John Lloyd - The Holy Spirit Is Sufficient

Life by the Spirit: Study of Galatians

The Holy Spirit is Sufficient

 Galatians 5:13-23

January 13, 2019

Followers of Jesus endeavor to live a life pleasing to God but sometimes are challenged with how.  The Galatians were told they needed to double down on their religious rituals to please God.  The apostle Paul teaches them another way which goes way beyond their own efforts.  The Holy Spirit is sufficient to fulfill laws and commandments as well as deal with our fallen nature and impulses. Living in step with the Spirit will produce lasting fruit.  Praying for 2019 to be a great year of living by the Holy Spirit!

Galatians 5:13  For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love. 14 For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 15 But if you are always biting and devouring one another, watch out! Beware of destroying one another. 16 So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. 17 The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions. 18 But when you are directed by the Spirit, you are not under obligation to the law of Moses.

Memory verse: Galatians 5:16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.

Big Idea: Living by the Holy Spirit will produce a life pleasing to God. 

I.               Start with _________ of our God and Savior Jesus Christ. 

Creation is awesome. God designed it to be awesome. And God designed you to take in creation’s awesome display. You are meant to be inspired and to celebrate the awesome things that come from the Creator’s hand. But as you participate and rejoice in the awesome display of creation, you must understand that these awesome things were not intended to be ultimate. They were not made to be the stopping place and feeding station for your heart. No awesome thing in creation was meant to give you what only the Creator is able to give. Every awesome thing in creation is designed to point you to the One who alone is worthy of capturing and controlling the awe of your searching and hungry heart. Paul Tripp

Psalm 145:3 Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable.  4 One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts. 5 On the glorious splendor of your majesty, and on your wondrous works, I will meditate.

Dolores Park Church is made up of many generations. Our prayer is that we could commend God’s glorious works from generation to generation.  Our desire is to impact our neighbors near and far. 

Ephesians 1:13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

John 17:4 I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do.

May we hold the awesome glory of the works of the Lord before all we influence.  The way to defeat fear is with fear (awe of God). Tripp

The awe of our Lord Jesus will fill the “hole” in our soul.

II.             Living by the Spirit ________________ fallen “awes.”

Galatians 5:16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. Walk- order one’s life or behavior.  Desires- strong impulse or passion Gratify- to bring fulfillment in action

It does not express a command, but gives a strong assurance that if the believer depends upon the Spirit to give him both the desire and the power to do the will of God, he will not bring to fulfillment in action, the evil impulses of the fallen nature, but will be able to resist and conquer them. Kenneth Wuest

A.    Approach our fallen nature by ________________________ to God.

Galatians 5:17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other,

James 4:7-8 "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded."

“The only way to conquer the flesh is to yield to the Spirit. Walk by the Spirit implies both direction and empowerment; that is, making decisions and choices according to the Holy Spirit’s guidance, and acting with the spiritual power that the Spirit supplies.”  ESV Study Bible

“The Spirit is shaping us into the kinds of persons who overcome and rise above the desires of the flesh” ~ Dunnam

The Holy Spirit is stronger than the most powerful fallen desires. 

The battle is won by surrendering to the Spirit.

B.    Living by the Spirit will produce a life __________________ to God.

Galatians 5:18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

Romans 8:3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

2 Corinthians 10:4 5 We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, (2 Corinthians 10:4, Philippians 4:8-9).

Flee- 2 Timothy 2:22. 

Find- I Corinthians 10:13

Follow- Ephesians 5:18, Matthew 16:24. 

Fill- Ephesians 5:18b, Philippians 1:9-11.                                                       

 To walk by the Spirit each day we must Flee-Find-Follow-Fill

Spiritual Growth Group Questions for January 13, 2019

1.   Read Galatians 5:13-18.  Describe in your own words what is happening here.  Why is this important?

2.   Read Psalm 145:1-6, John 17:3-4.  What is the psalmist trying to convey?  What do you see as the goal of Jesus’ time on earth? 

3.   Take some time to do a personal awe check:  Where do you experience your biggest moments of happiness and your darkest moments of sadness? What angers you or crushes you with disappointment? What motivates you to continue or makes you feel like quitting? What do you tend to envy in the lives of others, or where does jealousy make you bitter? What makes you think your life is worth living or causes you to feel like your life is a waste? When you say, “If only I had _______,” how do you fill in the blank? What are you willing to make sacrifices for, and what in your life just doesn’t seem worth the effort? Look at your highest joys and deepest sorrows, and you will find where you reach for awe.  Share what you learned with a friend or a group member. 

4.   Read Galatians 5:16-17.  What battle is Paul describing inside the follower of Jesus?    What solution is he proposing to the Galatians? How does this solution encourage or discourage you? 

5.   Read Galatians 5:18, Romans 8:3-4.  What is Paul teaching in these passages?  Why is Paul’s teaching so much better than the false teachers who were trying to influence the Galatians?  How could this be helpful in your life?

6.   Read 2 Corinthians 10:4-5.  What does Paul teach about our thought life? What am I responsible to do with ungodly thoughts?

7.   Read the quoted verses: Living by the Holy Spirit means to

Flee-   2 Tim.2:22.

Find-I Cor.10:13.

Follow-Matthew 16:24 and

Fill- Eph.5:18b, Phil.1:9-11. 

Pray over these thoughts.  Ask God to give you one way to implement each one. Share with a friend or group member to pray for you.

John Lloyd - God's Grace

Free in Christ: Study of Galatians

God’s Grace Leads to a Stronger Freedom

 Galatians 5:1-15

January 6, 2018

Freedom!  We all long for it.  It might freedom or independence from school, debt, relationships and/or working.  The apostle Paul, a former persecutor of Jesus and His people, found that real freedom was not independence, but interdependence.  Real freedom came when he served God and others in love. Today, we will consider how God’s grace leads us to a stronger obedience to Him.

Galatians 5:1 For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. 2 Look: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. 3 I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law. 4 You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace. 5 For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.

Memory verse: Galatians 5:13 For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.

Big Idea: True freedom is interdependence not independence. 

I.                Jesus came to set us __________.  

Galatians 5:1 For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

“Christ has set us free: don’t you realize that is freedom (not slavery) that being free leads to?”  Douglas Moo

Stand firm – Hold fast to the privileges and blessings your salvation has brought to you. 

Romans 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. (John 10:10)

A.    Freedom is _______________ and must be _______________.

Galatians 5:1b Stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.  (Questions 2 & 3)

Galatians 5:2 Look: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. (Gal. 5:7-9)

“Some would agree with Paul that circumcision entails obedience to the whole law, but they were hoping to bring the Galatians along by a policy of gradualism, only after the fact making clear just what circumcision really means.”  Doug Moo

B.   Real freedom means being liberated from past ____________ and from being _____________________ driven.

Galatians 5:3 I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law. 4You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace.(Acts 15:1,5)

“Either find justification in Christ or find justification through doing.” Moo

“You can’t add to Christ without subtracting from Christ. He is either all their value or He is without value.  We cannot hold onto grace if we are living by works.”  Timothy Keller

How can grace be a greater motivator than guilt in your life?

Living by dependence on my own self effort brings bondage.

C.   If you have the _______________________, you have real freedom!

Galatians 5:5 For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.

2 Corinthians 5:5 who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.  (Ephesians 1:13-14)

Trusting Jesus is the beginning of real freedom.                               Don’t lose your freedom.  Don’t abuse your freedom.

How do you keep growing in stronger freedom in Christ?

II.             Use your freedom to ___________ others.

Galatians 5:13 For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.  (Question 7)

A.   Consider a new way of _______________.

Matthew 23:11 The greatest among you shall be your servant.

Philippians 2:5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 

“For Paul, freedom was interdependence, while for moderns it is independence. Put differently, we cannot apply freedom in Paul to our society until we see that the two are at odds with one another. This forces us to decide: “We have only to choose between bondage to the Father, which makes us free, and bondage to the powers of this world, which enslaves us.” Scot McKnight  

B.   Consider a new way of ______________.

John 12:24 Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.

