Summer Series // "Get an Opinion" [Romans 14] (Sam Crosbie)

This week, Sam Crosbie looks at "Food Laws and the Observance of Sacred Days" from Romans 14. Sam starts by discussing not what Paul says in this passage, but what he doesn't say. This leads to Sam's first point - "We are called to have convictions". He looks at how at no point in this letter is Pauls aim to correct the readers. Instead, it is to place personal responsibility on each reader and hearer of the letter that their opinion is right. Sam then looks at how this thought applies to us today in the 21st century, especially in matters of moral neutrality, e.g. drinking alcohol, personal spending vs tithing, or absorbing media with witchcraft present. Sam then looks into the divisions that building our own convictions from the Bible can create, leading to his second point - "Our convictions are to be our own". In this, He looks at how Christians generally agree on the fundamentals of the Christian faith and the Bible, however, no two faiths are identical, because, "Our God is too big". Sam looks at how we can apply these lessons in our life, especially in "honouring Christ, by acting on our convictions in the smallest of matters", thinking of how we often let small compromises enter our lives because we don't see them as being a big deal. He wraps it up with a final point - "We are called to walk in love". Sam looks at how we can make our convictions work together. He challenges us to be a church that is characterised by denying ourselves of things, rather than living in our Christian liberty at the expense of our fellow believers. Sam closes with three questions - "In what things are you the strong brother, and are you willing to give them up for your weaker brother?"; "In what way are you the weaker brother?"; "Are you convinced in the way that you should act, do your prayerfully seek out God's guidance in how you live your life, or do you do anything less than that?" Recorded at the Hukanui Bible Church morning service on Sunday the 31st of January 2021 during the 10:00 am service.