Origins Part 1

Origins

Part 1

(based on the thoughts and outlines of Erwin McManus’s New Origins Project)

The Ancient Church showed us how to be eternally relevant.

Martha

Luke 10:38-42

-Martha was too busy to be Holy

Doing the Right Thing

Paul calls out the founders of the Church… the guys that Jesus trained screwed up and Paul let them know it.

Galatians 2: 4-14

4 This matter arose because some false brothers had infiltrated our ranks to spy on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus and to make us slaves. 5 We did not give in to them for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might remain with you. 6 As for those who seemed to be important--whatever they were makes no difference to me; God does not judge by external appearance--those men added nothing to my message. 7 On the contrary, they saw that I had been entrusted with the task of preaching the gospel to the Gentiles, just as Peter had been to the Jews. 8 For God, who was at work in the ministry of Peter as an apostle to the Jews, was also at work in my ministry as an apostle to the Gentiles. 9 James, Peter and John, those reputed to be pillars, gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship when they recognized the grace given to me. They agreed that we should go to the Gentiles, and they to the Jews. 10 All they asked was that we should continue to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do.

11 When Peter came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he was clearly in the wrong. 12 Before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group. 13 The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray. 14 When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter in front of them all, "You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs?

Acts 17:16-34

The Right Thing is Never Popular

• Stop caring about what the Peters and Martha’s say, and start carrying the message of Christ.
• God is looking for men and women who will go to the few that are seemingly ignored.
• Look for the background people and you’ll know who God is thinking about right now.
• Paul specifically tailored his message to reach people who had no idea of who Jesus was.
• Everybody needs Christ, but every person has a different language that they speak. You need to know their heart and their language before you can expect to communicate a truth that they’re supposed to give their lives up for.
• When someone enters your community of faith, they also hear your subtext.

What’s louder? Your love and heart for God, our your love and heart for being accepted?