October 26, 2025 • 40 mins
This week, we study Romans 14 to discover how a church filled with diverse preferences can remain united. Paul shows us the way: keep essentials central, giving liberty in non-essentials, and practicing charity in all things. We’re called to lay down our preferences, welcome one another, and trust God to be the Judge.
In this message, we explore:
- What it meant to have strong and weak consciences in Rome
- How to welcome without quarreling over opinions
- Disputes about food, special days, and conscience
- Why God alone is Judge—and we are not
- Essentials as the foundation for unity
- Non-essentials as areas of liberty
- Charity as the posture in every disagreement
- Denominational differences as secondary
- Dying to self for the sake of the body
- Unity as a powerful witness in a divided world
- An invitation to join, believe, be baptized, or pray
“Would you join me now in listening to our sermon from this week?”
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:03):
Hello and welcome to the FBC El Daredo Sermon
Podcast.
My name is Taylor Gere and Ihave the privilege of being the
pastor here at First Baptist.
And I want to thank you forlistening into our sermon this
week.
And I want to tell you this ifyou're in our area and you don't
have a church home, we wouldlove to see you any Sunday
morning at First Baptist ElDoredo.
(00:25):
Would you join me now inlistening to our sermon from
this week?
Good morning.
If you'll open your Bibles withme to Romans chapter 14.
Romans chapter 14, we'll look atverses 1 through 12.
Romans 14, 1 through 12, andI'll read them now.
(00:49):
As for the one who is weak infaith, welcome him, but not to
quarrel over opinions.
One person believes he may eatanything, while the weak person
eats only vegetables.
Let not the one who eats despisethe one who abstains, and let
not the one who abstains passjudgment on the one who eats,
for God has welcomed him.
Who are you to pass judgment onthe servant of another?
(01:12):
It is before his own master thathe stands or falls, and he will
be upheld, for the Lord is ableto make him stand.
One person esteems one day asbetter than another, while
another esteems all days alike.
Each one should be fullyconvinced in his own mind.
The one who observes the dayobserves it in honor of the
Lord.
(01:32):
The one who eats eats in honorof the Lord, since he gives
thanks to God.
While the one who abstainsabstains in honor of the Lord
and gives thanks to God.
For none of us lives to himself,and none of us dies to himself.
For if we live, we live to theLord, and if we die, we die to
the Lord.
So then, whether we live orwhether we die, we are the
(01:53):
Lord's.
For to this end Christ died andlived again, that he might be
Lord both of the dead and of theliving.
Why do you pass judgment on yourbrothers?
Or you, why do you despise yourbrother?
For we will all stand before thejudgment seat of God, for it is
written, As I live, says theLord, every knee shall bow to
me, and every tongue shallconfess to God, so then each of
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us will give an account ofhimself to God.
Pray with me.
Lord Jesus, we do thank you foryour word.
Thank you for Romans 14 and whatmany, many years ago Paul sought
to teach us as a church that isunified.
And so, Lord, by your Spirit,would you speak and move now?
We ask in Christ's name.
(02:36):
Amen.
In John chapter 13, verse 35,Jesus is just a few moments
removed from washing hisdisciples' feet.
It's the night of his arrest,it's the night before his
crucifixion.
And he speaks to his disciplesand he tells them this that the
(02:58):
way people will know that youare my disciples is how.
How does he finish that?
The way people will know thatyou are my disciples.
Does he say that it is by yourdenominational affiliation?
He does not say that.
By your specific preferences?
No, he doesn't say that.
By the way that uh everything uhat church is exactly perfect and
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there's never differingopinions.
No, he doesn't say that.
What he says is the way that allpeople will know that you are my
disciples is by this, is thatyou love one another.
By the way you love one another.
Paul really is picking up onthis idea today in Romans
chapter 14 of what does it looklike for disciples of Jesus,
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even 2,000 years later, in ElDorado, Arkansas at First
Baptist Church, or anywhere,what does it look like for
disciples of Jesus to be unifiedunder the banner of Jesus
Christ?
Now, as we enter into Romans 14,I think it's uh important at the
beginning to define our terms,define our terms.
(04:07):
Because as I was reading that,you saw language of the ones who
are strong in faith, the oneswho are weak in faith.
Now, what in the world does thatmean?
Well, within the church at Rome,you had a lot of different
people.
You had some that were strong infaith, as Paul would say, some
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who were weak in faith.
That doesn't mean they're weakbelievers.
That doesn't mean uh they don'tamount to much as believers or
any lesser.
That simply means this, that uhthey are still growing in their
faith and not quite have grownyet to the level of freedom that
those who are strong in theirfaith now experience.
But the strong ones in theirfaith, who are these?
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Well, primarily these Gentilebelievers who have recently come
to know the Lord and haveexperienced the freedom that is
now found in Christ Jesus.
They have laid down the idols ofRome and the idols of their
past, and they have in freedomfollowed Christ Jesus.
And then you have the weakerbrothers and sisters.
(05:09):
Who are these?
Primarily, these are Jewishbelievers who have come to know
the Lord.
But though they have beenfollowing the law for
generations, and though theirgreat-great-grandfather was
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob ondown, they've come to know the
Lord through the person of JesusChrist.
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They are believers, there's nodoubt about that, but they are
still desiring to live out someof their old traditions of the
old covenant.
And this is not a sinfulpractice.
Nothing we talk about here asthese preferences or anything
sinful, but what it is is thesebelievers who could certainly be
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welcomed to a newfound freedom,you are now in the new covenant.
You don't have to live out thetraditions of the old covenant,
and yet it's how they were bornand raised, it's how they grew
up, it's still how they uhdesire to practice their faith,
and so they are still kind ofbinding themselves to much of
these traditions.
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So you have the strong andyou've got the weak.
Now there seems to be, as Paul'swriting, a division between the
two.
That the two, uh, however muchwe want to read into it, just
can't seem to get along.
And how does this happen?
Well, to explain how this mightcould happen, I could bring up
the story of Wally Pipp.
I don't know if you've heard thename Wally Pip.
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And forgive me for bringing upthis team again, but a first
baseman for the New York Yankeesin the early, early 1920s, Wally
Pipp, he probably had big dreamsand big desires of being the
first baseman for the New YorkYankees for many years to come.
Probably had great dreams anddesire of being the first
baseman for the New York Yankeesand being part of what they
(06:56):
called Murderer's Row, where inthe late 20s you had guys like
Babe Ruth and others in thelineup that no pitcher wanted to
go down that road.
Wally Pitt probably had greatdreams of that, and one day he
came into the clubhouse and wascomplaining of a headache.
He wanted to play through thepain, but as he talked to his
manager, his manager told him,Wally, why don't we just get you
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a day off?
No issues at all.
Get you some medicine, rest up,grab a glass of water, we'll get
you back in the lineup tomorrow.
Wally Pitt finally said, That'llbe just fine.
I will do that.
He stays home that day, he restsup.
The backup first baseman comesin, and his name is Lou Gehrig.
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Lou Gehrig, who went on to be uhmaybe the best first baseman of
all time, went on to play besideBabe Ruth many years in
Murderer's Row.
This was Lou Gehrig, the Hall ofFamer uh in Monument Park at
Yankee Stadium.
Wally Pip never got the firstbase spot back.
He said later it was the mostexpensive aspirin he had ever
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taken.
There's something in this,though, that if you are a Jewish
believer, you've probably got alittle bit of Wally Pip in you
where you say this, uh I've beenhere a day or two.
This has been my spot for awhile.
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Gentiles, while you were uhstill, you know, in training
camp in single A way back there,while you were still following
the ways of this world, me andmy relatives, we were following
the old covenant, we werefollowing the traditions and the
commands.
