Church notes - 29th December 2019

[fardell24]

1 John 1

Fruits of the Spirit
Galatians 5:22 - 24

Three issues
Euthanasia
Abortion
Same Sex Marriage

Euthanasia
Secular Humanism
Wikipedia - Secular humanism is a philosophy or life stance that embraces human reason, secular ethics, and philosophical naturalism while specifically rejecting religious dogma, supernaturalism, and superstition as the basis of morality and decision making.

Ethics
We should base them on the Bible.
All through the Book of Judges - a often repeated phrase. There was no King and all the people did whatever seemed right in their eyes.

Secular Humanist Worldview - No Supreme Being, individual humans are sovereign.
Christiian Worldview - God is sovereign.

Euthanasia legal
Northern Territory in 1996 - until the Federal Government overrulled it.
2019 - Victoria and Western Australia...
Euthanasia - a deliberate act to end a life.
We need to be cautious about the implication.
Active - an action leads to death.
Passive - inaction leads to death.
Voluntary - Patient chooses to end their life.
Invuluntary - the decision is made by someone else... (As has happend in the Netherlands).
Indirect - Death occurs due to unintended consequences of treatment.

Judges 9:52, 53
Abimelech had his servant run him through so that 'they wouldn't say that a woman killed him'.

2 Samuel 1
David had the Amelekite executed because he had killed Saul.

Sovereignty of God
Job 1:21

Value of Humanity
1 Corinthians 3:16, 17
1 Corinthians 6:19, 20

Suffering
Romans 5:3
2 Corinthians 4:17

God cares for his people
Promises to deliver.
Psalm 23:4
God going through life with us, in us.

Romans 8:31 - 39

2 Corinthians 12:7 - 10
Psalm 34
Revelation 21:3, 4

Jesus is the Good Shepherd who guides us through life. We can trust Him to guide us through death as through life.

We don't have the right to choose when to die.
Euthanasia makes no sense. Trusting God makes sense.
Ephesians 2:8, 9

God's Grace - Salvation comes completely apart from any effort on our part. It's through Jesus on the Cross. God did it all through Grace.