Over the years, many commercials have asked the question "What Drives You?" If you were to answer this, what would you say? What gets you up in the morning and motivates you to do what you do? In Galatians 6:11-18, Paul contrasts being driven by self-interest and being driven by the cross of Christ.

February 12, 2023

Helpful resources that shaped and influenced this sermon: Galatians by Douglas Moo, Galatians by John Stott, Galatians by Philip Graham Ryken, Galatians for You by Tim Keller.

Knowing the physical laws of the universe help us to live effectively on planet Earth. Just like there are physical laws, God has also written spiritual laws into His world, and we need to know these to live wisely. Paul discusses one of these spiritual laws, the law of consequences, in Galatians 6:7-10. He states the law and then draws three lessons for living.

February 5, 2023

Helpful resources that shaped and influenced this sermon: Galatians by Douglas Moo, Galatians by John Stott, Galatians by Philip Graham Ryken, Galatians for You by Tim Keller.

How are your relationships? Are they marked by conflict and trouble? Or things like peace and kindness? In Galatians 5:26-6:6, Paul discusses what Spirit-filled relationships look like within the church. Surprisingly, one of the keys to having healthy relationships with others is that you think rightly about yourself.

January 29, 2023

Helpful resources that shaped and influenced this sermon: Galatians by Douglas Moo, Galatians by John Stott, Galatians by Philip Graham Ryken, Galatians for You by Tim Keller.

Have you ever tried to change? Have you found it difficult? Why is that? And is there any hope for change? In Galatians 5:16-25, Paul shows us both why change is so hard and how God brings about change in our lives.

January 22, 2023

Helpful resources that shaped and influenced this sermon: The Spirit having power that the Law doesn’t from Galatians by Douglas Moo, Battle concept from Galatians by John Stott, Galatians by Philip Graham Ryken, Galatians for You by Tim Keller.

As many have noted before, there are two dangers in the Christian life: legalism and license. While Paul has focused on the danger of legalism for most of the letter, in Galatians 5:13-16, he turns his attention to the threat of license. In this passage, he warns us to not use our freedom in Christ to indulge our sinful natures, but rather to use our freedom to serve others.

January 15, 2023

Structure & some content of this sermon from Galatians by John Stott. Other helpful resources that shaped and influenced this sermon: Galatians by Tim Keller, Galatians by Doug Moo, Galatians by John Stott, Galatians by Philip Graham Ryken.

Jesus has freed believers from the slavery of worshiping false gods as well as the slavery of trying to earn a right relationship with the true God. Yet, it is distinctly possible for Christians, having tasted freedom, to slip back into bondage. In Galatians 5:1-12, Paul urges us to "stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery" (Galatians 5:1, ESV).

January 8, 2023

Why did Jesus come to earth? Why does it matter? In Galatians 4:5, Paul unpacks four realities about what we celebrate at Christmas: that Jesus came at just the right time, that he was divine, that he was human, and that he came to redeem us so that we might be adopted into God's family.

December 18, 2022

How do you get the blessed life? Most world religions and philosophies advocate some form of doing: that if you work hard enough, follow a certain path, obey enough, you can achieve blessing. Christianity is different: it says that all that is necessary for you to receive salvation was done by Christ. In Galatians 4:21-31, Paul some of these themes via the Old Testament example of Hagar and Sarah.

December 11, 2022

Helpful resources that shaped and influenced this sermon: Galatians by John Stott, Galatians by Philip Graham Ryken.

When it comes to your spiritual life, is your experience more like that of a slave or of a child? In Galatians 4:1-7, Paul argues that in Christ, we can move from being slaves to sons, as God frees us from the debt of our sin and adopts us into His family.

November 6, 2022

Helpful resources that shaped and influenced this sermon: Galatians for You by Tim Keller, Galatians by Philip Graham Ryken, Galatians by John Stott. The reasons a slave obeys adapted from Keller.

All of us our building our identity on something, but the question is: are we building on solid ground? In Galatians 3:23-29, Paul shows us that we can have a secure identity in Christ, one that is anchored in, as Phil Ryken and John Stott point out, a relationship with God, relationships with other believers, and a relationship to history.

October 30, 2022

Helpful resources that shaped and influenced this sermon: Galatians by John Stott, Galatians by Philip Graham Ryken, Tim Keller.