Galatians 5:14 For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

“Christians are freed from the law as a way to win merit from God, but we are not free from the law as a way to please God.” Keller

True freedom is interdependence, not independence!                       God show me who you want me to serve this week!

Spiritual Growth Group Questions for January 6, 2018

1.   Read Galatians 5:1-15.  Describe in your own words what is happening here.  Why is this important?

2.   Read Galatians 5:1, Philippians 1:27, 4:1.  In what is Paul telling the Galatians and Philippian Christians to stand firm?  What does he tell them they need to beware of?  What do you need to stand firm in?

3.   Read Galatians 5:2-4, Acts 15:1,5,10.  The Galatians are facing an either/or decision in these verses.  What was the decision they had to make?   Based on their decision, why could Christ have no value to them? (v.2) Why would they be severed from Christ and grace? (v.4) 

4.   Read Galatians 5:4 again.  Is Paul teaching that they can lose their salvation?  If so why?  If not why not? (See Rom. 8:38-39, John 10:28-29)  Why is their decision such a deal breaker spiritually?  “We are as loved and honored by God now as we will be when we are perfectly radiant in heaven.”  Keller  p. 136

5.   Read Gal 5:5-6. Hope means a powerful assurance and certainty of something. (Hb. 11:1) How much difference does a future hope make to your life now?  How can you think about it more? 

6.   Do you react to your successes and failures in a gospel way or in a works righteousness way?  Why or Why not? How does the race image (5:7) highlight the problem?  What slowed them down and hinders you?

7.   Galatians 5:1-12 teach us not to lose gospel freedom, verses 5:13-15 warn us to not abuse gospel freedom.  Based on these verses: What is Paul telling us to do with our freedom?  Where are you inclined to indulge yourself in the name of your freedom in Christ?  Who can I serve in love this week? 

8.   How does the gospel devour the very motivation you have for sin? How could it help you in your battle with sin?  How can God’s grace actually lead you to a greater obedience in your Christian walk?  How can grace be a greater motivator than guilt in your life?

John Lloyd - Starting The Year Off Right

Starting the Year Off Right

Psalm 121

December 30, 2018

Pastor John Lloyd

As the new year approaches, we pray God will help us process 2018 and prepare us for 2019.  All the way, we recognize the key is seeking the Lord first and His help.  He will supply all our needs. God’s best is yet to come! 

Psalm 121:1. I look up to the mountains—does my help come from there?
2 My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth!

3 He will not let you stumble; the one who watches over you will not slumber. 4 Indeed, he who watches over Israel never slumbers or sleeps.

5 The Lord himself watches over you!  The Lord stands beside you as your protective shade. 6 The sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon at night.

7 The Lord keeps you from all harm and watches over your life. 8The Lord keeps watch over you as you come and go, both now and forever.

I.               This earth is a place of ______________ exile for Christ followers.

Psalm 121:1. I look up to the mountains—does my help come from there?
Hebrews 13:14 For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come.

Hebrews 11:13 These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.  Jn 16:33

Reflective Questions:

Do you ever stay up late when you know you need sleep?

Do you ever eat or drink more calories than your body needs?

Do you ever feel you ought to exercise but you don’t?

Do you ever know the right thing to do, but you don’t do it?

Do you ever know something is wrong, but you do it anyway?

Have you ever known you should be unselfish, but you’re selfish instead?

Have you ever tried to control somebody or something and found it was uncontrollable?

If your answer is yes to any of those questions, welcome to the human race. We’re all in need of recovery.  The cause of my problem: MY SIN NATURE.   Romans 3:23, Isaiah 53:6a.

I can’t solve my problems in my own strength, I need God’s help!

A.   Develop the habit of looking ______.

Psalm 121:2 My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth!

Psalm 115:11 You who fear the LORD, trust in the LORD!  He is their help and their shield.  Hebrews 13:6, Matthew 6:33

Romans 10:17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.  Zechariah 4:6

Looking to God brings strength from the Holy Spirit!

B.   Thank God for watching over our __________.

Psalm 121:3 He will not let you stumble; the one who watches over you will not slumber. 4 Indeed, he who watches over Israel never slumbers or sleeps.

Psalm 139:7 Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? 8 If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! 9 If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, 10 even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me.  (Philippians 1:6)

Psalm 23:6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

Psalm 121:5 The Lord himself watches over you!  The Lord stands beside you as your protective shade. 6 The sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon at night.

Spend time developing a  “I am thankful for” list.

II.             Seek His __________ and _____________ with your whole heart.

Psalm 121:8 The Lord keeps watch over you as you come and go, both now and forever.  Psalm 48:14

A.   Know the ________________ of guidance and direction.

Complacency: I don’t need any more help.

Confusion: The problem isn’t that bad after all.

Compromise: by going back to the place of temptation.

Catastrophe: give into the old habit, hurt, resentment or habit comes back

B.   Make time for ______________ that support guidance and direction.

“Let us not give up the habit of meeting together.” Hebrews 10:25 (GNB)

Acts 2:42 They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the

fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

1.   Reserve a Daily Time with God for self-examination, Bible

Reading and prayer in order to know God and His will for my life and gain the Power to do it.  (Ephesians 5:18b, 6:17)

Mark 1:35 And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.

Start a Bible reading plan:  Begin at whatever pace you can, but begin!

2.   Slow down long enough to hear God.  If you can worry, you can meditate deeply on God’s word. Worry is just negative meditation. 

“Happy are those who … are always meditating on God’s laws and

thinking about ways to follow him more closely. They are like trees along a

river … that do not dry up. They succeed in everything they do.”

Psalm 1:1–3 (LB/GN).

Look forward to what God has in store for you in 2019!

God’s best is yet to come. I Corinthians 2:9

Spiritual Growth Questions for December 30, 2018

Opener:  Share something you are thankful for from this past year.

1.   Read Psalm 121 three times.  What thought ministers to you?  Why?

2.   Read Psalm 121 and look for the word “keep.”  What “keeping” promise does God make to His people?  How does God’s idea of keeping differ from ours?  How can this be helpful in the new year?

3.   Read the following verses and describe the gift that each one is presenting?  How can these gifts be reflected in our attitude?

Romans 5:17 _________________________________________

John 5:24 ____________________________________________

John 10:28___________________________________________

John 4:14, Philippians 4:11 _____________________________

Ephesians 2:8 ________________________________________

Ephesians 5:16 _______________________________________      

4.   Which one of these issues do you battle and which one keeps you from reaching your goals? 

Complacency:  I don’t need any more help.

Confusion: The problem isn’t that bad after all.

Compromise: by going back to the place of temptation

Catastrophe: giving into the old habit or hurt.  The hate, resentment or bad habit comes back.

5.   Read Hebrews 9:12-14, 10:22, I John 1:7.  How can dead works keep us from worshipping God passionately?  What should we do about them?

6.   Read Psalm 1:1-3, Jeremiah 17:7-8.  How can you implement these promises in 2019? 

7.   List one or two goals that you have for your relationship with God for 2019.  Pick a partner for prayer, help and accountability?

John Lloyd - Christmas Thoughts

Great Thoughts of Christmas

Romans 8:31-39

December 23, 2018

Today we will consider the past grace revealed in the birth of Jesus.  This past display of grace is our guarantee of grace in the present for our daily needs.   This present grace gives us a secure hope for future grace not only in this life but the one to come, Paul Tripp.  It is our prayer that these great thoughts will encourage you this Christmas season.

Romans 8:31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? 33 Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.  35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long;  we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Big Idea: The birth of Jesus is God’s clear demonstration that he will make good on all of his promises to us. 

I.               The birth of Jesus is God’s fulfillment of his past ______________.

Romans 8:31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?

Genesis 3:15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”

I Kings 8:56 “Blessed be the LORD who has given rest to his people Israel, according to all that he promised. Not one word has failed of all his good promise, which he spoke by Moses his servant.

Micah 5:2 But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.

Matthew 2:4-6 The scribes knew that Bethlehem was the prophesied birthplace of the Messiah.

Genesis 49:10 The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff  from between his feet, until tribute comes to him; and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.

