2026-7-19 | Apologetics 1 | Pastor Chris Chu

[00:03:55]Heat. Heat.

[00:05:25]Heat. Heat.

[00:10:33]Good morning, ECBC.

[00:10:36]Um, this is the uh first service, English service, 9:00. And I would also welcome those who are online. I encourage you all to stand up as we are about to redirect our heart to sing to God.

[00:10:56]And we'll sing yet not I but through Christ in me.

[00:11:10]What gift of grace is Jesus my redeemer?

[00:11:18]There is no more for heaven now to give.

[00:11:25]He is my joy, my righteousness and freom.

[00:11:32]My steadfast love, my deep and boundless peace.

[00:11:39]To this I hope my hope is only Jesus.

[00:11:46]For my life is fully bound to him.

[00:11:53]>> Oh how strange and divine I can sing.

[00:11:58]All is mine yet not I but through Christ in me.

[00:12:09]The night is dark.

[00:12:16]The night is dark. But I am not forsaken.

[00:12:23]For by my side, the Savior, he will stay.

[00:12:30]I labor on in weakness and rejoicing.

[00:12:37]For in my need, my power is displayed.

[00:12:43]To this I hope my shepherd will defend me.

[00:12:50]Through the deepest valley he will lead.

[00:12:57]And oh that night has been one. and I shall overcome.

[00:13:04]Yet not I, but through Christ in me.

[00:13:15]No faith I dread.

[00:13:20]No fate I dread. I know I am forgiver.

[00:13:27]The future show the price it has been paid.

[00:13:33]For Jesus fled and suffered for my pardon and he was raised to overthrow the grave.

[00:13:46]To this I hold. My sin has been defeated.

[00:13:54]Jesus now and never is my plea.

[00:14:00]Oh the chains are released. I can sing I am free at night but through Christ in me.

[00:14:16]With every breath I long to follow Jesus, for he has said that he will bring me home.

[00:14:30]And day by day I know he will renew me until I stand with joy before the throne.

[00:14:43]To this I hold. My hope is only Jesus.

[00:14:50]Glory glory ever more to him.

[00:14:56]When the praise is complete, still my lips shall repeat yet not I, but through Christ in me. To this I hold. To this I hope. My hope is only Jesus.

[00:15:16]All the glory ever more to him.

[00:15:22]Oh, when the race is complete, still might note and not I, but through Christ in me.

[00:15:35]For when the race is complete, still my lips shall repeat. Yet not I, but through Christ in me.

[00:15:53]Yet not I, but through Christ in me.

[00:16:05]We'll continue to sing in Christ alone.

[00:16:17]Christ alone. In Christ alone my hope is found.

[00:16:24]He is my light, my strength, my song.

[00:16:29]This cornerstone, this solid ground, firm through the fiercest drought and storm. What heights of love, what depth of peace, when fears are still, when striving seas, my comforter, my all in all here in the love of Christ.

[00:17:00]in Christ alone who took on flesh.

[00:17:06]Fullness of God in helpless babe.

[00:17:11]This gift of love and righteousness scorned by the ones he came to save.

[00:17:21]Still on that cross as Jesus died, the wrath of God was satisfied.

[00:17:31]For every sin on him was laid.

[00:17:37]Here in the death of Christ, I live there in the ground.

[00:17:44]There in the ground his body lay.

[00:17:49]Light of the world by darkness slay. Then bursting forth in glorious day.

[00:18:00]Ah from the grave he rose again.

[00:18:04]And as he stands in victory since curse has lost its grip on me. For I am his and he is mine.

[00:18:19]Born with the precious blood of Christ.

[00:18:29]No guilt in life, no fear in death.

[00:18:35]This is the power of Christ in me. From life's first cry to final breath, Jesus commands my destiny.

[00:18:49]No power in hell, no spir of man can ever pluck me from his hand till he returns or calls me home.

[00:19:04]Here in the power of Christ I'll stand.

[00:19:09]No power of hell, no scheme of man can ever pl me from his hand till he returns or calls me home.

[00:19:25]Here in the power of Christ I'll stand.

[00:19:37]Today's scripture reading is from Philippians 2:es 5 to1 11.

[00:19:43]In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus, who being in very nature God did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage. Rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness, and being found in appearance as a man. He humbled himself by becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross.

[00:20:14]Therefore, God exalted him to be the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus, every knee shall bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledged that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

[00:21:04]The head that once withorns is crowned with glory now.

[00:21:16]The Savior knelt to wash our feet.

[00:21:23]Now at his feet we bow.

[00:21:32]>> The one who wore our sin and shame.

[00:21:39]Now robed in mesty.

[00:21:44]The radiant they are now shines for all to see.

[00:22:00]>> Your name, your name is victory.

