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In 1845, Baptists in America faced a moral crossroads. When mission boards refused to appoint slaveholders as missionaries, southern leaders walked away and founded the Southern Baptist Convention in Augusta, Georgia. Their decision redefined missions for generations and revealed how culture can silence conscience. Extended notes examine the James E. Reeve controversy, the Triennial Convention’s collapse, and the moral and theological arguments used to justify slavery inside the church. Make sure you Like, Share, Subscribe, Follow, Comment, and Review this episode and the entire COACH series.

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1845, Southern Baptist Convention, Triennial Convention, James E. Reeve, Baptist split, slavery and missions, American Christian history, Baptist heritage, Augusta Georgia, church division, Christian ethics, mission boards, moral compromise, church history, COACH podcast

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#ChurchHistory #BaptistHistory #SouthernBaptist #FaithAndCulture

Description (≤ 1500 chars):

Step into 1845 as American Baptists divide over a question that tested both faith and integrity: Can a slaveholder be a missionary? When mission boards refused to send slave-owning applicants, southern leaders walked out and founded the Southern Baptist Convention in Augusta, Georgia. What began as a debate over missions became a mirror for the Church’s moral blindness. This episode follows the collapse of the Triennial Convention, the controversy surrounding James E. Reeve, and the theological defenses of slavery that exposed a faith culture too easily shaped by economics. Discover how a movement meant to spread the gospel fractured over the failure to live it out — and why the Church’s credibility still depends on integrity today. Like, share, and subscribe to COACH for more stories of faith’s foundations.

Call to Action:

Make sure you Like, Share, Subscribe, Follow, Comment, and Review this episode and the entire COACH series.

Chunk 1 – Cold Hook

It’s May 1845, in Augusta, Georgia [JOR-juh]. The heat clings to the brick walls of First Baptist Church, where more than two hundred delegates crowd the sanctuary. Paper fans wave. Jackets hang on chair-backs. On the pulpit lies a single document—freshly inked and trembling with significance.

They have gathered to decide whether conscience or custom will guide their missions. For thirty years, American Baptists have shared one cause: to take the gospel to the nations. But today, that partnership is collapsing.

Outside, a telegraph clerk waits to send word north. Inside, men argue whether a slaveholder can represent Christ to the world. Pens scratch. Voices rise. Each signature on that parchment marks not only a new denomination—but a moral divide.

As the final motion passes, a quiet settles over the room—an uneasy relief that feels more like defeat than victory. The split has happened. The Southern Baptist Convention has been born.

But what really broke that day? A fellowship? Or the courage to confront sin when it hid behind Scripture? [AD BREAK]

Chunk 2 – Intro

From the That’s Jesus Channel, welcome to COACH — where Church origins and church history actually coach us how to walk boldly with Jesus today. I’m Bob Baulch. On Friday, we stay between 1500 and 2000 AD. In this episode we are in the year 1845 and tracing how a mission board dispute over slavery divided American Baptists and reshaped the Church’s moral witness for generations.

Chunk 3 – Foundation

Three decades before the split, the Baptist family in America stood united under one banner — the Triennial Convention. It was 1814. Baptists from north and south gathered in Philadelphia to cooperate in one sacred cause: to take the gospel to the nations. They pooled resources, trained missionaries, and prayed that together they could reach a world still untouched by Christ.

For years, it worked. The Convention sent missionaries to India, Burma, and frontier America. Every letter from the field reminded Baptists that their partnership was bigger than politics. But as the United States wrestled with slavery, the mission boards could not stay neutral. The very donors funding those voyages disagreed on whether freedom was a divine right or a northern invention.

By the 1830s, the tension grew impossible to ignore. Northern pastors began preaching that slavery violated the heart of the gospel itself. Southern congregations pushed back, arguing that Scripture described slavery without condemning it. Both claimed to honor the Bible. Both believed they were right.

The debates found their flashpoint in a single question: Can a man who owns another human being serve as a missionary of Christ?

That question arrived in the form of James E. Reeve [REEV], a Georgia Baptist who owned slaves but felt called to serve on the mission field. When the Home Mission Society reviewed his application in 1844, they refused to approve it. Their letter was brief but devastating: they could not send anyone who insisted on the right to hold slaves.

