my mouth dare to whisper what a joy this is. This is my prayer and my hope that I would never forget this. My sweet husband, I love this moment each day. Our relationship isn't perfect. No relationship is perfect. Great love isn't two people finding the perfect match in one another. Great love is two people making the choice to be a match. To fold your collar and find myself grateful. Grateful to share my life with you. This moment. This unrushed moment. These few seconds each morning. This It's gonna be a new Bible study we're gonna be hosting for the ladies beginning this coming Wednesday night and Tuesday night at 630 and And so if you ladies are interested in participating in that study, the best jest will be beginning this coming week. And so jump in, 6.30, either Tuesday night or Wednesday night, and participate in that study. If you're visiting with us this morning, we want to welcome you and thank you for being here today. And I appreciate your attending our service this morning and want you to know we counted a privilege to have you in our midst today. And so thank you for being here for our service. Just a couple quick announcements for you. First of all, I will be having, again, a new members class this afternoon. And so for those that are participating in that, we are actually going to be meeting in my office today in light of the book fair set up in the library. And so that will be tonight. And then also this evening, after the evening service, we're going to be having an interest meeting for anybody who might be interested in a trip called In the Footsteps of Paul the Apostle. It's a trip through Greece and also into Turkey. And so some information about that, that'll be after the evening service tonight, and I'll get that information out to you. So if that is something you'd be interested in, please come by tonight. Also, November the 1st is coming up. Very quickly, we have a church-wide workday that day from about 8 o'clock until noon. We'll be serving lunch at the end of that, and some preparation for a big event here on the 20th, and that is for everybody. There'll be some work inside and outside, and so please take advantage of that and help us out. with that workday on November the 1st. And then in just a moment Melissa Hosteller is going to come with an announcement as she gets ready to come and tell us a little bit more about Patriot Rush. Inside your bulletin there is a there is an insert that looks like this. This year for Thanksgiving on the Wednesday night before Thanksgiving our service that night is going to be an outreach Thanksgiving meal. And so if you would like to serve in that meal, there are several different places listed for you at the bottom, opportunities that you can help prepare in the kitchen. Ms. Kelly is going to be in charge of the food preparation that night. We need some folks to help us set up serving table leaders. Basically a table leader is going to be sitting at a table as our guests come in. You're going to be sitting with them, fellowshipping with them, encouraging them to feel at home here. And then also we'll need help cleaning up. And that night we'll be in the fellowship hall. We'll have a service. We'll eat and then we'll have a brief service time, some singing, and then I'll be preaching a gospel message that night. And so that is the Wednesday night before Thanksgiving. That will be our service this year. And so if you were able to help, we certainly are going to need all the assistance we can get. Please sign up. And if you have questions about that, please let me know. This is Melissa. Hey, my name is Melissa Haas-Dettler, and I'm privileged to help with the Patriot Rush, our 5K race this year. And I promise to be brief today. What you see is our route, running through our route overhead. And if it reaches the end, Chris told me he put a message in there that says, Melissa, stop talking. So I'm going to be fast. How many of you were here to hear my long speech a couple of months ago about the Patriot Rush? Just raise your hand really quick. Alright, so quite a few people missed it. During that time I showed kind of our unique Patriot-inspired black powderhorns that are our prizes, some of the dog tags. I tried to give you every excuse you might bring up of why you couldn't participate in the Patriot Rush, whether you were walking or running. I hope that if you missed it, you will be thinking about this course. This course is perfect for you. It goes right through our neighborhood, right through Springview Estates, and you can register for either the three-mile, which is timed, and you can walk or run. The course is open for an hour. Or you could do the one-mile, which is not timed, but it's a little less commitment. There's music, there's funny signs along the route. It's a really good time. We've got about midway, there's a water table, there's Port-A-John's if you need a quick potty break. But it's coming up very soon, in four weeks. It's November 15th at 9 o'clock, starts right here at the church. And all the proceeds benefit Wilmington Christian Athletics. Here in our school, we really have some great coaches and great leaders in our athletics. And you know, in our community, I don't really associate with the school as much not having children, but a lot of people in the community have heard about WCA. It comes up a lot when we're talking about When I work with ladies, we talk about school all the time, you know, and talking about what schools they like and what they've heard as far as reputation. And it's important, not just academically, not just artistically, but athletically, that our school has a good reputation. And many of you have children that want to run, and you know kids don't think about registering, right? Even some of the cross-country kids, like, they have no idea about registering. They just think they'll automatically be able to run in it. So please be thinking of that for your kids. Matter of fact, maybe it's the leverage you need in the next four weeks if you register for them that you get a little leverage. Or maybe they're young and you just want them to participate with you and you register and they could run with you for free. You're going to get a timing chip, a great swag bag, a great shirt. We're doing a black shirt again this year. It's a dry fit performance shirt. And Jake, thank you Jake, did a great job designing it. It looks really sharp. Our theme this year is Run as One. so you could form a team and your 11th member gets to run for free. It's a great thing to invite your co-workers too. You know, this is something that's wholesome, it's fun, it's not overtly Christian like churches. It's a great place to start to bring somebody to our group. And we all know that movement is the key to life. It's a great way just to get out and move and have a good time with your family. Our cross-country team this year, I've gotten help on Tuesdays, we call it Tough Tuesdays, and do the first half of their workout. And from what I've heard, it's like their favorite workout of the week. That's what I heard. So it's been really good. And the kids are like, listen Melissa, what do our arms have to do with running? You know, when we're doing like