[00:22:06]All praise will rise to Christ our king.

[00:22:13]Your name, your name is victory.

[00:22:19]All praise will rise to Christ our king.

[00:22:38]The fear that held us now gives way to him who is our peace.

[00:22:49]His final breath upon the cross is now a blind in me.

[00:23:04]Your name, your name is victory.

[00:23:11]All praise will rise to Christ our king.

[00:23:17]Your name, your name is victory.

[00:23:23]All praise will rise to Christ our king.

[00:23:44]By your spirit I will rise from the ashes of defeat.

[00:23:50]The resurrecting king is resurrecting me. In your name I come alive to declare your victory.

[00:24:03]The resurrected king is resurrected in me. By your spirit I will rise from the ashes of defeat. The resurrected king is resurrected in me. In your name I come alive to declare your victory.

[00:24:28]The resurrected king is resurrected in me.

[00:24:38]The tomb where solders wash in vain was borrowed for three days.

[00:24:49]His body there would not remain.

[00:24:56]Our God has robbed the grave.

[00:25:01]Our God has rocked the grave.

[00:25:09]Your name, your name is victory.

[00:25:16]All praise will rise to Christ our king.

[00:25:22]Your name, your name is victory.

[00:25:28]All praise will rise to Christ our king.

[00:25:45]your light.

[00:25:47]Shine your light and let the whole world see.

[00:25:52]Singing for the glory of the risen king.

[00:25:58]Jesus, shine your light and let the whole world see.

[00:26:04]We're singing for the glory of the risen king.

[00:26:11]Savior.

[00:26:13]He can move the mountain.

[00:26:16]My God is mighty to save. He is mighty to save forever.

[00:26:26]Father of salvation.

[00:26:29]He rose and conquered the grave. Jesus conered the grave.

[00:27:02]Everyone needs compassion.

[00:27:05]Love that's never failing.

[00:27:10]Let me mercy fall on me.

[00:27:15]Everyone needs forgiveness.

[00:27:18]Kindness of the Savior, the hope of nations.

[00:27:32]>> Savior, he can move the mountains.

[00:27:37]My God is mighty to say. He is mighty to save.

[00:27:44]Forever author of salvation.

[00:27:49]He rose and conquered the grave. Jesus conquered the grave.

[00:27:57]Shine your light and let the whole world see.

[00:28:02]We're singing for the glory of the risen king.

[00:28:08]Jesus shine your light. Let the whole world see.

[00:28:14]Singing for the glory of the risen king.

[00:28:22]Shine your light and let the whole world see.

[00:28:27]Singing for the glory of the risen king.

[00:28:33]Jesus shine your light and let the whole world see.

[00:28:40]Singing for the glory of the risen king.

[00:28:54]If you please bow your heads with me as I lead us in prayer.

[00:28:59]Father, we come before you through your son Jesus.

[00:29:05]And we acknowledge he is the risen king.

[00:29:08]He has risen from the grave. And because of that, we have hope.

[00:29:14]Father, we pray as we come this morning, there's those of us that are here that have had a great week.

[00:29:21]Others have had a difficult week.

[00:29:25]Father, there's there's among us there's people who need your healing, who need your encouragement.

[00:29:31]So, Father, I pray and ask that you would please encourage, that you please meet us wherever we're at this morning, that you would encourage, you would build up, that you would heal family members, work situations, situations at home. We pray Lord for your grace. We need your mercy. We need your help. We all need your forgiveness.

[00:29:54]We all need your help and strength.

[00:29:57]Lord, we pray for the world around us.

[00:30:01]Pray for the wars that are waging even now in the Middle East, Gaza, in Ukraine, and even Sudan and Myanmar. We pray God for your peace. We know Jesus, you are the prince of peace and we pray that you would bring your peace to a broken world.

[00:30:24]We pray for our governments, our government leaders, the municipal leaders here in the Lower Mainland, our provincial leaders, our federal leaders.

[00:30:37]We pray God you please give them wisdom as they make decisions that impact us all. We pray Lord that you would lead them and guide them and and give them a fear of you that they might lead in your righteousness.

[00:30:52]Father, we pray this morning and ask that you would come again and uh bless, encourage, strengthen, meet with us. We thank you for your goodness, that you are a God of mercy, God of grace, and we give you thanks in Jesus wonderful name. Amen. Well, welcome a special welcome to you those of you that are new this morning. Please turn around, greet your neighbor, and look for somebody who you may not recognize who is new. Make sure you greet them and then invite them downstairs to Tend Forward Cafe afterwards.

[00:31:29]Thank you worship team. Thank you for being here early for the tech team as well for setting everything up for us that we might come and worship this morning. for the greeters at the front of the door uh that welcomed you as you came in. Thank you greeters.