What is the role of the Law in the unfolding story of the Bible? In the beginning of Galatians 3, Paul links what has happened to the Galatians, namely receiving righteousness by grace through faith, to what happened to Abram in the beginning of the Bible. Does the later institution of the 10 Commandments change things? Is following the rules now the way to earn righteousness and be made right with God? In Galatians 3:15-22, Paul begins to discuss this topic, saying that the Law doesn't replace the Promise, but it does reveal to us our sin, and readies us for a Savior.

October 23, 2022

Helpful resources that shaped and influenced this sermon: Galatians by John Stott, Galatians by Philip Graham Ryken, Galatians for You by Tim Keller, God's Big Picture by Vaughan Roberts. The three-fold physical promise of God to Abram (People, Place, Blessing - adapted from Roberts) to the spiritual blessing of salvation language adapted from Stott, Keller, & Roberts.

How does one get a relationship with God and obtain eternal life? As John Stott notes, these questions are central to part of Paul's argument in Galatians 3:6-14. In this passage, Paul looks at the example of Abraham and then lays out two different ways of relating to God and finding eternal life: one of them leads to being cursed, the other to finding salvation. Which path are you on? "Two Ways to Live" language from Matthias Media.

October 16, 2022

Helpful resources that shaped and influenced this sermon: Galatians by Philip Graham Ryken, Galatians by John Stott. Experience & Scripture categories from Stott & Ryken. 10 Commandments examples partially inspired by Ryken.

How do you change once you are a Christian? How do you deal with ongoing sin issues like anger or people pleasing or anxiety? Are we saved by grace but then perfected by our own effort? In this sermon on Galatians 3:1-5, we will explore why it is so easy for us to drift from the Gospel and how the Gospel is central to life change. Or to put it another way, in the words of Phil Ryken, that "the way in is the way on."

October 9, 2022

Helpful resources that shaped and influenced this sermon: Galatians by Philip Graham Ryken, Galatians for You by Tim Keller. "The way in is the way on" subpoint adapted from Keller.

What drives you to do what you do? Are you driven to do good works to earn salvation, or are you driven to good works because Christ has done everything for you? In Galatians 2:15-21 we see Paul's case for a paradigm of grace where we do not earn our salvation but rather, accept it by faith, and live in light of that as Christ lives in us.

October 2, 2022

It is distinctly possible for us to deviate from the truth of the Gospel. We can say we believe it, but then deny it by our actions. In Galatians 2:11-16, we find that the apostle Peter denies the Gospel by who he chooses to eat with. In this sermon, we'll explore what was behind Peter's failure and how Paul brings him back, learning lessons for ourselves along the way.

September 25, 2022

What happens when Christianity jumps from one culture to another? What is non-negotiable? What is flexible? In this sermon on Galatians 2:1-10, we'll explore some of these issues as they related to the Gospel jumping from the Jews to the Gentiles. We'll see that Paul is very clear that there is only one Gospel, and that the message of Jesus saving by grace through faith plus nothing else means that there is a unique way for every culture to worship God through Jesus.

September 18, 2022

Helpful resources that shaped and influenced this sermon: Galatians by Douglas Moo, Galatians by John Stott, Galatians by Philip Graham Ryken, Galatians for You by Tim Keller. "The Stakes" header from Keller.

One the skills necessary for navigating modern life is the ability to discern between reliable and unreliable sources of information. As a church, we have committed ourselves to the Bible, but is that a wise choice? Is the Bible reliable or is it just a product of human imagination? In this study on Galatians 1:11-24, we'll examine where the apostle Paul claims to have received his message.

September 11, 2022

Why do we do what we do? Generally speaking, our behavior is driven by our beliefs. And all of us, whether we recognize it or not, have beliefs about God and how He wants us to relate to Him. In this sermon on Galatians 1:6-9, we'll explore how God wants us to relate to Him, and look at a subtle but dangerous way that we can desert God.

September 4, 2022

What is the book of Galatians all about, and why should we study it? In a sentence, it is an early letter of the apostle Paul about the Gospel to Christians. Whether you are a skeptic or a seasoned Christian, this book is for you!

Galatians 1:1-5

August 28, 2022