To southern ears, that sounded like betrayal. Churches in Georgia and Alabama erupted in protest, declaring that no one had the right to judge another man’s conscience. They claimed the decision was not about morality but control — that the northern boards had become gatekeepers of “political religion.”

Letters flew across the Mason-Dixon Line. Northern leaders begged for moral clarity; southern leaders demanded independence. What began as a debate over mission policy became a struggle over the soul of the denomination.

By early 1845, tempers and theology both had hardened. Baptists who once prayed together now exchanged accusations of heresy. The shared table of fellowship had become a courtroom, and every side claimed God as their witness.

The northern boards would not bend. The southern churches would not yield.

And so, by spring of that year, the question was no longer if Baptists would divide — but which side would still call itself the true defender of the gospel.

Chunk 4 – Development

It’s May 8th, 1845, in Augusta, Georgia [JOR-juh]. Delegates fill the pews of First Baptist Church, their Bibles open, their tempers steady — at least for now. Outside, the air hums with the sound of wagon wheels and distant thunder. Inside, it feels like history has paused to take a deep breath.

They call the meeting to order. Prayer first — then purpose. The issue isn’t whispered anymore. Everyone knows why they’ve come.

The minutes record it plainly: they intend to form a new convention, one that will never again let “outside interference” restrict its missionaries.

One delegate rises and declares that Scripture does not condemn slavery as sin. He reads from the household codes of Paul and insists that the apostles never questioned the master–servant structure of their day. Heads nod. Others murmur approval. They believe they are defending biblical truth against northern innovation.

But beneath the Bible pages lies a deeper motive — money. The mission boards depend on southern generosity. Plantations fund the churches that – in turn - fund the spreading of the gospel. Cotton and conviction are tangled together. The economic reality is clear: if you end slavery, then you bankrupt the mission.

Across the room, a handful of quieter men shift uneasily. They know the gospel calls every soul free, but the cost of saying so here would be ruin. Silence becomes their refuge.

The arguments turn theological again. Some appeal to local autonomy — the Baptist principle that every church governs itself. If a congregation in Georgia believes a slaveholder can be a missionary, who is Philadelphia to forbid it? To the southern conscience, this is not rebellion; it’s liberty. To the northern conscience, it’s moral collapse.

The tension breaks when the motion is read:

“Resolved, that we, the delegates from the Southern States, do now form ourselves into a Convention for Foreign Missions.”

The words are procedural. The effect is seismic.

Hands lift. The vote passes. And in that moment, the Southern Baptist Convention is born. No shouting. No applause. Just a slow wave of nods and a silence thick enough to feel holy — or haunting.

For the men in the room, it feels like obedience. They believe they have preserved the faith from political corruption. But heaven’s view might tell another story — one of hearts that mistook comfort for conviction.

Outside, the telegraph office waits. The message that will travel north is only a few words long, but it will divide a generation:

“The Southern Baptist Convention is formed.”

The ink dries. The room exhales.

And a new chapter of American Christianity begins — built on the wrong side of righteousness.

Chunk 5 – Climax and Impact

When the delegates left Augusta, they carried more than signed papers. They carried a fracture that would echo for generations.

Almost overnight, the Triennial Convention ceased to exist as a national family. Northern boards regrouped in new offices, reorganizing under stricter moral guidelines. Southern boards did the same, confident they had preserved the gospel from political distortion. Two missionary movements now marched under the same Bible with opposite interpretations of righteousness.

In letters that summer, northern editors grieved that “the gospel has been chained by commerce.” Southern newspapers fired back, accusing the North of “preaching emancipation instead of salvation.” Both sides thought they were defending the truth. But they weren’t arguing about theology anymore. They were arguing about morality — and few admitted it.

Across the South, pulpits thundered with justification. Preachers quoted Paul’s words to slaves and masters as if they were permission slips. They argued that missions could not wait for the world to be perfect. “If the apostles did not condemn slavery,” one pastor wrote, “neither shall we.”

And with that sentence, the moral wound deepened.

Northern churches watched with grief and disbelief. They saw a gospel meant to set captives free now wrapped in chains of its own making. Mission boards overseas faced confusion: How could American Christians preach freedom while defending bondage at home?

The irony was unbearable. Baptist missionaries in Africa and the Caribbean were telling freed men and women that Christ made them equal — while the people who sent them refused to believe the same truth in Georgia and Alabama.