[00:31:44]Just got a couple of announcements for you this morning. The first is the um evangelism workshop. We're in our series of evangelism disciplehip uh going through the book of Acts and we're going to be having a workshop uh coming up on the 16th of August on starting spiritual conversations. Perhaps you're wondering, you know, how do I start those conversations with friends or or people at work or or even family members? uh and we're going to take a look at some natural uh ways of just bringing up the topic of the subject of of Jesus and church and and faith and uh so come and join us. That'll be the 16th after service starting spiritual conversations.

[00:32:24]Secondly, uh the ECBC men's group will be having another event, retirement planning seminar. That's the 25th. And uh please register. It's $15 a person.

[00:32:34]That $15 goes towards a wonderful lunch that'll be prepared uh to cover the food cost. Register with Terry. Terry, can you wave your hand for us? I think Terry is back here. Register with Terry. Uh and we already I think we have almost 22, I think, already that have uh indicated they want to register. Please come for men's fellowship. Uh and uh it'll be a good time 10 o'clock here at the church. And finally, the summer picnic. We are selling tickets. They're $5 for lunch. There's nowhere I think you there's not a free lunch but it's almost free at $5. Uh h so I encourage you to come bring your friends. It's a wonderful time that we have every year we have this lunch. Now it won't be at the same place. The picnic won't be the same venue, same park, foreshore park, but a little bit east and that's because the trees in the area that we usually meet at are the branches are breaking and they've fenced it off saying that it's not safe to meet there. So we'll meet a little bit further east. We'll provide a map for you so you know where it is. But tickets will be on sale downstairs. Uh Rita was organizing that.

[00:33:39]Rita, where are you? Maybe you can wave your hand so that people know who you are. Rita's here somewhere. Maybe she's already setting things up downstairs. So uh come down and get your tickets. U we've um we're looking for about 200.

[00:33:53]We're probably limiting about 200. So make sure you get those tickets. Uh and again, I don't think you can get lunch at that price anywhere else.

[00:34:00]So, I'd like to invite now uh Pastor Chris up. He's going to uh deliver the message for us.

[00:34:17]All right. Well, good morning church. Uh welcome once again to ECBC and to our summer sermon series. And so, over the course of the summer, as Pastor Arthur mentioned, we have been preaching on evangelism. We will continue to do this for uh the next couple of months and then as he also mentioned running workshops uh the first one August 16th uh and then hosting some events particularly uh in the latter half of the year latter part of the year uh and really do encourage you to invite your friends to uh that sort of prep work if you will starts now. All right so we're talking about things now. Uh last week Pastor Arthur did share with us about testimony and the power of personal testimony. that is speaking to what God has done and is doing in your life.

[00:35:01]Right? Testimony is not testifying about yourself. It's testifying about God. And then for this week and next week, we will actually be talking about the topic of apologetics. So this is apologetics one. I think we're one too far. If you go back one, apologetics number one, as it were, as creatively named.

[00:35:21]Uh and honestly, we debated doing apologetics a little bit as a sermon. Uh I think it tends to work a a bit better in a workshop setting where you have more interactions, you can ask more questions, but this is a really really important topic to talk about. And so we're spending two weeks uh in here. And I will say that this sermon is going to be very very different than our normal.

[00:35:45]So, if you're visiting us for the first time or if you're watching online for the first time, uh I apologize in advance that this is going to be fairly dramatically different or outside of our norm. That is, we're going to be talking a lot more probably philosophy today than we normally do. Uh that said, before I get too far ahead of myself, maybe we'll take a step back here and clarify some things. Primarily to ask the question, what in the world is apologetics? All right. If you grew up in church, you know, been to Yel, you've probably heard the term apologetics before, but I'll assume that many of you haven't. So, what in the world is this?

[00:36:23]And quite simply, this comes from the ancient Greek word appallia. All right?

[00:36:29]And appallia means defense. So, actually this has its roots in legal terminology.

[00:36:35]In ancient Greece, if you were to go to the courts, you would have an accuser and the accuser would present their categoria and then the defendant would then present their epiloia or their defense. That's where the word apologetics comes from. And for us today, talking particularly, this is the defense of the Christian faith. All right? But more specifically, this is the defense of the Christian faith based on rationality and logic. All right, based on logic and rationality. And immediately you might think that's kind of weird. Uh isn't that an oxymoron actually? Because faith by definition, belief, it can't be empirically proven, right? That's what faith is. And so if this were solely a logic or rational argument, it's not really faith, is it?

