***Hi, everyone!  I just did my first Sermon at church tonight, and I'm so excited, that I wanted to share it with everyone! :)  I hope it really shows us that there is someone else that we should be trying to save. :)  Enjoy!!! ***

Sermon - April 6th, 2008: Atheism

Today, I’m going to speak about something that many people wouldn’t even imagine talking about.  However, it is something that all Christians who wish to win souls for Christ, should consider, learn, and practice. I am going to discuss atheism with you, in such a manner that you might know how to deal with atheists by understanding why they believe, or really, why they don’t believe.

Let’s take a look at a few definitions on atheist and atheism.

Atheist (simple enough): one who believes that there is no deity.

Atheism:  comes from Greek atheos – godless.
                1. archaic meaning: Ungodliness, wickedness.
                2a.  a disbelief in the existence of a deity
                2b. the doctrine that there is no deity

The Bible sees atheism as being foolish – such as in Psalm 14:1 – “the fool says in his heart- ‘there is no God’”.

I see many types of atheists in the world –
- There are passive ones who won’t bother you if you don’t pressure them, and might just listen to you, but not accept what you are saying.
- There are aggressive ones- those who will deliberately look for a way to argue with you, to bring down your beliefs, and will raise Cain if you even mention the Lord, Jesus, or anything biblical. Proverbs 14:16 says, “A wise man fears the Lord and shuns evil, but a fool is hotheaded and reckless”.
- There are also those who are atheist because of a tragic event in their life that caused them to stop believing.
- And then there are those who are atheist, because of their ignorance of being born into an atheist home, and having never heard the Good News of the Lord.

Let’s look a bit more at the two main reasons that someone might be atheist.

Imagine you have a child, whom you tell over and over, not to do something, to respect you, to obey you, etc.  Then one day, they disobey your every word, go against what you ask of them, and  end up hurting themselves. It might make you furious, disappointed, confused as to why they didn’t listen?

Now let’s imagine the same child, but this time, he was never with you, to have heard your advice, or your warnings, or about how much you love him? He has had no guidance in his life – and then he decides to make a bad choice, and ends in the same – hurting themselves.

The first situation would be the backslider – the one who stops believing because of their own pride, or an event so painful, that their grief caused them to stop believing and yielding to God’s will.  The second, would be the one who was born into a life without God’s guiding hand, without God’s Words to comfort him, and without anyone to tell him his limits.

While in the Bible, backsliding or not believing in God is one of, if not the worst sins that one can commit. But we must realize one thing – just because someone is atheist, does not mean they are horrible people, or that they only want to hurt people.  There are many atheists in the world (I was one of them), who have all their morals and values in place… such as, don’t kill, don’t have premarital relations, don’t lie, etc.  And there are many people who have Jesus in their hearts, that don’t hold up to these basics.   But what atheists ultimately lack, that will bring them to a tragic ending for all eternity, is the mere fact that they don’t have Jesus in their hearts. We see this in Proverbs 14:12 – There is a way that seems right to a man; but in the end it leads to death. Also in Proverbs 14:14 – The faithless will be fully repaid for their ways, and the good man rewarded for his.

Now, how many of you have known someone, that has never heard the Gospel? How many have thought, “Since they are atheist, they are sinners, and doomed without God”?  Yes, if they don’t change and accept the Lord as their Savior, it is most probable that they will be lost forever and spend eternity, suffering for their stubbornness or their blinding pride.

So how do you approach this situation as a Christian witnessing to people?  You have to be very careful about dealing with this issue.  If you get the aggressive atheist, they will rip into you and say every hurtful think they can think of… and the sad thing is, many atheist actually STUDY the Bible, know it better than many Christians, and use it to look for “contradictions” that will back their beliefs up. But knowing your Bible well, is for another day.  I pray that everyone get the chance to change a passive atheist – the one that will watch you, seeing how you act, how you witness to others, but won’t attack unless they feel cornered. They are more open-minded to the possibilities of the world and to the beginning of the universe, and in the end, it will be easier to teach them, as opposed to the aggressive ones.

When dealing with atheists, it is important for them to know that you believe in the Lord, that you love the Lord, and that you have Jesus in your heart.  If they show any resistance to what you begin to say, then you might as well stop there, and begin praying for that person – but not when they are in front of you.  A passive atheist will try to get out of the situation politely, maybe even ask you to respect their beliefs. The aggressive will right away begin to try and convert you!  But even the passive one, if pressured for too long, will become increasingly more aggressive.  Just let them believe as they will, and let the work of the Holy Spirit through prayer, do all the work. 

Underneath the fort of resistance, there is a soul dwelling within a person, trying to escape. Most likely, this person is indeed a good person, and would never commit a crime, who value abstinence before marriage, who would never disrespect their elders.  But in their minds, is the thought that, “The Bible is the greatest story ever written”… or “religion is a crutch for the weak”… or even “church only brainwashes you over time”.  They find any little think, that a Christian can not explain because there are many things that man will never understand, and turn it around to sound like, “if the Bible can’t explain it, then it must not be true”.   An atheist sees no conceivable way that God could exist…  one of the big hangups for me when I was atheist, was seeing the suffering in the world, yet hearing, “God loves you, God is in control”.  I used to cry when Luis and I argued about religion, asking him, “How can God let people suffer? How can He let that innocent child die? And if they must die, why can’t it be painlessly?”  Another common question, is “Where did God come from?”  But now I see that an atheist asking that, is like a Christian asking, “Well how did the Big Bang come about?”  Have you ever considered that they might be the same thing, viewed from different eyes?  Both have the universe starting with nothing… both suddenly have  light… stars… planets… life… etc. One just says that our God created it, the other says it was a sudden explosion ignited the growth and expansion of materials that are the basis of all life.

There are many things in the Bible, that even the greatest Theologians can’t answer and still ponder. But we must maintain our faith and remember… Job 36:26 – How great is God- beyond our understanding!  And  Job 31:5 – God’s voice thunders in marvelous ways; He does great things beyond our understanding.

There is always hope for a lost soul.  Those who do not come back to the Lord, will be  punished: Jeremiah 15:6 -  “You have rejected me," declares the LORD. "You keep on backsliding. So I will lay hands on you and destroy you; I can no longer show compassion.” But those who wish to ask Him back into their heart and to repent, will be saved… Jeremiah 3:22 "Return, faithless people; I will cure you of backsliding." "Yes, we will come to you, for you are the LORD our God.”

I challenge you all, to not only look for those trying to escape from addiction, from getting off the path set by God, but to look for those who perhaps have never heard God’s promise for mankind, or perhaps are stubbornly in denial of the God they once loved.  It is important to help mankind with their problems and to show them that God has a plan for their lives… but it is equally important to be witnesses and to be in prayer, for the people who can’t even see the road to Heaven, and for those who are at the same time, trying to bring down our faith and beliefs.