planks and pushups and things like that. And it's about mobility. You know, our strength never exceeds the limitations of our mobility. So this is a great way to do this with your family. I also need volunteers, though, in your bulletin. I feel like we always—Pastor Jay always says, in your bulletin is this handout. There's a little piece of paper that does say, if you want to help with the Patriot Rush, I need to get your name and email. The down-front meetings never have worked for the Patriot Rush. Email is what works well. That way we can talk quickly. If you don't have a bulletin, you can, like, write it on a tissue or something, but please put it in the offering plate today so I can get your information. I will get back to you this week. Think about joining us. The website is patriotrush.com. You can go there and you can see the route. You can click a little button that says register. You can get registered and be planning for it. You need to sign up by October 31st, though, as far as the online to be able to get your t-shirt and everything. And I hope to see you there, and I made it before we got to the end of the course. Thank you. Okay. I kind of feel like I need something for motion sickness after watching that. That was pretty neat, though. It was inspiring. Made me want to run right now. You... You're laughing at that. I mean, I have a couple of announcements of my own to make. I would love to see a couple of new faces today at choir and orchestra rehearsals. So if you've been thinking about that, it's at 445. Today is the day. So we'd love to see you there. Senior Saints, we have a couple of sign-up sheets in the back for you for our monthly luncheon, which is a week from Thursday, as well as an activity that we have coming up on Saturday, November 1st. So Senior Saints, if you would, find those sign-up sheets in the back. I mentioned this last week, but coming up in November is Veterans Day, and we would love that week of Veterans Day to honor those folks here in our body that have been, that have served in America's armed forces. So if you are a veteran, We would ask you to provide us with a photo of yourself from your service days, as well as a recent photo. We can't do this unless you help us, so please allow us to honor you this way by helping us to get those photographs, and you can get those to Mrs. Ellen Ayers, and we would like to honor our veterans on that day in a special way. We're gonna be starting up something new in our music program, which I'm excited about. We're always looking for ways to enable our folks to use their giftedness for worship and for ministry, which we believe is a biblical principle. We have folks in our body here, we have some of our teens, as well as some of our adults as well, who play the guitar, and we would like to enable them to use that giftedness to actually accompany in church. We're gonna be starting on 5.30s on Sunday afternoon, a guitar class for anybody who plays a guitar. And the purpose of this class is going to be to actually prepare you to play in church to accompany on some of our congregational songs. Pastor Monty and Miss Estep are going to be leading that. Also at 530 on Sunday afternoons, we're going to be starting something for some of our young instrumentalists who play an orchestra instrument, but perhaps aren't ready yet to play some of the complicated choir music, but could play with the hymns. We're going to be starting something to prepare them to use their gifts in playing with our orchestra and playing along with the hymns on Sunday mornings. And that is also going to be at 5.30 on Sunday afternoon. So if you're interested in either of those things, we're using one sign-up sheet for both of those things. So we need you to make sure to put on here what instrument you play so we know which direction to, you know, you're going to be going. And look back there. It's got a little guy playing a guitar on it back there in the back. That is actually a violin, but look for that in the back if you are interested in that. Now that we have completely overloaded you with information this morning, set all that aside. We're here this morning to worship our God. He is worthy, and he is worthy of our full attention. So let's begin this morning by singing how deep the Father's love for us. Let's stand as we sing how deep the Father's love for us. ♪ O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave ♪ ♪ O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave ♪ ♪ From fear the cause of God appears ♪ ♪ His dying breath has brought me life ♪ ♪ I know heaven is great and rich ♪ ♪ I will not boast in anything ♪ ♪ The gifts of God are gifts of love ♪ ♪ But I will boast in Jesus Christ ♪ Amen. Because of the amazing love of our God and his provision of salvation at the cross, we can boldly go forth to serve him. O church, arise and put your armor on. It's true to rise. Put your armor on. Be the globe of Christ, our captain. For now we'll kneel. Till the day has come. In the strength that God has given. We'll shield the faith that builds our truth. We'll stand against the devil's eyes. ♪ Oh, brightest star, raising up to us your darkness ♪ ♪ Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave ♪ ♪ O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave? ♪ And grace diverges from cold and rain. His gift to us continues till the day. Every eye and heart shall sing him. To his kingdom come, his reign in every strife. Give grace for ev'ry hour. ♪ With the prize of a servant, firm and faithful ♪ ♪ As saints of old still guide the way ♪ ♪ Redeeming triumphs of His grace ♪ ♪ We hear the lofty thunder for the day ♪ ♪ When Christ is heard in glory ♪ So we go to prayer this morning. Do remember Brian Palumbo as he is still out ministering at the Deaf Nation ministry that he has Romans Road for the Deaf out on the road this week. Got a text from him this morning. He saw yesterday 10 deaf folks come to know Christ and three hearing folks come to know Christ. And so remember to pray for them. Also, we're not receiving our offering now, but just to remind you, be in prayer about how you can help him financially. He goes by faith. and allows God's people to support him as he goes. And so just remember him in prayer and be in prayer about how the Lord may lay on your heart to help him financially as he goes and travels, taking the gospel to those that are those that are deaf. So remember him. Let's pray together. Father, we we thank you this morning that we are a part of the church. And as we just sang, oh, God, help us to arise. Our battle cry is love. The battle cry of the gospel. But this morning, as we think about the empty tomb, that at that moment when the disciples went and found that the body of Christ was gone, the assumption by some was that his body had been stolen, taken. And yet, as the truth unfolded, as the evidence became clear, no one stole his body, Jesus resurrected from the dead. And today we meet to celebrate that truth. We meet today on this Lord's Day to be reminded of the resurrected Christ. And Lord, that through him we have the power of salvation to come into an intimate personal relationship with you through the gospel. And we know that it was