Gathering Recap - 08/13/2023 - Psalm 6:1-10

Call to worship:

7 My heart is steadfast, O God,
    my heart is steadfast!
I will sing and make melody!
8     Awake, my glory![b]
Awake, O harp and lyre!
    I will awake the dawn!
9 I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples;
    I will sing praises to you among the nations.
10 For your steadfast love is great to the heavens,
    your faithfulness to the clouds.

11 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens!
    Let your glory be over all the earth!

Psalm 57:7-11

Gathering Video

Questions for reflection:

What cries need to be voiced to the Lord?

In suffering, what do you tend to call to mind? What does this reveal about your confidence?

How is the resurrection our remedy?

Corporate Prayer:

Our Father in heaven,

Hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Yours is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever, amen.

If you are able to support the church financially, we invite you to give securely by clicking the button below:

Notes//Quotes//Slides:

Psalm 6:1-10 - Chris Fisher Reading

Title: Surviving Suffering

“Waiting is hard. ‘How long O Lord’ is the cry of someone who has walked with more pain and sickness than they thought they could ever bear.”

- Timothy Keller

“The most precious use of the word hesed in the Old Testament is used as a description of what God does. Having entered a covenant relationship with His people, God bound Himself to act toward them in certain ways, and He is utterly faithful to His self-commitment…Psalm 136 explores what the Lord’s hesed means in its broadest possible terms, for each line concludes with the words: “his hesed endures forever.” Because of the Lord’s hesed, He created the universe, and He rules it daily through His providence (Ps. 136:5–9, 25)…In Psalm 23:6, the psalmist declares that the Lord’s goodness and hesed will pursue him all the days of his life. The word pursue normally describes the action of pillaging armies and covenant curse, but the psalmist is convinced that instead of the covenant curse he deserves, the Lord’s faithful love and goodness will hunt him down relentlessly instead.”

- Ian Duguid

“Surely he has borne our griefs
    and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
 smitten by God, and afflicted.

But he was pierced for our transgressions;
    he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
    and with his wounds we are healed.”

(Isaiah 53:4&5)

Gathering Recap - 08/06/2023 - Psalm 1:1-6

Call to worship:

1 Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me,
    for in you my soul takes refuge;
in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge,
    till the storms of destruction pass by.
2 I cry out to God Most High,
    to God who fulfills his purpose for me.
3 He will send from heaven and save me;
    he will put to shame him who tramples on me. Selah
God will send out his steadfast love and his faithfulness!

Psalm 57:1-3

Gathering Video

Questions for reflection:

How does Psalm 1 show us what a “blessed” life truly is? How does that differ from current culture?

What can trees teach us about stability, fruitfulness and prospering?

Does Christ embody Psalm 1? How so? In what ways does he lead us toward the same?

Corporate Prayer:

Our Father in heaven,

Hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Yours is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever, amen.

If you are able to support the church financially, we invite you to give securely by clicking the button below:

Notes//Quotes//Slides:

Psalm 1:1-6

Book 1 - 1-41 - Distress//Confidence

Book 2 - 42-72 - Lament//Hope

Book 3 - 73-89 - Darkest of all (88)

Book 4 - 90-106 - Doubts in Light of the Lord’s reign

Book 5 - 107-150 - Declaration//Ascent//Ps119 - 176verses

“Psalms are companions - They are the closest friends, wisest advisors, and faithful discerners. They understand your heart and provide words when we don’t have any.” Anthony Garcia

“The term refers to a wide range of behaviors and thoughts, but, at root, it is when somebody presents, or imagines, themself as the lead in a sort of fictional version of their life (usually their own, although sometimes, disturbingly, somebody else’s), and presents that "life" through social media.” - Psychology Today

“Most people are like a shaving of wood which is curled round its central emptiness” - Theophan the Recluse

“The introduction to the Psalter is anything but an invitation to pedantry, legalism, or self-righteousness, on the contrary, it is an invitation to be open to God’s instruction and to the reality of God’s reign in the world.” - Clinton McCann

“I have been induced to embrace the opinion of some among the ancient interpreters (Augustine, Jerome, etc.), who conceive that the first Psalm is intended to be descriptive of the character and reward of the JUST ONE, i.e. the Lord Jesus.” John Fry, 1842

John 15:1-5.