[00:37:32]And that is true. All right, that's true. Faith is not something that is solely based on human logic and reasoning. Uh Hebrews 11:1 famously says, "Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance of what we about what we do not see." Okay, about what we do not see. faith can't be empirically proven. It's true. At the same time, simply because matters of faith can't be empirically proven doesn't mean that there aren't logical or rational reasons to believe. In fact, Romans 1:20 says, "For since the creation of the world, God's invisible qualities, his eternal power, divine nature have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse." And if you think about it, God created the world. That means he created logic and reason. He made people like you and I in his own image. Well, then it shouldn't be at all surprising that there is a strong rational basis for believing in God because well actually it was all part of his design in the first place.

[00:38:42]So yes, we would agree faith cannot be empirically proven, but logic and reason still play an important role in Christian thought and reflection. Now, apologetics is part of that. It's just one aspect of that whole uh idea. It is also just one part of evangelism. It's one part of the conversation, which is why we're talking about it in the next two weeks and looking and thinking about this. It is one piece of an evangelism effort. And so, Pastor Arthur actually brought up this verse last week. I'll bring it up again from a slightly different angle. And this is sort of the the mantra of an apologeticist, an apologist, an apologist, which is 1 Peter chapter 3 15 to 16. And it says, "But in your hearts rever Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.

[00:39:39]But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander."

[00:39:51]And again, Pastor Arthur mentioned this last week when we talked about testimony, right? He said, "You should always have an answer for what you believe." believe why you believe based on your relationship with God, right?

[00:40:02]What God is actually doing in your life, your experience, you should. But in addition to that, we should always be prepared to give a defense or an epiloia, if you will, to everyone who asks.

[00:40:17]And this verse in first Peter, it's found actually in a section that is all about Christian living. is about being a good example in a non-believing non-Christian society. Fact, it talks about suffering even for doing good. And so apologetics is one piece of an example that Christians are to set. It's one part, but it's an important part as our witness. And so that's why we're talking about apologetics today. So apologetics, the defense of the Christian faith based on rationality and logic. But I actually want to go one step further here and I want to talk about our purpose or our goal in practicing apologetics because given what everything I just said about defense and logic, you think about a court case and rationality, you may be inclined to think that the purpose of practicing apologetics is to prove Christianity, right? To prove it to whoever you talk to. So, a friend asks you a difficult question about your faith, then your goal is to present a comprehensive sort of a a bulletproof answer that would satisfy their curiosity and their questions. And maybe if they give you a little push back, perhaps they start to argue, you need to know how to respond to win that disagreement, right? You need to show them that Christianity is a superior way, a superior belief system to whatever they might hold.

[00:41:49]Perhaps that's what you think the goal of apologetics, the purpose of apologetics is. And you say, you know what, the more that I practice this, the more that I learn, the more knowledge that I accumulate, someday I could achieve that, right? To answer every question, to win every argument.

[00:42:07]And in fairness, if any of you are planning to participate in a formal structured debate with an atheist, then that is probably the type of apologetics that you should be practicing, that you should think about, right? I mean, if you're going to go up on a stage and debate with someone professionally, then that is the goal. That is the purpose to an extent.

[00:42:32]But actually, for most of us, and dare I say all of us who are here today, you're not going to be debating some professional philosopher at a podium.

[00:42:42]And actually, for most of us, our practice of apologetics is going to be with a co-worker grabbing lunch at Tim Hortons, right? Just shooting the breeze. Or it's going to be at a dinner table with a friend or family member who just wants your thoughts on marri because like, "Oh, hey, you're you're a Christian, right?

[00:43:02]And for those conversations, I would actually strongly disagree that the goal of practicing apologetics is to present a comprehensive and bulletproof answer or that the purpose is to win the argument, to prove the other side to be wrong. that is not or I suggest that that should not be the goal of practicing apologetics at least in those situations because the reality is that those types of responses they actually tend to shut down spiritual conversations rather than encourage them. Right? And if your friend asks you a question about your faith and you launch into a 15-minute tirade attempting to prove the existence of God through moral philosophy and they can't get a word in edgewise, well, they'll probably never ask you about your faith again.

[00:43:55]Or if you set out, I'm going to win this argument. I'm going to disprove the other side, right? Take no prisoners.

[00:44:01]Then your friend is likely to get defensive, shut down. In other words, or to put it this way, you don't want to win the argument and lose your friend, right? You don't want to win the argument and lose your audience as it were because that is completely counter to the effort of evangelism.

[00:44:22]Right? As we said, apologetics, it's one part, one piece of evangelism.

[00:44:28]Here's the thing. If your friend walks away from your conversation thinking, "Wow, those Christians are really smart.

[00:44:35]They're really smart, but they're also kind of mean and a little bit cruel about it. Okay, if that's what your friend thinks, then you haven't actually practiced apologetics. Well, rather I suggest to you that the goal and the purpose of apologetics, yes, it is defense with what? Humility and grace.

