Imagine there’s no heaven It’s easy if you try No hell below us Above us only sky Imagine all the people Living for today Imagine there’s no countries It isn’t hard to do Nothing to kill or die for And no religion too Imagine all the people Living life in peace… Imagine no possessions I wonder if you can No need for greed or hunger In a brotherhood of man Imagine all the people Sharing all the world… You may say I’m a dreamer But I’m not the only one I hope some day you’ll join us And the world will be as one Imagine John Lennon

U.S. Pew Study  46 Million adults (13 million atheists, 33 million “none”)  Not “religiously affiliated”  8.2 percent in 1990  14.2 percent in 2001  15 percent in 2008  20 percent in 2012  Tw0-thirds: “believe in God” but not “religious” Pew Research Center, Oct. 9, 2012

Why No Religion  Raised totally outside of organized religion  Unhappy with their religions and left  Raised in religious families but never engaged

Unhappy… Left  Fact: not all will accept the gospel. Matt. 13:18ff  Conversely, Christians must provide an environment conducive to promoting fellowship. Rom. 14:1-15:14

Raised Religious… Not Engaged  Most often reason for not feeling “engaged”: message irrelevant to their lives.  Preaching/Bible studies must connect to people… to bring them to a living faith… to be transformed into the image of Jesus Christ! Rom. 8:29; 12:2

Ultimately… Starts/Ends with Parents  Train our children… in the way they should go (Prov. 22:6)… in the teaching and admonition of our Lord. Eph. 6:4  Provide for them a loving – Christ-like – Environment your children LOVE.  Give them a genuine – RELEVANT – Christian lifestyle.

“All the world’s major religions, with their emphasis on love, compassion, patience, tolerance, and forgiveness can and do promote inner values. But the reality of the world today is that grounding ethics in religion is no longer adequate. This is why I am increasingly convinced that the time has come to find a way of thinking about spirituality and ethics beyond religion altogether.” ~ The Dalai Lama

The Emphasis is Christ! Romans 1:17  He is God. Jn. 1:1  Born of a virgin. Matt. 1:23  He died for our sins. 1 Co. 15:3  He rose from the dead. v. 4  We (who believe) will have everlasting life! Jn. 3:16