Matthew 1:2 Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers,(Is. 7:14, Lk.1:31-37)

Isaiah 9:2 The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone.

The years between the fall of Adam and Eve and the coming of Jesus present a powerful promise to us that God can be trusted. They tell us that no matter what it takes and how long it takes, God will always do exactly what he’s promised to do.  Paul Tripp. (Jeremiah 31:3)

The birth of Christ demonstrates past grace to every heart!

II.              Present __________ is available because it has been promised.

Romans 8:33 Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. 

Colossians 2:13 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.

“I am not arguing that sin is okay or that you should not take it seriously.  I’m arguing that the security of our relationship with God has never depended on the faithfulness of our obedience.  If God withdrew his love every time we failed there would be no hope for any of us.  The unbreakable faithfulness of God’s love for us is such a huge comfort precisely because we are unfaithful.”  Paul Tripp (Ps. 130:3)

Romans 8:35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 2 Corinthians 12:9

The claim that Jesus is God also gives us the greatest possible hope. This means that our world is not all there is, that there is life and love after death, and that evil and suffering will one day end. And it means not just hope for the world, despite all its unending problems, but hope for you and me, despite all our unending failings.”  Timothy Keller Hidden Christmas

Reach out to God for His present grace is sufficient!

III.            Past and present grace are a guarantee of _____________ grace.

Romans 8:37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The Christmas story is one big, beautiful promise. The fulfilled promise of Jesus’s birth guarantees that God will, in his perfect timing and in his wise way, fulfill every other promise he has ever made to us. Past grace is your guarantee of present grace and of all the future graces you will ever need. And at the very center of the guarantee is the promise of God’s eternal love. God sent his Son to us because he loves us. His Son now lives within us because God loves us. And we will live with him forever because God loves us. As you celebrate the birth of Jesus, celebrate the unbreakable love that his birth guarantees you.  Paul Tripp

May we celebrate the unbreakable love the birth of Christ     guarantees to all who call on Him this Christmas!

Spiritual Growth Questions for December 23, 2018

Opener:  Share a testimony of God’s faithfulness to you in the past

                  that brings comfort to you in the present.

1.   Read Romans 8:31-39.  How can the apostle Paul’s words be an encouragement to you this Christmas season? 

2.   What is your favorite Christmas carol?  Why is it special?

3.   Read Isaiah 7:14, 9:6, Genesis 3:15, 49:10, Micah 5:2.  Which prophecy encourages you and why?  How does prophecy create trust in God?  How does it help you trust Him with your challenges this season?

4.   Read I Corinthians 1:18-25, Psalm 14:1.  What is foolish according to Paul and the psalmist?  What is real wisdom?  What is the wisdom behind Christ becoming human flesh and living among us?

5.   Read John 1:14, Hebrews 13:5, Psalm 23:6.  Discuss God’s past grace in John 1:14, his present grace in Hebrews 13:5, and what future grace looks like in Psalm 23:6.

Reflect and discuss:  How is grace revealed in these passages?

Luke 2:10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” 13And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,14 “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” 

John 1:17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

John Lloyd - Greatest Gift Ever Given

Greatest Gift Ever Given

To God be the Glory Plan

Selected Scriptures

December 16, 2018

Gift giving and receiving is a fun experience.  Gifts are valuable especially when there is great thought behind them, otherwise, they’re just gifts. Gifts must be received, opened and used to fulfill the purpose of the gift giver.  This Christmas, it is our prayer that you would receive the greatest gift ever given and understand in a refreshed way, the great thought behind it. 

Matthew 1:21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:  23 “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).

Philippians 2:5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8And being found in human

form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Big Idea: Great gifts must be received, opened and applied.

I.               Great gifts are generated by great ______________.

Philippians 2:5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,

·      Gifts can be broken, unused and not _______________________.

Genesis 3:5 “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

Isaiah 53: 6b All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way;  (Isaiah 59:2)

You see our problem is not just that we live in a broken world and that its brokenness enters our doors; beneath that reality is a much deeper problem.  We have a glory problem.  We have preferred living for ourselves over living for something and someone bigger than ourselves. Paul Tripp

Isaiah 59:2 but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear. (Luke 19:10)

A.   Receive God’s great gift of His ______________ with your struggles.

Philippians 2:7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.

Hebrews 4:15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. (Matthew 10:30)

Isaiah 53:3 He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 4 Surely he has borne our griefs …

B.   Receive the gift of ____________________ by turning to God from living independent of Him.

Matthew 1:21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”

Acts 13:38 Let it be known to you therefore, brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, 39and by him everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses.  (Acts 14:15)

II.             Open the gift of ______________________ God and His purpose.

Matthew 1:23 “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).  Acts 1:8,

Ephesians 1:18 having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,

2 Corinthians 12:9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

Philippians 2:8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

John 17:4 I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do.

III.             Use your gifts for the ____________ of God.

Philippians 2:9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Perhaps in ways we are not conscious of, we have shrunk our lives down to the size of our own glory.  Maybe it’s true, that somehow, someway sin makes us glory thieves. We put ourselves in God’s place.  Perhaps life really is one big unending glory battle.  It’s because we would never, ever win this battle on our own unless Jesus came.  Paul Tripp

Colossians 1:24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church.  (2 Timothy 2:10, I Peter 4:10 -11, Rev.5:12).

I Corinthians 10:31 So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

To God be the Glory Plan:   1. Receive the gift of Jesus in my soul. 2. Turn me from “me focus” to God focus. 3. Use God’s gifts for His glory.      4. Commit to a specific action this week to glorify God and share it with someone else.

Spiritual Growth Questions for December 16, 2018

Opener:  What is the greatest gift you have ever received?

1.   Read Philippians 2:5-11.  Describe in your own words what is happening here.  Why is this passage so significant as we celebrate the birth of our Savior?

2.   Read Matthew 1:21-23.  What gifts do you see given by God to the world through the birth, life and death of Jesus?  Which one stands out to you this season?

3.   What makes the Christmas season exciting or difficult for you? Invite a friend to be your prayer partner this Christmas.

4.   Read Hebrews 4:15-16.  What gifts do you see in this passage?  How can they help you this Christmas season?

5.   Read 2 Corinthians 12:7-10.  What things are gifts in this passage that really do not look like gifts?  How can this help you navigate through the Christmas season? 

6.   Describe a time when something valuable was taken from you?  List some of the thoughts or feelings you experienced.  Discuss the principle of how God must feel when we steal the glory from Him. 

7.   Read I Corinthians 10:31. What specific actions can you do to make sure this Christmas time brings glory to our Savior?  Commit to another person your “to God be the glory” plan.

Spend time in prayer for yourself and another.  Pray for God’s strength and favor to implement “to God be the glory plan.”

Memory Verse:  I Corinthians 10:31 So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

John Lloyd - God's Power

Free in Christ: Study of Galatians

God’s Power Can Transform Anyone

Galatians 4:21-31

December 2, 2018

Coming face to face with the power of God is amazing like when He

transforms a life that seemed hopeless and beyond reach. Often the

greatest hindrance to God moving, is our own natural abilities, beliefs and

strengths which can block us from experiencing His power. I pray that

each of us will see that God can transform anyone!

Galatians 4:21 Tell me, you who want to live under the law, do you know

what the law actually says? 22  The Scriptures say that Abraham had two

sons, one from his slave wife and one from his freeborn wife. 23  The son of

the slave wife was born in a human attempt to bring about the fulfillment of

God’s promise. But the son of the freeborn wife was born as God’s own

fulfillment of his promise.

24  These two women serve as an illustration of God’s two covenants. The

first woman, Hagar, represents Mount Sinai where people received the law

that enslaved them. 25  And now Jerusalem is just like Mount Sinai in Arabia,

because she and her children live in slavery to the law. 26  But the other

woman, Sarah, represents the heavenly Jerusalem. She is the free woman,

and she is our mother. 27  As Isaiah said, “Rejoice, O childless woman,

you who have never given birth! Break into a joyful shout, you who have

never been in labor! For the desolate woman now has more children

than the woman who lives with her husband!”

