Strengthen the Foundation

The Gospel is the target

Acts 15:1-6
15 But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of
Moses, you cannot be saved.”  2  And after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the
others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and the elders about this question.  3  So, being sent on their way by the church, they
passed through both Phoenicia and Samaria, describing in detail the conversion of the Gentiles, and brought great joy to all the brothers. [a]   4  When
they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they declared all that God had done with
them.  5  But some believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees rose up and said, “It is necessary to circumcise them and to order them to
keep the law of Moses.” 6  The apostles and the elders were gathered together to consider this matter.

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Grace is central to our foundation

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Acts 15:7-11
7  And after there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, “Brothers, you know that in the early days God made a
choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe.  8  And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to
them, by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us,  9  and he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by
faith.  10  Now, therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been
able to bear?  11  But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.”

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The Gospel keeps us from walking on egg shells

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Acts 15:22-29
22  Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders, with the whole church, to choose men from among them and send them to
Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They sent Judas called Barsabbas, and Silas, leading men among the brothers,  23  with the following letter: “The
brothers, both the apostles and the elders, to the brothers [a]  who are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia, greetings.  24  Since we have heard
that some persons have gone out from us and troubled you [b]  with words, unsettling your minds, although we gave them no instructions,  25  it has
seemed good to us, having come to one accord, to choose men and send them to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul,  26  men who have risked
their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.  27  We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who themselves will tell you the same things by word of
mouth.  28  For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater burden than these requirements:  29  that you abstain from what
has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you
will do well. Farewell.”

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