Still, the Southern Baptist Convention grew fast. Money flowed, missions expanded, and new churches proudly bore the name “Southern.” Success looked like blessing. But the conscience of a nation was unraveling.

Then came war. Twenty years after that meeting in Augusta, cannon fire would split the United States the same way theology had split its churches. What began with a mission board vote ended in fields of blood.

After the war, the wounds only deepened. Reconstruction reshaped the country but not its theology. The same pulpits that once defended slavery now preached silence about race. It would take another century before the Southern Baptist Convention formally confessed its sin. In 1995, one hundred and fifty years later, the denomination publicly repented, acknowledging that it had “wrongly defended and perpetuated slavery.”

That confession came too late for the enslaved who never heard it, but not too late for the Church that still needed to learn from it.

The Southern Baptist Convention endured — and even thrived — yet its origin story remains a warning carved into history: the gospel cannot be funded by chains.

Because every time the Church trades righteousness for respectability, it wins power but loses witness.

Long after the ink dried in Augusta, the question still lingers—

what happens when mission success outruns moral conviction?

[AD BREAK]

Chunk 6 – Legacy & Modern Relevance

The division still endures today And with it, a caution that every generation must face: culture can whisper louder than conscience if the Church stops listening to the Spirit.

The Southern Baptist Convention became the largest Protestant denomination in America. It built seminaries, planted churches, sent thousands of missionaries. Yet its roots remind us how easily influence can grow from compromise. Great size never guarantees great purity.

The legacy of 1845 is not only institutional — it’s personal. Every believer, every congregation, faces the same temptation the Baptists faced that spring in Augusta: to defend what feels normal instead of what is right. The names and issues change — segregation, power, politics, comfort — but the question remains. Will we preach freedom even when it costs us status?

When theology bows to economics, witness becomes hollow. When Scripture is filtered through convenience, truth turns optional. The danger isn’t just slavery left behind; it’s self-preservation still alive.

Yet there is hope in repentance. The 1995 confession proved that even after a century and a half, grace still invites correction. It showed that institutions can humble themselves — and that humility restores credibility.

The Church today stands in that same mirror. We are called not merely to build ministries, but to build integrity. Because what the world remembers most is not how far our message travels, but how faithfully it reflects the heart of Christ.

Chunk 7A – Reflection & Call to Action (Ethically direct, redemptive)

The story of 1845 isn’t only Baptist history—it’s our story. Every age finds its own way to baptize compromise and call it progress.

Today we trade lifelong promises for trial arrangements and call it love. We create life and end it when it becomes inconvenient and call it choice. We reshape bodies that God designed with purpose and call it self-expression. Each generation invents new reasons to do what every heart has always wanted—to decide good and evil for itself.

But truth doesn’t bend with culture. The God who spoke life into being still defines it. The covenant that made two become one is still holy. And the image of God placed in every person is still sacred, even when society forgets what sacred means.

When the Church goes quiet about these things, it repeats the silence of 1845. When it speaks with love and conviction together, it breaks the chain of hypocrisy.

History’s warning is clear: righteousness cannot be redefined by comfort. Freedom in Christ is not the freedom to edit His design—it’s the courage to live within it.

Grace still waits on the other side of repentance. Truth still sets people free. And the cross still stands as proof that God redeems even what we’ve broken.

Chunk 7B – Personal Application (“So what about us?”)

We don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings. We don’t want to be rude. We do want to honor people’s freedoms. And we can do that while being holy, honest, and humble.

Love is not calling the color purple – orange. Love is not saying sin is a blessing. Love is not treating delusion as a viable option. Yet that’s what many churches quietly ask us to do — to call mercy what God calls misery, to call freedom what still chains the heart.

So what about us?

We are not the judge of anyone’s soul, but we are responsible for guarding our own.

The cross was never meant to make us comfortable — it was meant to make us clean.

Maybe this hits close to home. Maybe you feel the gap between who you’ve become and who you meant to be. The good news is, grace still lives in that gap. Holiness doesn’t humiliate; it heals. Honesty doesn’t destroy; it delivers. Humility doesn’t crush; it carries you back to mercy.

So tonight, instead of defending what’s breaking you, bring it to the One who can rebuild you.

Ask Him to make you holy, honest, and humble — the kind of believer whose love tells the truth even when the truth costs something.