28  And you, dear brothers and sisters, are children of the promise, just

like Isaac. 29  But you are now being persecuted by those who want you to

keep the law, just as Ishmael, the child born by human effort, persecuted

Isaac, the child born by the power of the Spirit.

30  But what do the Scriptures say about that? “Get rid of the slave and

her son, for the son of the slave woman will not share the inheritance with

the free woman’s son.” 31  So, dear brothers and sisters, we are not children

of the slave woman; we are children of the free woman.

Big Idea: God’s power can transform anyone into a child of God.

I. Without Jesus, I cannot _______________ myself or anyone else.

Galatians 4:21 Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not

listen to the law? 22 For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a

slave woman and one by a free woman. 23 But the son of the slave was

born according to the flesh, while the son of the free woman was born

through promise.

“under the law”- “You who are bent on being under law. Your desire to be

under law is not in harmony with Scripture.” vs.22-23 Wuest

Romans 7:18For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh.

For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.

Two births: Physical birth versus spiritual birth that makes us the children

of God.

The Old Covenant The New Covenant

Law Grace

Hagar the Slave Sarah, the freewoman

Ishmael, conceived after the flesh Isaac, conceived miraculously

Earthly Jerusalem in bondage Heavenly Jerusalem which is free

Galatians 4:25 Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia; she corresponds to the

present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children.

Without Jesus: I will be enslaved. I need to be born again!

John 3:6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of

the Spirit is spirit.  7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born

again.’

 Our culture opposes transformation and prefers ________________ .

Galatians 4:29 But just as at that time he who was born according to the

flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, so also it is

now.

Galatians 5:17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the

desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each

other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.

II. God opposes conformation but brings _____________________!

Galatians 4:27 For it is written, “Rejoice, O barren one who does not bear;

break forth and cry aloud, you who are not in labor! For the children of the

desolate one will be more than those of the one who has a husband.”

Cast out what blocks you from God’s power.

Galatians 4:30 But what does the Scripture say? “Cast out the slave

woman and her son, for the son of the slave woman shall not inherit with

the son of the free woman.” 31So, brothers, we are not children of the slave

but of the free woman.

 Receive the __________________ of God through Jesus Christ.

Galatians 4:28 Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise.

(Romans 9:8, Galatians 3:28)

Isaac was born by God’s power! (Galatians 4:29)

Galatians 3:14 so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come

to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.

John 1:12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he

gave the right to become children of God,

Genesis 18:14 Is anything too hard for the LORD? (Luke 1:37)

 Keep seeking ____________ and His will above all else.

Galatians 4:26 But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother.

(Col. 3:1-2, Matt. 6:33). What I seek the most will have power over me.

Isaiah 59:1 Behold, the LORD’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save,

or his ear dull, that it cannot hear; (It’s not a ritual. It is a relationship)

Surrendering to God is the beginning of transformation.

God can transform anyone who comes to Him.

Spiritual Growth Questions for December 2, 2018.

Opener: What is the greatest miracle you have experienced?

1. Read Galatians 4:21-31. Describe in your own words what is

happening here. Why is this important? List all the examples of

symbolism you note in this passage.

2. Read Galatians 4:21-26. What are the contrasts between the two

women? Between their two sons?

3. Consider the four types of people (Keller mentions in pages 117-18)

a. law obeying-law relying, b. law disobeying-law relying, c. law

disobeying not law relying, d. law obeying but not law relying. Look back

over your past and trace your spiritual life in terms of the four categories

mentioned above. How have you progressed?

4. Read Galatians 4:23, Genesis 21:3. How does Paul demonstrate that

physical descent is not enough to make someone a child of God? What

is the crucial difference between Isaac and Ishmael? Read Gal. 4:28.

5. Read Galatians 4:23-26 and 4:29, John 3:19-21, Romans 3:19, 2

Timothy 3:12. Why does the conflict persist between followers of the old

and new covenants? “Persecution is opposing a Christian for either

obeying God or declaring God’s will and truth.” McKnight. How do we

experience this conflict in our worlds?

6. Read Galatians 4:27, Genesis 18:14, Luke 1:37. Can you identify with

Sarah in any way? If you can, how does her experience comfort and

excite you? In what ways could you treat your children (either those

you have or those you don’t) as your savior?

7. John Stott shares, “the persecution of the true church is not always by

the world who are strangers … but by our half-brothers, religious people,

the nominal church. The greatest enemies of evangelical faith are not

unbelievers, but the establishment, the hierarchy. Isaac is always

mocked by Ishmael.” How can “free” Christians guard against their

own kind of self-righteousness, feeling superior to legalists? How

do you respond to legalists?

John Lloyd - Applying The Gospel

Free in Christ: Study of Galatians

Applying the Gospel Brings Freedom: Christ being formed in us

Galatians 4:8-20

November 25, 2018

The Gospel (death, burial and resurrection of Jesus) applied brings great

freedom. The apostle Paul desired for the Galatians to thrive spiritually.

The Gospel changes us by addressing our physical, emotional,

psychological and spiritual needs. Yet, sometimes believers get off track

and need to find their way back to Jesus being formed in them. Today, we

will look at ways to thrive spiritually.

Galatians 4:12 Brothers, I entreat you, become as I am, for I also have

become as you are. You did me no wrong. 13 You know it was because of

a bodily ailment that I preached the gospel to you at first, 14 and though my

condition was a trial to you, you did not scorn or despise me, but received

me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus. 15 What then has become of your

blessedness? For I testify to you that, if possible, you would have gouged

out your eyes and given them to me. 16 Have I then become your enemy

by telling you the truth?  17 They make much of you, but for no good

purpose. They want to shut you out, that you may make much of them.

18 It is always good to be made much of for a good purpose, and not only

when I am present with you,

Memory Verse: Galatians 4:19 my little children, for whom I am again in

the anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in you.

Big Idea: We thrive spiritually when we apply the Gospel to every area of

our life. May Jesus Christ be formed in each of our lives!

I. Apply the Gospel to our past ______________________ to God.

Galatians 4:8 Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to

those that by nature are not gods. 9 But now that you have come to know

God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the

weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you

want to be once more?

Enslaved- “they slaved for those who by nature are not gods.” They were

exchanging one form of slavery for another form of slavery. Lenski

The gospel unapplied always leads to enslavements.

I Corinthians 8:3 But if anyone loves God, he is known by God.

“Therefore, Paul is saying that earning one’s own salvation through

scrupulous biblical morality and religion is just as much enslavement to

idols as outright paganism and all its immoral practices! In the end, the

religious person is as lost and enslaved as the irreligious person.” Timothy

Keller (See questions 2&3)

● ______________ of your propensity to return false gods.

Galatians 4:10 You observe days and months and seasons and years!

11 I am afraid I may have labored over you in vain.

4:11 “These words breathe tears.” Martin Luther

2 Timothy 2:19 But God’s firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: “The

Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of

the Lord depart from iniquity.”

The basic principle of the world is that we need to save ourselves. We will

worship what we think we need to fulfill ourselves, to give us “life”. And

Paul is saying that any basic “thing”—money, sex, mountains and so

on—can be worshiped, treated as a god, and become the basis of your

religion. And whatever it is that we worship, we will be enslaved by. Keller

(see questions 3&4)

Drop old idols! May Jesus Christ be formed in each of our lives!

II. Apply the Gospel to your present ____________ and _________.

Galatians 4:12 I entreat you, become as I am, for I also have become as

you are. You did me no wrong. 13 You know it was because of a bodily

ailment that I preached the gospel to you at first,

God does not promise to bless Christians by removing suffering, but to

bless Christians through suffering. Keller (see question 6)

Lord, help me to look for gospel openings in my trials.

III. Appeal to past receptivity and ___________ to continue thriving

spiritually.

Galatians 4:14 and though my condition was a trial to you, you did not

scorn or despise me, but received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus.

Galatians 4:16 Have I then become your enemy by telling you the truth?

“Paul is the truest friend the Galatians have even as he is telling them the

truth.” Lenski. (Ephesians 4:15, John 8:31-32, John 14:6)

Loving the truth of the Scriptures brings new life to Christ followers.

IV. Applying the Gospel means seeing Christ ____________ in me

and others.

