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“ Great Sermon! ” I am writing to add a second comment as there was not enough room to complete my thoughts in the first space.
Pastor VanderMeulen noted that our Biblical duty to advise a sinner of his or her sin (he rightly tells us that this discipline is a positive service to the Body of Christ and should not be viewed as merely "negative feedback")can make us uncomfortable. Further, he cautions against willy-nilly criticisms where one has a field day of criticizing our neighbor in the Lord. It is not, to use a Brooklyn phrase, an invitation for Christians "to get in the faces of" other Christians. Yet, at the same time, we are not to be slackers in this regard. Our failure to do so is itself a sin.
I tend to feel very guilty when I call a fellow Christian's attention to a sin; then I swing to another extreme and bite my tongue and begin to drown in horror at "the state of church life." Pastor VanderMeulen's exposition restores my perspective. I'm brought to a point of balance where I can actually begin to see biblically where truth and love actually intersect. I really do not want to be another complacent churchgoer.
Are you a churchgoer who has been fulfilling your duty to the Body?
These sermons help us know if we are
obeying God's commands.
Jeff Ludwig (12/31/2007)
from Brooklyn, NY
“ Correction and Prayer are Necessay ” No one will ever accuse Pastor VanderMeulen of failing to address some of the most sensitive of failing to address some of the most sensitive issues in Scripture.
This sermon follows another on the same verses entitled "Sin In The Body of Christ." In these two sermons,he enlightens us about our Christian duty not only to pray for brothers and sisters whom we perceive as falling into sin (i.e., we don't only gossip or mull over the perceived sins or weaknesses in faith) but we are commanded as well to take them aside and counsel them, thereby calling them to repentance. However, this should be done in a non-condemning way, or, as it is often said, we are to tell the truth with love. The brother or sister should not be spoken to in a belittling way. The measure of our duty then is that we do it; the fullness of our duty is not measured by the sharpness of our tongue. He uses the word "encouragement" a few times, and I don't think I would be far off in saying that the sinning fellow Christian should be encouraged that with the Lord's wonderful grace he or she can turn away from the sin. Further, the sinning brother or sister may discuss other points unknown previously by his/her fellow congregant. "Church discipline" then is something in which all participate.
Douglas VanderMeulen is the preaching pastor at Community Baptist Church. Committed to the principles of the 16th century reformation, Pastor VanderMeulen believes Sola Scriptura and Sola Fide is best understood in light of the Bible's covenantal structure. As a result, the...
