A sermon that I listened to which no one seemed to disagree with its content.
I think there were a few things absent from the sermon.
Specifically, what Paul has to say in Galatians about Christ.
Seems to me that Christ died on the cross to do more than allow us to attain righteousness.
It is one thing for Christ to speak on behalf of 8 billion human beings in heaven while it is another for Christ to desire to always be in the hearts of each one of those 8 billion humans.
The sermon mentions the Gnostics but only in the simplest terms: straw men.
The real reason Gnostics can be seen as heretics is they were promoting another version of paganism.
A top god with a rival (Satan), lesser god and a multitude of other lesser gods
For the Gnostics, it is not possible for Christ to be in your heart.
What was also missing in the sermon is an explanation of how one cooperates with Christ to make the decisions that work the best for each one of us.
Admittedly, that is a difficult task to accomplish in a sermon but allusion to rules of correct behavior just doesn't do the job.
Paul actively points to this difficulty with the Galatian church members.
That is, relying on Christ to deal with the day-to-day challenges rather following a set of rules.
It has been two millennia since Paul wrote his letters to his churches, shouldn't church sermons be less about rules and more about how to work with Christ to deal with day-to-day challenges?
Not general suggestions but dealing with real day-to-day challenges.