We've been here a day or two,we've got standing in this
church, and now we know uh theLord through the person of Jesus
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Christ, and we have thatfreedom, but we've been around
long enough to know that westill want to carry out these
traditions.
And then on the other side,you've got the Gentiles.
They just come in.
Johnny came lately, and suddenlythey think they can take
authority in the church.
Suddenly they don't knowanything about the old ways.
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They don't know what it was likein the old covenant.
They don't remember thesacrifices, they don't remember
these things.
They just come in proclaimingthis newfound freedom.
Like you just get to come intothe building and just have that
kind of freedom, be that kind ofbeliever.
There's no way you can do that.
And so you got Wally Pippin, yougot Lou Gehrig, and who's gonna
get the starting job?
(09:29):
And I think Paul wants to showthem that you're all in, you're
all part of this team, and ourjob in this moment is to figure
out how we make this work, howwe make this work together.
Both of you are accepted, andthere is a need for unity among
us all.
So, verse one, as for the onewho is weak in faith, so these
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Jewish believers who now knowJesus but are holding on to some
of the old covenant traditions,what does it say?
Welcome him, but not to quarrelover opinions.
As for the one who's weak infaith, welcome him.
So he's looking to these strongbelievers and saying, the one
who is weak, you welcome him.
This word welcome him is a muchstronger word than, you know,
(10:16):
just kind of at least let themin the building.
It's a much stronger word thanthat.
It's really uh not just welcomethem in, but give them a seat at
the table, okay?
Let them have standing in thischurch.
I would imagine today you'veprobably got two kinds of
friends.
You've got some front doorfriends and you've got some
garage door friends.
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You got some friends, and maybeyou'd call them more
acquaintances.
They come to your home, and whenthey do, they park out front.
They're very careful not to stepon the grass.
They get on the sidewalk or thepathway up to your door, give
the most polite knock.
Front door friends.
Nothing wrong with that.
I'm thankful for them.
You've also got garage doorfriends that you're you're
(11:00):
sitting in your home thisafternoon, you're you're
watching the ball game and youlook up and your friend's in
there, and you don't even knowhow he got in.
He's got the garage code.
He he or she, they don't knockon the door, they make
themselves at home.
They're making a sandwich inyour kitchen right now while
you're here at church.
These are garage door friends,they can come right in.
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What Paul is saying for thestrong in faith, look at these
weak ones, and they get thegarage code.
They get to come right in.
They get to make themselves athome here in the church.
And maybe some of the thingsthey do, they may look a little
different from what you do.
And guess what?
Preferences may be different.
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The way they live out theirfaith, we're not, again, just a
note, we're not talking anysinful practices here.
If we were talking about anysinful preferences or sinful way
of quote unquote living out ourChristian life, uh as if those
terms go together, then we wouldknow from the start those don't
apply.
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These are not sinful practices,these are simply preferences.
So welcome them in.
But look at this, but not toquarrel over opinions.
Because it could be that thestronger Christian wants to say,
I will gladly welcome you in andgive you a seat at the table.
And once you are in, and once weare seated at the table, I would
love nothing more than to tellyou why everything you do is
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wrong and everything I do isright.
No, no.
It's not a welcoming that thenwill just lead to arguments.
It's a welcoming that says, Hey,you and I were from different
places, we have differentupbringings, there's some ways
we think differently, but guesswhat?
Under the banner of Christ, weare brothers and we are sisters
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in Christ Jesus, and thatchanges everything.
Verse 2.
One person believes he may eatanything.
Here's the Gentiles, all food isup for grabs, the original
Baptist.
We can eat whatever we want,while the weak person eats only
vegetables.
Now, that's interesting becausereally in the Old Testament law,
(13:12):
there's nothing that says youmay only eat vegetables.
It's likely the case that theseJewish believers in the church
at Rome know this that a lot ofthe meat, and this is strange,
but it's true, a lot of the meatat the time on uh Saturday night
might have been sacrificed to anidol, I kid you not, and then
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the very next morning put in themarketplace and sold so that you
could have a hamburger or asteak dinner.
That's just the fact of thematter.
And the Gentile would gladly saythis I go to the market, I'm
gonna get my steaks for dinner.
There's nothing wrong with that.
The Jewish believer would say, Idon't even want to play games
with that kind of thing, that Idon't know where that meat was
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the night before.
I want nothing to do with that.
And so what they do is say, it'sit's too dangerous to go to the
market in Rome.
I don't know what I'm gonna get.
And so they cast off meataltogether.
They only eat vegetables.
So what do we do?
One says I can eat anything Iwant, one says I can only eat
vegetables.
Verse three Let not the one whoeats despise the one who
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abstains.
Let not the one who abstainspass judgment on the one who
eats.
For God has welcomed him.
Now, do you see that there is acommand on both sides of the
equation?
Okay?
It's not as if today Paul issaying, uh, you strong ones,
don't worry about it.
You're doing great.
(14:39):
We'll work on the weak ones.
Or to the weak ones, don'tworry, we'll work on them.
No, both sides bring somethingto the table that they've got to
work on.
Number one, the one who eats,uh, do not despise the one who
abstains.
Great.
You have freedom in Christ toeat whatever you want.
Praise God for that freedom, butdon't look across the table to
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your brother or sister in Christwho's, you know, got a vegetable
medley on his plate, and don'tlook at that believer and say,
What are you doing?
Are you really so weak?
Have you not read the scriptureslike I have that you don't have
to do that anymore?
No, no, no.
But then also on the other side,to the one who abstains, don't
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look at the one who eats andsay, When are you gonna rise to
the level of obedience that I'mat?
When are you gonna take thisthing a little more seriously?
That there's some rules tofollow around here.
No, no.
On both sides, don't despise,don't pass judgment.
Why?
Because God has welcomed him.
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And so just as we as believerswelcome all into this, and so uh
the weak welcoming the strong,the strong welcome to the
welcomes the weak, so we serve aGod that has welcomed all to the
table of faith.
And so then we come to versefour, and we see something that
we all need to see (16:01):
a little tough love from Paul to us.
Who are you to pass judgment onthe servant of another?
It is before his own master thathe stands or falls, and he will
be upheld, for the Lord is ableto make him stand.
Here's what Paul wants each oneof us to see in verse four that
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you and I, and we need to hearit, we are not judge, jury, and
executioner.
We are not the ultimate judge,we are not the ultimate
authority.
I I stand here today as no one'sHoly Spirit.
I I'm not the one you will standbefore one day.
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You will not stand before me, Iam not your judge.
There is a God in heaven who isthe judge, and look at this, it
says that this individual willbe upheld.
Why?
Because the judge in heaven iswhat?
Able to make him stand.
That Taylor, you're you'reyou're getting so caught up in
these preferences and theseopinions.
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Do you not see that there is aLord and Savior over all of this
who has welcomed them in?
And there may be differences,and they may live out their
faith in a little different way.
It's nothing sinful there.
Do you not see the fact that Godis in heaven, you're here on
earth, you're not the judge, sowelcome him.
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Why?
Again, because verse 3, the Lordhas welcomed him, verse 4,
because the Lord is able to makehim stand.
Verse 5, one person esteems oneday is better than another,
while another esteems all daysalike.
Each one should be fullyconvinced in his own mind.
The one who observes the dayobserves it in honor of the
Lord.
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The one who eats, eats in honorof the Lord, since he gives
thanks to God, while the one whoabstains, abstains in honor of
the Lord, and gives thanks toGod.
Verse five and six we see a lotof the same ideas of verse two
and three, where first it wasvegetables and non-vegetables,
now we've got days and non-days.