the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross that made our salvation possible, that made our salvation a reality. And so today we thank you for sending your son to die on the cross. for our sins, a sin that we could not pay. So we rejoice and celebrate today. And thank you, God, that you loved us enough to send Jesus Christ to die for our sins. We also think today of Brian as he is traveling. We rejoice to hear of how you are working in him and through him. And Lord, we're not about numbers. It's not about that particularly, but we rejoice today hearing of these 13 people. that had never heard the gospel or had never believed the gospel, that through the faithful proclamation of your servant, they believed. And so, Lord, I pray that you would work now in the hearts of those that have become your children through Romans Road for the Deaf, that you would work in their hearts, help them to mature, help them to now understand the reality of their faith. And today, as we worship together, I continue to ask that you would work in our hearts that we also would be would be reminded of the grace that is ours, but also the responsibility to share the good news of Christ to this world. So we ask now your blessing on the remaining part of our service. We pray these things in Jesus name. Amen. You may be seated. The timeless leave, as the heaven will pass away. It's not a dream, God will make all things new. The curse from which I stumbled and fell. Evil is banished to eternal rest. Praises to the brave, I am. We will live in the light of the risen lamb. Now the nations bow down to sing. The only sound is the praises to Christ our King. Our song in the names of the Lord. No more pain, no more tears, never crying again. Praises to the brave. See over there is the passion prepared for me. And I will live with the scenery turned away. No more night, no more pain. Crying again, praises to thee. Amen. That is the hope of the church. And we have our heavenly hope because Jesus has paid the price of our sin in its fullness, in its entirety. And we are complete in him. Let's stand once again as we sing, and can it be that I should gain an interest in the Savior's blood? ♪ And can it be an opportunity ♪ ♪ That it may receive the Savior's love ♪ ♪ I believe to pass this way ♪ ♪ I believe to live this way ♪ Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave ♪ He left his pow'rless throne on high ♪ ♪ So raise up, O men, the heavens and the skies ♪ ♪ And crown Himself with glory evermore ♪ ♪ His mercy now in heaven set free ♪ ♪ From all the life of the world crowned with glory ♪ ♪ The face of the world now crowned with glory ♪ Let's take a few moments, greet one another to our service, and then we'll sing that last stanza. No condemnation now I dread. No condemnation now I dread. Jesus and all in Him is mine. All I've been here, my living hand, and clothed in righteousness divine. O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming? And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air, Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there. As we receive our offering this morning, gentlemen, why don't you come and get ready and we'll have Bob Williams, one of our deacons, to come and he's going to pray for our offering this morning. I'm most gracious and loving, Heavenly Father. Thank you for the many blessings that you have bestowed upon the folks in this congregation. Thank you for giving us a place like Grace that we can come and worship you. And thank you also for Wilmington Christian Academy, where we can influence the lives of young people, not only in education, but also in their religious beliefs. Dear Heavenly Father, bless the gift and the giver. These things we ask in your name and for your sake, in Jesus' name, amen. Amen. What a blessing. I love the text of that hymn. Let's continue with number 368 in our hymnals. The book of Romans chapter 12 tells us in light of God's incredible mercy displayed for us through Christ. We should present our bodies, our lives to him as a living sacrifice. That's what worship is. That's what we're here to do this morning. Let's remain seated as we sing number 368, A Tender Heart. Take me now, Lord Jesus, take me, I would give my heart to thee. Thy devoted servant make me, only thine to be. ♪ Savior, while my heart is tender ♪ ♪ I will give Thee every part ♪ ♪ All my death and scars surrender ♪ ♪ I am Thine, Lord, here's my heart ♪ ♪ Use me now, Lord Jesus, use me as I tell of Calvary ♪ me. of the world. Beautiful Lord, wonderful Savior, I know for sure. All of my days are held in your hand, crafted into your perfect plan. You gently call me into your presence, guiding me by your Holy Spirit. Teach me, dear Lord, to live all of my life through your I'm captured by your holy calling. Set me apart. I know you're drawing me to yourself. Lead me, Lord, I pray. Take me, mold me, use me, fill me. I give my life to the potter's hand. Call me, guide me. walk beside me, I give my life to the Potter's hand. You gently call me into your presence, guiding me by. Your Holy Spirit teach me, dear Lord, to live all of my life through you. I'm captured by your holy calling. Set me apart. I know you're drawing me to yourself. Lead me, Lord, I pray. Take me, mold me, use me, fill me, I give my life to the Potter's hat. walk beside me, I give my life to the potter's hand. Take me. Mold me. Use me. Fill me. Call me. Guide me, lead me, walk beside me, Lord. A reading from Romans 14.1-15.6 Receive one who is weak in the faith, but not to disputes over doubtful things. For one believes he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats only vegetables. Let not him who eats despise him who does not eat, and let not him who does not eat judge him who eats, for God has received him. Who are you to judge another servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand. One person esteems one day above another, and another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind. He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord. And he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it. He who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks. And he who does not eat, to the Lord he does not eat, and gives God thanks. For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. And therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord's. For to this end Christ died and rose and lived again, that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living. But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is written, as I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me and every tongue shall confess to God. So then each of us shall give an account of himself to God. Therefore, let us not judge one another anymore, but rather resolve this, not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother's way. I know and am convinced by the Lord Jesus that there is nothing unclean of itself, but to him who considers anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean. Yet if your brother is grieved because of your food, you are no longer walking in love. Do not destroy with your food the one for whom Christ died. Therefore, do not let your good be spoken of as evil. For the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. For he who serves Christ in these things is acceptable to God. and approved by men. Therefore, let us pursue the things which make for peace, and the things by which one may edify another. Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All things indeed are pure, but it is evil for the man who eats with offense. It is good neither to eat meat, nor drink wine, nor do anything by which your brother stumbles, or is offended, or is made weak. Do you have faith? Have it to yourself before God. Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves. But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not eat from faith. For whatever is not from faith is sin. We then, who are strong, ought to bear with the scruples of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, leading to edification. For even Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, the reproaches of those who have reproached you fell on me. For whatever things were written before were written for our learning that we, through the patience and comforts of the scriptures, might have hope. Now may the God of patience and comfort grant you to be like-minded toward one another according to Christ Jesus, that ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Join me this morning in Romans 14, the passage that Jeanne just read for us is going to be our text for this morning. And try to understand a little bit about this passage. It is a very cohesive passage. In fact, it's one to sort of, it's sort of difficult to break up into lots of different parts like we often do. And so we're gonna be looking at this text really through a little bit more of a macro approach than we normally take over today and most likely next Sunday, we'll be looking at these passages together, trying to understand what Paul is talking about and how they apply to us. By the way, tonight in our evening service, we have a couple of presentations. The Graves family will be sharing some things going on in their heart and lives regarding Haiti. And then the Bloom family will be giving an update on where they are as they are following the Lord and seeking his wisdom to direct them to the mission field and so be back tonight. Earlier on in the book of Romans, Paul had talked about unity and diversity regarding gifts of the believer. Now, in this section, Paul is going to discuss unity in the body regarding differences of opinion. So what I want you to think about as we go through this this morning is this very simple idea is that in these verses, there's unity in the body when there are differences of opinion. Paul is calling us to live a unified life and understand the unity of Christ does not mean agreement on every small detail, especially in those matters of opinion, those matters of preference. And so how do we do that? How do we have this unity even when we are holding differences of opinion on different matters. And we know that in Christianity that certain taboos have developed throughout the years concerning things that in and of themselves are not inherently moral. They're not questions of morality. In fact, as I was sitting on the platform thinking about the message, I realized that if I were in Eastern Europe today, I've already offended Eastern Europeans. Number one, hope buttons are not buttoned. Number two, I crossed my legs on the platform. I remember being in a seminary class and the teacher was teaching, he was sitting on a stool and he sat down and he sat like this and we were talking about cultural issues and cross-cultural ministry and one of the gentlemen raises, we're talking about things that offend people, he raises his hand and he says, And the pastor says, I know that I'm offending some of you that are not from America, and I'd like to hear what they are. And one man said, you're showing me the bottom of your shoe. That is highly offensive to me. So these are things that Paul is talking about that are not questions of morality. A shoe has no moral value. There's no morality in a piece of clothing. Your legs being crossed, your feet being crossed. One missionary on a team that I was leading, he respectfully asked that our ladies not wear skirts in their city. The reason being that whenever a lady was seen in a skirt, it was assumed that they were a part of a cult. And he said, for my sake, in my ministry, in my town, I am asking you to not do that. Because in our culture, in our church, that will cause problems for me. So how do we deal with these non-moral issues? How do we think about these issues that are not black and white, issues that we all wrestle with in our Christian lives? How do we deal with moments in time where there are issues that solid, fundamental believers in Christ disagree? The issues under discussion, as I said, are not issues of morality, a moral issue being True for all people of all times and completely cross-cultural. It applies to everybody. A moral issue is something defined by God that is applicable regardless of culture, regardless of time and age in which someone lives. Issues like lying, murder, stealing, adultery. They are moral issues. They are true cross-culturally. They are true across time. They are timeless truth. The issues under discussion today are not doctrinal questions. We're not going to talk about, discuss the deity of Christ. Not open for discussion. It's not an issue where there can be debate. We're not talking about the doctrinal issue of the Trinity. We're not talking about the doctrinal issue of salvation by faith in Christ alone. We're not talking about the doctrinal issue of the virgin birth. We're not talking about the doctrinal issue of the inspiration of scripture. So when Paul says in verse one, that you are to receive the weak, you are to, we'll understand what that means in a minute, you're to invite them into fellowship, you are not to be consumed, he says, with matters of opinion. You are not to argue over things that are not inherently a question of morality. There are issues that in and of themselves are not moral. These are things that were created by God, allowed by God, and exist in our culture that have no moral character. Now, let's take a look. I'm going to give you 10 that I think are Issues to some degree in American culture Some not maybe as much as others. Okay, but i'll read through 10. I'll highlight a few talk about a few but to give you a picture About what paul is referencing one number one on my list is actually one that is drawn from the list that a very big issue In their time was the issue of food And we know that this is an issue that Paul is going to use as an illustration to talk about some people eat certain things and there are other people that believe they should only eat vegetables, that they shouldn't eat meat, they shouldn't eat certain items because there were people coming into the church that had a Jewish background, a Judaism background, and we'll talk about that in a minute. And so they brought into the church these certain cultural barriers. Okay, these certain cultural ideas I've heard in ministry, not here, but in previous places, I had people that would be offended by certain things that were on the