Paul could not be more clear in Galatians. Those who shared the "blended" gospel were distorting and perverting the truth and were to be condemned. That's pretty strong language!
The turning point for the church in the first century was the Jerusalem Council. Other than the resurrection and the coming of the Holy Spirit upon believers, nothing compares to it's importance.
We're getting to the meat of the book's premise. Hebrews 7:22-24 is pretty clear. Christ is superior in every way!
"The challenges we face in mixing and matching covenants are not the result of the Mosaic covenant being flawed. Our challenges stem from our unwillingness to accept two undeniable historical realities. First, God’s covenant with ancient Israel was . . . with ancient Israel. Second, God’s covenant with Israel (Mosaic) was temporary. Important, strategic, divinely ordained, but temporary." - from the book...
Here are the notes from week 4. We talked about how the Pharisee's viewed Jesus' ministry.
We also discussed two important reminders:
1. Just because something is obsolete, doesn't make it irrelevant or untrue. Don't confuse inspiration and application.
2. God is NOT done with His chosen people.
Imagine if the people had listened to Samuel and there had been no king. No King Saul. No King David. No King Solomon. An no temple. This week we talked about the temporary nature of the temple... (all three of them).
This week we begin our journey through the book "Irresistible" by Andy Stanley. It's a fascinating book - you should read it.
So... we're finishing up our study of a biblical church by talking about how WE do church - specifically following up on opportunities that God gives us.
If I asked you to state the purpose of the church - what would you say?
How about the vision statement of our church?
What does the Bible say is important in the life of a church?
We've been talking about the spiritual gifts over the past couple of weeks. '
Worship isn't JUST what we do on Sunday morning - worship is something we do every day as we submit to God - (Romans 12:1-2). But is our Sunday morning "worship" relevant to the people we're trying to reach?