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A New Heart for the Valley Week 5, Day 5

by David Joynt on March 22, 2018

A New Heart for the Valley Week 5, Day 5

A SINGLE HEART

 

ROMANS 14:1-5, 7-10

 

“In non-essentials liberty!” Much momentum has been lost in Christian history in fruitless disagreement over lesser matters. In today’s scripture, Paul suggests that vegetarianism is a matter of individual conscience, as is the question of whether to observe particular festival and worship days. Learning to disagree agreeably is a great life skill and a necessary attribute for thriving Christian communities. I consider something to be essential if it has an effect on someone’s ability to connect with and follow Jesus. True disciples abide in his word (see John 8:31) and obey his commands (see Matthew 28:19-20). But often we extend the essentials to include everything!

 

 

Do you disagree agreeably?

 

What does that look like?

 

FAMILY TIME

Do you have essentials?

 

Tags: obey, non-essentials liberty. essential

About the Author
David Joynt

Dave Joynt began his service as a pastor at Valley Presbyterian Church in Paradise Valley, Arizona in September 2014. This meant a move away from the Northeast, where he has a long history, growing up in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and then serving congregations in Delaware and New Jersey for a total of 23 years.

Dave was nurtured in a great church in Bethlehem where his parents, Anne and Carey, served as elders. He graduated in classics from Lehigh University where his Father taught, and then from Oxford, where he met his wife Julia. Ordained in 1988, he completed a Ph.D. from Princeton Theological Seminary in 1993.

He and Julia have a son, Tristan, and a daughter, Madeleine.

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