Life At The Ridge

As we have been working through chapter 3 Paul has been giving us point after point that a person can only be accepted by God through faith in the gospel. Keeping the Old Testament law is not necessary, and Paul has been reaching back into the OT to prove this. If you have just joined us Paul is addressing the issue of legalism that one must keep the law to be accepted by God. It’s not Jesus + the law or Jesus + circumcision but rather Jesus + nothing. Pauls argument is: faith in Jesus and Jesus alone. Today, Paul is going to tell us what that faith does to us. What happens when we believe in Jesus alone by faith? When we truly believe, what happens to us?

Here in Marks Gospel we have the story of two women who were touched by Jesus. What do we learn about them and what do we learn about Jesus?

As we have been working through this letter that Paul wrote, If you haven’t noticed already the big question Galatians attempts to answer is: How do we relate to God? How do we engage with Him? Do we experience God as a reward for good works? Do we gain more of an understanding of God by keeping His laws of nature, conscience or Scripture? Or do we encounter God by His grace? Do we enjoy Him through faith in His promises? How do we relate to God? Paul was arguing for that we are justified by faith and not through the law. What is the purpose of the law then? What is the difference between law and grace?

If you follow any type of Christian media, or Christian based news you’ve probably even heard some end time prophecy things come up or even discussions amongst other Christians or your friends. When things like these world events come up people question - is this a sign of the End? We can look at Matthew 24 for direction and simply Jesus tells us "Don't be alarmed"

Paul has been giving the Scriptural arguments of why salvation is only through grace through faith and not through works. When We believe in Jesus just in simple faith like Abraham we are blessed. What are those blessings? Paul will tell us here in Galatians 3:10-14.

Beginning in chapter 3 Paul begins giving the Scriptural arguments of why salvation is only through grace through faith and not through works. To prove his point Paul is going to call in a star witness: Abraham. Abraham and his story were the perfect way to combat the false teachers. He predated Moses by some 500 years and Paul is going to show that Abraham was justified by God not became of what he did but by simple faith in God.

What kind of authority does Jesus have? What can He do? What can He do in our lives?

This Sunday we wanted to take some time and talk about deacons. We are seeking to have a man who could serve in that official office in this church. So we, the elders, thought it would be helpful to all of us to understand what a deacon is and what a deacon does.

In this portion of the letter Paul wants these Galatian believers to once more see Christ clearly. He wants them to focus their attention back on Christ. He wants them to look again over and over and over focusing on the Gospel. They had become deceived by another Gospel. This is what we need as well if we are going to grow in Christ and not be entangled with the lies of legalism.

What does a justified life look like? The Gospel does some pretty amazing things in a persons life. Paul lets his readers know what the Gospel does not do and what the Gospel always does.

What do you fear? We all have things that frighten us from time to time. We also find that we may find ourselves in a habit of fearful living or lives that are marked by anxiety. Jesus confronts our fears with the question "why are you so fearful?"

Paul has been stressing that we are not justified by faith. Salvation comes as a result of justification and nothing that we do in our own righteousness. What is justification and what does it mean to be justified by faith in Christ?

How are you growing in your Christian life? Peter tells us that we are to be adding certain things to our faith to help us grow.

Our Lords resurrection was definitely miraculous! Never has anyone said that they would die, and then say they will resurrect from the dead and actually do it. The resurrection is fundamental to Christianity. You can say that all of Christianity rises or falls on the reality of Christ rising from the dead. If you read through the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ resurrection in Luke and John you will find 7 questions that Jesus asked people that saw Him after He resurrected from the dead. We will explore two questions Jesus asked Mary at the empty tomb.

Why do you follow Jesus? On the day Jesus rode into Jerusalem there were many people who were shouting "Hosanna!" why were they calling out to Jesus to save them? Were they following Jesus for the right reasons?

Allan McGuire teaches out of Mark 4:21-34 about the several parables Jesus gave.

Grace is a free gift from God. We are saved by grace and not through good works. But do we admit that we can grow only by that same grace? Do we believe that we need His grace each and every day, as much as we did at the beginning of our relationship with Him? Peter as we will see in this passage was using grace in the wrong way and at the same time promoting a false view of grace and a false view of salvation that Paul had to correct. Grace is not a word that we can throw around to do whatever we want to do and act any way we want to act. Grace is costly and there are some things that Grace will not tolerate.

As Paul continues to help the churches in Galatia understand the importance of the Gospel, he recalls what took place in his salvation and that the Gospel is worth fighting for. How do we fight for the Gospel?

What are the differences between God's Gospel and Man's Gospel? Paul wants the church's in Galatia to how that the Gospel that he received and believed was not from man, but from God.

Chapter 4 of Mark gives us the parable of the different soils. How does the Word of God work in our lives from the Cradle to the Grave and the in-between?