[00:44:56]And 1 Peter 3:15-16 again, what does it say? Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.

[00:45:05]But do this with gentleness and respect.

[00:45:11]Right? Gentleness and respect.

[00:45:14]That is how we are to approach our apologetics discussions. You're not looking to win a fight, start an argument. We are desiring to further the conversation. and within our evangelism effort. That's our goal, right? That that's our aim. Yes, to provide that sound, logical defense. Yes, we should not compromise on the truth, but to do this with the goal of encouragement and engagement to carry on the conversation.

[00:45:44]So there you go. Okay. The purpose, the goal of apologetics and particularly I'll say again in our personal practice, what we might do in our actual lives.

[00:45:55]And at this point, you might be thinking to yourself brightly that uh we've been talking about apologetics for like the last 10 minutes or so and we haven't answered a single question, right? Why are we spending so much time on like introduction stuff, establishing purpose? Like we should get to the the information, get to the arguments.

[00:46:15]And I appreciate that sentiment. I really do. At the same time, I've come to see that this is extremely important.

[00:46:22]Okay, this is important stuff and it's stuff we don't talk about all that much.

[00:46:28]In fact, I would argue that the introduction is in many ways more important than addressing any particular question.

[00:46:36]Because here's the thing. I think that a lot of people, maybe a lot of you this morning, myself included, we are scared to talk to non-believing friends or family, scared to talk to them about faith, to practice apologetics, if you will, because we approach with this mindset that we need to argue, that we need to win the debate. Like if you go into a conversation about faith and your thought process is, "Okay, I need to answer all of their questions beyond a shadow of doubt, right? I need those bulletproof answers." Or you go in thinking, "Yeah, I I need to win the argument, like I need to show them that Christianity is right." Okay, if you go in with that goal and that purpose, then yeah, when you go speak to someone, it's absolutely terrifying. It's nerve-wracking because what happens if you don't have the right answer, right?

[00:47:27]What happens if they bring up something that you've never thought of? An angle you'd never considered? What What if they ask a question and you have no response? Does that mean you're like a bad Christian that you haven't actually thought about your faith? Does it like undermine your entire belief system?

[00:47:44]Yeah, of course people are terrified.

[00:47:45]You don't want to talk to people about your faith. If you have this mindset, well, I need to prove something to them.

[00:47:51]I need to win that debate.

[00:47:54]then it is intimidating to talk to someone about why you believe. On the other hand, if you go in with the goal of presenting a logical defense, it's not an instrumental argument, okay? It's just a reasonable one. And really, if your purpose is to further spiritual conversations, that is to continue to engage, then I suggest apologetics, it doesn't need to be so intimidating.

[00:48:20]Because if someone comes to you and they have a question and you have no idea what to respond, a perfectly valid and in fact actually a great response is, "That's a good question. I'm actually not sure about that. Let me do uh some research. Let me talk to some people.

[00:48:37]Let me get back to you." That's a wonderful response because you've automatically set up your next opportunity to talk, right? At some point in the future, you say, "Hey, you remember that question you asked me? It was like two weeks ago or so. Like I looked into it and here's what I found.

[00:48:54]You are guaranteeing another spiritual conversation with that person at some point later on. And so mission accomplished, right? If that was the goal, if that was the point of apologetics in the first place to further the discussion, then he already did it. Because again, and we need to remember this is just one piece. It's one part of our whole evangelistic effort.

[00:49:18]See, my hope here is that we can push past this idea that apologetics is about winning an argument or about proving a point. That mindset and really that methodology of way of speaking, it's actually honestly it's usually unfruitful.

[00:49:34]It has the reverse effect. It pushes people away and it shuts down conversations because our goal in practicing apologetics is to engage. is to discuss and actually it is to dig deeper into some of the questions that people are asking or maybe they don't even realize they are asking.

[00:49:56]Now with all that in mind, and I know it was a long preamble, I want to talk about a very common topic in apologetics today, a very difficult one. And this is a example for how we might approach some conversations.

[00:50:10]Now, I'm sure you've heard this before in some format or another, but today I want to talk about the problem of evil.

[00:50:16]Okay, the problem of evil.

[00:50:20]And the general thought process here goes something like this. Okay. If God is good, if he is compassionate and caring and loving as you Christians suggest, and if God is omnipotent, he's all powerful. He is not limited by anything as you say, then why is there evil and suffering in this world? Right? Why why would God allow disease, poverty, death? Why is there so much injustice in this world when God could just snap his fingers or whatever he's got, okay, and fix it?

[00:51:03]So, either God isn't actually good and loving, so he doesn't care about what happens to us people. Or perhaps God's not powerful enough, right? He just can't do anything about the evil that's out there. Or maybe option three, he just doesn't exist at all. How could a perfectly good all powerful God allow evil and suffering?