There are some that still viewthe Sabbath as this specific
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set-apart day, and there aresome that that that just see it
as another day where we're goingto come and we're going to
worship.
There's some that still hold tothese old covenant holiday
traditions that exist, andthere's some, maybe Gentiles,
that don't have a clue whatthose holidays were.
Some honor these days, and somedo not.
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And what does Paul say?
Really, what does the Lord say?
That's okay.
Let the one who honors them givethanks to God as he does it.
Let the one who does not honorgive thanks to God as he or she
does it.
I'm thinking about time here.
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Let's go to the chase thismorning.
What does Paul want to get us tosee?
It's simply this.
And as a church family, we'renot going to let non-essentials
(19:16):
get in the way of fellowship.
As a church family, we praiseGod for different opinions and
preferences.
We praise God for differentupbringings, different thoughts
about things.
What a gift that is.
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How terrible would it be if wewere a church of 300 people in
this room that all thought andand and just and and spoke and
everything was exactly the same.
I praise God for the diversityof thought in this room.
I praise God for that.
And we have differentpreferences and opinions, but
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we're not gonna letnon-essentials hurt the
fellowship that exists among us.
My Wednesday night crew heardthis, and I'll say it now.
Richard Baxter, the Puritanpreacher, has a quote that has
been so helpful to me and maybewill be for you.
He said this some 400 years agothat in things essential, let
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there be unity.
In things non-essential, letthere be liberty, and in all
things, let there be charity.
Let me say that again.
In things essential, let therebe unity.
In non-essential, let there beliberty, in all things, let
there be charity.
Think about this for a second.
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In things essential, let therebe unity.
Now, there are some things thatanyone, any body, any church
that proclaims that they findthemselves under the banner of
Christendom, under the banner ofChrist Jesus, there are some
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things that better be there.
Jesus is the Son of God.
That better be there.
That's essential.
God exists in Trinity.
We better find it.
Jesus is the only way to theFather.
I mean, we could go on.
There are just some things thatare essential.
And so, whatever denomination,wherever you're from, whatever
that looks like, if you're underthe banner of Christendom, there
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are some essentials that hadbetter be there and we better
have unity across the board.
Now, in non-essentials, letthere be liberty.
Non-essentials, kind of tier twotype items that, let's be clear,
they're important.
They're important to thinkabout.
They're important that we knowwhy we believe what we believe.
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They're important that we searchthe scriptures and think about
why we do what we do.
They're important in so manyways, and yet, even under the
banner of Christendom, uh peoplecan, in a sense, agree to
disagree on some items.
Again, we're not going intoessential territory and missing
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the mark on those.
We're going to that second uhcategory of non-essentials.
What does this look like?
It might look likedenominational items.
You you probably wonder, haven'tyou?
Why do denominations exist?
You ever wonder that?
We are all Christians.
Uh I mean, we read the samebook.
Uh why do denominations exist?
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Well, for many reasons, and Ithink they are beautiful things,
and they all bring somethingbeautiful to uh Christian life.
Uh, but they exist at timesbecause there are these
secondary things that uh twoindividuals can be uh in in
great fellowship with oneanother, but just disagree on
how we live out that practice.
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Things like baptism.
You saw this morning a baptismby immersion.
You saw that.
Nolan went under the water andhe came right back up.
There's other denominations thatmight practice baptism a little
differently.
And I have my convictions onbaptism and what I believe it
should look like and what Ibelieve scripture calls it to
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look like, but there's otherswho think differently.
And I don't have to practice itthat way, uh, but but I
celebrate that they are there, Icelebrate that they exist, I
celebrate that we are brothersand sisters in Christ under the
banner of Christendom.
And when I get to heaven, I'mgonna see a lot of people that
were baptized by immersion.
I'm gonna see a lot of peoplethat were sprinkled, I'm gonna
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see the thief on the cross thatsays, What in the world is
baptism?
Everybody's gonna be there.
And that's a beautiful thing.
Different ideas of maybe theLord's Supper.
We do things differently.
We practice the Lord's Supper ina way that any believer can come
into this room and partake ofthe supper with us.
We had the individual cup andthe individual bread.
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Uh I've done it different ways.
You've probably done itdifferent ways.
Common cup, you've done it byintention, maybe.
Uh Katie and I's most meaningfulLord's Supper ever was in
Jerusalem on a Sunday morningwithin the walls of the old city
of Jerusalem.
Uh it was such a beautiful time,and it was Common Cup.
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So we all came down front, weall kneeled.
This was before COVID.
Common cup is kind of taking ahit.
But we received the Lord'sSupper there in Jerusalem.
It was the most beautiful thing,a little different than what I
practiced growing up.
But my goodness, under thebanner of Christendom, it might
have looked a little different.
But my goodness, wasn't itbeautiful to partake in that
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moment?
You think about these issues,and there are many of them.
And by the way, they areimportant.
And we should know why we dowhat we do.
We should know why we practicethese things the way that we
practice.
But we also know this that thereare some believers who think
slightly differently, and theyare good, faithful, God-loving,
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Christ-exalting believers.
And that's a beautiful thing.
So in things essential, letthere be unity.
In non-essential, let there beliberty.
In all things, let there becharity.
In all things, we remember this: we are still believers. (25:23):
undefined
We are brothers and sisters inChrist.
And if there is a difference ofopinion on how something is
carried out in the life of thechurch, that doesn't give me or
you or any of us permission tobe unkind about it, to be
unchrist-like about it.
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But my now my question is thisbut why?
Let's say this book thismorning, we all find ourselves
as we're we're the strongbelievers.
We practice the freedoms ofChrist.
You might ask this question, whydo I have to worry with the weak
believers?
In our pride, in our ivorytower, we might say, Why do I
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have to worry about makingthings okay for the weaker
believer?
Well, here's why.
Verse 7, for none of us lives tohimself.
And none of us dies to himself.
For if we live, we live to theLord.
If we die, we die to the Lord.
So then, whether we live orwhether we die, we are the
Lords.
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And for to this end Christ diedand lived again, that he might
be Lord both of the dead and ofthe living.
Have you noticed this?
That at every stage of yourlife, it feels like uh
selfishness has to die a littlebit more.
What do I mean by that?
Every stage.
Uh let's say this.
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Uh even my son, who's in theroom this morning, when he
started kindergarten just a fewmonths ago, uh things looked a
little different.
There's a time he's got to be inhis classroom.
Before 7:50, he's doing well.
At 8 o'clock, they are going tostart class.
Some of his freedoms are alittle bit lessened.
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There's a time he's there andhe's got to stay there until a
certain time.
You think about your firstcareer you had when suddenly
there is a paycheck on the line.
If you don't show up at acertain time, clock out at a
certain time, and ourselfishness just has to die.
I don't get to sleep in anymore,I don't get to do these things.
Talk about marriage.
(27:26):
That for all of us, if you'remarried, that marriage is a
sanctifying moment when over andover again our selfishness has
to die.
That I don't live just for meanymore.
I I don't exist for myself, Iexist for someone else in this
world.
I think of having children.
If you have children, you know,your selfishness better die in a
(27:49):
hurry.
Because Monday night is not thenight to, you know, come home
and just lay low.
We've got soccer practice andsoccer games and all these
things that I would not tradefor the world.
But every stage things juststart to look a little bit
different, and your ownselfishness just has to die.
Look at this now.
What seven through nine wants usto see that in the Christian
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life, our selfishness just hasto die.
Our desire to get our way10,000% of the time, it has to
die.
I'm not just talking to you, I'mtalking to me.
Because suddenly what we have todo as we come to the person and
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work of Christ is realize thisthat I, as a believer, am not
the center of the universe.
