Gospel Discernment
Unstoppable Sermon Series
Patterson Morgan, preaching
Patterson is the preaching minister at Antioch Church of Christ
Acts 15:1-35
To grow is to change, and change is hard. The church was growing in the midst of hardship, resistance, and persecution. The struggles didn’t come only from the outside, from opponents of Jesus the Messiah and His kingdom way of life. Struggle also can come from the inside, from those who agree that Jesus is the Messiah. As the church expanded into increasingly non-Jewish territory, the leaders were forced to clarify the gospel and what it meant to follow Jesus. They had to discern how an unchanging gospel would be proclaimed and practiced in an ever-changing world. In Acts 15, the apostles and the elders came to clarity in their discernment process through testimony, Scripture, the core of the gospel, and application. They exhort the non-Jews to live the Jesus way in two primary areas: sexuality and idolatry. All Christians of any background are to avoid contexts and practices which would lead them away from living the Jesus way. He is not trying to make them Jewish people, but Jesus people.