[00:51:31]That's a very good question. Very good question. In fact, it's a question that has been asked for literally thousands upon thousands of years throughout all of known history and probably beyond.

[00:51:43]And as such, I seriously doubt that I will be able to answer the problem of evil this morning in the next 15 minutes or so. Uh prepare yourselves to be disappointed if that's what you expect.

[00:51:56]But the goal here is to use this as an example and really as a launching point rather than to provide you with a perfect solution. All right. So with those warnings, we'll dive in. When we're talking about the problem of evil and apologetics in general, I think it's always wise, it is always healthy to start from a place of humility. Okay?

[00:52:21]Start with humility. Which means we recognize that we don't have all the answers. We don't. Now, when it comes to God and how God works in this world, there is an aspect of which is inherently beyond us. Right? To a degree. It is always going to be unknowable. It will be a mystery and immediately that mystery probably annoys you. It's always annoying when someone calls up and the answer is I don't know, right? Like it's annoying. As humans, we want to understand. We want to comprehend. We don't like mystery.

[00:52:58]But when it comes to the intricacies of God, the reality is we cannot fully grasp them. Right? And this mystery, it actually makes a lot of sense if you think about it because God is far beyond us, right? He is infinite. We are finite. And what that means is that there's some aspects of him, of his work that are simply impossible for us in our limited ability to understand. And actually, that's a very logical, reasonable conclusion because it would be weird if finite beings like you and I could completely comprehend and understand an infinite God. Like, that would be strange. That would not make sense. If God was compressible and knowable, we could fully understand him.

[00:53:52]Then he wouldn't really be infinite, right? In fact, I would argue that God seems made up. That God seems fabricated by the human mind. So yes, there is always an element of mystery when it comes to talking about God. And of course, this is found all over the scripture as well. Just an example, Romans 11:33-36 says, "Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God. How uncarchable his judgments and his past beyond tracing out. Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor? Who has ever given to God that God should repay them? For from him and through him and for him are all things. To him be the glory forever.

[00:54:36]Amen. Right?

[00:54:39]And don't get me wrong. Because of God's revelation through the scripture, through the Bible, because of Jesus Christ, the incarnation, there are many aspects of God that we do understand, that we do comprehend. Okay?

[00:54:52]This isn't all unknowable. By his grace, again, through his coming to earth, there is much that you and I we can know about God. At the same time, we realize there are aspects that are always beyond us. And if there are then that means we have to always come with humility.

[00:55:15]Humility and the recognition that we don't know that we don't fully understand everything.

[00:55:23]So begin with humility. But from that starting point there are two traditional answers that are given in regards to the problem of evil. And I'll talk about them both briefly. Okay. The first defense, if you will, is what's called the greater good defense. All right, the greater good defense posits that the reason evil exists, God allows evil to exist in this world is for a greater good.

[00:55:53]Unsurprising with the name, right? It's a greater good. And it's greater good that as human beings, you and I, we can't always see or always understand.

[00:56:04]Now, you probably know, maybe you've even experienced some examples of this in your actual life, right? You've got the friend and they get in a terrible accident that requires major surgery only to find that they had a life-threatening tumor that would have never been discovered otherwise. Or you fail to get that dream job, you've been working so hard for it, only to see later on that that company was in trouble and it collapsed shortly after.

[00:56:32]Maybe you uh you get a flat tire, you're stuck on the highway in the snow, and the person who stops to help you ends up becoming your spouse, right? Things of that nature. It's never happened to anyone I know, but it could happen.

[00:56:46]Don't go driving out on any highways expecting it, but you know as well. Of course, there are numerous biblical examples of this. Uh the most famous of which would probably be Joseph. Joseph is sold into slavery by his brothers.

[00:56:58]He's thrown into jail for a crime he didn't commit. He's forgotten about by a this man who he helps a cup bearer. And he just seems to have the worst run of events. Bad break after bad break. But all of this eventually results in him becoming the chief adviser to the king of Egypt, the Pharaoh. And he ultimately saves God's people from starvation. And Joseph says this in Genesis 50:20. And this is sort of like the banner for the good def for the greater good defense.

[00:57:29]It says, "You intended to harm me, selling me into slavery. You t intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives." And even more than Joseph, of course, we have the example of Jesus himself. Jesus was perfect, sinless, undeserving of any punishment at all. And yet he was afflicted with the evils of pain and suffering, humiliation, crucifixion, of course, death itself for our sake.

[00:58:01]Right? He who had done no evil endured all evil that we might live for the saving of many lives as it were. There was a greater good to be accomplished.

