Series: In Defense of Faith

Service: Gospel Meeting

Type: Sermon

Speaker: Kevin Clark

Summary In Defense of Existence of God

📘 Sermon Information

Course Title: Christian Apologetics / Fundamentals of the Christian Faith

Instructor: Kevin Clark

Date: 2025-10-03 Gospel Meeting Friday Night

Chapter/Topic: In Defense Of — Defending the Fundamentals: Existence of God, Scripture, Christ, Resurrection, and the Church (focus: Defense of the Existence of God)

🧠Key Learnings

Knowledge point 1: The necessity of examined belief (faith with reasons)

Summary:

• Christians should move from inherited or convenient belief to personally owned, examined faith.
• While family training and cultural influence are appropriate and commanded (Deuteronomy 6:6–9), there must come a point where the individual can articulate why they believe.
• Knowing answers to fundamental questions (God, Scripture, Jesus, resurrection, church) affects how one lives, witnesses, and endures persecution.

Details:

• Faith is not mere cultural conformity or emotional comfort; it should be grounded and defensible.
• Personal conviction determines willingness to suffer, take moral stands, and evangelize.

Example:

• The speaker contrasts cultural/team loyalty (e.g., sports allegiances) with authentic conviction about spiritual truths.

Knowledge point 2: Christians are commanded and expected to defend their hope

Summary:

• 1 Peter 3:13 –15 requires believers to "always be ready to give a defense" for their hope, with meekness and reverence.
• This implies living visibly Christian lives that prompt questions from others and having prepared, credible answers.

Details:

• The passage assumes others will ask why a Christian has hope; that assumption presumes Christian living draws attention.
• Defense is for all Christians, not only clergy.

Example:

• The speaker asks when was the last time someone asked you for the reason for your hope, illustrating the expectation that believers live in a way that invites such questions.

Knowledge point 3: Faith and evidence are complementary

Summary:

• Biblical faith is the means by which we accept God’s existence (Hebrews 11:1–3; 11:6), but Scripture also points to evidence God has provided in creation and human experience (Romans 1:18 –20).
• God did not leave humanity without testimonies; creation, conscience, providence, and personal experience function as witnesses.

Details:

• Faith pleases God and involves belief that God exists and rewards those who diligently seek Him.
• Romans 1 teaches that God’s attributes are manifest in creation so people are "without excuse" for denying God.
• The approach is not to demand a mathematical proof but to use revealed testimony plus observable evidence.

Example:

• The speaker rejects the search for a single formula proving God and instead emphasizes the growth of faith through hearing Scripture and observing creation.

Knowledge point 4: Witnesses to God's existence — creation and providence

Summary:

• Several spheres of testimony point to God’s existence and character: heavenly bodies, living creatures and