That when God set the planets inmotion and put them in orbit, he
didn't do that with me at thecenter where they circle me.
I'm not the center of thisthing.
And I've got to understand thatand I've got to realize that,
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and that my job as a believer,time and time again in the life
of the church, is to do this, isto continually lay down myself,
to die to my selfishness.
And there will be times withinthe life of the church that I've
got to lay down my rights sothat my brother or sister can
prosper.
(29:17):
That's how the church comestogether.
That's how the church lives thislife together.
That the goal of the church isunity, that the church of Jesus
Christ could prosper, and therewill be times that I've got to
lay down my own selfishness, andyou've got to lay it down so
that the church can prosper.
(29:38):
The church has seen this throughthe years.
Baptists get a lot of jokesabout this, certainly, of the
color of paint and this, that,and the other.
And we've been the bud of plentyof jokes.
We fought the worship wars inthe early 2000s, contemporary,
traditional, these types ofthings.
I want to praise God real quickfor Dustin.
(30:00):
And our worship team.
I I want to read the dates ofevery song we sang this morning.
Even, you know, some weremultiple in one song.
Listen to this now.
2018, 1851, 2024, 1772, 2021,1865, 2017.
You talk about putting togethera service in such a way that
(30:25):
anyone who walks through thesedoors can worship.
That's the thing this thing,this team thinks about, and
Dustin thinks about.
You talk about the way we comeinto this room, and every one of
us has preferences and opinionsand ideas.
And I want to be clear, I praiseGod for those.
(30:48):
I praise God for those.
I I hope you always have thosepreferences and opinions.
But we come into this place andour desire is to make much of
Jesus.
And so there will be times as achurch where your preference and
opinion is perfectly met andperfectly carried out.
And there will be times whereit's 80% met and 80% carried
(31:11):
out.
There's just things that mightlook a little different.
And guess what?
I'm talking to myself too.
I won't get as going as I did onWednesday night, but I'll say
this now.
The beauty of this church, thebeauty of the Baptist church is
simply this (31:25):
that we have a congregational church polity, a
congregational churchgovernment.
What does that mean?
That everyone who is a member ofthis church carries out the
business and work of the churchtogether.
And guess what?
My vote in a business meeting,guess how much it counts for?
(31:46):
The same number as you.
One.
And the person who's been herefor four months has a vote, and
that's the same vote as theperson that's been here for four
years and 40 years, and youknow, all across the board.
The beauty of congregationallife is, and I praise God for
this, your pastor does not haveto be pastor and president and
(32:09):
CEO and dictator.
Praise God.
But the beauty of the church isthis as Ephesians 4, 12 says,
that the duty is to equip thesaints for the work of ministry.
We believe in the priesthood ofall believers, that we all come
together, we all make churchwork together.
(32:30):
You don't have a boss ordictator, you have a fellow
minister who ministers alongsideof you, and we just make the
church go.
Because we are a people who areconvinced that more than making
sure we get our way a hundredpercent of the time, I would
well rather make sure that thekingdom of God continues to go
(32:54):
forward.
John 13, 35.
Once again, Jesus says this thatthey will know that you are
Christians by your love, by theway you love one another, a
unified church.
(33:15):
But you also know this our unityis evangelistic.
Four chapters later in John 17,verse 23, Jesus is speaking to
his disciples, and he even saysthis, he's actually praying to
the Father about the disciples,and he even says this I pray
that they would be one, thatthey would be unified, and then
(33:38):
he says this, and by this unity,that's how the world will know
that you have sent me when thechurch is unified.
That's how the world will knowthat you have sent me.
Our unity is evangelistic.
Our unity as a church sends amessage to the world that there
(34:02):
is a Savior that loves usdeeply, that died on the cross
for us, that rose from the graveon our behalf, and and and
therefore, if he has done thisgreat sacrifice for me, then
every day I have the privilegefor the sake of my brothers and
sisters to sacrifice myselfagain and again and ask, how can
(34:24):
my brother or sister in Christprosper?
How can this church prosper?
And whatever that looks like,for the sake of Jesus Christ, I
pray that we would be ready andwilling to do it.
And it will take every one ofus.
But I think about this thismorning.
I think about a church that, orexcuse me, a world.
(34:45):
Think about the world that is sodivided.
You know, right now ourgovernment is literally shut
down because there's two sidesthat are just having a little
tricky time coming together,making it work.
Politics divides us.
Get on social media, you'llprobably find more reasons to be
(35:07):
divided.
We live in this world where weequate a disagreement with just
hatred.
That if I disagree with you,that must that must mean that I
just despise you.
That's the culture we live in,that's the world we live in,
that's what the world sees everyday.
That's what those outside ofChrist see every day.
(35:29):
And then in this dark anddivided world, I want to tell
you about this strange place at200 West Main Street.
This 103-year-old building builtin a way they just don't want to
build buildings anymore.
There's this odd, and I mean oddgroup of people.
(35:53):
And every Sunday morning theywalk into this room and they
think differently, and they wereraised differently, and they've
been a part of this thing fordifferent amounts of time, and
they they don't share all thesame opinions, they don't think
the same way all the time.
(36:15):
In fact, there's even days wherewhere they wonder if they'll
ever kind of come to a levelwhere they agree perfectly and
probably won't because God madeus so beautifully unique.
But there's just this strangegroup of people.
They come together, and yet inthis divided world, though they
have different preferences andopinions, and maybe they see
things differently, they justcome into this room and they
(36:38):
just smile at each other andthey just sing songs together,
and it's the strangest thing.
They don't get online and bashone another, they don't spread
gossip and rumors about howcould he or she do that or say
that.
They just look around the roomand they're just filled with
(36:59):
love for one another.
And it's the strangest thing,and they even told me it's all
based on the fact that there wasa savior that when they were
lost, welcome them.
And because of that, thisstrange group just can't help
(37:21):
but welcome anyone else thatwalks through those doors.
And in the middle of a dark anddivided world, you and I get to
come here every week, and we'rejust this little outpost, this
embassy that exists in themiddle of a divided world, and
(37:41):
we get to announce to the worldthrough our actions every week
that there is a different way.
That there is a savior thatbroke down the dividing wall.
And in that, and out there,there's important things that we
can disagree about and we canhave opinions about, but in this
room we are united on the mostimportant thing, and that's the
(38:05):
fact that we have a savior.
His name is Jesus Christ, and itchanges everything for every
person in this room.
This is what we get to haveevery Sunday morning, Wednesday
night, every day between this iswhat the church is.
(38:26):
This beautiful picture of unityin a dark and divided world
based on the person of JesusChrist.
Will you bow your heads with me?
Maybe as you've just heard thispicture of this church this
morning, you say, I want to be apart of that kind of church.
And you just say, Today is theday that I want to join the
(38:48):
First Baptist family.
We'd love nothing more to haveyou.
Maybe you want to come hearabout Jesus for the first time,
or you know Jesus and you wantto be baptized, or maybe you
want to pray with a pastor Brianwill be down front, I'll be down
front.
Whatever that looks like, mayberight where you're sitting, you
just need in a time of prayer torespond yourself.
(39:08):
Whatever that looks like,however you need to respond,
after I pray, I pray that you doit.
Lord Jesus, thank you.
That even in a divided world, weare united by our Savior.
And what a privilege that is.
And so, Lord, even now, evenmore, would you teach us to love
one another for the sake of yourgospel?
(39:30):
Because truly, Lord, your unity,the unity that is found in you,
it's a way in which the worldwill know that you have come.
And so, Lord, let us be aunified people, a people that
love you deeply and love oneanother deeply.
(39:51):
Because that's how you haveloved us.
We pray this now in Christ'sname.
Amen.
Would you stand now?