[00:58:14]But none of his followers at the time, none of them could see it. None of them could understand it. Now that is very briefly the greater good defense and of course what I just gave you were very small very simple examples right there's this clear one to one direct correlation direct result from evil but this can apply much more broadly and in fact the argument is that it applies to all evil that exists in whatever form. Okay. The idea is that evil itself is bringing about some greater good.

[00:58:53]Evil itself and all that it entails.

[00:58:57]It's bringing about some greater good even though you and I we cannot fully comprehend it. And the truth is throughout history theologians and philosophers they have come up with a lot of ideas about what exactly this greater good is. What is the greater good that is being shown here through evil? The reality is we don't know for certain. In fact, just like the disciples at the death of Jesus, they could not see past the grave. Well, so we too on this side of eternity, we cannot truly grasp the greater good that is to come. And ultimately, we are trusting and believing that God has a plan. He has a plan. Even though it is beyond us, it's unknowable to us. But as we said, perhaps that's what we should expect. That's what we should think would happen as finite beings to the plan of an infinite God. That's the greater good defense. It is one of the more common lines of thinking when it comes to the problem of view. The second stream of thought actually could fall under this overarching category, but it's more particular and it's more in vogue. It's more popular these days.

[01:00:12]This is what's called the free will defense. All right, free will defense goes something like this. God creates human beings. You got Adam and Eve. And he creates them to be in a loving relationship with him. Unlike all the other creatures of the world, God walks.

[01:00:31]He talks with people. He creates them in his own image.

[01:00:35]But in order for a relationship to be loving, it can't be forced, right? It can't be coerced. In other words, Adam and Eve must have a choice to either love God and obey him or not. So God does not create robots with no ability to choose because that wouldn't actually be love, right? Despite what your AI chatbot companion says, it doesn't really love you. There must be an option for disobedience.

[01:01:10]And so we have the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the garden of Eden and the command from God, do not eat from it.

[01:01:20]But if humanity decides, chooses disobedience, then there must be some sort of consequence for that action, right? Some sort of repercussion.

[01:01:30]After all, a choice with no consequence is a false choice, right? If the outcomes are exactly the same, it's not really a decision. And so, the consequence of humanity's choice is evil. Evil which enters through the fall. Now, that in a nutshell is the free will defense. In order to be in a truly loving relationship with humanity, God creates human beings with free will.

[01:01:58]And because people choose to do wrong, they disobey God, evil and rebellion enters into God's good creation.

[01:02:08]Now, notably, this does not mean that your suffering is a result of your choices. I mean your suffering might be the result of your poor decisions. Okay.

[01:02:20]But that's not the thesis of the free will defense. The three free will defense rather it suggests that evil exists in this world and it affects us all in different ways but it exists because of humanity's initial choice to disobey God. All right? and all evil.

[01:02:40]And this would include natural evil, things like earthquakes and wildfires, moral evil, evil we experience personto person. All of this is a result of that decision.

[01:02:53]So there you go. You've got the greater good defense. You've got the free will defense. And again, I suggest to you all, stress to you all that these apologetic arguments, they are defenses that are not bulletproof. They are not irrefutable. Okay? They are simply logical, reasonable explanations for why evil might exist in this world. Why would evil exist when God is all powerful and all good?

[01:03:26]But I will also remind you that this should be couched in a very healthy dose of humility. Okay? Recognize that when it comes to God, it is truly impossible for us to understand everything.

[01:03:41]But all of that said, when it comes to practicing apologetics in your day-to-day life, when you are seated around the dinner table or maybe standing in line at Tims, which defense should you employ? Right? If someone comes to you and they say, you know what, I I struggle to believe in God when there's so much evil and suffering in this world. You know, I just I struggle with it. Okay? Which defense should you use?

[01:04:10]And I will say that most of the time in the vast majority of situations that you or I would find ourselves that the answer is neither.

[01:04:22]The answer is neither.

[01:04:24]That is your response should not be to pull out some esoteric, theological, philosophical musing.

[01:04:33]Because the reality is that most people in those situations while grabbing a bite to eat, hanging around your desk at work, most of the time those people, they are not asking an apologetics question. They are asking a personal one.

[01:04:53]In other words, their question isn't so much why is there evil and suffering out there in the world some there as an idea, but rather why is there suffering in my own life, in the lives of the people I love?

[01:05:08]You know, if God is so good and so powerful, then why am I going through this difficult situation that's of no fault of my own? Why why why is my mother in the hospital again?

[01:05:19]and to those personal struggles.

[01:05:22]The proper response is not, "Oh, well, there's some greater good going on in the background and you just don't see it yet." Right? The proper response isn't, "Well, there's this, you know, way back when God loved us, some free will, poor decisions." No, those are not helpful responses. In fact, it likely will result in pushing the person away.

