Sermon Notes 8 August 2021
Speaker: Mr Quek Tze-Ming
Conflict and Consensus in the Church
Acts 15:1-16:5
Conflict (15.1-11)
Consensus (15.12-35)
From: Holy Spirit, Reason, Scripture
No needed burden on Gentiles; no needless offence to Jews
Conflict Again (15.36-40)
Over the one who runs away … a failure?
Commission (16.1-5)
No needed burden; no needless offence – Timothy
Reflection Questions:
- What are you like when you are in strong disagreement with others (especially Christians)?
- In the dispute of Acts 15:1-11, what is at stake for the Gentile (non-Jewish) Christians? What is at stake for the Jewish Christians? What is at stake for “the Gospel”?
- What key ideas or principles do you see in Acts 15 (at the Council, and also between Paul and Barnabas) that would help in dealing with disagreements among Christians?
- After all that had taken place in Acts 15, why do you think Paul circumcised Timothy (16:1-5)? Assuming this is not a step backwards, what can we learn from this?