Because love without truth is sentiment, and truth without love is cruelty — but together they look like Jesus.

And that’s the kind of YOU the world is still waiting to see.

Chunk 8 – Outro

If this story of the 1845 Southern Baptist split challenged or encouraged you, like, comment and share it with a friend – they might really need to hear it. Leave a review on your podcast app! And don’t forget to follow COACH for more episodes every week. Check out the show notes! It has the full transcript and sources used for this episode. And, if you look closely, you’ll find some contrary opinions. We do that on purpose. The Amazon links can help you get resources for your own library while giving me a little bit of a kickback. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. You never know what we’ll cover next on COACH. Every episode dives into a different corner of church history. But on Friday, we stay between 1500–2000 AD. And if you’d rather access these stories on YouTube, check us out at the That’s Jesus Channel. Thanks for listening to COACH – where Church origins and church history actually coach us how to walk boldly with Jesus today. I’m Bob Baulch with the That’s Jesus Channel. Have a great day — and be blessed.

Before you scroll away, pause and ask one quiet question: what story will future believers tell about us?

Will they say we preached holiness and lived honesty, or that we blended in and called it grace?

History doesn’t belong to perfect people; it belongs to repentant ones.

The God who redeemed a broken church in 1845 can redeem yours and mine today—if we’ll let Him start with us.

I keep saying this channel is small; fifty episodes in and the algorithm still thinks I’m a home-video ministry of two… and both subscribers are me.

Chunk 9a – Reference Quotes

Q1: “They could not send anyone who insisted on the right to hold slaves.” [Verbatim] Home Mission Society correspondence to Georgia Convention, 1844.

Q2: “The Scriptures do not condemn slavery as sinful.” [Verbatim] Delegate statement recorded in Augusta Convention Minutes, 1845.

Q3: “The gospel has been chained by commerce.” [Paraphrased] Northern editorial lament following the split, 1845.

Chunk 9b – Reference Z-Notes (Zero Dispute Notes)

Z1: The Triennial Convention was founded in 1814 in Philadelphia to coordinate Baptist foreign missions.

Z2: James E. Reeve of Georgia was nominated for missionary service in 1844 while owning slaves.

Z3: The Home Mission Society refused Reeve’s appointment on moral grounds.

Z4: Delegates met in Augusta, Georgia, May 8–12, 1845, to form the Southern Baptist Convention.

Z5: The SBC grew rapidly and became the largest Protestant denomination in the United States.

Z6: In 1995 the SBC formally apologized for its pro-slavery origins.

Z7: The Triennial Convention was effectively replaced by Northern Baptist mission organizations after 1845.

Z8: Both sides claimed Scriptural support for their position.

Z9: Economic dependency on slave labor significantly influenced southern church decisions.

Z10: Mission funds from southern plantations supported many Baptist initiatives before the split.

Z11: The Augusta meeting included 293 delegates from southern states. Source: Minutes of the Augusta Convention, 1845.

Z12: The Home Mission Society was based in Philadelphia before the split. Source: Home Mission Society Records, 1844.

Z13: The Triennial Convention sent missionaries to India and Burma before 1845. Source: William H. Brackney, The Baptists, 1988.

Z14: Richard Fuller, a southern Baptist leader, defended slavery using Scripture. Source: Richard Fuller, Domestic Slavery Considered as a Scriptural Institution, 1845.

Z15: The SBC’s first president was William Bullein Johnson. Source: Minutes of the Augusta Convention, 1845.

Z16: The Northern Baptists formed the American Baptist Missionary Union after the split. Source: Robert G. Torbet, A History of the Baptists, 1950.

Z17: The SBC established its own Foreign Mission Board in 1845. Source: Minutes of the Augusta Convention, 1845.

Z18: The 1845 split occurred during the Second Great Awakening. Source: Mark Noll, America’s God, 2002.

Z19: The Georgia Baptist Convention was a key organizer of the Augusta meeting. Source: Minutes of the Augusta Convention, 1845.

Z20: The Civil War began 16 years after the SBC’s formation. Source: James M. McPherson, Battle Cry of Freedom, 1988.

Chunk 9c – Reference POP (Parallel Orthodox Perspectives)

P1: Orthodox Christians affirm that Scripture condemns the enslavement and dehumanization of people as contrary to the image of God. Source: Carl F. H. Henry, The Uneasy Conscience of Modern Fundamentalism, 1947.