“We want something from Him, not Him at all. Is that a relationship? Do we behave in that way with our friends? Do we aim at what friendship can give us or is it the friend whom we love? Is this true with regard to the Lord?” - Anthony Bloom, Beginning to Pray

Gathering Recap - 07/30/2023 - Galatians 6:11-18

Call to worship:

8 You have kept count of my tossings;
    put my tears in your bottle.
    Are they not in your book?
9 Then my enemies will turn back
    in the day when I call.
    This I know, that God is for me.
10 In God, whose word I praise,
    in the Lord, whose word I praise

Psalm 56:8-10

Gathering Video

Questions for reflection:

Where have you seen “zoochosis” in your life?

In what ways has the “new creation” broken into the present age of life?

How does the finished work of Jesus lead us toward rest and freedom?

Corporate Prayer:

Our Father in heaven,

Hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Yours is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever, amen.

If you are able to support the church financially, we invite you to give securely by clicking the button below:

Notes//Quotes//Slides:

Galatians 6:11-18

Bear Video (attached)

Monkey video (attached)

“He who cannot rest, cannot work; he who cannot let go, cannot hold on; he who cannot find footing, cannot go forward.”

Harry Emerson Fosdick

All that matters is that, through Christ crucified, we are made a “new creation” (v 15). The gospel changes my future, giving me a place in Christ’s perfected re-creation. And the gospel changes my present, giving me a whole new self-image and whole new way of relating to everyone - Tim Keller

“Discipleship is the process of becoming who Jesus would be if he were you.” - Dallas Willard

1. Grace! 'Tis a charming sound,

Harmonious to the ear;

Heaven with the echo shall resound,

And all the earth shall hear.

2. Grace first contrived the way

To save rebellious man,

And all the steps that grace display

Which drew the wondrous plan.

3. Grace first inscribed my name

In God's eternal book;

'Twas grace that gave me to the Lamb,

Who all my sorrows took.

4. Grace led my wandering feet

To tread the heavenly road;

And new supplies each hour I meet

While pressing on to God.

5. Grace taught my soul to pray

And made mine eyes o'erflow;

'Twas grace that kept me to this day

And will not let me go.

6. Grace all the work shall crown

Through everlasting days;

It lays in heaven the topmost stone

And well deserves the praise.

Gathering Recap - 07/23/2023 - Galatians 6:1-10

Call to worship:

1Be gracious to me, O God, for man tramples on me;
    all day long an attacker oppresses me;
2 my enemies trample on me all day long,
    for many attack me proudly.
3 When I am afraid,
    I put my trust in you.
4 In God, whose word I praise,
    in God I trust; I shall not be afraid.
    What can flesh do to me?

Psalm 56:1-4

Gathering Video

Questions for reflection:

How does the gospel inform how we live? In what ways do we tend to untether from it?

How can we bear one another’s burdens? How does this fulfill the law of Christ?

What in your life needs to be reframed using agricultural metaphors?

Corporate Prayer:

Our Father in heaven,

Hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Yours is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever, amen.

If you are able to support the church financially, we invite you to give securely by clicking the button below:

Notes//Quotes//Slides:

Galatians 6:1-10

“The person who loves their dream of community will destroy community, but the person who loves those around them will create community.” - Dietrich Bonhoeffer

“Jesus was a revolutionary, who did not become an extremist, since he did not offer an ideology, but Himself." - Henri Nouwen

1 Cor 10:12

“There is one burden that we cannot share … and that is our responsibility to God on the day of judgment. On that day you cannot carry my pack and I cannot carry yours.”

John Stott, The Message of Galatians

“Jesus offers himself as God's doorway into the life that is truly life. Confidence in him leads us today, as in other times, to become his apprentices in eternal living. "Those who come through me will be safe," he said. "They will go in and out and find all they need. I have come into their world that they may have life, and life to the limit.” - Dallas Willard

Gathering Recap - 07/16/2023 - Galatians 5:13-26

Call to worship:

10 Create in me a clean heart, O God,
    and renew a right spirit within me.
11 Cast me not away from your presence,
    and take not your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
    and uphold me with a willing spirit.

Psalm 51:10-12

Gathering Video

Questions for reflection:

If liberty isn’t the absence of law - What is it?

How can we live a life “beholden to the sacrificial love of God?

If we evaluate our attitudes and actions - What truth do they tell us?

Corporate Prayer:

Our Father in heaven,

We are grateful for your plan and provision. It is only by Jesus we are saved and sustained. We ask for the empowering of Your Spirit to ground us in truth, send us in love, and keep us aligned with your heart in the midst of the world.

In the name of Jesus we pray, Amen.

If you are able to support the church financially, we invite you to give securely by clicking the button below:

Notes//Quotes//Slides:

Galatians 5:13-26 - Larry and Jorgen

Title: Freedom

“the “freedom” of the Messiah’s people cannot be used as “opportunity” (aphorme (ah-for-may), a “base of operations”) for “the flesh.”

