Towards Unity and Diversity - Contemporary (3)

In one paragraph

This message was the third week in a row through Romans 14, finishing the chapter and moving into the opening of Romans 15. Pastor Ramon worked through Paul's closing argument about unity among believers with different convictions, and ended with a benediction from Romans 15 about hope, joy, and peace grounded in belief. Pastor Ramon opened by noting that his wife Tanya asked whether Paul was...

Read together

1. Romans 14 primary teaching text for the sermon, covering unity and disputable matters among believers
2. Romans 14:14 quoted to support that nothing is in itself unclean
3. Romans 14:20 quoted on all things being clean but evil for the man who gives offense
4. Romans 14:21 quoted on abstaining from meat or wine to avoid causing a brother to stumble
5. Romans 14:22 quoted on happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves
6. Romans 14:23 quoted as a definition of sin: whatever is not from faith is sin
7. Romans 15:1 quoted on the strong bearing with the weaknesses of those without strength
8. Romans 15:2 quoted on pleasing your neighbor for his good and upbuilding
9. Romans 15:4 quoted that whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction so we might have hope
10. Romans 15:5-6 quoted as a prayer that God grant believers to be of the same mind with one accord
11. Romans 15:7 quoted on accepting one another as Christ accepted us
12. Romans 15:8 quoted on Christ becoming a servant to the circumcision to confirm promises to the fathers
13. Romans 15:9 quoted with Old Testament citation about praising God among the Gentiles
14. Romans 15:13 closing benediction: may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing
15. Romans 1:16 quoted as the theme of Romans: not ashamed of the gospel, the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes
16. 1 Thessalonians cited as likely the first of Paul's letters written; memory verse about encouraging one another and building each other up
17. 1 Corinthians quoted twice: all things are lawful but not all things are profitable; all things are lawful but not all things edify
18. James 4:17 referenced as the source of the phrase about knowing the right thing to do and not doing it being sin
19. Psalm 69 quoted as the source of the reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me, identified as a messianic psalm
20. 2 Samuel cited as the source of the quote about giving praise among the Gentiles
21. Psalm 18:49 cited as restating the praise among the Gentiles quote
22. Deuteronomy 32:43 cited as the source of rejoice O Gentiles with his people
23. Psalm 117 cited as the source of praise the Lord all you Gentiles and let all the peoples praise him
24. Isaiah 11:10 cited as the source of the root of Jesse arising to rule over the Gentiles in whom the Gentiles shall hope
25. John 17:17 referenced as Jesus praying for unity: may they be one, would you sanctify them by your truth

Talk about it

1. Pastor Ramon described Romans 14 as Paul saying the same thing three times in a row: pursue peace and build one another up rather than tear each other down. Where in your own life do you find it harder to build someone up than to separate from them, and what do you think gets in the way?
2. The sermon drew a distinction between neutral or disputable matters and things that are clearly defined as sin in Scripture. How do you personally decide which category something falls into, and how does that process affect the way you relate to other believers who land differently than you do?
3. Pastor Ramon said that whatever is not from faith is sin, and that if you are doubting whether something is right for you, that doubt itself is a signal worth taking seriously before God. Has there been a time when that kind of honest self-examination changed a decision you were about to make?
4. The sermon pointed to the self-denying example of Jesus as the model for how the strong ought to bear with the weak, and argued that the word of the gospel and the deed of serving others need to be held together rather than separated. How does your own practice of faith hold those two things together, and where do you feel the tension most?
5. Pastor Ramon closed with Romans 15:13, the prayer that God would fill believers with joy and peace in believing so that they would abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit, and he warned that hope erodes when belief erodes. Where do you find your own hope most tested, and what has helped you stay grounded in what you know to be true from Scripture?