I'll be down front if you come.
Hello and welcome to the FBC El Daredo Sermon
Podcast.
My name is Taylor Gere and Ihave the privilege of being the
pastor here at First Baptist.
And I want to thank you forlistening into our sermon this
week.
And I want to tell you this ifyou're in our area and you don't
have a church home, we wouldlove to see you any Sunday
morning at First Baptist ElDoredo.
(00:25):
Would you join me now inlistening to our sermon from
this week?
Good morning.
If you'll open your Bibles withme to Romans chapter 14.
Romans chapter 14, we'll look atverses 1 through 12.
Romans 14, 1 through 12, andI'll read them now.
(00:49):
As for the one who is weak infaith, welcome him, but not to
quarrel over opinions.
One person believes he may eatanything, while the weak person
eats only vegetables.
Let not the one who eats despisethe one who abstains, and let
not the one who abstains passjudgment on the one who eats,
for God has welcomed him.
Who are you to pass judgment onthe servant of another?
(01:12):
It is before his own master thathe stands or falls, and he will
be upheld, for the Lord is ableto make him stand.
One person esteems one day asbetter than another, while
another esteems all days alike.
Each one should be fullyconvinced in his own mind.
The one who observes the dayobserves it in honor of the
Lord.
(01:32):
The one who eats eats in honorof the Lord, since he gives
thanks to God.
While the one who abstainsabstains in honor of the Lord
and gives thanks to God.
For none of us lives to himself,and none of us dies to himself.
For if we live, we live to theLord, and if we die, we die to
the Lord.
So then, whether we live orwhether we die, we are the
(01:53):
Lord's.
For to this end Christ died andlived again, that he might be
Lord both of the dead and of theliving.
Why do you pass judgment on yourbrothers?
Or you, why do you despise yourbrother?
For we will all stand before thejudgment seat of God, for it is
written, As I live, says theLord, every knee shall bow to
me, and every tongue shallconfess to God, so then each of
(02:15):
us will give an account ofhimself to God.
Pray with me.
Lord Jesus, we do thank you foryour word.
Thank you for Romans 14 and whatmany, many years ago Paul sought
to teach us as a church that isunified.
And so, Lord, by your Spirit,would you speak and move now?
We ask in Christ's name.
(02:36):
Amen.
In John chapter 13, verse 35,Jesus is just a few moments
removed from washing hisdisciples' feet.
It's the night of his arrest,it's the night before his
crucifixion.
And he speaks to his disciplesand he tells them this that the
(02:58):
way people will know that youare my disciples is how.
How does he finish that?
The way people will know thatyou are my disciples.
Does he say that it is by yourdenominational affiliation?
He does not say that.
By your specific preferences?
No, he doesn't say that.
By the way that uh everything uhat church is exactly perfect and
(03:23):
there's never differingopinions.
No, he doesn't say that.
What he says is the way that allpeople will know that you are my
disciples is by this, is thatyou love one another.
By the way you love one another.
Paul really is picking up onthis idea today in Romans
chapter 14 of what does it looklike for disciples of Jesus,
(03:45):
even 2,000 years later, in ElDorado, Arkansas at First
Baptist Church, or anywhere,what does it look like for
disciples of Jesus to be unifiedunder the banner of Jesus
Christ?
Now, as we enter into Romans 14,I think it's uh important at the
beginning to define our terms,define our terms.
(04:07):
Because as I was reading that,you saw language of the ones who
are strong in faith, the oneswho are weak in faith.
Now, what in the world does thatmean?
Well, within the church at Rome,you had a lot of different
people.
You had some that were strong infaith, as Paul would say, some
(04:27):
who were weak in faith.
That doesn't mean they're weakbelievers.
That doesn't mean uh they don'tamount to much as believers or
any lesser.
That simply means this, that uhthey are still growing in their
faith and not quite have grownyet to the level of freedom that
those who are strong in theirfaith now experience.
But the strong ones in theirfaith, who are these?
(04:49):
Well, primarily these Gentilebelievers who have recently come
to know the Lord and haveexperienced the freedom that is
now found in Christ Jesus.
They have laid down the idols ofRome and the idols of their
past, and they have in freedomfollowed Christ Jesus.
And then you have the weakerbrothers and sisters.
(05:09):
Who are these?
Primarily, these are Jewishbelievers who have come to know
the Lord.
But though they have beenfollowing the law for
generations, and though theirgreat-great-grandfather was
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob ondown, they've come to know the
Lord through the person of JesusChrist.
(05:29):
They are believers, there's nodoubt about that, but they are
still desiring to live out someof their old traditions of the
old covenant.
And this is not a sinfulpractice.
Nothing we talk about here asthese preferences or anything
sinful, but what it is is thesebelievers who could certainly be
(05:52):
welcomed to a newfound freedom,you are now in the new covenant.
You don't have to live out thetraditions of the old covenant,
and yet it's how they were bornand raised, it's how they grew
up, it's still how they uhdesire to practice their faith,
and so they are still kind ofbinding themselves to much of
these traditions.
(06:13):
So you have the strong andyou've got the weak.
Now there seems to be, as Paul'swriting, a division between the
two.
That the two, uh, however muchwe want to read into it, just
can't seem to get along.
And how does this happen?
Well, to explain how this mightcould happen, I could bring up
the story of Wally Pipp.
I don't know if you've heard thename Wally Pip.
(06:35):
And forgive me for bringing upthis team again, but a first
baseman for the New York Yankeesin the early, early 1920s, Wally
Pipp, he probably had big dreamsand big desires of being the
first baseman for the New YorkYankees for many years to come.
Probably had great dreams anddesire of being the first
baseman for the New York Yankeesand being part of what they
(06:56):
called Murderer's Row, where inthe late 20s you had guys like
Babe Ruth and others in thelineup that no pitcher wanted to
go down that road.
Wally Pitt probably had greatdreams of that, and one day he
came into the clubhouse and wascomplaining of a headache.
He wanted to play through thepain, but as he talked to his
manager, his manager told him,Wally, why don't we just get you
(07:20):
a day off?
No issues at all.
Get you some medicine, rest up,grab a glass of water, we'll get
you back in the lineup tomorrow.
Wally Pitt finally said, That'llbe just fine.
I will do that.
He stays home that day, he restsup.
The backup first baseman comesin, and his name is Lou Gehrig.
(07:40):
Lou Gehrig, who went on to be uhmaybe the best first baseman of
all time, went on to play besideBabe Ruth many years in
Murderer's Row.
This was Lou Gehrig, the Hall ofFamer uh in Monument Park at
Yankee Stadium.
Wally Pip never got the firstbase spot back.
He said later it was the mostexpensive aspirin he had ever
(08:02):
taken.
There's something in this,though, that if you are a Jewish
believer, you've probably got alittle bit of Wally Pip in you
where you say this, uh I've beenhere a day or two.
This has been my spot for awhile.
(08:24):
Gentiles, while you were uhstill, you know, in training
camp in single A way back there,while you were still following
the ways of this world, me andmy relatives, we were following
the old covenant, we werefollowing the traditions and the
commands.
We've been here a day or two,we've got standing in this
church, and now we know uh theLord through the person of Jesus
(08:48):
Christ, and we have thatfreedom, but we've been around
long enough to know that westill want to carry out these
traditions.
And then on the other side,you've got the Gentiles.
They just come in.
Johnny came lately, and suddenlythey think they can take
authority in the church.
Suddenly they don't knowanything about the old ways.
(09:08):
They don't know what it was likein the old covenant.
They don't remember thesacrifices, they don't remember
these things.
They just come in proclaimingthis newfound freedom.
Like you just get to come intothe building and just have that
kind of freedom, be that kind ofbeliever.
