If Jesus is God, how is He also a man?.......................................................................11
2.Why did Jesus take on a human nature?.....................................................................12
D. Understanding the Trinity.................................................................................................13
1.How do you explain the Trinity?................................................................................13
2.What is a good example of the Trinity?......................................................................14
E. Understanding the truth about truth..................................................................................15
1.What is truth?.............................................................................................................15
2.How do we understand truth?.....................................................................................15
F. According to Jesus the Bible is the Word of God.............................................................16
1.Why is the Bible true?................................................................................................16
2.Is all of the Bible true?...............................................................................................16
V. Gaining Perspective...............................................................................................................18
A. The Role of Apologetics in Your Classroom....................................................................18
B. You can do this!................................................................................................................18
VI. Suggested Reading.................................................................................................................20

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What is Apologetics?
Preparation
I. Enables us to be ready to give a reason/defense for our Christian faith.
A. “Sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to
everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness
and reverence.” (1 Peter 3:15)
B. “For it is only right for me to feel this way about you all, because I have you in my heart,
since both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, you all
are partakers of grace with me.” (Philippians 1:7)
II. Allows us to know how to answer each person.
“Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you
should respond to each person.” (Colossians 4:6)
III. Communicates the necessity for contending for the faith.
“Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to
write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the
saints.” (Jude 3)
Confirmation
I. Allows us to reason the gospel.
A. “Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was being provoked within
him as he was observing the city full of idols. So he was reasoning in the synagogue with
the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles, and in the market place every day with those who
happened to be present.” (Acts 17:16-17)
B. Not only for the sake of others, which will naturally flow from our understanding, but for
the confirmation of our own faith.
II. Doubt will eventually arise whether from within or without, and if ignored, will lead to further
doubt.
A. In may ways doubt is like leaven, it will have influence over us.
B. Remember: “a little leaven leavens the whole lump.” (1 Corinthians 5:6)
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III. Apologetics establishes the viability of theism, laying the groundwork for the foundation of one's
faith in Jesus Christ!
A. Apologetics confirms Christians in their faith.
B. "So that you may know the exact truth about the things you have been taught." (Luke 1:4)
Why do Apologetics?
The Bible commands it.
I. “Sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who
asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence.” (1
Peter 3:15)
II. “For it is only right for me to feel this way about you all, because I have you in my heart, since
both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers
of grace with me.” (Philippians 1:7)
Culture demands it.
I. "Good philosophy must exist to answer bad philosophy." – C.S. Lewis
A. Relativism: the popular idea that truth is relative.
What is true to me is not necessarily truth for you.
B. Pluralism: the idea that all opposing beliefs and opinions are true.
C. Naturalism: the idea that there are no miracles or supernatural intervention in this world.
Naturalism is prevalent in atheism, pantheism, deism, and agnosticism. It is unfortunate that
today many in the church also hold to naturalism, embracing science over God.
II. Apologetics allows us to declare:
A. Absolute truth in a relativistic time.
B. An exclusive message to a pluralistic mind-set.
C. A supernatural view in a naturalistic society.
The results confirm it.
I. A belief not based in the truth of reality is not worth having.
Sincerity is not a measure of truth, for many are sincerely wrong.
II. God created humans as rational beings and He expects them to live rationally.
A. Evidence of truth should precede faith.
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B. Belief that God is (i.e., exists) gives evidential and rational basis for the confidence
needed to establish belief in God.
The Role of Apologetics in Children's Ministry
A reasonable approach to one's faith.
I. Faith is not unreasonable and is based on fact.
II. Truth can go beyond reason but it cannot go against reason.
III. God must exist before someone is able to believe in God.
Laying the groundwork for proper understanding.
I. Evidence is a step of faith in the light, not a leap in the dark.
II. Apologetics provides a foundation for understanding and accepting the centrality of Christ.
The need to define critical words and concepts.
I. Understand that context gives a word its meaning.
A. E.g., bumper sticker: “Tolerance, believe in it.”
1. Tolerance, in traditional context, means enduring an idea, practice, or occurrence
with forbearance; it almost always implies a difference in opinion.
2. In this context it is presented as an ideology, one in which we are instructed to place
our faith in and accept.
II. The words we use, often times, obscure what we are trying to convey when we are not explicit in
our definitions of those words.
III. It is an unfortunate need today to provide apologetic reasoning to many of our words and
concepts because the world has presented many of them in light of its pluralism and naturalism.
Classroom Apologetics
Understanding who Jesus is.