table where we were having a church-wide fellowship. They were greatly offended that there was chocolate, or they were greatly offended that there was something else, because for them, it dominated their life, and they struggled with it to a sinful degree. And so they were offended when there were things there that they, in their own life, decided that they should not eat. This does not have anything to do with food, but I remember a person being highly offended one Christmas because I allowed a Christmas tree to be inside of our church building. So we talk about these issues, not issues of morality. One was food, especially in the day and age in which Paul is writing. Food was a big issue. Drink is another issue. In fact, he's going to mention the issue of wine. Fermented drink in and of itself is inanimate. It's not moral Okay, there are reasons we'll talk about I don't drink don't think drinking is wise for a believer and we'll talk about that as we go through it but in and of itself Fermented beverage is is inanimate. It has no moral value questions about entertainment in our culture movies television books magazines games I was dealing with, I had a friend, and I had a friend, I still have him, this was just one, he's still a friend. I have a friend who was highly offended when someone had a deck of cards in their house. And he said, you have to understand, he said, when I was a kid, growing up, my parents taught us that having a deck of cards in any way, shape, or form was sinful. He said, and then over time, my parents started playing Uno. But they said, well, that's not sinful because there's no people with faces on it. Then they started playing Rook. Then it got very dangerous. Then they broke down and they bought a deck of cards. And he's sitting there in his Christian walk saying, the Bible was changed. I can't believe anything the Bible says. And it's like the Bible doesn't like address cards. Now, for a person who was addicted to gambling and for them to own, purchase a deck of cards, foolish. Can't say that that in and of itself is inherently a sinful activity. A deck of cards has no moral value. In fact, this same friend, we were in his presence this past summer, and we're sitting at dinner, and one of my kids pulls out a deck of cards. No! And I could read his face, and it was like, he's cringing inside. Had I known, I would have said, hey, keep those in the car, keep them in your pocket, do not pull them out. This guy is offended by them. Be careful. Don't violate his conscience because in his mind this is associated with sinfulness. Okay, we'll talk about that dynamic too. Clothing. Certain articles of clothing. Again, I'm violating Eastern Europeans today because my coat is not buttoned. Is it inherently moral or immoral to wear a tie, not wear a tie, wear this, wear that? Cross-culturally, you go to different places. Christians wear different things. Different things are expected. It's not a moral issue. It's not a question of morality. The Bible says, be modest, dressed in modesty. Don't draw attention to yourself with gaudy, expensive arraignment. Within that, there is freedom to dress in different ways, but obviously there are principles that we should never violate, but clothing in and of itself is not a moral issue. Recreation, certain activities, some people are offended by them. In fact, I had a family member who, growing up, would say that bowling was sinful, and that playing organized softball was sinful. And as I got older, in fact, this family member was attending a church and they got up one Sunday and the youth group was going bowling on Saturday. This family member resigned his membership and never went back because they were promoting sin. How do you get there? Well, understand in this man's life, Whenever he was drunk and whenever he was partying and he was doing the things that are listed in Romans chapter 13, he was bowling and he was playing softball. So in his mind, why do you play softball and bowl? To get drunk. So therefore, you don't do them because they are sinful. For him, yes. Because he couldn't do it in faith, Paul says. For him, for that believer, he should not participate in that because for him, there was this issue of violating his conscience. Fine, but not true for all people of all times. Sunday activities. My dad and I, you'll probably get this video and I'll get a phone call later. My dad and I, Michelle has had to calm us down on a couple of different occasions, my dad, strongly believes that on Sunday, you do nothing recreationally, nothing. As a kid, we weren't allowed to go play organized sports on a Sunday afternoon. We weren't allowed to do that. We were allowed to play ball as long as it was just throwing it back and forth, but we were not allowed to play anything organized. To this day, my dad will not go to a restaurant on a Sunday. Thinks it's wrong. Now I have reasons that I believe that we're allowed as believers to do that. We're not bound by the Sabbath law, which we'll talk about maybe today. We're not bound by those things. We are free to enjoy activities because we're not bound to the Sabbath law. But my dad, for him, that's an issue. How do we deal with that? We can't join the same church. We can't be members of the same fellowship of believers because of these things, no. What about hairstyles, facial hair? Go back and look at some of the old heroes of the faith. Beards, big ones. Long hair. That it became associated later in our culture with things that were not godly, and so therefore, because of the association, that became inherently sinful. Is that a reason to break fellowship? English translations of the Bible. Matter of opinion. Music. These are issues that get elevated to the level of doctrine. They get raised to the level of morality. But the reality is, they don't equate to murder, lying, stealing. In these areas, we have all been influenced by scripture, hopefully. We've been influenced by our parents. We've been influenced by our growing up. We've been influenced by our cultural background. We've been influenced by books we have read. We have been influenced by churches that we have attended. We have been influenced by the colleges, by the Holy Spirit. We have other influences that have come into our lives and that have inherently made certain things for us a matter of sensitivity. Over non-moral issues. I've used illustration before of And I'll give you the abbreviated story this time because I've told it before but it's it illustrates it for me is One day we were standing in line at a convenience store getting gas pay for we are getting gas and getting snacks or whatever we're standing in line and Jonathan who was probably about seven at the time says daddy. I want to buy one of those flicky things and Flicky thing? What's a flicky thing? He said, you know the thing you flick? I don't know what you're talking about. And he points to the cigarette lighters by the register. I want a flicky thing. I want to flick. I want to make fire. And then my reaction was, oh no, my son is losing his sanctification. We can't have that in our house. What's wrong with you? No, what's wrong with me? It's a cigarette lighter. I have like 10 of them now. I got