There's no way you can do that.
And so you got Wally Pippin, yougot Lou Gehrig, and who's gonna
get the starting job?
(09:29):
And I think Paul wants to showthem that you're all in, you're
all part of this team, and ourjob in this moment is to figure
out how we make this work, howwe make this work together.
Both of you are accepted, andthere is a need for unity among
us all.
So, verse one, as for the onewho is weak in faith, so these
(09:54):
Jewish believers who now knowJesus but are holding on to some
of the old covenant traditions,what does it say?
Welcome him, but not to quarrelover opinions.
As for the one who's weak infaith, welcome him.
So he's looking to these strongbelievers and saying, the one
who is weak, you welcome him.
This word welcome him is a muchstronger word than, you know,
(10:16):
just kind of at least let themin the building.
It's a much stronger word thanthat.
It's really uh not just welcomethem in, but give them a seat at
the table, okay?
Let them have standing in thischurch.
I would imagine today you'veprobably got two kinds of
friends.
You've got some front doorfriends and you've got some
garage door friends.
(10:38):
You got some friends, and maybeyou'd call them more
acquaintances.
They come to your home, and whenthey do, they park out front.
They're very careful not to stepon the grass.
They get on the sidewalk or thepathway up to your door, give
the most polite knock.
Front door friends.
Nothing wrong with that.
I'm thankful for them.
You've also got garage doorfriends that you're you're
(11:00):
sitting in your home thisafternoon, you're you're
watching the ball game and youlook up and your friend's in
there, and you don't even knowhow he got in.
He's got the garage code.
He he or she, they don't knockon the door, they make
themselves at home.
They're making a sandwich inyour kitchen right now while
you're here at church.
These are garage door friends,they can come right in.
(11:22):
What Paul is saying for thestrong in faith, look at these
weak ones, and they get thegarage code.
They get to come right in.
They get to make themselves athome here in the church.
And maybe some of the thingsthey do, they may look a little
different from what you do.
And guess what?
Preferences may be different.
(11:44):
The way they live out theirfaith, we're not, again, just a
note, we're not talking anysinful practices here.
If we were talking about anysinful preferences or sinful way
of quote unquote living out ourChristian life, uh as if those
terms go together, then we wouldknow from the start those don't
apply.
(12:04):
These are not sinful practices,these are simply preferences.
So welcome them in.
But look at this, but not toquarrel over opinions.
Because it could be that thestronger Christian wants to say,
I will gladly welcome you in andgive you a seat at the table.
And once you are in, and once weare seated at the table, I would
love nothing more than to tellyou why everything you do is
(12:26):
wrong and everything I do isright.
No, no.
It's not a welcoming that thenwill just lead to arguments.
It's a welcoming that says, Hey,you and I were from different
places, we have differentupbringings, there's some ways
we think differently, but guesswhat?
Under the banner of Christ, weare brothers and we are sisters
(12:48):
in Christ Jesus, and thatchanges everything.
Verse 2.
One person believes he may eatanything.
Here's the Gentiles, all food isup for grabs, the original
Baptist.
We can eat whatever we want,while the weak person eats only
vegetables.
Now, that's interesting becausereally in the Old Testament law,
(13:12):
there's nothing that says youmay only eat vegetables.
It's likely the case that theseJewish believers in the church
at Rome know this that a lot ofthe meat, and this is strange,
but it's true, a lot of the meatat the time on uh Saturday night
might have been sacrificed to anidol, I kid you not, and then
(13:36):
the very next morning put in themarketplace and sold so that you
could have a hamburger or asteak dinner.
That's just the fact of thematter.
And the Gentile would gladly saythis I go to the market, I'm
gonna get my steaks for dinner.
There's nothing wrong with that.
The Jewish believer would say, Idon't even want to play games
with that kind of thing, that Idon't know where that meat was
(13:59):
the night before.
I want nothing to do with that.
And so what they do is say, it'sit's too dangerous to go to the
market in Rome.
I don't know what I'm gonna get.
And so they cast off meataltogether.
They only eat vegetables.
So what do we do?
One says I can eat anything Iwant, one says I can only eat
vegetables.
Verse three Let not the one whoeats despise the one who
(14:19):
abstains.
Let not the one who abstainspass judgment on the one who
eats.
For God has welcomed him.
Now, do you see that there is acommand on both sides of the
equation?
Okay?
It's not as if today Paul issaying, uh, you strong ones,
don't worry about it.
You're doing great.
(14:39):
We'll work on the weak ones.
Or to the weak ones, don'tworry, we'll work on them.
No, both sides bring somethingto the table that they've got to
work on.
Number one, the one who eats,uh, do not despise the one who
abstains.
Great.
You have freedom in Christ toeat whatever you want.
Praise God for that freedom, butdon't look across the table to
(15:01):
your brother or sister in Christwho's, you know, got a vegetable
medley on his plate, and don'tlook at that believer and say,
What are you doing?
Are you really so weak?
Have you not read the scriptureslike I have that you don't have
to do that anymore?
No, no, no.
But then also on the other side,to the one who abstains, don't
(15:24):
look at the one who eats andsay, When are you gonna rise to
the level of obedience that I'mat?
When are you gonna take thisthing a little more seriously?
That there's some rules tofollow around here.
No, no.
On both sides, don't despise,don't pass judgment.
Why?
Because God has welcomed him.
(15:44):
And so just as we as believerswelcome all into this, and so uh
the weak welcoming the strong,the strong welcome to the
welcomes the weak, so we serve aGod that has welcomed all to the
table of faith.
And so then we come to versefour, and we see something that
we all need to see (16:01):
a little tough love from Paul to us.
Who are you to pass judgment onthe servant of another?
It is before his own master thathe stands or falls, and he will
be upheld, for the Lord is ableto make him stand.
Here's what Paul wants each oneof us to see in verse four that
(16:23):
you and I, and we need to hearit, we are not judge, jury, and
executioner.
We are not the ultimate judge,we are not the ultimate
authority.
I I stand here today as no one'sHoly Spirit.
I I'm not the one you will standbefore one day.
(16:45):
You will not stand before me, Iam not your judge.
There is a God in heaven who isthe judge, and look at this, it
says that this individual willbe upheld.
Why?
Because the judge in heaven iswhat?
Able to make him stand.
That Taylor, you're you'reyou're getting so caught up in
these preferences and theseopinions.
(17:07):
Do you not see that there is aLord and Savior over all of this
who has welcomed them in?
And there may be differences,and they may live out their
faith in a little different way.
It's nothing sinful there.
Do you not see the fact that Godis in heaven, you're here on
earth, you're not the judge, sowelcome him.
(17:28):
Why?
Again, because verse 3, the Lordhas welcomed him, verse 4,
because the Lord is able to makehim stand.
Verse 5, one person esteems oneday is better than another,
while another esteems all daysalike.
Each one should be fullyconvinced in his own mind.
The one who observes the dayobserves it in honor of the
Lord.
(17:48):
The one who eats, eats in honorof the Lord, since he gives
thanks to God, while the one whoabstains, abstains in honor of
the Lord, and gives thanks toGod.
Verse five and six we see a lotof the same ideas of verse two
and three, where first it wasvegetables and non-vegetables,
now we've got days and non-days.
There are some that still viewthe Sabbath as this specific
(18:12):
set-apart day, and there aresome that that that just see it
as another day where we're goingto come and we're going to
worship.
There's some that still hold tothese old covenant holiday
traditions that exist, andthere's some, maybe Gentiles,
that don't have a clue whatthose holidays were.
Some honor these days, and somedo not.
(18:32):
And what does Paul say?
Really, what does the Lord say?
