Toxic Christianity –Stubbornness – September 24, 2023
Welcome, Introduction, and Opening Prayer
SHARE – Icebreaker – In this sermon series, we are exploring some of the toxic behaviors that we experience in the church. This Sunday we are looking at stubbornness. Can you think of something that you do simply because “you’ve always done it that way?”
STUDY - Text: Acts 11:1-18 (NRSV)
Now the apostles and the brothers and sisters who were in Judea heard that the gentiles had also accepted the word of God. 2 So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers[a] criticized him, 3 saying, “Why did you go to uncircumcised men and eat with them?” 4 Then Peter began to explain it to them, step by step, saying, 5 “I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision. There was something like a large sheet coming down from heaven, being lowered by its four corners, and it came close to me. 6 As I looked at it closely I saw four-footed animals, beasts of prey, reptiles, and birds of the air. 7 I also heard a voice saying to me, ‘Get up, Peter; kill and eat.’ 8 But I replied, ‘By no means, Lord, for nothing profane or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’ 9 But a second time the voice answered from heaven, ‘What God has made clean, you must not call profane.’ 10 This happened three times; then everything was pulled up again to heaven. 11 At that very moment three men, sent to me from Caesarea, arrived at the house where we were. 12 The Spirit told me to go with them and not to make a distinction between them and us.[b]These six brothers also accompanied me, and we entered the man’s house. 13 He told us how he had seen the angel standing in his house and saying, ‘Send to Joppa and bring Simon, who is called Peter; 14 he will give you a message by which you and your entire household will be saved.’ 15 And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them just as it had upon us at the beginning. 16 And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ 17 If then God gave them the same gift that he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could hinder God?” 18 When they heard this, they were silenced. And they praised God, saying, “Then God has given even to the gentiles the repentance that leads to life.”
Jeanie Daniel Duck once said, “Don’t make today’s innovations into tomorrow’s sacred cows.” What are some things in your life that have turned into sacred cows?
In Sunday’s text, Peter begins to understand that God wasn’t just making unclean food clean. He was calling for Peter to include the Gentile people into the fold. Peter overcomes his stubbornness, and he realizes the importance of changing an old tradition to make way for something new. Have you ever changed your mind, or turned your back on an old tradition, in order to make way for something new? Was that experience difficult or easy?
There are three specific questions that are posed by leadership expert Ron Heifetz that we can ask when it comes to change. I invite you to explore each of these questions:
1. What do we need to keep doing, no matter what?
2. What might we need to stop doing as we go forward?
3. What new things do we need to start doing to adapt to the emerging reality?
SUPPORT - Blessings and Burdens: What has been life-giving for you this week? What has been life-draining for you?
Closing Prayer