The Hearts of the Terrorists (John 6:60-69)
Gary McManus, 09/18/2016Part of the God's Word is Life series, preached at a Sunday Morning service
Last week was the 15th Anniversary of 9/11.
Soon after 9/11 there was talk of folks
returning to church.
It didn’t happen.
I believe that some people wanted answers.
In the last 15 years there still isn’t ONE
answer to terrorism.
But ONE answer is God in Jesus Christ
If the hearts of the terrorists would be changed. .
(see Jesus’ words: Matthew 15:18-19,
Mark 7:19, Luke 6:45)
This message is NOT anti-Muslim.
This message is pro-Jesus.
Islam is the religion of the Muslim.
A Muslim is a follower of Islam.
There are five and only five points to Islam.
The first is the confession of faith about God
and Mohommad as God’s prophet.
(The Quran is God’s word FROM Mohommad.)
For some Muslims, the Quran is only to be read
in Arabic and no other language is acceptable.
Therefore, the interpretation of the Quran is left
to leaders of the faith and there are particular schools
of interpretation. There are three branches of Islam
and that causes rifts. If you interpret the Quran to
use violence there isn’t any authority to say any differently.
Since 9/11 we in the United States have used the word
Islamist –with a “t” on the end to refer to the more
violent interpreters of Islam.
There is some opposition to Islamists from
other Muslims.
We Americans still have trouble noticing the
differences between the peaceful Muslims and
the Islamists.
More refugees in the world today than ever.
The refugee problem is a challenge to the American
church not just to the United States of America.
What draws people raised within Islam to Christianity?
The lifestyle of Christians. Former Muslims cited
the love that Christians exhibited in their relationships
with non-Christians and their treatment of women as equals.
Dudley Woodbury, estimates that 20,000 Muslims
in the U.S. become Christians every year.
Why? One reason:
Biblical teachings about the love of God.
. . . These converts were moved by the love
expressed through the life and teachings of Jesus.
Now let’s hear from the former Muslims themselves:
Miss USA Rima Fakih, was the first Lebanon American,
the first Arab American and the first Muslim to win the
Miss USA title; now she is a Christian.
Mohd. Saleem:
“Jesus Christ was the only personality that really
touched me more than any others.”
Nabeel Qureshi, author,
Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus, says
“former Muslim”?
“I have been made a new creation in Christ
(2 Corinthians 5:17), I strive every day to cast off
the old self and to put on the new (Ephesians 4:22-24),
. . .I have been born again from above (John 3:3).”
--Nabeel Qureshi
Can the hearts of the terrorists be changed? Yes.
Ephesians 2:13: But now in Christ Jesus you who once were
far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
Ephesians 2:17: He came and preached peace to you who
were far away and peace to those who were near. Amen
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