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Authentic Christianity When Misunderstood

April 14, 2013 • Pastor Ron Finch

Misunderstandings — how many times has it happened to you? I doubt that there is anyone who has not been misunderstood. If it is of any comfort, we must real-ize that misunderstandings seem to be “Standard-Operating-Procedure” for God’s people. Search the Scriptures and you will find scores of people, godly people, who were terribly misunderstood! Wherever you have people, you have the po-tential for misunderstandings. Even though misunderstandings are inevitable, they must not be ignored! If they are not dealt with biblically, they will fester into greater problems. This morning come with me into the life of the apostle Paul to learn how he dealt with misunderstandings as an example for us.

Authentic Christianity: Pursing Holiness

May 19, 2013 • Pastor Ron Finch

As I closed my message last week one of the comments I made was, “God has not called us to a life of HAPPINESS, but HOLINESS!” God has one goal for each of us who are saved (justified by faith) — conformity to the image of His Son, Jesus! (Rom. 8:29) Another way this can be stated is, “a transformation unto holiness!” (Eph. 1:4,“chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him!”) (Col. 1:22, “He has now reconciled in His body of flesh by death, in order to present you holy and blameless ... before Him.”) Unfortunately, most churches across America today are more interested in ministering to the “felt needs” of people than calling them to a life of holiness. They are more focused upon being “happy” than being “holy!”Let me be clear —

Authentic Christianity When Opinions differ (Part 2)

May 5, 2013 • Pastor Ron Finch

Last week we began to look at living authentically when opinions differ. Believe me, opinions do differ even among believers! We all come from different cultures, different religious backgrounds, different personal experiences prior to our salvation, and ______. So, how do we live to the glory of God as a church body and before a watching world with our differences? We turn to God’s Word for answers! The apostle Paul, because he lived among people like us who had differences, gave us some great Godly advice in Romans 14, 15 and 1 Corinthians 8-10. Let’s go back to those passages as we continue our study.

Authentic Christianity When Opinions Differ

April 28, 2013 • Pastor Ron Finch

Every church, because it is made up of people, is going to have people with opinions that differ. It is a fact of life! It is a reality that we cannot escape. Opinions differ for several reasons:a. Different cultural up-bringing.b. Different religious backgrounds.c. Different convictions and preferences.d. Different social experiences before http://salvation.such was true in the early churches! Two churches in particular (Rome and Corinth) had this problem because Paul addressed it in his letters to them. In Romans and 1 Corinthians Paul gave clear instructions on how to live authentically when opinions differ. This morning I invite you to the book of Romans to learn how to deal with this problem from the pen of the apostle Paul.