- N.T. Wright

“In verse 3, Paul implicitly says that Christians are freed from obligation to obey the whole law. Then in verse 13, he tells us to “serve one another in love”; and in verse 14 he says that the summary of the law is to love one another! So Paul says bluntly that the Galatian Christians must obey the law. How do we understand this? Are we obliged, or are we not obliged?! Essentially, the answer is “yes”. In one way we are obliged to keep the law, but in another way we are not. If we look at verse 3, Paul immediately follows: “[You are] required to obey the whole law” with: “You … are trying to be justified by law” (v 4). The obligation that is gone for the Christian is the obligation to obey the law to be saved, which is impossible to achieve. But now that we are saved wholly and freely by grace we are, if anything, more obligated to obey the law! Why? Because we have more reason to love God than we ever did before. Love arises from gospel faith and hope (v 5–6), and overflows into loving and serving our neighbors, rather than using them to serve ourselves. And loving our neighbor is “the entire law … summed up in a single command” (v 14).”

- Timothy Keller

“A Christian man is the most free lord of all, and subject to none; a Christian man is the most dutiful servant of all, and subject to every one.”

- Martin Luther

“What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you?” — James 4:1

“18 For 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. 19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.”

— Romans 7:18-20

“destructive attitudes such as selfish ambition, namely competitiveness, a self-seeking motive; envy, coveting, desiring what others have; jealousy, the zeal and energy that comes from a hungry ego; and hatred, meaning hostility, an adversarial attitude...the results of these attitudes in relationships: discord, being argumentative or seeking to pick fights; fits of rage, outbursts of anger; dissensions, divisions between people (which is what rage leads to); and factions, permanent parties and warring groups.”

- Timothy Keller

Gathering Recap - 07/09/2023 - Galatians 5:1-15

Call to worship:

6 Sing praises to God, sing praises!
    Sing praises to our King, sing praises!
7 For God is the King of all the earth;
    sing praises with a psalm![a]

8 God reigns over the nations;
    God sits on his holy throne.
9 The princes of the peoples gather
    as the people of the God of Abraham.
For the shields of the earth belong to God;
    he is highly exalted!

Psalm 46:6-9

Gathering Video

Questions for reflection:

Am I trusting in God’s promise or my performance?

What is the motivation behind why I do good?

Am I truly standing firm in the freedom Christ has won for me?

Corporate Prayer:

Our Father in heaven,

We are grateful for your plan and provision. It is only by Jesus we are saved and sustained. We ask for the empowering of Your Spirit to ground us in truth, send us in love, and keep us aligned with your heart in the midst of the world.

In the name of Jesus we pray, Amen.

If you are able to support the church financially, we invite you to give securely by clicking the button below:

Notes//Quotes//Slides:

Galatians 5:1-15 - Kim J

Title: The Gospel Of Self-Sufficiency

“The topic of circumcision had been in the background of Paul’s polemic against the Judaizers all along. In chap. 2 Paul reminded the Galatians of his successful resistance against the efforts of certain “false brothers” to have the Gentile Titus circumcised during their visit to Jerusalem. Similarly, those who belonged to “the circumcision group” had provoked the incident which led to Paul’s confrontation with Peter at Antioch. However, only here in chap. 5 does Paul engage the issue head on in terms of the crisis in Galatia. Now we know for sure what must have been perfectly clear to the original readers of the epistle all along, namely, that the Galatian agitators were demanding that Paul’s converts should get circumcised. According to Acts 15:1–2, the Judaizers believed that acceptance of this ancient Jewish ritual was absolutely necessary for salvation and incorporation into the people of God.”

- Timothy George

“Because however wrong the false teachers may have been, their message met a sinful inclination deep inside the human heart: we all secretly love a gospel that relies on us. We love being the hero, or at least a celebrated sidekick. Self-reliance feeds our self-esteem and self-worth.” - Marshal Segal

“By nature and by training we all seek solutions to our problem of sin. To varying degrees, these solutions include doing something—law keeping, good works, etc—to please or appease or satisfy the God who is one day going to judge us. The idea of contributing to one’s own salvation is universal. It’s the engine which propels every religion.” - Ed Moore

1. The Work of Philanthropy

2. The Work of Service

3. The Work of Ritual

4. The Work of Comparison

5. The Work of Comprehension

6. The Work of Decision

7. The Work of Restitution

8. The Work of Affliction

9. The Work of Meditation

10. The Work of Seeking Affirmation

“Christian freedom is the precious birthright of every believer…For the Galatians then to accept circumcision and all that it implied was for them to throw away the precious gift of freedom and step back onto the unceasing treadmill of self-justification.

