A typical Stone's Hill service has:

* music (so feel free to sing out);

* some announcements (things that are upcoming that you can be a part of);

* a message out of the Bible (God speaks to us through his Word);

* and an opportunity for you to respond to the message (either immediately in the case of a decision that needs to be made OR in the future as you live out the message in your daily life.)

So relax and enjoy your morning! We're so glad you are here!

Three important reasons:

1. Personal: Christ-followers must measure our involvement and activities, our use of time and money against one yardstick, not as a burden, but as a gateway into total life flourishing: Is it consistent with a biblical view of life, and does it bring glory to God? Your beliefs about reality will impact your personal life and moral choices – who you marry, what you do, and how you raise your kids. People function on the basis of their worldview. We are inundated with worldview ideas daily. Worldviews are important because they get lived out.

2. Apologetics: What will you do when your kids come home from high school or college biology class where their confidence in truth has been shaken? What hope will you offer when your neighbor buries a 12-year-old? What story can you share when someone has already written the suicide note? We are all faced with a smorgasbord of worldviews every day, all of which make truth claims about life and about our place in this universe. Enjoy people, but you have to be discerning about ideas and beliefs.

3. Evangelism: We are champions of the Larger Story which orients all of life. This series allows us to have meaningful conversations with people and really get at the root of our differences. We can stay away from surface level disagreements and focus on how people answer the questions on the cards. When we are familiar with worldviews, it enables us to love our neighbor with the Good News of the Gospel by helping them understand their worldview, how they came to it, and what shaped it. And just maybe, a friendship will be born out of all of this. You have the message that our fragmented world needs.

The story of the world can be told with FOUR WORDS representing four plot moves. All worldviews must deal with the questions that are raised in these four plot moves.

Creation. This tells us how things began, where everything came from (including us). Who made the world? Where did we come from?

Rebellion. This describes the problem. What went wrong with the world? What is wrong with us?

Redemption. This gives us the solution, the way to fix what went wrong. What is God doing to fix our world? What is God doing to fix us?

Restoration. This explains what the world will look like once the repair takes place. How does it all resolve eventually? Will we become what God intended?

Biblical Worldview: A Biblical Worldview says that God is the Author of our universe, that we are accountable to Him, and that we have hope of being a part of His grand story to triumph over all evil in our world through Jesus. You see, Christians believe that there’s a larger story going on in human history; that there is a God and He made all that we see and know, including human-beings and it was perfect; that something went wrong in the world because of our rebellion prompted by the Evil One; that God has initiated a plan to fix this mess and that Jesus’ coming was promised way back in Genesis 3:15; that I am part of His plan to restore this world to all that He intended for it; that as I live a life He endorsed and as I struggle to make sense of all the suffering in this fallen world, somehow Christ’s takes shape in me and uses me to give hope to the broken. That’s a Christian Biblical worldview in summary form.

Secular Worldview: A Secular Worldview says that we have no Author, that we are not accountable to anyone, and there are no ideals or grand story's of redemption. The prevailing post-modern story is this: “Once upon a time, there were no big stories, only local ones. So don’t pretend you know the big story of the world because you might start to believe yourself and therefore begin oppressing people who disagree with your story.” Since we are on our own, we should seek all the gratification and satisfaction we can now. Each individual is free to create a belief system that works for them. And then at death – full stop. Life is over. We cease to exist. So, in this worldview, we are marooned on a pale blue dot in a possibly endless cosmos. We are unnoticed, insignificant, and on our own. Humans have huge problems and may not be able to ever overcome them. And there is no hope beyond the grave.

Which worldview do you want to shape your life and the lives of your children and grandchildren? What you believe about yourself and your worth and value ties directly to your worldview.

Would you like to have Jesus in the center of your life and worldview? Welcome Him into your life today!

A Secular Worldview aggressively opposes the FOUR PLOT MOVES of a Biblical Worldview. A Secular Worldview replaces God’s big story with four pillars of their own – with their version of a meta-narrative. We love those who espouse a Secular Worldview but we vigorously confront their ideas.

Instead of Creation, what is offered is Naturalism with Darwinism as it’s religion. Darwin’s Black Box, cellular DNA, has been opened. A single strand of DNA has complex coding. And if there is coding, there’s a code writer.

Instead of Rebellion, what is offered is Evolution. Man is getting better and is basically good rather than depraved in our hearts. In a Secular Worldview, morality is determined by community consensus. There are no moral absolutes. And there’s no such thing as a devil or Satan.

Instead of Redemption, what is offered is Therapy and Self Help without Jesus in it, and / or Systems of Government like Socialism. So, lets get together, make everybody equal, and create our own little piece of heaven with everyone thinking the same things. Problem: Our sin nature won’t allow it. If God doesn’t exist and Jesus isn’t God, then man is the center of all things. And mankind has no purpose other than our own happiness. So rather than deal with our sin and deception in all of its ugliness, we deny it and then turn to self-help to talk us into how right we are to feel the way we do. That’s what all the sexual and gender confusion is about – everybody has to accept everyone’s self-diagnosis.

Instead of Restoration, what is offered is Materialism or Utopia. This world is all there is and death is the end of all existence. Make things as good as you can, but it’s got to be my definition of good.

As a Biblical Worldview Church, we want to do a great job of conveying the beauty of marriage to our little ones – and do this from an early age. How do we do that? How do we prepare a son or daughter or a grandchild for marriage? And when should that preparation start? And how do we guide them around things that can do potential harm to their future marriage? The early teen years are not the time to start the conversation. They are the time to put the finishing touches on a lengthy discussion that has already been happening since the child was very young.

How do you prepare those little ones for marriage?

Fourth, you resolve conflict openly.

There are SIX FACETS of a cosmic marital coupling that you can build your life on. Marriage is...

Genesis, therefore, holds that marriage is not merely a humanly devised convention to be changed or adapted to new circumstances or conceptions of human sexuality.

This is Biblical Marriage. And we need Jesus to get marriage right. Invite Him into your marriage today!