Today’s “Friday Sermon” is not so much a sermon per se; rather, it is an introduction or overview of Mormonism geared at exposing how vastly different it is from Christianity despite its use of Christian terminology. This clip is a short (21 min) overview of Mormon theology. I’ll be linking to a longer class he taught on this subject at the end of the post. In a recent shared post on my personal Facebook page, I had an acquaintance jump into a discussion on my timeline who is a member of LDS assert that he considered himself Christian. While I have read through a large portion of the LDS.org website, I’ve avoided making stark distinctions before opting instead to simply focus on what the Gospel of Jesus Christ is without calling out other false gospels specifically. Thankfully, I’ve been introduced to the Ministry of Dr. James White via his response to the Newsweek article hit-piece on the Bible. With the popularity/prevalence of Glenn Beck (theBlaze) and the rumors of Mitt Romney possibly taking another run at Presidency, the false notion that Mormonism is a Christian denomination may come up again.

Dr. James White is the director of Alpha and Omega Ministries, a Christian apologetics organization based in Phoenix, Arizona. He is the author of more than twenty books, a professor, an accomplished debater, and an elder of the Phoenix Reformed Baptist Church.

[youtube http://youtu.be/a1BLR4rufYA]

For an extended (2 hours 18min) seminar  on witnessing to Mormons by Dr James White, click here.

Biblical Gospel of Jesus Christ

Colossians 1:11-23 (ESV)

¹¹ May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, forall endurance and patience with joy, ¹² giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. ¹³ He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, ¹⁴ in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

¹⁵ He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. ¹⁶ For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. ¹⁷ And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. ¹⁸ And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning,the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. ¹⁹ For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, ²⁰ and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

²¹ And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, ²² he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, ²³ if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.

Ephesians 2:1-10 (ESV)

By Grace Through Faith

1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins ² in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— ³ among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.⁴ But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, ⁵ even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— ⁶ and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, ⁷ so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. ⁸ For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, ⁹ not a result of works, so that no one may boast. ¹⁰ For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works,which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.