- Timothy George

“Lord God Almighty, you have made all the peoples of the earth for your glory, to serve you in freedom and in peace: Give to the people of our country a zeal for justice and the strength of forbearance, that we may use our liberty in accordance with your gracious will; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen."

Book of Common Prayer, p. 258, Collect 17

Gathering Recap - 07/02/2023 - Galatians 4:21-31

Call to worship:

1 Clap your hands, all peoples!
    Shout to God with loud songs of joy!
2 For the Lord, the Most High, is to be feared,
    a great king over all the earth.
3 He subdued peoples under us,
    and nations under our feet.
4 He chose our heritage for us,
    the pride of Jacob whom he loves. Selah

5 God has gone up with a shout,
    the Lord with the sound of a trumpet.

Psalm 47:1-5

Gathering Video

Questions for reflection:

Why does Paul utilize the law, prophets, and writings?

How has God used waiting in your life in the past?

In what ways is waiting “widening” your life and heart today?

Corporate Prayer:

Our Father in heaven,

We are grateful for your plan and provision. It is only by Jesus we are saved and sustained. We ask for the empowering of Your Spirit to ground us in truth, send us in love, and keep us aligned with your heart in the midst of the world.

In the name of Jesus we pray, Amen.

If you are able to support the church financially, we invite you to give securely by clicking the button below:

Notes//Quotes//Slides:

Galatians 4:21-31 - Faith C. Reading

Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they've been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It's an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It's a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing. - Muhammad Ali

At certain key points, Paul uses the Jewish technique of alluding to each section of the Hebrew Scriptures—Torah, Prophets, and Writings, though not necessarily in that order. I propose that he does this in 4:21–5:1 with an allusion to Psalm 87 in verse 26 alongside his references to Genesis and to Isaiah 54. Paul is bringing this polemical letter to a climax, doing so appropriately and ironically by constructing a paragraph with a rich scriptural backbone. He is appealing to Torah against those who want to impose Torah. - NT Wright

Hagar//Sarah Graphic

The burden of his message is clear. The great reversal envisaged by Isaiah—from barrenness to fruitfulness, from despair to joy, from desolation to blessing—can only be accomplished by the unilateral intervention of God himself. How dare anyone say to a person in such dire straits as the woman in this example that she should sing, rejoice, and shout for joy! The words ring hollow until we realize that it was the Lord himself who spoke thus to her. How could she not be afraid or fear disgrace when there was so much against her? Later in the same chapter (Isa 54:5) God himself provided the answer: “For your Maker is your husband—the Lord Almighty is his name—the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; he is called the God of all the earth.” Again, Paul was pointing to God’s gracious sovereignty and infinite love that is the foundation of our justification, freedom, and hope. - Timothy George

If you worship money and things — if they are where you tap real meaning in life — then you will never have enough. Never feel you have enough. It’s the truth. Worship your own body and beauty and sexual allure and you will always feel ugly, and when time and age start showing, you will die a million deaths before they finally plant you. On one level, we all know this stuff already — it’s been codified as myths, proverbs, clichés, bromides, epigrams, parables: the skeleton of every great story. The trick is keeping the truth up-front in daily consciousness. Worship power — you will feel weak and afraid, and you will need ever more power over others to keep the fear at bay. Worship your intellect, being seen as smart — you will end up feeling stupid, a fraud, always on the verge of being found out. And so on. David Foster Wallace

In vain we search the heavens high above, The God of love is kneeling at our feet. Though we betray him, though it is the night, He meets us here and loves us into light. - Malcom Guite

Waiting is a herculean widening of everything within you into a canyon—that can fill with a rising ocean of hope. And all this waiting isn’t destroying us — the waiting is growing us. Waiting isn’t loss—it’s enlarging. The longer the heart waits, the larger the heart expands to hold the largeness of the abundant life. The waiting is widening us—so Hope is never running out— but more hope in Christ is running in. Waiting is the sacrament of the tender surrender, the art of a soul growing large. - Ann Voskamp

Gathering Recap - 06/25/2023 - Galatians 4:8-20

Call to worship:

8 Come, behold the works of the Lord,
    how he has brought desolations on the earth.
9 He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;
    he breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
    he burns the chariots with fire.
10 “Be still, and know that I am God.
    I will be exalted among the nations,
    I will be exalted in the earth!”
11 The Lord of hosts is with us;
    the God of Jacob is our fortress.

Psalm 46:8-11

Gathering Video

Questions for reflection:

How does our knowledge of God and ourselves interact?

Where do you see the good news in this text?

