Deception in the Ranks (Acts 4:32-5:11)
CrossWay Community Church
November 25th, 2018
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Hypocrisy
The Importance of Integrity vs. Compromise and Political Power-Plays
Integrity matters. If you want to serve as a testimony to Christian ethics, then you’re actually going to need to hold them, and that means holding them with consistency. Hypocrisy and double-standards will effectively serve to mute your witness.
It’s hard to cry out against a sin in one instance when, in another instance, you’ve excused, blown-off, or chosen to overlooked that sin.
What if the sort of “power” and influence Jesus intended for his followers wasn’t one of ends-justify-the-means ethical compromise and political power-plays, but witness to a “revolutionary”-like ethic like that of Mt 5-7, with all the integrity, lowliness, and self-sacrifice involved therein (5:13-16)?
Many advocate ethical compromise for the sake of “the greater good” (or “the lesser of two evils”). But what shall it profit the church if it gains a whole election but loses its witness? What if the church’s witness is the actual means of its impact?
Authority–Man’s Word < God’s Word
Preface
On Sunday, August 26th, my pastor preached an excellent sermon from Matthew 15:1-9 at Lake Drive. The question he posed was, “What hold’s authority for the Christian?” The topic of the sermon was God’s word and man’s word—that is, God’s truth, His teaching, His commandments versus man’s teaching, man’s instruction, or man’s tradition. Allow me to share with you some thoughts I had or that pastor Curt Leonard brought out in his message.
Introduction
God’s word is authoritative. It is perfect, it is true, and it is binding. As such it is the believer’s ultimate authority of faith (what to believe) and practice (what to do; how to live). A parallel truth to this fact is that God’s word is sufficient to instruct us on how to live godly lives in our present age or generation, which implies the concept of making direct applications of its truth to our contemporary setting.
6 Ways to Effectively Lose Your Gospel Witness (A Satire)
The Christian’s Gospel witness is his or her call to spread the good news that Christ died to save sinners and that all who turn from their evil ways to faith in Christ will be made right with God and saved from His wrath.
Now, many Christians throughout America are currently practicing various techniques that improve their ability to effectively lose their Gospel witness. But in order to help more Christians in this endeavor, I have decided to promote the awareness of these impeccable methods so that more and more Christians might begin employing them into their own lives. The following is a helpful list of various ways in which you too can successfully lose your Gospel witness.
