The Uncomfortable Middle
Wisdom From Above
July 4, 2021
Rev. Matt Haynes
The sermon urges prayer for unity at the General Assembly and for South Africa amid a shift to online education, calls for the raising up of pastors and leaders in Africa, and reminds believers that salvation is by grace through faith—manifested in good works—while warning against relying on performance and pointing believers back to the ordinary means of grace.
Summary
The speaker opens with prayer concerns for peace and mutual upbuilding at the General Assembly and personal context about family and teaching online, especially with African masters and PhD students. He asks the congregation to pray for South Africa—its COVID situation, the rapid shift to online learning, and the need for trained pastors and broader church leaders—and emphasizes that Jesus must be lifted up in worship. Theologically, he affirms that we are saved by grace through faith and that genuine faith produces good works, warns against treating works as the basis for our standing before God (drawing on Romans 4 and David’s example), and encourages Christians to combat performance-based faith through the ordinary means of grace: Scripture, prayer, and the sacraments, closing with a prayer to trust wholly in Christ.
Key Points
- Pray for peace and mutual upbuilding at the General Assembly and for personal conviction when we act selfishly
- Personal context: family details and experience teaching online, especially with African graduate students
- Prayer requests: South Africa (COVID mitigation), the shift to online education, and raising up pastors and broader church leaders in Africa
- Emphasize lifting up Jesus and true worship amid transitions
- Doctrine: salvation is by grace through faith; genuine faith results in good works
- Warning against relying on works for standing before God; Paul quotes David in Romans 4 about forgiveness and covered sins
- The sacrificial system and Christ’s atonement should be understood deeply—not mechanistically
- Practical remedy: rely on the ordinary means of grace (Bible, prayer, sacraments) to uproot performance-based faith
- Closing prayer asking God to help us trust wholly in Christ
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