What is the “secret” to a happy life in Jesus?

Corporate Prayer:

Our Father in heaven,

We are grateful for your plan and provision. It is only by Jesus we are saved and sustained. We ask for the empowering of Your Spirit to ground us in truth, send us in love, and keep us aligned with your heart in the midst of the world.

In the name of Jesus we pray, Amen.

If you are able to support the church financially, we invite you to give securely by clicking the button below:

Notes//Quotes//Slides:

Gal 4:8-20 - Larry and Jorgen

Galatians 4:8-20

Worship is the continuous outpouring of all that I am, all that I do and all that I can ever become in light of a chosen or choosing god - Harold Best

“Evil, is the force, residing either inside or outside of human beings, that seeks to kill life or liveliness. And goodness is its opposite. Goodness is that which promotes life and liveliness. The evil create for those under their dominion a miniature sick society.” M. Scott Peck

“Since the primary motive of the evil is disguise, one of the places evil people are most likely to be found is within the church. What better way to conceal one's evil from oneself as well as from others than to be a deacon or some other highly visible form of Christian within our culture. Evil people tend to gravitate toward piety for the disguise and concealment it can offer them.” - Martin Buber

Unlike his opponents, Paul is not telling the Galatians what they would like to hear. He is telling them “the truth” (v 16), and he is being vilified for it. Paul would love to be able to be affirming and gentle, to be able to “change my tone” (v 20). But he would rather hold out the gospel than receive the praise. After all, it is the gospel which brings people to Christ-dependence, shapes people in Christ-likeness, and provokes people to Christ-praise. The gospel frees us from the need for people’s approval and adoration so that we can confront and anger the people we love if that is what is best for them. And although it does not always work, this is the only kind of communication that really changes people. If you love a person so selfishly that you cannot risk their anger, you won’t ever tell them the truth they need to hear. If, on the other hand, you tell a person the truth they need, but with harshness and not with the agony of a lover, they won’t listen to it.” - Tim Keller

“It has been said that we become what we behold. I believe there is nothing more transformative to our lives than beholding God in his word. After all, how can we conform to the image of a God we have not beheld?” Jen Wilkin

Gathering Recap - 06/18/2023 - Galatians 4:1-7

Call to worship:

4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
    the holy habitation of the Most High.
5 God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved;
    God will help her when morning dawns.
6 The nations rage, the kingdoms totter;
    he utters his voice, the earth melts.
7 The Lord of hosts is with us;
    the God of Jacob is our fortress.

Psalm 46:4-7

Gathering Video

Questions for reflection:

How does our knowledge of God and ourselves interact?

Where do you see the good news in this text?

What is the “secret” to a happy life in Jesus?

Corporate Prayer:

Our Father in heaven,

We are grateful for your plan and provision. It is only by Jesus we are saved and sustained. We ask for the empowering of Your Spirit to ground us in truth, send us in love, and keep us aligned with your heart in the midst of the world.

In the name of Jesus we pray, Amen.

If you are able to support the church financially, we invite you to give securely by clicking the button below:

Notes//Quotes//Slides:

Galatians 4:1-7 - kim J reading

Slide 1

Who do you think you are?

Slide 2

“The most important belief we possess is a true knowledge of who God is.


The second most important belief is who we are as children of God, because we cannot consistently behave in a way that is inconsistent with how we perceive ourselves.” 

Neil Anderson

Slide 3

Why is the period of Christ’s coming termed ‘the fulness of the time’? Various factors combined to make it such. For instance, it was the time when Rome had conquered and subdued the known inhabited earth, when Roman roads had been built to facilitate travel and Roman legions had been stationed to guard them. It was also the time when the Greek language and culture had given a certain cohesion to society. At the same time, the old mythological gods of Greece and Rome were losing their hold on the common people, so that the hearts and minds of men everywhere were hungry for a religion that was real and satisfying. Further, it was the time when the law of Moses had done its work of preparing men for Christ, holding them under its tutelage and in its prison, so that they longed ardently for the freedom with which Christ could make them free.

John Stott

Slide 4

Romans 6:16-18

Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? 

17 But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, 

18 and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. 

Slide 5

Romans 8:15-16

15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” 

16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 

Slide 6

Who do you think you are?

“I am a child of God by faith in Jesus, set free by His death and adopted into His family,

waiting to enter fully into my inheritance.”

Slide 7

But our penchant for earning paralyzes us before God’s offer of true grace. We don’t know how to receive favor without working for it. And so we subtly (or not so subtly) trade away the one true gospel because we prefer to work for and serve God as slaves (or at least as employees), and not as sons. We don’t feel safe letting him do all the work, and earning gives us some semblance of control. We simply can’t believe eternal security and everlasting life could be offered as a gift.