Galatians 4:19 My little children, for whom I am again in the anguish of

childbirth until Christ is formed in you!

Formed-morphe- is always the form which expresses the essence, the

inner reality, it is never a mask or an assumed form which one can lay

aside. Here Paul deals with faith as embracing Christ, him fully, him alone.

Lenski

1 Thessalonians 1:9 For they themselves report concerning us the kind of

reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to

serve the living and true God, (Acts 14:15b, I Corinthians 4:15)

It pains Paul when people are not thriving spiritually. He wants Christ to

dominate their lives so that there can be no change from a settled spiritual

condition. Douglas Moo (question 8&9)

Colossians 1:28 Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching

everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ.

29 For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works

within me.

Our goal is to see Christ put into the hearts of each person.

Applying the Gospel causes us to thrive spiritually.

Growth Group Questions for November 25 th

Opener: Who has been like a spiritual mother or father to you?

Describe how they have helped you?

1. Read Galatians 4:8-20. Describe in your own words what is happening

here. Why is this important?

2. Read Galatians 4:8-11. What did the Galatians life look like before they

heard the gospel? (v.8) What were they returning to? (v.9-10) What

was Paul concerned might happen with them? (v.11)

3. How can turning to a works salvation be considered enslavement to

false gods? What idols are you in most danger of serving?

4. Read Galatians 4:9, I Corinthians 8:3. What makes a Christian is not

so much us knowing God, but Him knowing us. Our knowing of God will

rise and fall depending on many things. But God’s knowing of us is

absolutely fixed and solid. How could this truth help you fight idolatry?

5. Read Galatians 4:12. In what sense did Paul want the Galatians to be

like him? Was it prideful for him to say this? Why or why not?

6. Read Galatians 4:12-14. Tim Keller shares that Gospel ministry is

culturally flexible, (v.12), transparent (v.12) and looks for opportunities in

hardship. (v.13) Discuss what this looked like for Paul and what it might

look like for us in our worlds. How can God bless us in our suffering?

7. Read Galatians 4:15-16, Ephesians 4:15, John 8:31-32, 14:6. What

do you see that changed the relationship the Galatians had with Paul in

the past and now? What should our relationship be with the truth?

8. Read Galatians 4:17-18. Contrast what Paul and his companions

wanted for the Galatians and what the false teachers wanted? Do you

ever find it appealing to have people relying on you in some way? Why?

Could you be motivated by the same goals as the false teachers?

9. Read Galatians 4:19-20. What did Paul want for the Galatians? What

encourages or discourages you in relation to what Paul is sharing?

How can we pray for Christ to be formed in you this week?

John Lloyd - God's Children

Free in Christ: Study of Galatians

Being God’s Beloved Children Brings Freedom

Galatians 3:26-4:7

November 18, 2018

One of the most beautiful sights to see is a treasured child. In a world often

filled with fear, class, gender and race comparisons, followers of Christ find

freedom from these barriers by understanding they are a beloved child of

God. “For in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God through faith.” We do

not have to live in fear because we are treasured by God.

Passage: Galatians 3:26-4:7 26  For you are all children of God through faith

in Christ Jesus. 27  And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have

put on Christ, like putting on new clothes. 28  There is no longer Jew or

Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus.

29  And now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham.

You are his heirs, and God’s promise to Abraham belongs to you. 4:1 Think

of it this way. If a father dies and leaves an inheritance for his young

children, those children are not much better off than slaves until they grow

up, even though they actually own everything their father had. 2  They have

to obey their guardians until they reach whatever age their father set. 3  And

that’s the way it was with us before Christ came. We were like children; we

were slaves to the basic spiritual principles of this world. 4  But when the

right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law.

5  God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he

could adopt us as his very own children. 6  And because we are his children,

God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out,

“Abba, Father.” 7  Now you are no longer a slave but God’s own child. And

since you are his child, God has made you his heir.

Big Idea: Jesus secured our sonship. The Holy Spirit makes sonship real

to us! Live as a beloved child of God!

I. Faith in Jesus begins the experience of beloved _____________.

Galatians 3:26 for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith

A. Our sonship reaches ______________: we are Sons of our Creator.

Galatians 3:27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put

on Christ.

He who puts on Christ becomes partaker of his salvation. The imagery is

not pagan but that of the Old Testament. To put on Christ is to receive

justification: “I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my

God; for he hath clothed me in the garments of salvation, he hath covered

me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with

ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with here jewels. Lenski

Isaiah 61:10 “I will greatly rejoice in the LORD; my soul shall exult in my

God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation;  he has covered

me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself like a

priest with a beautiful headdress, and as a bride adorns herself with her

jewels. (Luke 15:22)

B. Our sonship spans the _________: we are united with every Christian

around the world.

Galatians 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor

free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

“All the Galatians are not a lot of sons of God with many differences in their

sonship but a unit person. Whichever you take, the sonship is identical.

Paul loves to end with a focal unit idea beyond which thought cannot go.”

Lenski

C. Our sonship looks back through ________________: We are heirs of

the promises made to Abraham.

Galatians 3:29 And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring,

heirs according to promise.

Romans 8:17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with

Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified

with him.

Jesus Christ did everything needed to secure your sonship!

II. Our sonship frees us from our __________.

Galatians 4: 2 but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by

his father. 3 In the same way we also, when we were children, were

enslaved to the elementary principles of the world.

A. Sonship means you can ____________ God to manage your life.

Galatians 4:1 I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different

from a slave, though he is the owner of everything. (Matthew 6:30-32)

B. Sonship means you have received a new ___________ and status.

Galatians 4:4 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his

Son, born of woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were

under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.

Our acceptability to God. When God looks at us, He sees us as His sons

because He sees his Son. The Lord Jesus has given us His

righteousness, His perfection, to wear. Keller

C. Our Sonship becomes experiential through the ______ __________.

Galatians 4:6 And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his

Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” 7 So you are no longer a slave,

but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.

The son’s purpose was to secure for us the legal status of our sonship. By

contrast, the Spirit’s purpose is to secure the actual experience of it.

Timothy Keller

Abba Father- Very strong word that means a rending, loud cry. It refers to

deep and profound passion and feeling. Romans 8:15-16, 8:35,

Reflective Questions: Am I acting like a slave afraid of God or like a child

assured of their Father’s love?

Prayer: Lord, Thank you for securing my sonship because of the work of

your Son, Jesus Christ. Help me experience your Sonship everyday

through your Holy Spirit! May I live like a dearly loved child of God!

Spiritual Growth Questions for November 18th

Opener: What makes adoption into God’s family so beautiful? Share a

story of adoption that has blessed you.

1. Read Galatians 3:26-4:7. Describe in your own words what is

happening here. Why do you think it is important?

2. Read Galatians 3:26-29. How do we become adopted by God? Paul

picks on the three barriers that usually divide people: the cultural

barrier “Neither Jew nor Greek”, the class barrier “Neither slave nor

free,” and finally the gender barrier “Neither male nor female,” What

barriers divide people in our area? How are those broken down with

work of Jesus? How can you help people to see this? “I am a Christian

before I am anyone or anything else.”

3. Read Isaiah 61:10. How do you feel about being an adopted son of

God? In which area of your life do you struggle to remember that you’re

clothed with Christ? How can the words of Isaiah help you with this

struggle?

4. Read Galatians 4:1-3. What old relationships did Jesus free the

Galatians from? What old approaches to God has Jesus freed you?

5. Read Galatians 4:4-5, 3:13-14. Discuss the two transfers (our sins to

Jesus, but also His rights and privileges as Son to us) that Jesus

accomplishes for every believer. “Our inheritance is not a prize to be

won. It is a gift from Christ.” Which part of the transfer is the hardest for

you to experience? Why?

6. Read Galatians 4:6-7, Romans 8:16-17. “The Son’s purpose was to

secure for us the legal status of our sonship. By contrast, the Spirit’s

purpose is to secure the actual experience of it.” Is adoption something

you experience as well as understand? How can you meditate on the

Son’s work more and ask the Spirit to work on your affections more?