over it, OK? But for me, it was like, you don't, because my parents were like, those are of Satan. Fire's in hell, so therefore you don't have cigarette lighters, because it's a piece of hell. Convinced. It's like, it's a cigarette lighter. It's a lighter. But even the term I used, right? A cigarette lighter. I don't like cigarettes with mine. I like my fireplace on chilly North Carolina days. For me, at that moment, it was like... It was like somebody kicked me in the gut. My dear son. I'm being sarcastic, but I'm being true. That was really truly my reaction. I thought he was, you know, lost his salvation at that moment. We have brought these things to the level of doctrine, and the unfortunate reality is, folks, let's be honest, churches are splitting over this stuff. And the world in which we live is looking at it and saying, really? Really? Like, why would I be a part of that? You guys are arguing over cigarette lighters. I've been in cross-cultural places, not as many as some of you sitting in the room. Some of you are from different parts of the world. And I've sat across Christians from different cultures looking at me like, yeah, I don't get that. Why do you guys fight over that? I don't understand. Then you look at some of the stuff they're doing that they're all worked up about. A friend of mine in New Zealand was telling me there's a certain kind of, and I was going to show you a picture, but I thought it might like creep people out, actually, a little bit. It's a little pole that is cultural in New Zealand. And you and I would look at that and say, that's just weird. But that's like they're writing books about it. Because can it be in the church? Can it not be in the church? It's part of their culture. But is that offensive? Does that lead to worshiping dead people? And what does that mean? And it's apparently a huge deal. And I'm sitting there like, it's a stick. It's a stick. Now here we have a couple of different responses to these issues. How do we tend to respond to these non-moral issues? Number one, we tend to sometimes respond to these issues with legalism. set rules, tell people what is right and wrong, tell people what they can and can't do. This leads to mindless, prayerless conformity that requires no personal relationship with God. There is no careful consideration or discernment concerning these issues. This approach leads to spiritual sterility that is divorced from a dependence on God. I went to a ministry, the previous stand was that a staff member's wife and kids could not go in public in any place in town without a skirt. And I said to them, that's fine, I'm just telling you, I don't believe that, I'm not gonna enforce that, and if you call me as your pastor, that will not happen, I promise. I will not do that. So I made the change, and one of the staff members came to me, And they said, you'll never believe what happened on Saturday. She said, our daughter was walking out the door, and she had on a pair of pants. And this lady was older than me. She said, my daughter is walking out. And I said, hey, where are you going? You can't go out dressed like that. She said, why? Pastor Noel said, he changed that. We don't have to do that anymore. The mom looked at me, and she said, for the first 50 years of my Christian life, I had to make my own decision. See, the answer isn't just legalism. It's not just set a rule that is true for all people of all time and every place and therefore we keep the rules and we live by these man-made ideas. We have to be careful that we do not equate that with godliness or, in fact, equate that with a discerning spirit. When the decision has been made for me, we'll get in the text a little bit this morning, that was part of Judaism. And they're coming into the church where they're now free from the law and they don't know how to do that. What they ate was determined for them. What they wore was determined for them. How they spent their time was determined for them. They had all of these things that they were bringing into the church, and they didn't understand how these unsaved Gentiles that were now saved, that these were now believing Gentiles, how come they weren't doing that? What do you mean? What do you mean you eat that? What do you mean you do that on Saturday? This was very difficult for them. This transition, and so the answer very often, if we're not careful, can become legalism. The other end of the spectrum is sometimes the answer is libertinism. This approach teaches that we live under grace, and we do, but this is an abuse of grace. We live under grace, so therefore, we just discern these issues based on our impulse, desires, or feelings. And yet Paul says clearly in this text, uh-uh, you gotta be careful to not put a stumbling block before another person to lead them back into idolatry. Very careful with that. There is little concern about crossing over into sin because if you do sin, you just ask God to forgive you. We just do what we want under the banner of grace and enjoy our liberty. As with legalism, there is no careful consideration or discernment concerning these issues. It's also prayerlessness. This is spiritual license that relegates God to the periphery of our lives. And very often, under the veil of grace, people tolerate and cover and excuse sin that is living in their hearts. There is no need for God except for those times that we cross over into sin and we need to ask him to forgive us. Both legalism and libertinism both live divorced from a relationship with God. Because as we get into these issues of dress, of music, of food, of drink, all those things, there has to be a level of discernment. That means prayer. That means carefully considering what I'm going to do about this issue. Your kids may watch it, my kids may not. You may go here, we may not. You may listen to that, I may not. There has to be Discernment on the part of the believer and to just throw our hands up and say I've had people do this. Okay Give me the list of what I'm allowed to read and listen to no way never Not gonna do it You need to get close to God and take the principles of scripture and learn to be discerning the minute I give you a list It's outdated And now you're living on a list created by me. Or the other answer is, you can't tell me it's wrong, so I'm just gonna go live my life however I want. And if I sin, I'll just ask God to forgive me, and I'll keep on in my Christian life. After all, we live under grace. They're both wrong. Because they both live divorced from a relationship that is dependent on prayer to a holy and righteous God. They are both, here it is, living according to me. They're both error. So Paul is concerned, I think rightfully. And if you want to read this later, for sake of time, we're not going to talk about this, but there's a lot of parallel between 1 Corinthians 8 and Romans 14 and 15, and I'll let you look at those and take a look at that. But let's at least look at verse 1, since I just snuck a sneak peek at my watch, and it's already late. Verse 1. At least I sparked your interest for the next seven weeks. No, it won't be that long. Verse 1, him that is weak in the faith, receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations. Another