Many people who attend church regularly are happy to simply trust their pastors and teachers to tell them what they need to know.

Today on Truth for Life, Alastair Begg explains why it's necessary for every Christian to know what we believe and why we believe it.

Father, we thank you for the immense privilege of being in this place at this time, a specific place on a specific day for a specific purpose. We thank

you that you have plans and purposes for us. We're not here, a rag bag of individuals brought

together by happenstance, but that in the mystery of your purposes and providence, you have brought us together for this time.

So then help us in the balance of our time.

As we turn to the Bible and read it, as we think about its truth, and as we seek to have you come

and apply it to our lives, whether to convince us of our sin, to convict us of our need of a Savior, or to establish us in our faith.

Come, Lord, to our waiting hearts we pray for Christ's sake. Amen.

Do be seated.

And we'll read just a couple of verses from Colossians chapter 1.

I will have a number of cross references this evening.

I say that just to warn you, because some of you very quickly get frustrated with that.

So I'd rather you've got your frustration over with in anticipation

and just determine that you're not going to look up any of the references at all,

but you'll get the tape or the CD and take care of it in due

course. Colossians chapter 1 and verse 21. Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your

minds because of your evil behavior.

But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death

to present you wholly in his sight without blemish and free from accusation.

If you continue in your faith, established and firm, not move from the hope held out in the gospel,

this is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven

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