That's okay.
Let the one who honors them givethanks to God as he does it.
Let the one who does not honorgive thanks to God as he or she
does it.
I'm thinking about time here.
(18:54):
Let's go to the chase thismorning.
What does Paul want to get us tosee?
It's simply this.
And as a church family, we'renot going to let non-essentials
(19:16):
get in the way of fellowship.
As a church family, we praiseGod for different opinions and
preferences.
We praise God for differentupbringings, different thoughts
about things.
What a gift that is.
(19:37):
How terrible would it be if wewere a church of 300 people in
this room that all thought andand and just and and spoke and
everything was exactly the same.
I praise God for the diversityof thought in this room.
I praise God for that.
And we have differentpreferences and opinions, but
(19:58):
we're not gonna letnon-essentials hurt the
fellowship that exists among us.
My Wednesday night crew heardthis, and I'll say it now.
Richard Baxter, the Puritanpreacher, has a quote that has
been so helpful to me and maybewill be for you.
He said this some 400 years agothat in things essential, let
(20:23):
there be unity.
In things non-essential, letthere be liberty, and in all
things, let there be charity.
Let me say that again.
In things essential, let therebe unity.
In non-essential, let there beliberty, in all things, let
there be charity.
Think about this for a second.
(20:44):
In things essential, let therebe unity.
Now, there are some things thatanyone, any body, any church
that proclaims that they findthemselves under the banner of
Christendom, under the banner ofChrist Jesus, there are some
(21:04):
things that better be there.
Jesus is the Son of God.
That better be there.
That's essential.
God exists in Trinity.
We better find it.
Jesus is the only way to theFather.
I mean, we could go on.
There are just some things thatare essential.
And so, whatever denomination,wherever you're from, whatever
that looks like, if you're underthe banner of Christendom, there
(21:27):
are some essentials that hadbetter be there and we better
have unity across the board.
Now, in non-essentials, letthere be liberty.
Non-essentials, kind of tier twotype items that, let's be clear,
they're important.
They're important to thinkabout.
They're important that we knowwhy we believe what we believe.
(21:51):
They're important that we searchthe scriptures and think about
why we do what we do.
They're important in so manyways, and yet, even under the
banner of Christendom, uh peoplecan, in a sense, agree to
disagree on some items.
Again, we're not going intoessential territory and missing
(22:13):
the mark on those.
We're going to that second uhcategory of non-essentials.
What does this look like?
It might look likedenominational items.
You you probably wonder, haven'tyou?
Why do denominations exist?
You ever wonder that?
We are all Christians.
Uh I mean, we read the samebook.
Uh why do denominations exist?
(22:35):
Well, for many reasons, and Ithink they are beautiful things,
and they all bring somethingbeautiful to uh Christian life.
Uh, but they exist at timesbecause there are these
secondary things that uh twoindividuals can be uh in in
great fellowship with oneanother, but just disagree on
how we live out that practice.
(22:57):
Things like baptism.
You saw this morning a baptismby immersion.
You saw that.
Nolan went under the water andhe came right back up.
There's other denominations thatmight practice baptism a little
differently.
And I have my convictions onbaptism and what I believe it
should look like and what Ibelieve scripture calls it to
(23:18):
look like, but there's otherswho think differently.
And I don't have to practice itthat way, uh, but but I
celebrate that they are there, Icelebrate that they exist, I
celebrate that we are brothersand sisters in Christ under the
banner of Christendom.
And when I get to heaven, I'mgonna see a lot of people that
were baptized by immersion.
I'm gonna see a lot of peoplethat were sprinkled, I'm gonna
(23:39):
see the thief on the cross thatsays, What in the world is
baptism?
Everybody's gonna be there.
And that's a beautiful thing.
Different ideas of maybe theLord's Supper.
We do things differently.
We practice the Lord's Supper ina way that any believer can come
into this room and partake ofthe supper with us.
We had the individual cup andthe individual bread.
(24:03):
Uh I've done it different ways.
You've probably done itdifferent ways.
Common cup, you've done it byintention, maybe.
Uh Katie and I's most meaningfulLord's Supper ever was in
Jerusalem on a Sunday morningwithin the walls of the old city
of Jerusalem.
Uh it was such a beautiful time,and it was Common Cup.
(24:25):
So we all came down front, weall kneeled.
This was before COVID.
Common cup is kind of taking ahit.
But we received the Lord'sSupper there in Jerusalem.
It was the most beautiful thing,a little different than what I
practiced growing up.
But my goodness, under thebanner of Christendom, it might
have looked a little different.
But my goodness, wasn't itbeautiful to partake in that
(24:49):
moment?
You think about these issues,and there are many of them.
And by the way, they areimportant.
And we should know why we dowhat we do.
We should know why we practicethese things the way that we
practice.
But we also know this that thereare some believers who think
slightly differently, and theyare good, faithful, God-loving,
(25:12):
Christ-exalting believers.
And that's a beautiful thing.
So in things essential, letthere be unity.
In non-essential, let there beliberty.
In all things, let there becharity.
In all things, we remember this: we are still believers. (25:23):
undefined
We are brothers and sisters inChrist.
And if there is a difference ofopinion on how something is
carried out in the life of thechurch, that doesn't give me or
you or any of us permission tobe unkind about it, to be
unchrist-like about it.
(25:44):
But my now my question is thisbut why?
Let's say this book thismorning, we all find ourselves
as we're we're the strongbelievers.
We practice the freedoms ofChrist.
You might ask this question, whydo I have to worry with the weak
believers?
In our pride, in our ivorytower, we might say, Why do I
(26:04):
have to worry about makingthings okay for the weaker
believer?
Well, here's why.
Verse 7, for none of us lives tohimself.
And none of us dies to himself.
For if we live, we live to theLord.
If we die, we die to the Lord.
So then, whether we live orwhether we die, we are the
Lords.
(26:25):
And for to this end Christ diedand lived again, that he might
be Lord both of the dead and ofthe living.
Have you noticed this?
That at every stage of yourlife, it feels like uh
selfishness has to die a littlebit more.
What do I mean by that?
Every stage.
Uh let's say this.
(26:45):
Uh even my son, who's in theroom this morning, when he
started kindergarten just a fewmonths ago, uh things looked a
little different.
There's a time he's got to be inhis classroom.
Before 7:50, he's doing well.
At 8 o'clock, they are going tostart class.
Some of his freedoms are alittle bit lessened.
(27:05):
There's a time he's there andhe's got to stay there until a
certain time.
You think about your firstcareer you had when suddenly
there is a paycheck on the line.
If you don't show up at acertain time, clock out at a
certain time, and ourselfishness just has to die.
I don't get to sleep in anymore,I don't get to do these things.
Talk about marriage.
(27:26):
That for all of us, if you'remarried, that marriage is a
sanctifying moment when over andover again our selfishness has
to die.
That I don't live just for meanymore.
I I don't exist for myself, Iexist for someone else in this
world.
I think of having children.
If you have children, you know,your selfishness better die in a
(27:49):
hurry.
Because Monday night is not thenight to, you know, come home
and just lay low.
We've got soccer practice andsoccer games and all these
things that I would not tradefor the world.
But every stage things juststart to look a little bit
different, and your ownselfishness just has to die.
Look at this now.
What seven through nine wants usto see that in the Christian
(28:14):
life, our selfishness just hasto die.
Our desire to get our way10,000% of the time, it has to
die.
I'm not just talking to you, I'mtalking to me.
Because suddenly what we have todo as we come to the person and
(28:35):
work of Christ is realize thisthat I, as a believer, am not
the center of the universe.
That when God set the planets inmotion and put them in orbit, he
didn't do that with me at thecenter where they circle me.
