Welcome to Week Three in our series on the book of Galatians. It has been 14 years since the end of chapter one and the false teachers have made their way back to the birthplace of the movement, to Jerusalem itself. Paul returns to re-affirm that the gospel of Jesus Christ is the only one that saves and it is for everyone! There is no culture that is not touched by sin, the world and the devil, every ethnic background needs Jesus, and this is ultimately what completely unifies us.
Acts 2 is the call of the church, no matter what denomination, cultural expression or size. Teaching, community, communion, prayer, the presence of God, giving, loving the poor, large and small gatherings, baptism, and evangelism! We all cannot reach the same people, our style and size will attract some and not others, but that is God’s plan!
Let’s continue to lean in and listen to what God is speaking to us, no matter what community we are part of. We are better, together!
Week Three: The Gospel Is For Everyone
Galatians 2:1-10
October 13, 2019 • Jon Thompson
Week Eleven
December 8, 2019 • Jon Thompson
Welcome to the eleventh and final week in our series on the book of Galatians. To conclude this incredible journey, we turn our attention to Paul's highly practical conclusion. Paul demonstrates his wisdom by translating knowledge into action; he preemptively answers the most likely question in the minds of his audience at this point: Now what? Paul crafts a series of verses to explain not only what Gospel freedom look like in action, but how we maintain our freedom in the real world while continuing to build our lives on the firm foundation that true freedom comes from a promise, not performance—and Jesus is the promised one. God set us free for a reason. Let's find out what it really means to be a new creation.
Week Ten: Life in the Spirit
December 1, 2019 • Joel Penney
Welcome to Week Ten in our series on Galatians. There is a war inside each of us between the Spirit and our sinful nature. The Spirit wants us to be more like Christ and our flesh wants us back into slavery. According to Paul, to win this battle we must choose, every day, to be led by the Spirit. The way of the flesh (world) is a trap: living your own way looks like freedom, but it’s a lie. It’s actually slavery. Paul provides us with a hopeful list of all that we can experience when we choose a life in the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
Week Nine: Abide In The Gospel
November 24, 2019 • Ben Hilson
Welcome to Week Nine in our series out of the book of Galatians. Paul opens Chapter 5 by driving home the central thesis of his letter to the Galatians: Freedom is at the core of the Gospel. We tend to insert ourselves into the grace equation. Our western culture emphasizes personal performance and achievement, so it's natural for us to let this mode of thinking distort the nature of the Gospel. Paul corrects this error by reminding us that neither religion nor irreligion have any power to establish us in relationship with God. Faith in Jesus is the only thing that counts. Inviting the Holy Spirit to transform our hearts with this truth enable us to love others with the proper motivation. When we internalize the fact that our freedom is not dependent on our works, we free ourselves from fear—and in turn move from self-obsession to selfless loving.