7. Am I acting like a slave who is afraid of God, or like a child who is

assured of my Father’s love?

John Lloyd - Faith Walking

Free in Christ: Study of Galatians

Living by Faith brings Great Freedom

Galatians 3:1-14

November 4, 2018

Journeying through Galatians, we learned that we are not saved into the kingdom of God by our moral efforts and good works, but through trusting in Jesus Christ and His gospel.  We are not only saved by the gospel but we grow by the gospel when it’s applied, by faith, to every area of our life.  Living by the gospel frees us from anything hindering us from God.

O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. 2 Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? 3 Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by  the flesh? 4 Did you suffer so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain? 5 Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith— 6 just as Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”? 7 Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. 8 And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” 9 So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith. 10 For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.”

Memory Verse: Galatians 3:11 Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.” 

Galatians 3:13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”— 14 so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.

Big Idea: Living by faith leads to salvation, keeps us free and brings great freedom!

I.                Beware of false substitutes of living by faith.

Galatians 3:1 O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified.

Three words that keep us on track:  Crucified, Crucified, Crucified

a.   Question of initiation:  Galatians 3:2    Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith?

Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.” 

b.   Question of completion: Galatians 3:3  Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?

Philippians 1:6 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

c.    Question of persecution: Galatians 3:4   Did you suffer so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain?

Acts 14:22 strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.

d.   Question of miracles: Galatians 3:5 Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith.

“Accepting the Gospel means abandoning our old approach for acceptance by God.”  Timothy Keller

Lord help me abandon my old pattern of finding                        acceptance by God.  Living by faith brings great freedom!

II.              Living by faith began with Abraham and continues on in me.

Galatians 3:6 just as Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”?  (Genesis 15:6, John 8:56, Gal. 3:7-9)

How are we made right with God?  Look at Abraham!                         How do we live by faith?  Study Abraham!

A.    Beware of functional saviors.

Galatians 3:10 For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.”

“If I am getting angry what is it that I think I need so much?  What is being withheld that I think I must have it in order to be complete, to have hope, to be a person of worth? Comfort, control, and approval are functional saviors.  When they are blocked, we get bitter.”  Timothy Keller (See questions 4&7)

“Today’s anger becomes tomorrow’s bitterness. Bitterness is anger turned inward.”  Stephen Viars

Lord help me to replace my functional saviors                                      with Jesus Christ as my savior. Free me from me!

B.   Living by faith reverses the curse and brings God’s blessing.

Galatians 3:13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”— (Isaiah 53:6, I Peter 2:24, Acts 4:12)

Jesus took my curse upon himself!  (Galatians 2:20, 3:2)

2 Corinthians 5:21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Galatians 3:14 so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith. 

Galatians 3:11Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.” 

Living by faith in Christ is how we got here. It is how we grow. It is how we will endure persecution/trials, and experience God’s power to finish strong. 

Living by faith brings great freedom!

Spiritual Growth Questions for the week of November 4th

Opener:  In what areas of your life are you tempted to earn God’s favor by your good actions? What were you putting your trust in besides God? 

1.   Read Galatians 3:1-14.  Describe in your own words what is happening here.  Why is this important? 

2.   Read Galatians 3:1-5. Write out the five questions asked in this passage.  Why is it effective to ask questions to determine where someone is at with the Lord?  Why are these questions asked?

3.   Twice Paul calls the Galatian Christians “foolish” (3:1,3).  In what sense is it foolish to add works to the Gospel of Jesus Christ? 

4.   Think of a sin that you regularly commit.  What are you worshipping more than Jesus that causes you to decide to disobey him?  How will you replace the false savior with your true savior when you are tempted?

5.   Read Galatians 3:6-9.  How does Paul use Abraham as an example of faith instead of keeping the law?  How are we similar to Abraham?  

6.   Read Galatians 3:10-14.    Why do you think Paul uses the words “curse” and “cursed” so often in this passage?  Why is there a curse hanging over those who try to rely on observing the law?  How is it helpful to re-depict Jesus becoming a curse in dealing with functional saviors?  (Reread Galatians 2:20, 3:1, 3:13)

7.   Consider a battle with anger/ or any sin.  If I am getting angry, what is it that I think I need so much?  What is being withheld that I think I must have it in order to be complete, to have hope and to be a person of worth?  Discuss how you would identify the functional savior and re-depict Jesus in your battle with anger/any sin?

8.   Read Galatians 3:13-14, 2 Corinthians 5:21, I Peter 3:18.  How does Jesus becoming a curse for you and crediting His righteousness to you change the way we as Christians see ourselves?  Our walk with God?

9.    What truth of this passage excites you the most today? Why?

John Lloyd - Exchange Life

Free in Christ: Study of Galatians

The  Exchanged Life

Galatians 2:11-20

October 28, 2018

It is an exciting truth in the Bible that God gives new life to those who put their trust in Jesus.  God does a heart transplant in the hearts of his followers.  This new life flows from the death, burial and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.  The apostle Paul knew that this new life would change not only our souls but also how we live.  There will always be pressure to live in our former ways but the real treasure is letting Jesus live through us. 

The Passage:  Galatians 2:11-21.

Memory Verses: Galatians 2:20  My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21 I do not treat the grace of God as meaningless. For if keeping the law could make us right with God, then there was no need for Christ to die.

Big Idea: Accept new life in Christ.  Express new life through Christ!

I.               Peer pressure is the enemy of His life being expressed.

Galatians 2:11But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. 12For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party. (John 7:13)

Fearing- “fear made Peter act against his own better convictions. Fear causes us to think largely of only ourselves.” Lenski (see Acts 11:2-3 for past experiences with this group).

I Corinthians 10:12 Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. (Proverbs 29:25, 2 Timothy 1:7)

Galatians 2:13 And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. 14 But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, “If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?”

“Peter was allowing cultural differences to become more important than gospel unity. Fundamentally, he sees that something deeper is going on. Peter is “not acting in line with the truth of the gospel.” Timothy Keller

We are to think out its implications in every area of our lives, and seek to bring our thinking, feeling, and behavior “in line”. Keller

Psalm 139:23 Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! 24 And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!

Realign me Lord if my thoughts or actions are out of line with your heart!

II.             Remember how God brings His life to all who call on Him.

Galatians 2:15 We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; 16yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.

Acts 15:9 and he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith.

Romans 5:1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Galatians 2:17 But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we too were found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not! 18 For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor. 19 For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. (Rom.3:20)

Acts 13:39 and by him everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses. (Acts 15:19)

Christ’s very life comes to those who trust in Him for salvation!

III.             Live the exchanged life: Let the life of Christ be expressed.

Galatians 2:20 My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21 I do not treat the grace of God as meaningless. For if keeping the law could make us right with God, then there was no need for Christ to die.

“Paul says more than that Christ was crucified for him, and that Christ’s crucifixion is regarded as Paul himself has been crucified, or even as if all the benefits of Christ’s crucifixion were personally made Paul’s own. Only by being crucified with Christ does one die to law.  It is the one avenue of escape.  Paul’s whole present life is ‘in faith’ in this blessed sphere of trust. He did not want to do anything that would nullify this great truth.”  Lenski

Colossians 2:20 If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations—

Romans 6:14 For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.

I Peter 2:24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.

I Peter 4:2 so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God.

“You are like a corpse at which the law can thunder with all its might and get in response not even a stirring of a finger or a flicker of an eyelash.  Why? You have found the righteousness by faith in Christ.” Lenski

A.   Surrender your past to God (both the good and the bad). (Philippians 3:4-7, I Timothy 1:15-16)

B.   Recognize your life is not your own. (2 Corinthians 5:15)

C.  Trust the Son of God for all things concerning your earthly life (Matthew 6:25-27)

D.  Keep focusing on this Jesus great love and sacrifice for you!

(John 15:13, Romans 5:8)

“The inner dynamic for living the Christian life is right here! Only when I see myself as completely loved and holy in Christ will I have the power to repent with joy, conquer my fears, and obey the One who did all this for me.”  Timothy Keller

Accept new life in Christ.  Express new life through Christ!