Marshall Segal

Slide 8

Do I know my own real identity? My own real destiny? “I am a child of God. God is my Father; heaven is my home; every day is one day nearer. My Savior is my brother; every Christian is my brother too.” Say it over and over to yourself, first thing in the morning, last thing at night, as you wait for the bus, and any time when your mind is free, and ask that you may be enabled to live as one who knows it is all utterly and completely true.

For this is the Christian’s secret of – a happy life? – yes, certainly, but we have something both higher and profounder to say. This is the Christian’s secret of a Christian life, and of a God-honouring life; and these are the aspects of the situation that really matter. May this secret become fully yours, and fully mine.

J.I. Packer, Knowing God

Gathering Recap - 06/11/2023 - Galatians 3:15-29

Call to worship:

3 Send out your light and your truth;
    let them lead me;
let them bring me to your holy hill
    and to your dwelling!
4 Then I will go to the altar of God,
    to God my exceeding joy,
and I will praise you with the lyre,
    O God, my God.

5 Why are you cast down, O my soul,
    and why are you in turmoil within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
    my salvation and my God.

Psalm 43:3-5

Gathering Video

Questions for reflection:

1. As I currently understand christianity today do I feel free or trapped?

2. When I am tempted to rely my law keeping for security which efforts do I tend to trust in?

3. To help you diagnose your own heart, ask yourself: What causes me to feel despair in life? What makes me feel proud about myself?

Corporate Prayer:

Our Father in heaven,

We are grateful for your plan and provision. It is only by Jesus we are saved and sustained. We ask for the empowering of Your Spirit to ground us in truth, send us in love, and keep us aligned with your heart in the midst of the world.

In the name of Jesus we pray, Amen.

If you are able to support the church financially, we invite you to give securely by clicking the button below:

Notes//Quotes//Slides:

Galatians 3:15-29 - Mike G. reading

Title: Talkin’ Torah

“Paul may well have been responding here to the popular Jewish claim that they alone, along with a few proselytes, were the “true sons of Abraham.” Paul wanted to show that the greater fulfillment of the promise is not biological but Christological.”

- Timothy George

“After God gave the promise to Abraham, He gave the law to Moses. Why? He had to make things worse before He could make them better. The law exposed sin, provoked sin, condemned sin. The purpose of the law was to lift the lid off man’s respectability and disclose what he is really underneath—sinful, rebellious, guilty, under the judgment of God and helpless to save himself. And the law must still be allowed to do its God-given duty today. One of the great faults of the contemporary church is the tendency to soft-pedal sin and judgment … We must never bypass the law and come straight to the gospel. To do so is to contradict the plan of God in biblical history … No man has ever appreciated the gospel until the law has first revealed him to himself. It is only against the inky blackness of the night sky that the stars begin to appear, and it is only against the dark background of sin and judgment that the gospel shines forth.”

- John Stott

“the trap and the tutor remove freedom. In both cases, the relationship with the “law” is not intimate or personal; it is based on rewards and punishments. And in both cases, we are treated as children or worse.”

- Timothy Keller

All non-gospel-based religion can be being characterized by:

(a) a sense of bondage

(b) an impersonal relationship with the divine, motivated by a desire for rewards and a fear of punishments

(c) anxiety about one’s standing with God

But in a gospel centric relationship…

The law points to:

(a) a life not of confinement, but of actual freedom

(b) not an impersonal, but a personal relationship with God

(c) not immaturity, but maturity of character

Questions:

1. As I currently understand christianity today do I feel free or trapped?

2. When I am tempted to rely my law keeping for security which efforts do I tend to trust in?

3. To help you diagnose your own heart, ask yourself: What causes me to feel despair in life? What makes me feel proud about myself?

Who Are You Married To?

By Ray Ortlund

“A married woman is bound by law to her husband while he lives, but if her husband dies she is released from the law of marriage. . . . and if she marries another man she is not an adulteress.  Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another.”  Romans 7:2-4

We were married to Mr. Law.  He was a good man, in his way, but he did not understand our weakness.  He came home every evening and asked, “So, how was your day?  Did you do what I told you to?  Did you make the kids behave?  Did you waste any time?  Did you complete everything I put on your To Do list?”  So many demands and expectations.  And hard as we tried, we couldn’t be perfect.  We could never satisfy him.  We forgot things that were important to him.  We let the children misbehave.  We failed in other ways.  It was a miserable marriage, because Mr. Law always pointed out our failings.  And the worst of it was, he was always right!  But his remedy was always the same: Do better tomorrow.  We didn’t, because we couldn’t.

