Anthem Church

Starting Point

Part 1: Start

BOTTOM LINES: Faith has a starting point. The starting point for the Christian faith is a question: Who is Jesus? The Christian faith isn’t about what Jesus said before he died. It’s about what happened after he died—he rose from the dead.

Part 2: Problem

BOTTOM LINES: Jesus raised the behavioral standard so high that no one could make a passing grade. God is on an endless pursuit to restore his relationship with sinners. Jesus never minimized the seriousness of sin, but he did not condemn sinners.

Part 3: Jesus

BOTTOM LINES Experiencing personal forgiveness for personal sins is often the starting point for personal faith. In all of history, only Jesus offered himself as the answer to the question of what to do when we can’t forgive ourselves. You don’t have to forgive yourself; yourself has already been forgiven.

Part 4: Grace

BOTTOM LINES: People often relate to God on a performance basis. With God, grace is the rule, not the exception. One hundred percent of the “to dos” in the Christian faith are responses to what God has “to done” for us.