I. Who is Jesus?
A. In the Bible Jesus claimed to be God.
1. He claimed to be the “I AM” of Exodus 3:14.
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“Jesus said to them, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.’” (John
8:58)
2. He forgave sins which only God can do.
Jesus said, “Son, your sins are forgiven you;” in response the scribes thought, “Who can
forgive sins but God alone?” (Mark 2:5,7)
3. He claimed He should be honored just as the Father is honored.
Jesus said, “All should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor
the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.” (John 5:23)
4. He said He was the Jewish Messiah who is God.
For evidence that the Jewish Messiah was considered God see Isaiah 9:6; Psalm 45:6;
110:1; Zechariah 12:10.
a) "The woman said to Him, ‘I know the Messiah is coming’…Jesus said to her,
'I who speak to you am He.’” (John 4:25-26).
b) “The high priest asked Him…, 'Are you the Christ [Messiah], the Son of the
Blessed?' Jesus said, 'I am. And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the
right hand of the Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.' Then the
high priest said, ‘What further need do we have of witness? You have heard
the blasphemy!'" (Mark 14:61-64).
5. He accepted worship on numerous occasions which is due only to God.
a) The Bible forbids worshipping anyone but God.
“Jesus said to him, ‘Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the
LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve."” (Matthew 4:10); see also Exodus
20:1-4 and Deuteronomy 5:6-9.
b) Jesus, however, accepted worship from:
(1) A blind man;
“Then he said, ‘Lord, I believe!’ And he worshiped Him.” (John 9:38)
(2) A healed leper;
“And behold, a leper came and worshiped Him, saying, ‘Lord, if You are
willing, You can make me clean.’” (Matthew 8:2)
(3) The Gerasene demoniac;
“When he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and worshiped Him.” (Mark 5:6)
(4) A ruler;
“While He spoke these things to them, behold, a ruler came and worshiped
Him…” (Matthew 9:18)
(5) His disciples;
“Then those who were in the boat came and worshiped Him, saying, ‘Truly
You are the Son of God.’” (Matthew 14:33)
(6) A Canaanite woman;
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“Then she came and worshiped Him, saying, ‘Lord, help me!’” (Matthew
15:25)
(7) The mother of James and John;
“Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons came to Him with her sons, kneeling
down…” (Matthew 20:20)
(8) The women at the tomb;
“So they came and held Him by the feet and worshiped Him.” (Matthew
28:9)
(9) His disciples at the resurrection.
“When they saw Him, they worshiped Him.” (Matthew 28:17)
(10) Doubting Thomas;
“And Thomas answered and said to Him, ‘My Lord and my God!’” (John
20:28)
6. He put His words on the level with God’s.
a) Jesus said, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means
pass away.” (Matthew 24:35)
b) Jesus said, “He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that
which judges him—the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last
day.” (John 12:48)
7. He asked His disciples to pray in His Name.
Jesus said, “And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be
glorified in the Son.” (John 14:13)
8. He accepted the titles of Deity.
a) “And Thomas answered and said to Him, ‘My Lord and my God!’” (John
20:28), and Jesus commended him.
b) “Simon Peter answered and said, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living
God.’ Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah,
for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in
heaven.’” (Matthew 16:16–17)
B. There is no mistaking the claims Jesus made, and the reactions from the Jewish leaders
indicate they understood He claimed to be God.
1. “They [the Jewish leaders] plotted to put Him to death.” (John 11:53)
2. “They took up stones to throw at Him.” (John 8:59)
3. “They sought to lay hands on Him.” (Mark 12:12)
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4. “The chief priests, the elders, and all the council sought false testimony against
Jesus to put Him to death.” (Matthew 26:59)
II. Why should we believe Jesus’ claim to be God?
A. Jesus’ claim to be God is confirmed by three sets of miracles.
1. Jesus’ claim is confirmed by miraculous predictions (prophecy).
a) Jesus was born to a virgin (which Mary was).
(1) “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin
shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.”
(Isaiah 7:14)
(2) “Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have
found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb
and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name JESUS.” (Luke 1:30–
31)
b) Jesus was born in a manger in Bethlehem.
(1) “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are little among the
thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to Me the One to
be Ruler in Israel, whose goings forth are from of old, from
everlasting.” (Micah 5:2)
(2) “…Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the
king…” (Matthew 2:1)
2. Jesus’ claim is confirmed by a miraculous life.
There are over 60 miracles recorded in the Gospels.
a) Jesus turns water into wine.
“This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory; and
His disciples believed in Him.” (John 2:11 )
b) Jesus heals the blind man.
“And Jesus said, ‘For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not
see may see, and that those who see may be made blind.’” (John 9:39).
c) Jesus lived a sinless life.
“…Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His
steps: ‘Who committed no sin, nor was deceit found in His mouth.’” (1 Peter 2:21–
22)
3. Jesus’ claim is confirmed by a miraculous resurrection.
a) Jesus was crucified, died, and rose from the dead.