P2: Repentance and reconciliation remain marks of authentic revival in orthodox tradition. Source: J. Edwin Orr, The Flaming Tongue, 1973.

P3: Biblical freedom is spiritual before it is political but never denies human dignity. Source: John Stott, The Cross of Christ, 1986.

P4: The Church must interpret Scripture through the character of Christ rather than through cultural norms. Source: N. T. Wright, Scripture and the Authority of God, 2011.

P5: Holiness, honesty, and humility form the biblical pattern for reform. Source: Dallas Willard, Renovation of the Heart, 2002.

P6: The gospel demands justice as a reflection of God’s character. Source: Timothy Keller, Generous Justice, 2010.

P7: Christian unity requires confronting sin, even when divisive. Source: Francis A. Schaeffer, The Church at the End of the Twentieth Century, 1970.

P8: Biblical ethics prioritize human dignity over economic gain. Source: Wayne Grudem, Christian Ethics, 2018.

P9: The Church’s mission is compromised when it conforms to cultural sins. Source: D. A. Carson, Christ and Culture Revisited, 2008.

P10: Repentance restores the Church’s moral authority. Source: John Piper, A Godward Life, 1997.

Chunk 9d – Reference SCOP (Skeptical or Contrary Opinion Points)

S1: Some historians argue the split was driven primarily by organizational politics rather than morality. Source: Mark Noll, America’s God, 2002.

S2: Others view the 1845 division as inevitable because of regional economics. Source: Eugene Genovese, The Southern Tradition, 1994.

S3: A minority interpret the SBC formation as an expression of local autonomy rather than moral error. Source: Gregory A. Wills, Democratic Religion, 1997.

S4: Some modern critics claim repentance resolutions are symbolic without structural change. Source: Anthea Butler, White Evangelical Racism, 2021.

S5: Secular historians argue religious language merely masked socio-economic interests. Source: Jon Meacham, American Gospel, 2006.

S6: Some argue the SBC’s growth proves its moral stance was not a barrier to mission success. Source: Nathan O. Hatch, The Democratization of American Christianity, 1989.

S7: Critics suggest the 1995 apology was motivated by public relations rather than genuine conviction. Source: Jemar Tisby, The Color of Compromise, 2019.

S8: Some historians claim northern Baptists were equally complicit in systemic racism post-split. Source: Edward J. Blum, Reforging the White Republic, 2005.

Chunk 9e – Reference Sources List

As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Master Amazon Link Coming Soon

Home Mission Society Records, Correspondence to Georgia Baptist Convention, 1844 (Q1, Z2, Z3, Z12).

Minutes of the Augusta Convention, 1845 (Q2, Z4, Z11, Z15, Z17, Z19).

The Christian Index, May 1845 (Q3, Z9).

Carl F. H. Henry, The Uneasy Conscience of Modern Fundamentalism, 1947, Eerdmans, ISBN 9780802816788 (P1).

1. Edwin Orr, The Flaming Tongue, 1973, Moody Press, ISBN 9780802414168 (P2).

John Stott, The Cross of Christ, 1986, InterVarsity Press, ISBN 9780830833207 (P3).

1. T. Wright, Scripture and the Authority of God, 2011, HarperOne, ISBN 9780062219176 (P4).

Dallas Willard, Renovation of the Heart, 2002, NavPress, ISBN 9781576832967 (P5).

Mark Noll, America’s God, 2002, Oxford University Press, ISBN 9780195151114 (S1, Z18).

Eugene Genovese, The Southern Tradition, 1994, Harvard University Press, ISBN 9780674825277 (S2).

Gregory A. Wills, Democratic Religion, 1997, Oxford University Press, ISBN 9780195104127 (S3).

Anthea Butler, White Evangelical Racism, 2021, University of North Carolina Press, ISBN 9781469661186 (S4).

Jon Meacham, American Gospel, 2006, Random House, ISBN 9780812976663 (S5).

William H. Brackney, The Baptists, 1988, Greenwood Press, ISBN 9780313235702 (Z13).

Richard Fuller, Domestic Slavery Considered as a Scriptural Institution, 1845, Lewis Colby, ISBN None (Z14).

