1. You’re Already a Theologian theos – God logos – words / knowledge

1. You’re Already a Theologian "Theology is practical...If you do not listen to Theology, that will not mean that you have no ideas about God. It will mean that you have a lot of wrong ones - bad, muddled, out-of-date ideas.” C.S. Lewis

2. You Need Good Theology To Love and Obey God

Matthew 22:37-38 And [Jesus] said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment.”

2 Corinthians 10:5 We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ

2. You Need Good Theology To Love and Obey God To Resist Sin and Heresy

Ephesians 4:14-15 …we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ

Ephesians 4:17-19 …you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality…

2. You Need Good Theology To Love and Obey God To Resist Sin and Heresy To Grow Spiritually

Romans 12:2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

Philippians 1:9-10 And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ

2. You Need Good Theology To Love and Obey God To Resist Sin and Heresy To Grow Spiritually To Find Strength in Adversity

Psalm 73 Surely in vain have I kept my heart pure; in vain have I washed my hands in innocence. All day long I have been plagued; I have been punished every morning… When I tried to understand all this, it was oppressive to me…

Psalm 73 …till I entered the sanctuary of God; then I understood their final destiny. Surely you place [the wicked] on slippery ground; you cast them down to ruin…

Psalm 73 Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory… My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

J. I. Packer We are cruel to ourselves if we try to live in this world without knowing about the God whose world it is and who runs it. The world becomes a strange, mad, painful place, and life in it a disappointing and unpleasant business, for those who do not know about God…

J. I. Packer Disregard the study of God, and you sentence yourself to stumble and blunder through life, blindfolded, as it were, with no sense of direction and no understanding of what surrounds you.

2. You Need Good Theology To Love and Obey God To Resist Sin and Heresy To Grow Spiritually To Find Strength in Adversity To Raise your Kids Well

Deuteronomy 6:7 You shall teach [these words] diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up.

John Wesley I learned more about Christianity from my mother than from all the theologians of England

We Are All Theologians We Desperately Need Good Theology

Tentative Schedule 5/15IntroductionBlake 5/22The SonBuck 5/29The SpiritJacob 6/5The BibleBlake 6/12The TrinityBrian 6/19God’s AttributesBlake 6/26MankindBrian 7/3The ChurchTrey 7/10SinZack 7/17SalvationBlake 7/24Eternal SecurityBrian 7/31AngelsKevin 8/7SanctificationJared 8/14End TimesBuck

To Dig Deeper The Moody Handbook of Theology by Paul Enns Survey of Bible Doctrine by Charles Ryrie