translation puts it this way, as for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but do not quarrel over matters of opinion. Another slide for us to think through and it's just a visual to help you. Okay, you've got you've got two classes Class is not in the ones better than the other that's a bad word scratch that word from on the message I scratched that from the record. Okay, there are two kinds of believers that Paul is going to use to describe, and they're defined differently in 1 Corinthians, the 1 Corinthians passage, it's actually saved pagans, saved Gentiles who were struggling over the issue of eating meat that had been offered to an idol. In this passage, the weak are people that are coming out of Judaism, and they are struggling. And they are tied up in this legalistic idea. So there is a distinction. If you read 1 Corinthians passages, you'll see there is a distinction. In 1 Corinthians, the weak, as I mentioned, were those coming out of idolatry. The weak in Romans are those Jewish Christians who had certain Jewish food laws. They had made certain foods, they had declared them clean. They had declared others unclean. These weak Christians were not drawn to pagan idolatry, but they were drawn to judgmentally keeping elements of the Mosaic Law. The strong in this passage appears to be primarily comprised of Gentile believers. Those who had no background in Judaism. The main issue in the Romans passage is the question concerning how Jewish and Gentile Christians could enjoy table fellowship with one another while great differences of dietary expectations existed between these two groups. Understanding that in their time, sitting down at a meal was of great importance. And so how do I, as a Christian, sit down as a Gentile, who doesn't have the sensitivity over food, and I don't have the sensitivity over some of these different dietary issues, how do I sit down and enjoy fellowship with a person who does? Now, if we're not careful, our response in our flesh is, ignore them. Just stay away from them. So I have this picture, right? You know, we could have, that would be a great sign outside of our next, you know, church activity. Weak this way, strong that way. That would do a lot for unity. So you could see the first century banquet hall, this table's for the weak, this table's for the strong, you sit over there, you sit over there, we'll put a divide in the middle and you two groups just stay away from each other. That would be what? Wrong, right? So he says, rather than doing that, he says, you are to welcome him. Paul recognizes the diversity that existed in the early church. There were new converts coming out of Judaism, where dress, food, festivals, feasts, observation of days, where their time was spent, had been determined by them for generations. that they need now to apply the Sabbath laws to the Sunday worship, or do they keep the Sabbath on Saturday and still worship on Sunday? These people had a lifetime of traditions and patterns of worship that they were bringing into the church, and it was difficult for them to set aside these ideas and these principles that they had held. There was also new converts, as I mentioned, that were coming in with this pagan background, this Gentile background, and unity in the body of Christ could not be obtained when each group was following, or focusing rather, on the non-essentials of the faith. Issues of eating food, verse 2. Observance of certain days given by the Jewish calendar, the Sabbath being included in that in verse 5. Verse 3, the drinking of wine. Paul's central argument is that the strong and the weak needed to be unified in spite of their differences of opinion and unity was to be found in the gospel. So in order to properly deal with these issues, Paul begins 14 with a call to refrain from judging. That's a theme that goes throughout scripture. Okay, if I notice the difference here, okay, and let's keep it in the Jewish context for sake of time. I eat this, you don't. Okay, I observe this holiday and you don't. Okay, that is not something that we judge over. When people say, you're judging me, well, if I sit across the table of somebody who's having an affair and they are caught up in adultery, it is not judging for me to say, you're committing the sin of adultery. It's not sin or judging when you tell somebody who stole something that was not theirs, you have committed the sin of stealing. That's not judging, that's accurate. That's calling it what it is. But on these issues of preference, you know, I keep this holiday, this festival, you don't, you should. And so because you don't, you're in sin. That's judging. Or I do and you don't, I'm more spiritual than you. Those are the issues that Paul is wrestling with. The strong and the weak were to accept one another. So based on this commandment, notice the word welcome. Notice who it's directed to. Him that is weak in the faith, welcome him. It seems that the strong, those coming out of the Gentile background, were in the majority. And Paul uses this word weak, it means to be feeble, to be without strength, to be powerless, or to be sick. And he says, you are to receive them. King James uses the word receive, welcome, ESV, accept, and the NASB comes from the Greek word that means the listen. And we'll go through this one idea and we're done. He says, you are to receive them. The word means to take to one's self, to take him as a companion, to take him into friendship, to accept him into your society. One writer said, this implies that the Roman Christians were not only to tolerate the weak, but they were to treat them as brothers and sisters in Christ and to show them the intimate fellowship in the people of God. One writer said, acceptance from one believer is mandatory in light of the fact that God himself has accepted them both. Who is more right with God, the strong or the weak? The answer is yes. They are both spiritual. One is not immature, silly because they don't, and one is not this radical liberal because they do. He says, you need to understand that there are weak and there are strong. And when you come into fellowship, you that are weak, don't look at them with condescension. I can't believe you don't. Go back to the illustration with my dad. So my dad comes to visit. It's not our norm to go to a restaurant on Sunday afternoon anyway, but that's just an issue of time. But imagine my dad coming and I say to him, okay, dad, after lunch, we're gonna go to this restaurant and we're gonna take you out to eat. And my dad says, yeah, okay. I just violated his conscience. For the sake of his walk with God, I would be wrong to ask him to do that. Imagine the friend that I the family member that I told you about earlier imagine me calling him up on a Friday night saying hey, man Let's go bowling. I Don't bowl. I think it's wrong You're such a loser man. Come on. It's just bowling Grow up get spiritual. Everybody's doing it. It's him My son Jordan says he's gonna grow up to be a professional bowler. That's what he says. That's weird. Just so you know Sorry, buddy He says, those of you that are strong, you accept those that are weak into fellowship. Not just put up with them, don't just