I'm not the center of thisthing.
And I've got to understand thatand I've got to realize that,
(28:57):
and that my job as a believer,time and time again in the life
of the church, is to do this, isto continually lay down myself,
to die to my selfishness.
And there will be times withinthe life of the church that I've
got to lay down my rights sothat my brother or sister can
prosper.
(29:17):
That's how the church comestogether.
That's how the church lives thislife together.
That the goal of the church isunity, that the church of Jesus
Christ could prosper, and therewill be times that I've got to
lay down my own selfishness, andyou've got to lay it down so
that the church can prosper.
(29:38):
The church has seen this throughthe years.
Baptists get a lot of jokesabout this, certainly, of the
color of paint and this, that,and the other.
And we've been the bud of plentyof jokes.
We fought the worship wars inthe early 2000s, contemporary,
traditional, these types ofthings.
I want to praise God real quickfor Dustin.
(30:00):
And our worship team.
I I want to read the dates ofevery song we sang this morning.
Even, you know, some weremultiple in one song.
Listen to this now.
2018, 1851, 2024, 1772, 2021,1865, 2017.
You talk about putting togethera service in such a way that
(30:25):
anyone who walks through thesedoors can worship.
That's the thing this thing,this team thinks about, and
Dustin thinks about.
You talk about the way we comeinto this room, and every one of
us has preferences and opinionsand ideas.
And I want to be clear, I praiseGod for those.
(30:48):
I praise God for those.
I I hope you always have thosepreferences and opinions.
But we come into this place andour desire is to make much of
Jesus.
And so there will be times as achurch where your preference and
opinion is perfectly met andperfectly carried out.
And there will be times whereit's 80% met and 80% carried
(31:11):
out.
There's just things that mightlook a little different.
And guess what?
I'm talking to myself too.
I won't get as going as I did onWednesday night, but I'll say
this now.
The beauty of this church, thebeauty of the Baptist church is
simply this (31:25):
that we have a congregational church polity, a
congregational churchgovernment.
What does that mean?
That everyone who is a member ofthis church carries out the
business and work of the churchtogether.
And guess what?
My vote in a business meeting,guess how much it counts for?
(31:46):
The same number as you.
One.
And the person who's been herefor four months has a vote, and
that's the same vote as theperson that's been here for four
years and 40 years, and youknow, all across the board.
The beauty of congregationallife is, and I praise God for
this, your pastor does not haveto be pastor and president and
(32:09):
CEO and dictator.
Praise God.
But the beauty of the church isthis as Ephesians 4, 12 says,
that the duty is to equip thesaints for the work of ministry.
We believe in the priesthood ofall believers, that we all come
together, we all make churchwork together.
(32:30):
You don't have a boss ordictator, you have a fellow
minister who ministers alongsideof you, and we just make the
church go.
Because we are a people who areconvinced that more than making
sure we get our way a hundredpercent of the time, I would
well rather make sure that thekingdom of God continues to go
(32:54):
forward.
John 13, 35.
Once again, Jesus says this thatthey will know that you are
Christians by your love, by theway you love one another, a
unified church.
(33:15):
But you also know this our unityis evangelistic.
Four chapters later in John 17,verse 23, Jesus is speaking to
his disciples, and he even saysthis, he's actually praying to
the Father about the disciples,and he even says this I pray
that they would be one, thatthey would be unified, and then
(33:38):
he says this, and by this unity,that's how the world will know
that you have sent me when thechurch is unified.
That's how the world will knowthat you have sent me.
Our unity is evangelistic.
Our unity as a church sends amessage to the world that there
(34:02):
is a Savior that loves usdeeply, that died on the cross
for us, that rose from the graveon our behalf, and and and
therefore, if he has done thisgreat sacrifice for me, then
every day I have the privilegefor the sake of my brothers and
sisters to sacrifice myselfagain and again and ask, how can
(34:24):
my brother or sister in Christprosper?
How can this church prosper?
And whatever that looks like,for the sake of Jesus Christ, I
pray that we would be ready andwilling to do it.
And it will take every one ofus.
But I think about this thismorning.
I think about a church that, orexcuse me, a world.
(34:45):
Think about the world that is sodivided.
You know, right now ourgovernment is literally shut
down because there's two sidesthat are just having a little
tricky time coming together,making it work.
Politics divides us.
Get on social media, you'llprobably find more reasons to be
(35:07):
divided.
We live in this world where weequate a disagreement with just
hatred.
That if I disagree with you,that must that must mean that I
just despise you.
That's the culture we live in,that's the world we live in,
that's what the world sees everyday.
That's what those outside ofChrist see every day.
(35:29):
And then in this dark anddivided world, I want to tell
you about this strange place at200 West Main Street.
This 103-year-old building builtin a way they just don't want to
build buildings anymore.
There's this odd, and I mean oddgroup of people.
(35:53):
And every Sunday morning theywalk into this room and they
think differently, and they wereraised differently, and they've
been a part of this thing fordifferent amounts of time, and
they they don't share all thesame opinions, they don't think
the same way all the time.
(36:15):
In fact, there's even days wherewhere they wonder if they'll
ever kind of come to a levelwhere they agree perfectly and
probably won't because God madeus so beautifully unique.
But there's just this strangegroup of people.
They come together, and yet inthis divided world, though they
have different preferences andopinions, and maybe they see
things differently, they justcome into this room and they
(36:38):
just smile at each other andthey just sing songs together,
and it's the strangest thing.
They don't get online and bashone another, they don't spread
gossip and rumors about howcould he or she do that or say
that.
They just look around the roomand they're just filled with
(36:59):
love for one another.
And it's the strangest thing,and they even told me it's all
based on the fact that there wasa savior that when they were
lost, welcome them.
And because of that, thisstrange group just can't help
(37:21):
but welcome anyone else thatwalks through those doors.
And in the middle of a dark anddivided world, you and I get to
come here every week, and we'rejust this little outpost, this
embassy that exists in themiddle of a divided world, and
(37:41):
we get to announce to the worldthrough our actions every week
that there is a different way.
That there is a savior thatbroke down the dividing wall.
And in that, and out there,there's important things that we
can disagree about and we canhave opinions about, but in this
room we are united on the mostimportant thing, and that's the
(38:05):
fact that we have a savior.
His name is Jesus Christ, and itchanges everything for every
person in this room.
This is what we get to haveevery Sunday morning, Wednesday
night, every day between this iswhat the church is.
(38:26):
This beautiful picture of unityin a dark and divided world
based on the person of JesusChrist.
Will you bow your heads with me?
Maybe as you've just heard thispicture of this church this
morning, you say, I want to be apart of that kind of church.
And you just say, Today is theday that I want to join the
(38:48):
First Baptist family.
We'd love nothing more to haveyou.
Maybe you want to come hearabout Jesus for the first time,
or you know Jesus and you wantto be baptized, or maybe you
want to pray with a pastor Brianwill be down front, I'll be down
front.
Whatever that looks like, mayberight where you're sitting, you
just need in a time of prayer torespond yourself.
(39:08):
Whatever that looks like,however you need to respond,
after I pray, I pray that you doit.
Lord Jesus, thank you.
That even in a divided world, weare united by our Savior.
And what a privilege that is.
And so, Lord, even now, evenmore, would you teach us to love
one another for the sake of yourgospel?
(39:30):
Because truly, Lord, your unity,the unity that is found in you,
it's a way in which the worldwill know that you have come.
And so, Lord, let us be aunified people, a people that
love you deeply and love oneanother deeply.
(39:51):
Because that's how you haveloved us.
We pray this now in Christ'sname.
Amen.
Would you stand now?
I'll be down front if you come.
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