If you have been around toddlers at all, you will know that for a season of their lives, their favourite word is, “why?”. Many conversations feel like an interrogation, when every direction or answer you give is met with, “why?”. We do not fault children for their inquiry, they are merely trying to understand the world, it is hardwired into them to get to the bottom of whatever challenge, problem or directive has been placed in front of them. Why do I need to put on my shoes? Why do I need to eat my vegetables? Why do I need to brush my teeth?
Eventually, answers become sufficient and as toddlers grow into young adults, we lose our sense of curiosity, we stop asking questions, we settle for what we already know or what we already believe. But we live in a world that has been dissatisfied by the answers that have been given, that has not found true life or meaning in the direction that culture has set them on, that knows deep within their souls that there must be more to life than working, sleeping and dying.
In our sermon series Answers, we are welcoming, encouraging and inviting the big questions to find out the big answers. We are told in scripture to always have an answer for the hope that we have within us. While wearing a hoodie that says, “Jesus loves you”, my seven-year-old neighbour asked, “what does that mean?” After a tragedy in the news, people ask, “if your God is good, why does He let bad things happen?” When people read the history of Israel, they might come at you with aggression saying, “your God is an egotistical, genocidal, self absorbed, self righteous, psychopathic, tyrannical megalomaniac.” The question is, do we have an answer to these questions that cannot only prove our hope in Jesus, but win others to His heart?
This series, we are focusing on the deep work of understanding history, philosophy, morality and science. We are embarking to find answers, to the real questions that our world is asking, that you kids and grandkids are asking, that your neighbours, friends, coworkers are asking. Having answers is vital to our witness as we go out into the world.