tolerate them. You are to bring them to the place that you bring them into your society. You take them as one who is your companion. Imagine if I said to my father, Dad, I'm sorry, no more Christmases at your house because I can't believe you're so immature that you won't go out on a Sunday afternoon to eat at this restaurant. I think that's foolish. I do. You need to grow up. So no more fellowship with us and you. That would be really what? Shallow and foolish. Now, he's going to tell the strong, that means as a strong person, I'm not going to lay this stumbling block in front of them to say, Dad, we're going over here. I'm going to make you come. I'm going to make you do this, knowing in my soul that he is violating his conscience. Who's sinning against God if I make him do it? I am. Now, we'll talk about this next week. Does that mean we just leave the week and where they are and we never help them mature? No, that's not what he's saying. There is a sense in which we all have to mature, but understanding that they're, imagine me, my other friend, right, and for Christmas this year, I send him a deck of cards. That would be what? Offensive. Because I know for him, That is a sensitivity. Now, let's flip that around. And we don't have time, but we'll talk about this. Verse four, notice he says, who are thou to judge another? This is directed to the weak. Because this goes both ways. As the strong, you're not to look at that situation and say, you know what, you should do that. You should grow up and be mature and come out to eat with us on Sunday afternoon. And the weak are told, and you don't look at them and say, I can't believe they go there. I can't believe our pastor took his kids bowling. Unbelievable. You know what, I saw our pastor, he was at that restaurant on Sutton, can't believe it. What were you doing there? How did you see me? Another topic. And those were the issues. For them, it was festivals. For them, it was dietary laws. For them, it was all of these things that had nothing to do with morality, but had been elevated to a point of separation. My friends, that's wrong. Within the body of Christ, there is diversity of giftedness. There is also diversity in opinion of matters that God did not spell it out. Pastor Benson used to say it, and I've heard it three times this week, so obviously it's stuck in people's heads, so I'll steal it. And if you forgot he said it, you can pretend it's mine now. He said that we will be as narrow as the scriptures are narrow and as broad as they are broad. And that makes some of us really uncomfortable because the list on all those issues is not in the appendix. God has called us to wisdom, he's called us to discernment, he has said to the strong, you are to be receiving these people into your fellowship, you are to receive them as a companion, you are to love them, and he's going to say later next week, you do not put a stumbling block in front of them, and so you don't go around arrogantly condescending against them because they don't, then he's gonna say to the weak, stop judging those that do. And you know what, if we, and then he's gonna say, because you know what, there's coming a day, and with this I'm done, there's coming a day that everybody in this room is going to stand before a holy, righteous judge, and it's not me, and it's not you, it's God in heaven, that I will give account, I will give account for me, for my family, for every Sunday afternoon I went to a restaurant. I will give account for those matters of opinion, for me. And he says, accept one another for the sake of unity. That's verse one, first phrase. We'll look at this in more detail as we go through it. But this morning, ask yourself this. And don't, well, I'm strong, you're weak. He's weak, don't mix that. Stop, stop. Don't worry about if you're the strong or you're the weak. God loves both, and both is right with God. Just ask yourself this. If I put myself in the strong group, am I condescending toward those who are in my mind the weak? If I am the weak, am I standing in judgment over those who I have categorized as strong? Because whichever group you're in, you put yourself in, and honestly, we go in different groups depending on the issue, right? We're all strong in some areas, we are weak in others. Whatever issue you are, wherever you are, ask yourself, what is your attitude toward believers who disagree with you over matters of opinion? Because wherever you are, Paul says, you are to bring them into what? companionship. Why? So the body of Christ can thrive and be what God has called it to be. Let's pray. Father, we've touched the surface this morning on these verses. It's a long passage. A lot of truth here, but yet this is where we live. There are things that are still true today, fighting over these matters of opinion, matters of preference. Lord, I pray and ask that as we work through these verses over the next couple of weeks, God, that you would open our hearts. Give us a sensitivity to what we what we believe. Give a sensitivity toward one another to not stand in condescension toward some and arrogance toward others. Help us to not do that. But to understand. that we put all of those things aside. If we were to go around the room today, there is an amazing amount of agreement on the core doctrines, on the core issues of morality. We would agree. So God, help us. Help us to put aside our condescending attitudes and help us to put aside our judgmental attitudes. God, help us to change and to grow and to become more like Christ. We pray these things this morning in Jesus' name. Amen we're gonna have a song of invitation and we invite you to come and to pray if you are led by the Lord to do that as we sing just come pray if you want to talk to somebody about your relationship with God I'll be here in the front we'll love to talk with you this morning I surrender all let's stand as we sing I surrender all 390 To Jesus I surrender All to him I freely give I will ever love and trust him In his presence daily live I surrender all I surrender all being this morning please let me again remind you stop by the guest reception today I would love to have opportunity just to meet you personally and pastor West come close us in prayer and probably an announcement or two no I'm done I have no more announcements to make let's let's have a word of prayer and we'll be dismissed today let's pray Our Father, today we heard the ladies sing about the fact that we are the clay and you are the potter. Father, we ask that you would continue to mold us. Lord, it's not always easy for us to be the clay. Molding means accepting change in our lives to become more like you. And we don't always like to do that. God, I just pray that you would not give up on us. Continue to mold us as people. Mold us as a church so that you can use us, Father. Increase our love for one another. God, I pray that you would increase our unity here in our body. I pray that you would go with us. Give us your blessing. Father, I ask that as we go out of these doors that we would shine a light in this world that as they see us, they would see the love of Christ being displayed in our lives. We ask this in Jesus name. Amen. You are dismissed. you