My “Areopagus”

The above title may not be the best title, because it overstates the case, but nonetheless, yesterday, I had a unique opportunity to preach at a Missionary Baptist Church.  In 27 years of preaching, I had never once been invited to preach at a Baptist Church, so I jumped at the opportunity before me, and gladly accepted.

The easy part was saying, “Yes, I’ll preach for you.”  The difficult part was in trying to decide what to preach and just how to say what I wanted said. The sermon I developed was entitled, “Non-Denominational Christianity.”  In it, I challenged the church to drop all denominational distinctions that keep people divided, to return solely to the pattern of New Testament Christianity, and I tried to explain how this can be accomplished.

The people there were sincere.  They were gracious.  They showed me great hospitality and courtesy.  I couldn’t have been treated any better.  Yet, we are divided and those differences that divide us cannot be marginalized or trivialized.  The irenic spirit that exists between us cannot be allowed to overshadow our differences.  My prayer is that this will not be the end, but that we will have more opportunities to discuss the Scriptures and in particular, those areas in which we disagree.

If you’re interested in listening to the sermon that I preached, simply click on the title below.  I carried a little pocket recorder in my shirt pocket, and recorded my lesson.  The recording is not the best quality, but it is not so poor that you cannot listen to it.

Non-Denominational Christianity