Growth Group Questions for October 28th

Icebreaker:  When you first started attending church, what was one of your favorite memories?

1.   Read Galatians 2:11-20.  Describe in your own words what is happening here.  Why is this important? 

2.   Read Galatians 2:11-15.  What was Peter doing that wasn’t in line with the gospel?  Do you see areas in your life where you have been walking in line with the gospel?  What does it look like for you?

3.   Are there people in your church you have not been “eating with” because they are not “like you”? What self-righteousness lies beneath this attitude?

4.   Read Galatians 2:16-18, Acts 15:7-11.  What principles do you see Paul and Peter using to motivate the Galatian and Jerusalem churches to apply the gospel to all of their relationships?   How could you motivate yourself and other Christians less with guilt, and more with the gospel?  Give specific examples.

5.   Read Romans 6:14, I Peter 2:24, 2 Cor. 5:15 and I Peter 4:2.  What do these verses teach us we should die to and live for?  What from your old life keeps you from expressing new life? 

6.   Read Galatians 2:20. What does the apostle Paul mean by this phrase “to be crucified with Christ?”  What difference should the death of Christ make in your love for Him and actions in life?  What exchanges do you see happening in this verse? 

7.   How would explain “justification by faith” to someone who has never been to church before?

8.   Read Galatians 2:21. How would you explain the difference between being moral and being a Christian to someone who thinks being good makes them acceptable to God?

Spend time praying for each other!Pray for those who need to hear the incredible truths of this passage!Pray for opportunities to share.

John Lloyd - Free In Christ

Free in Christ: Study of Galatians

Preserving our Spiritual Freedom in Christ

Galatians 2:1-10

October 21, 2018

Spiritual unity is a gift from God.  We humbly receive it when we put our trust in Jesus Christ as our Savior.  Yet, it is very easy to get sidetracked with peripheral issues that bring bondage and hinder our freedom. Spiritual unity brings tremendous power and discernment which sharpens our message and keeps us on mission.  Thank God for our unity in Jesus. 

Memory Verse: Galatians 2:10 Only, they asked us to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do.

Big Idea: Real unity is born by the Holy Spirit and brings freedom to discern the enemy, to share the gospel and stay on mission.  The Holy Spirit brings freedom… responding to the Holy Spirit keeps us free!

I.               Recognize spiritual unity comes from the Holy Spirit.

Galatians 2:1 Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along with me. 2 I went up because of a revelation and set before them (though privately before those who seemed influential) the gospel that I proclaim among the Gentiles, in order to make sure I was not running or had not run in vain. (See Question 3)

“Nothing was threatening Paul’s certainty, but something was threatening his fruitfulness.”  Timothy Keller (Galatians for You)

Galatians 3:3 Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?  (Galatians 1:1)

Ephesians 4:4 There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— 5one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

Spiritual unity comes from the Holy Spirit.                                    Spiritual unity is kept by the Spirit.

II.             Discern the real enemies of spiritual unity.

Galatians 2:3 But even Titus, who was with me, was not forced to be circumcised, though he was a Greek. 4Yet because of false brothers secretly brought in—who slipped in to spy out our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, so that they might bring us into slavery— (Galatians 2:14)

“Externalities are to do with our doing; internalities have to do with our being; Christianity is about who I am in Christ, not what I do for him.”  Keller

Colossians 1:22 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, (See Mark 7:14-19, John 10:10)

The enemy wants you to believe that power of our fallen nature is more powerful than the Holy Spirit.  He wants to destroy us with old sin patterns. 

Romans 6:11 So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. (I Thessalonians 3:5)

Romans 6:18 and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.  (I Peter 5:8, Revelation 12:10)

Freedom and community are two great yearnings of the human heart. The “earn yourself salvation” message always leads people only into bondage. Keller

Galatians 2:5 to them we did not yield in submission even for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you. (Galatians 5:1)

Preserved- stay permanent with you

Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

Spiritual unity brings freedom from cultural additions.

III.             Spiritual unity is powered by the Gospel message.

Galatians 2:6 And from those who seemed to be influential (what they were makes no difference to me; God shows no partiality)—those, I say, who seemed influential added nothing to me. 7 On the contrary, when they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been entrusted with the gospel to the circumcised 8 (for he who worked through Peter for his apostolic ministry to the circumcised worked also through me for mine to the Gentiles),

“It was not just a question of circumcision and uncircumcision, of Gentile and Jewish customs.  It was a matter of fundamental importance regarding the truth of the gospel, namely of Christian freedom versus bondage.  Acceptance before God depends entirely on God’s grace in the death of Jesus Christ received by faith.”  John Stott

Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. (Acts 1:8)

Where there is great unity, there will be great power! 

IV.          Spiritual unity partners together to fulfill God’s mission.

Galatians 2:9 and when James and Cephas and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given to me, they gave the right hand of fellowship to Barnabas and me, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. 10 Only, they asked us to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do. (Matthew 11:5) (See question 8)

Remember- keep caring for the poor.

True faith will inevitably show itself through deeds of mercy. Keller

Ephesians 4:3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. (Ephesians 4:26 & 27, 4:12)(See question 10)

Ephesians 4:16b when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. (John 13:35)

  Going the extra mile to keep the unity will preserve fruitfulness.     God will bring amazing fruit!

John Lloyd - Amazing Grace

Free in Christ: Study of Galatians

Amazing Grace Sets us Free

Galatians 1:11-24

October 7, 2018

I pray that each of us would truly receive God’s amazing grace for our lives.  The apostle Paul was blind to it but God opened his eyes and changed his life.  God’s amazing grace sets us free, and we are kept free as we share it with others.  Enjoying the Journey, Pastor John

Today’s Passage:  Galatians 1:11-24

Memory Verse: Galatians1: 23b “He who used to persecute us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.” 24 And they glorified God because of me.

Some Big Themes in Galatians:1. In Jesus’ sin bearing death, Christ is the substitute for all Christians, whom he brings into a new realm of freedom and life. (see 1:4, 2:20, 3:13). 2.  The gospel is for humanity, but there is no sense that it has its origin in humanity, it comes only from God. (1:1,11-12, 15-20). 3.  The gospel is appropriated not by works of the law but by faith which is the route of justification (2:16). 4. OT Scripture itself testifies to the truth of justification by faith, both in the life of Abraham and in the prophecy of Habakkuk. (Genesis 15:6, Habakkuk 2:4)

Big Idea: God’s amazing grace sets and keeps us free!

I.               Amazing grace ______________ me right to God.  Galatians 1:11-12

Galatians 1:11 For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man’s gospel. 12 For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.  (Galatians 1:1)

Brothers- to those who believe and confess the true gospel.

Acts 26:18 to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’

No one is so good that they don’t need the grace of the gospel, or so bad that they can’t receive the grace of the gospel.  Paul was deeply religious but he needed the gospel.  Paul was deeply flawed, yet he could be reached with the gospel.  As C.S. Lewis once said, “Christianity must be from God, who else could have thought it up?  Timothy Keller  

Amazing grace is God’s idea!

II.             Amazing grace _____________ me past my deepest sin.  1:13-14

Galatians 1:13 For you have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it. 14 And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers. (Acts 8;3,

Acts 8:3 But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison. (Acts 9:1-2, I Corinthians 15:9)

 “Grace is the free, unmerited favor of God, working powerfully on the mind and heart to change lives. There is no clearer example than Paul that salvation is by grace alone, not through our moral and religious performance. Though Paul’s sins were very deep, he was invited in.”   Timothy Keller

I Timothy 1:15 The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. (Isaiah 43:25, Psalm 103:12, Micah 7:19)

2 Corinthians 5:21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Amazing grace means Jesus died in my place on the cross.

God’s amazing grace is greater than all my sin.

III.             Jesus Christ __________________ amazing grace to me.  1:15-16

Galatians 1:15 But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace, 16 was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles,  (See question 4)

“The gospel calls us out of religion just as much as it calls us out of irrelgion.”  Keller

Reveal-apokalupto- refers to the disclosure of something by the removal of what was concealing it.

When amazing grace is revealed to you, you see God’s hand on every detail of your life.

