Fast Facts
- Unreached Unreligious people groups are atheistic and inhabit China, Mongolia, North Korea, and portions of Southeast Asia.
- “Is China a mission field or missionary force? The answer is both” —Todd Ahrend.
Study
Read Proverbs 14:1
- Restate the first sentence in this verse without using any of the words in your translation.
- What clues are there in this verse about why a person would deny the existence of God?
- Read the information below about the existence of God and share your thoughts.
Watch
Hope For Billions (4:00)
- “Imagine being changed by people you’ve never met, people across the world.”
Typically, we think workers (missionaries) change the people they serve. Here it is the opposite. What are some ways workers are changed by bringing the gospel to the unreached peoples? - “Life is not just about ourselves. We’re a part of God’s greater purpose in this world.”
What does this mean? - What else stood out to you from the video?
One in a Billion-Engineer (3:35)
- What were the phases of this man's spiritual journey?
- What else stood out to you from this video?
Discuss
Excerpts from Hudson Taylor: Deep in the Heart of China, by Janet Benge.
- "Hudson had begun reading the story in the booklet [gospel tract], and it had interested him so much that he’d forgotten all about his promise to read only the first half of the book. Before he knew it, he had read the Gospel part as well. As he read, a phrase seemed to jump out at him. ‘The finished work of Christ,’ the booklet said, and Hudson couldn’t seem to get that phrase out of his mind. He thought about it at great length. If it was a finished work, then there was nothing he could do but accept that finished work. And so, there in his hideaway in the old warehouse, Hudson Taylor invited Jesus Christ to come into his life.” (locations 245–48)
This describes the importance of being secure in your relationship with Christ before helping bring the gospel to the unreached. What is the significance of working FROM the acceptance of Christ instead of FOR the acceptance of Christ? In other words, what is the difference in serving because you are already secure in your relationship with Christ versus serving to gain security in Christ? What’s the danger of getting this wrong? - "Hudson explained that often money is the easiest thing to give. 'I think a collection tends to leave the impression that the all-important thing is money, whereas no amount of money can convert a single soul. What is needed is men and women filled with the Holy Spirit to give themselves to the work. There will never be a shortage of funds for the support of such people.'" (locations 1862–65)
Do you agree or disagree? Explain.
Learn
View
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Pray
Reflect on what you learned in this meeting, and let it generate prayer as you pray together as a group.
The notion of the existence a divine being is innate. (Ecclesiastes 3:11) People must refuse to believe it. The second half of Psalm 14:1 suggests that atheism is really a moral issue, not a philosophical one. Unbelief is an attempt to cut the umbilical cord of accountability between a creator and created beings. Scripture suggests that rationalizing immorality is the underlying motive of atheism. Matthew Henry put it this way, "No man will say, there is no God, till he is so hardened in sin, that it is become [in] his interest that there should be none to call him to an account."1
Ryrie adds, "Everyone is a theologian. Even an atheist has a theology. He thinks about God, rejects His existence, and expresses that sometimes in creed and always in lifestyle."2
Author C.S. Lewis proposed that the atheist has to continually suppress the thought that God might actually exist instead of resting in the settled idea that he does not. He writes, "Now that I am a Christian I do not have moods in which the whole thing looks very improbable: but when I was an atheist, I had moods in which Christianity looked terribly probable."3
Ultimately, the strongest evidence for the existence of God, is God himself. As Sabina Wurmbrand said, "God is the best proof that God exists."
Ryrie adds, "Everyone is a theologian. Even an atheist has a theology. He thinks about God, rejects His existence, and expresses that sometimes in creed and always in lifestyle."2
Author C.S. Lewis proposed that the atheist has to continually suppress the thought that God might actually exist instead of resting in the settled idea that he does not. He writes, "Now that I am a Christian I do not have moods in which the whole thing looks very improbable: but when I was an atheist, I had moods in which Christianity looked terribly probable."3
Ultimately, the strongest evidence for the existence of God, is God himself. As Sabina Wurmbrand said, "God is the best proof that God exists."
- Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible (Olive Tree Bible Software, Version 6.8.3) Notes on Psalm 14:1
- Charles C. Ryrie. Basic Theology: A Popular, Systematic Guide to Understanding Biblical Truth (Chicago: Moody, 1999) 9 Kindle
- C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity (New York: Simon&Schuster, 1996), 125