Then Mr. Law died.  And we remarried, this time to Mr. Grace.  Our new husband, Jesus, comes home every evening and the house is a mess, the children are being naughty, dinner is burning on the stove, and we have even had other men in the house during the day.  Still, he sweeps us into his arms and says, “I love you, I chose you, I died for you, I will never leave you nor forsake you.”  And our hearts melt.  We don’t understand such love.  We expect him to despise us and reject us and humiliate us, but he treats us so well.  We are so glad to belong to him now and forever, and we long to be “fully pleasing to him” (Colossians 1:10)!

Being married to Mr. Law never changed us. But being married to Mr. Grace is changing us deep within, and it shows.

Gathering Recap - 06/04/2023 - Galatians 3:10-14

Call to worship:

3 Send out your light and your truth;
    let them lead me;
let them bring me to your holy hill
    and to your dwelling!
4 Then I will go to the altar of God,
    to God my exceeding joy,
and I will praise you with the lyre,
    O God, my God.

5 Why are you cast down, O my soul,
    and why are you in turmoil within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
    my salvation and my God.

Psalm 43:3-5

Gathering Video

Questions for reflection:

Why is the unity of Scripture a big deal?

How does “Father Abraham” end up getting many sons? What does that tell us about God? Ourselves?

Paul speaks of redemption, blessing, and gift of the Spirit. How does the gospel open all that up?

Corporate Prayer:

Our Father in heaven,

We are grateful for your plan and provision. It is only by Jesus we are saved and sustained. We ask for the empowering of Your Spirit to ground us in truth, send us in love, and keep us aligned with your heart in the midst of the world.

In the name of Jesus we pray, Amen.

If you are able to support the church financially, we invite you to give securely by clicking the button below:

Notes//Quotes//Slides:

Galatians 3:10-14

“If we allow the Bible to become fragmented, it is in danger of being absorbed into whatever other story is shaping our culture, and it will thus cease to shape our lives as it should. Idolatry has twisted the dominant cultural story of the secular Western world. If as believers we allow this story (rather than the Bible) to become the foundation of our thought and action, then our lives will manifest not the truths of Scripture, but the lies of an idolatrous culture. Hence, the unity of Scripture is no minor matter: a fragmented Bible may actually produce theologically orthodox, morally upright, warmly pious idol worshippers! - Mike Goheen

“These few verses offer a theological blueprint for the redemptive history of the world.” - William Dumbrell

Heb 11:8-16

The shocking fact of a crucified Messiah stands out. God’s purpose was fulfilled, not in a smooth line moving inch by inch forward from Abraham, through multiple developments, into covenant renewal and gentile inclusion, but in the previously unthinkable curse-bearing death of the Lord’s Anointed. Galatians 3:13 joins up with Paul’s other statements about Jesus’s death, in this letter and elsewhere, to form an overall picture in which the powerful divine love goes to the darkest possible depths to enable the rescue operation to take place. NT Wright

Exodus “Graphic and unmistakable experience of redemption from an alien power…it involves not only the release from slavery but also the shedding of blood as a means of escape from judgement” Graham Goldsworthy

In the Cross is salvation; in the Cross is life; in the Cross is protection against our enemies; in the Cross is infusion of heavenly sweetness; in the Cross is strength of mind; in the Cross is joy of spirit; in the Cross is excellence of virtue; in the Cross is perfection of holiness. There is no salvation of soul, nor hope of eternal life, save in the Cross. - Thomas A Kempis

Thomas A. Kempis Picture (attached in files)

When I base my Christian life on my Christian experience, I become locked in the labyrinth of my own performance. I am only as sure of God as my current emotions and obedience allow. My eyes are fixed on myself. The gospel, the good news, is the way the Holy Spirit turns our eyes away from ourselves and onto Christ. The gospel brings you into union with Christ. Christ enters your heart and gives you faith. By that faith, you receive Christ and all his fullness. Faith fixes your eyes on Christ and rests in him. - Rankin Wilbourne, Union With Christ

Final screen(s) - A hymn - As many lines as can fit for a screen or two:

Nothing, either great or small— Nothing, sinner, no;

Jesus died and paid it all, Long, long ago.

“It is finished!” yes, indeed, Finished, ev’ry jot;

Sinner, this is all you need, Tell me, is it not?

When He, from His lofty throne, Stooped to do and die,

Ev’rything was fully done; Hearken to His cry!

Weary, working, burdened one, Wherefore toil you so?

Cease your doing; all was done, Long, long ago.