Acts 9:4 And falling to the ground he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” 5 And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” And he said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. 6 So he, trembling and astonished, said, "Lord, what do You want me to do?"

Everything changes when you receive God’s amazing grace         through Jesus Christ.  Amazing grace sets me free!

IV.          Amazing grace keeps me free when I ________ it with others.1:23-24

Galatians1: 23 They only were hearing it said, “He who used to persecute us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.” 24 And they glorified God because of me. (see questions 5&6)

It’s amazing grace to be rescued out of religion or irreligion.  It’s even deeper when you allow God to use you to rescue others.

God did it! God did it by grace!  God did it through Christ!  God did for the sake of others!  Warren Wiersbe 

Ephesians 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

Sharing this amazing grace glorifies God and His Son, Jesus Christ!

Spiritual Growth Questions for October 7th, 2018

Opener:   When someone goes through a radical change, what kind of questions does it raise for you?

1.   Read Galatians 1:11-24.  Describe in your own words what is happening here.  Why is this important?

2.   Read Galatians 1:11-17.  What were the driving forces in Paul’s life before his conversion?  What evidence is there that God was working in Paul’s life even before he met Jesus?   How does Paul’s pre-conversion life add weight to the claim that his gospel came from God?

3.   Read Jeremiah 1:5, Galatians 1:15. In what ways can you see how God worked in your life before your conversion, to equip you to serve Him after it?

4.   Do you ever find yourself thinking you deserve God’s grace? What prompts you to think this way? How does the gospel of grace free you from pride and guilt? (Meditate on Ephesians 2:8, Romans 11:6)

5.   Read Galatians 1:18-24. Given Paul’s reputation, how might he have expected the churches to respond to him as a supposed new believer?  What significance do you see in the fact that Christians in Judea “praised God because of” Paul rather than praising Paul?

6.   Read Galatians 1:23-24, 2 Thessalonians 1:12. How could you live your life so that people would respect and praise God more because of you?

7.   Read John 12:43, Proverbs 29:25. How are you most tempted to fear men and seek their approval? What would change if, in those moments, you lived to please God who is pleased with you?

8.   Read Luke 5:16, Hebrews 10:25, Acts 1:8.  How committed are you to spending time with God… spending time with other believers…  spending time telling others your testimony?  

9.   What are the biggest changes which knowing Christ has brought about in your life?  What changes in your life would you still like the Lord to bring about?  Pray for your will to be in cooperation with God’s working.  How can we pray for you this week?

John Lloyd - Freedom With God

Free in Christ: Study on Galatians

(True Freedom) It all begins with God

Galatians 1:1-10

September 30, 2018

God has wired every person to have a great desire to be free.    Often, we look for the things of this world to set us free.  Yet, we soon realize these things bring much pain and hurt to our souls.  Timothy Keller shares, “the book of Galatians is dynamite.  It is an explosion of joy and freedom which leaves us enjoying a deep significance, security, and satisfaction- the life of blessing God calls His people into.”  It’s our prayer that God will use this study to help us better walk in Christ’s freedom. Pastor John

Passage:  Galatians 1:1-10

Memory Verse: Galatians 1:4 who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father.

Big Idea:  True freedom begins, endures and ends with God.

Background to Galatians: Who:  Paul, Galatians, Why:  False teachers distorting the gospel, adding the fulfilling of the law to it. When:  48-50 AD.  Where:  South Galatia- Derbe, Lystra, Iconium, Pisidia Antioch  (Acts 13-14)  What:  Galatians is an explosion of joy and freedom in Christ.  It’s an explanation and arsenal of the true gospel to guard the church for generations.

I.                Jesus Christ rescues us from ____________ freedoms.

Galatians 1:1 Paul, an apostle—not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead

Apostle- One commissioned and sent

Not from men nor through man- (See Acts 13:3, 9:4 & 9:15)

Galatians 1:3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

“Grace is fundamental, peace is its result.  Grace is undeserved favor by which sinners are received and cleansed from sin and guilt.”  R.C.H. Lenski

Galatians 1:4 who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father,

To deliver us- to pluck out, to rescue.  The gospel is a rescue an emancipation from a state of bondage.

“All that floating mass of thoughts, opinions, maxims, speculations, hopes, impulses, aims, aspirations, at any time current in the world, which it may be impossible to seize and accurately define, but which constitute a most real and effective power, being the moral or immoral atmosphere which at every moment of our lives we inhale, again inevitably to exhale.”  Trench

Evil (poneros)- not content unless it is corrupting others as well, pernicious.

According to the will of our God and Father

Galatians 1:5 All glory to God forever and ever! Amen. (Paul’s motive)

Only Jesus can break the hold of this present evil age.

II.              Beware of false freedom whose source is ________ not God.

Galatians 1:6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7 not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ.

Deserting-changing from one religious conviction to another. Present tense

Different- heteros- not only a difference in kind but also speaks of the fact that the character of the thing is evil or bad.

 “Every system of religion except the Bible bases salvation on the good works of the worshipper.” Kenneth Wuest (See Question 8) Titus 3:5 

Luke 22:31“Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat.” 2 Corinthians 11:13-14

These direct claims reveal that Paul writes Galatians to combat people who are pressuring the Galatians to undergo circumcision and submit to the law of Moses as a means of completing their Christian experience. Doug Moo

Galatians 3:1a O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you?

Two lies: True Gospel is false.  False Gospel is true.

The error of Cain is that he substituted his own way instead of embracing God’s sacrifice.  (See Genesis 4)

Galatians 5:4 You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace.

Human doing is always inadequate.  Works always fall short.

III.             Accept no substitutes except the __________________ substitution.

Galatians 1:8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. 9 As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.

“Jesus did all we needed to do, but cannot do. The moment you revise the gospel you reverse it.”  Tim Keller

Galatians 5:6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love. (Galatians 6:14-15, Titus 3:5, Hebrews 10:12)

Galatians 1:10 For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.

True freedom comes when I realize I am accepted not because of what I have done or do, but solely on what Jesus did for me. True Freedom begins and ends with God!

Growth Group Questions for September 30, 2018

Opener:  Have you ever been led astray?  Have you ever been convinced by a dynamic speaker or persuasive book only to later find out that it was wrong?  Please describe.  How should we test truths? 

1.   Read Galatians 1:1-10.  Describe in your own words what is happening here.  Why is this important? 

2.   Read Galatians 1:1-5.  What key themes emerge in verses 1-5 in response to the controversy with the false teachers? Discuss: “You are in such a hopeless position that you need a rescue that has nothing to do with you at all. And then it says: God in Jesus provides a rescue which gives you far more than any false salvation your heart may love to chase.” (Keller: Galatians for You page 17)

3.   Read Galatians 1:6-10. Paul’s tone reminds us that Christian faith is a matter of heart, as well as head—feelings, as well as intellect. How does this encourage you? How does it challenge you?  Why are his words so strong against these teachers?   When do you find it hardest to accept the authority of apostolic N.T. teaching? Why?

4.    Read Galatians 1:3-5. How would you explain the gospel to someone who asked you today what you believe?  Create an outline of the gospel based on these verses.  How can we recognize the true gospel? How important is gospel truth to you?  How is this shown in your life?

5.   Why will understanding the true gospel produce anger at false “gospels?”  (deception: true gospel a lie, false gospel as truth)

6.   Which of the three modern false-gospel dangers could you or our church most easily fall for?  (1. Saved through surrender plus right beliefs and behavior, 2. Doesn’t matter what you believe as long as you are good person.  3. Extremely intolerant of small differences of dress or custom.)  Why are we so prone to false gospels?                                                     Do you know someone being swayed by false teaching and how can you help that person?  How can we pray for you this week?

Galatians 1:1 Paul, an apostle—not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead— 2 and all the brothers  who are with me, To the churches of Galatia: 3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, 4 who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, 5 to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.  6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7 not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. 9 As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed. 10 For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.

Memory Verse:

Galatians 5:1 For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

“Jesus is not so much a teacher as He is a rescuer. Because that’s what we most need.  Nothing in who we are or what we do saves us.  This what theologians call spiritual inability.”  Timothy Keller