Robert G. Torbet, A History of the Baptists, 1950, Judson Press, ISBN 9780817000745 (Z16).

James M. McPherson, Battle Cry of Freedom, 1988, Oxford University Press, ISBN 9780195038637 (Z20).

Timothy Keller, Generous Justice, 2010, Dutton, ISBN 9780525951902 (P6).

Francis A. Schaeffer, The Church at the End of the Twentieth Century, 1970, InterVarsity Press, ISBN 9780877848899 (P7).

Wayne Grudem, Christian Ethics, 2018, Crossway, ISBN 9781433549656 (P8).

1. A. Carson, Christ and Culture Revisited, 2008, Eerdmans, ISBN 9780802867384 (P9).

John Piper, A Godward Life, 1997, Multnomah, ISBN 9781576738399 (P10).

Nathan O. Hatch, The Democratization of American Christianity, 1989, Yale University Press, ISBN 9780300050608 (S6).

Jemar Tisby, The Color of Compromise, 2019, Zondervan, ISBN 9780310597261 (S7).

Edward J. Blum, Reforging the White Republic, 2005, LSU Press, ISBN 9780807130520 (S8).

Chunk 10 – Equipment

As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Master Amazon Link Coming Soon

Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max (1 TB)

Canon EOS R50

Canon EOS M50 Mark II

Dell Inspiron Laptop (17")

HP Gaming Desktop

Adobe Premiere Pro (subscription)

Elgato HD60 S+

Maono PD200X Microphone with Arm

Blue Yeti USB Microphone

Logitech MX Keys S Keyboard

Focusrite Scarlett Solo (4th Gen) USB Audio Interface

Logitech Ergo M575 Wireless Trackball Mouse

BenQ 24-Inch IPS Monitor

Manfrotto Compact Action Aluminum Tripod

Microsoft 365 Personal (subscription)

GVM 10-Inch Ring Light w/ Tripod

Weton Lightning to HDMI Adapter

ULANZI Smartphone Tripod Mount

Sony MDR-ZX110 Stereo Headphones

Nanoleaf Essentials Matter Smart A19 Bulb

Chunk 11 – Credits

Host: Bob Baulch

Producer: That’s Jesus Channel

Topic Support: Assisted by Copilot (Microsoft Corp) for aligning topics to timelines

Research Support: Assisted by Perplexity.ai (AI Chatbot) for facts and sources

Script Support: Assisted by ChatGPT (OpenAI) for script pacing and coherence

Verification Support: Assisted by Grok (xAI) for fact-checking and validation

Digital License: Audio 1 – Background Music: “Background Music Soft Calm” by INPLUSMUSIC, Pixabay Content License, Composer: Poradovskyi Andrii (BMI IPI Number: 01055591064), Source: Pixabay, YouTube: INPLUSMUSIC Channel, Instagram: @inplusmusic

Digital License: Audio 2 – Crescendo: “Epic Trailer Short 0022 Sec” by BurtySounds, Pixabay Content License, Source: Pixabay

Digital License: Audio Visualizer: “Digital Audio Spectrum Sound Wave Equalizer Effect Animation, Alpha Channel Transparent Background, 4K Resolution” by Vecteezy, License: Free License (Attribution Required), Source: Vecteezy

Production Note: Audio and video elements integrated in post-production without in-script cues.

Chunk 12 – Social Links

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Chunk 13 – Small Group Guide

Summary:

In 1845, the Southern Baptist Convention formed after mission boards refused to appoint slaveholders. The split exposed how culture can corrupt conscience and how moral blindness can hide beneath success. Its lesson still calls the Church to choose truth over comfort and repentance over reputation.

Scripture:

Micah 6:8 – “To act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God.”

Romans 12:2 – “Do not conform to the pattern of this world…”

John 8:32 – “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

Questions:

1. What made the 1845 split more than a political issue?
2. How does economic pressure still tempt churches to compromise today?
3. Why is repentance more powerful than public success?
4. Where does your life mirror the “comfort over conviction” choice?
5. How can you speak truth with grace in your relationships this week?

Application:

Pray through one area where you have settled for acceptance instead of obedience. Ask God for courage to be holy, honest, and humble. Write down one step you’ll take to align your life with truth this week.

Prayer Point:

“Lord, make me holy in conviction, honest in speech, and humble in heart, so my life tells the truth about You.”