West Towne Christian Church
Hold On to Harmony
11/17/19
Locations & Times
FollowJesus.org
9300 Middlebrook Pike, Knoxville, TN 37931, USA
Sunday 9:30 AM
Sunday 11:00 AM
Welcome to West Towne Christian Church.
We're glad you found us on YouVersion.
We're glad you found us on YouVersion.
Our Mission: Inspiring People to Follow Jesus
Follow the link below to learn more:
http://www.followjesus.org/welcomeThis event and any notes you take will not be available after this week unless you hit the "Save Event" in the corner.
For 5 weeks we’ll preach messages from 1 Peter. He’s such a courageous leader, a rock just like Jesus had predicted. His letter is packed with encouragement and wisdom. Christ has given us living hope through His resurrection! So no matter what you are facing, hold on to your hope in Christ!
The Restoration Movement began with the intent to unify Christians. Around 1800 here in American states west of the Appalachian Mtns, Christians from various backgrounds, Presbyterian, Methodist, Baptist, Church of God were caught up in the Second Great Awakening, a spiritual stirring. Out of that great revival of faith some said, “Couldn’t we all get together, just be Christians.” That’s how Christian churches began forming. Christian people trying to be like-minded, sympathetic, loving one another. But unity is never easy.
Christian churches adopted from others this slogan,
"In essentials, unity. In non-essentials, liberty. In all things, love."
That is a great saying, a great attitude to display. But it doesn’t solve everything. Some people’s list of essentials is long covering hundreds of specific Bible teachings. If you disagree about one or two of them, you aren’t welcome. To them, almost everything is worth separating over. Other people would go to the other extreme. Nothing’s worth separating over. Just accept people, whatever they believe, even if they don’t necessarily believe that Jesus died on the cross and rose from the dead.
When it’s something that is not important to you, you tend is to think, “What difference does that make? Just let everybody decide for themselves, teach whatever they want to teach about that.” But if it is important to you, you tend to think, “Now, you’ve got to get this right. How can you be a Christian if you don’t get this right?” What I find is that the more intimate and personal a person’s relationship is with Christ, and the more mine is, the more our hearts are spiritually united. I believe unity is spiritual. What I practice is this. Jesus is my head. If he’s your head, that makes us brothers, whether you are Catholic, or Baptist, or Anglican, or charismatic. I’m going to do my best to live in harmony with you, be sympathetic, love, show compassion. I know some people would say I’m wrong for doing it that way.
Christian churches adopted from others this slogan,
"In essentials, unity. In non-essentials, liberty. In all things, love."
That is a great saying, a great attitude to display. But it doesn’t solve everything. Some people’s list of essentials is long covering hundreds of specific Bible teachings. If you disagree about one or two of them, you aren’t welcome. To them, almost everything is worth separating over. Other people would go to the other extreme. Nothing’s worth separating over. Just accept people, whatever they believe, even if they don’t necessarily believe that Jesus died on the cross and rose from the dead.
When it’s something that is not important to you, you tend is to think, “What difference does that make? Just let everybody decide for themselves, teach whatever they want to teach about that.” But if it is important to you, you tend to think, “Now, you’ve got to get this right. How can you be a Christian if you don’t get this right?” What I find is that the more intimate and personal a person’s relationship is with Christ, and the more mine is, the more our hearts are spiritually united. I believe unity is spiritual. What I practice is this. Jesus is my head. If he’s your head, that makes us brothers, whether you are Catholic, or Baptist, or Anglican, or charismatic. I’m going to do my best to live in harmony with you, be sympathetic, love, show compassion. I know some people would say I’m wrong for doing it that way.