The Bible’s declaration of present and future Redemption is as revolutionary now as it was two millennia ago: God came into this broken creation to begin redeeming it. Redemption has started in us, God’s people, and eventually, it will be completed in us and through us. Our souls and bodies alike will be redeemed. Both the human and sub-human worlds will be redeemed. Redemption is for all of creation!
In Genesis chapter two, God reveals that his intent for the world has always been a symbiotic relationship between human and sub-human creation. Our original occupation was caring for plants and animals to sustain and multiply life for our enjoyment and God’s glory.
In His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus is giving insight into how His Kingdom is different than what the audience had known and experienced. In Matthew 6:33, He summarizes the action we must take in light of all these Kingdom Insights: We must seek first the Kingdom of God and God Himself and then respond in faith!
God seems to always get a bad rap. An “act of God” is what we call a horrible disaster. It is a common belief that we better behave or God will strike us down with lighting or hurt us in some way. What if this perceptions were wrong? The Bible (In fact, God Himself In the Bible) sets the record right. God is Good. So, if He is Good, what are the implications for how we live daily.
Starting the series “what am I learning from scripture”, I wanted to say what I have been learning about American culture and the shifts in recent years as I have been outside the country. The core of discipleship is timeless but the techniques used in the past generation must change to capture the bright minds of the future.
Measuring the right things is an essential part of life. In this closing section of Paul’s letter to the Galatian churches we discover what God measures among His people within a local church. While we tend to count a variety of things, what matters to God is His vision for “new creation.”
When we believe the True Gospel that the Apostle Paul preached, The Holy Spirit comes to dwell in us. As we live life in submission to the Holy Spirit and keep saying “Jesus is Lord,” the fruit of God’s Character will come out of us. Spiritual maturity is just continuing to string “yes, Lord” after “yes, Lord” together in our lives!
(Due to technical issues, the first several minutes of this message are missing.) How can we become all that God created us to be when temptation is so strong? In this part of his letter to the Christians in Galatia, Paul explains that followers of Jesus have two opposing natures within. He also reveals how we can cooperate with God’s Spirit’s desires rather than our flesh’s destructive desires that we might become all that God has created us to be.
Is there anyone with whom you have an unresolved conflict that seems impossible to repair? If so, you are not alone. In this 4th message from Paul’s letter to the Galatians we discover that God’s plan to increase our relational intelligence is just as unexpected and needed today as it was in the 1st century.
Sometimes God moves His people to achieve something greater than what anyone could do on their own. Hope is in a phase in which we sense God is calling us to expand. Other examples of this type of season include the building the tabernacle, forming of the early church and constructing the campus we enjoy and steward today. As we enter this final week of our Expand Hope campaign, may God give us all stirred and generous hearts for His glory, our joy and our community’s good!