[01:05:42]Instead, I suggest to you that a personal question is best answered with a personal response. So for myself, maybe I say something like this, like, yeah, it is really tough. Actually, when I was 20 years old, my dad passed away from lung cancer, even though he'd never smoked a day in his life. And during that time, during that year he battled his cancer, I really really wrestled with that exact same question. How could God allow my dad to go through this? And from there share a bit about my own journey, right?

[01:06:20]My own struggle with the problem of evil. And it may touch on some of these topics we just talked about. I saw some of the good things that came about through my dad's battle with cancer. And I I realize that God, he suffers with us and alongside us. That actually, even though he didn't have to, God suffered through the person of Jesus Christ. And hopefully and prayerfully, this encourages the person that I'm sitting down with to open up about some of their own struggles about why this is an issue for them.

[01:06:51]You see, the personal practice of apologetics is not about having the right answer. It's not about winning the argument or proving the point. It's about furthering the conversation.

[01:07:03]Again, we think of this as just one part. It's one piece of a whole process of evangelism.

[01:07:10]And I hope that this sermon, this message has helped you to realize that that yes, we've gone over the common responses to the problem of evil. Okay?

[01:07:19]You've got the greater good defense.

[01:07:21]You've got the free will defense. I hope you remember those things. Okay? I hope that they're useful to you maybe personally. But the purpose of this message was not to provide you with canned responses.

[01:07:35]The purpose of this sermon was to encourage you. It was to show you that the practice of apologetics, it doesn't require vast knowledge. You don't need to know more. You don't need superior arguments. Rather, what you need is humility, grace, and the wisdom that comes from the spirit.

[01:07:55]See, my prayer is that all of us, we would not be afraid to engage in conversations, engage in conversations with friends, with family members, non-believers.

[01:08:07]Not because you have all the answers.

[01:08:08]Okay? You don't have all the answers.

[01:08:10]Nobody does.

[01:08:12]But because you want to encourage, you want to demonstrate, at least in part, to demonstrate and communicate God's love for them.

[01:08:22]I'll invite the worship team to come up and close once again with first Peter.

[01:08:29]But in your hearts rever Christ as Lord.

[01:08:33]Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.

[01:08:54]Would you all rise as I deliver a benediction to close our time today?

[01:09:04]Brothers and sisters, may we go forth from here to defend the Christian faith?

[01:09:11]Yes, but to do so with humility, with grace that comes only from God. May we speak words of wisdom. May we speak words of love to those around us. Not as those who have every answer, but those who have encountered a living God.

[01:09:31]Now to him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy. To the only God our savior be all glory, majesty, power, and authority through Jesus Christ before all ages now and forever more. Amen.

[01:09:48]>> Amen.

[01:09:52]>> Um please remain standing. Uh we're going to close our worship service this morning by proclaiming what we know, what we believe. Um the foundations of our faith that focus our minds and our hearts on God.

[01:10:07]Let's proclaim it together.

[01:10:22]Our father, >> our father everlasting, the all creating one God Almighty through your Holy Spirit conceiving Christ the son Jesus our savior. Savior.

[01:10:52]I believe in God our father. I believe in Christ the son. I believe in the Holy Spirit. Our God is three in one. I believe in the resurrection that we will rise again.

[01:11:13]For I believe in the name of Jesus, >> our judge, >> our judge and our defender, suffered and crucified.

[01:11:40]Forgiveness is in you.

[01:11:46]>> Descended into darkness. You rose in glorious light forever seated high.

[01:11:59]>> I believe in God our father. I believe in Christ the son. I believe in the Holy Spirit. Our God is three in one. I believe in the resurrection that we will rise again.

[01:12:19]For I believe in the name of Jesus.

[01:12:27]>> I believe in you.

[01:12:34]I believe you rose again.

[01:12:40]I believe that Jesus Christ is Lord.

[01:12:50]I believe I believe in you.

[01:13:00]I believe you rose again.

[01:13:06]>> I believe that Jesus Christ is Lord.

[01:13:20]>> I believe in life eternal. I believe in the virgin birth. I believe in the saints communion and in your holy church. I believe in the resurrection when Jesus comes again.

[01:13:39]For I believe in the name of Jesus.

[01:13:45]I believe in God our father. I believe in Christ the son. I believe in the Holy Spirit. Our God is three in one. I believe in the resurrection that we will rise again.

[01:14:04]For I believe in the name of Jesus.

[01:14:11]For I believe in the name of Jesus.

[01:14:27]Thank you for worshiping with us this morning. Please have a seat and a silent moment of prayer and reflection. And we invite you to join us downstairs for fellowship and community.

[01:16:02]are you?

[01:18:37]Hello.

[01:18:45]Heat.