Till to Jesus’ work you cling, By a simple faith,

“Doing” is a deadly thing— “Doing” ends in death.

Cast your deadly “doing” down— Down at Jesus’ feet;

Stand in Him, in Him alone, Gloriously complete.

“It is finished!” yes, indeed, Finished, ev’ry jot;

Sinner, this is all you need, Tell me, is it not? - James Proctor

Gathering Recap - 05/28/2023 - Galatians 3:1-9

Call to worship:

16 But may all who seek you
    rejoice and be glad in you;
may those who love your salvation
    say continually, “Great is the Lord!”
17 As for me, I am poor and needy,
    but the Lord takes thought for me.
You are my help and my deliverer;
    do not delay, O my God!

Psalm 40:16-17

Gathering Video

Questions for reflection:

What are the “did God really say” stories you see today?

How is it significant that Paul points the Galatians to the story of Abraham?

God’s gifted us with Scripture, His Spirit, and the saints. How do these keep us centered in life?

Corporate Prayer:

Our Father in heaven,

We are grateful for your plan and provision. It is only by Jesus we are saved and sustained. We ask for the empowering of Your Spirit to ground us in truth, send us in love, and keep us aligned with your heart in the midst of the world.

In the name of Jesus we pray, Amen.

If you are able to support the church financially, we invite you to give securely by clicking the button below:

Notes//Quotes//Slides:

Galatians 3:1-9

“Being “a successful, effective storytelling engine,” is a business model that has been changed by an era of technology disruption. What was very, very clear to me is that technology would provide us the opportunity to tell more stories to more people.” - Bob Iger

“Odysseus, bravest of heroes,
Draw near to us, on our green island,
Odysseus, we’ll teach you wisdom,
We’ll give you love, sweeter than honey.
The songs we sing, soothe away sorrow,
And in our arms, you will be happy.
Odysseus, bravest of heroes,
The songs we sing, will bring you peace.” - The Odyssey

“Christians think that we are saved by the gospel, but then we grow by applying biblical principles to every area of life. But we are not just saved by the gospel, we grow by applying the gospel to every area of life.” Dick Kaufmann

Ps. 19:7-11

John 16:13-15

Gathering Recap - 05/21/2023 - Galatians 2:20-21

Call to worship:

4 Blessed is the man who makes
    the Lord his trust,
who does not turn to the proud,
    to those who go astray after a lie!
5 You have multiplied, O Lord my God,
    your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us;
    none can compare with you!
I will proclaim and tell of them,
    yet they are more than can be told.

Psalm 40:4-5

Gathering Video

Questions for reflection:

How is Jesus our position, point, and place?

Have you experienced “secret energy” from the death of Christ?

When Jesus isn’t your identity, what tends to fill that space?

Corporate Prayer:

Our Father in heaven,

We are grateful for your plan and provision. It is only by Jesus we are saved and sustained. We ask for the empowering of Your Spirit to ground us in truth, send us in love, and keep us aligned with your heart in the midst of the world.

In the name of Jesus we pray, Amen.

If you are able to support the church financially, we invite you to give securely by clicking the button below:

Notes//Quotes//Slides:

“The Messiah” is the locus of Jesus-believers’ identity. Calling him “Messiah” indicates both that he is the fulfillment of God’s plan for Israel and that he is now the place where, and the means by which, his people live, move, and have their being.” —N.T. Wright

“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. 29 And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise. (Galatians 3:28&29)

“In one sense this is presumptuous language because the mystery of atonement requires that the death of Christ be unique, unrepeatable, and isolated. The two thieves who were literally crucified with Christ did not bear the sins of the world in their agonizing deaths. On the cross Christ suffered alone forsaken by his friends, his followers, and finally even his Father, dying, as J. Moltmann puts it, “a God-forsaken death for God-forsaken people.” With reference to his substitutionary suffering and vicarious death, only Jesus, and he alone, can be the Substitute and Vicar. And yet—this was Paul’s point—the very benefits of Christ’s atoning death, including first of all justification, are without effect unless we are identified with Christ in his death and resurrection.” - Timothy George

“Engrafted into the death of Christ, we derive a secret energy from it, as the shoot does from the root.”

- John Calvin

“Christianity is not a self-improvement course. We are not called to come and do, but to come and die. For the new life is not self-improvement, but self-denial. We consider our old self “crucified with Christ” and our new self risen with Him to new life. We die to sin and we also die to self-effort, no longer trying to please God by following some set of religious rules and regulations that we are unable to keep. Dying to self, we live by Christ, “trusting” in Him to live His life in and through us.” - Gary Combs

“The “I” who has died to the law no longer lives; Christ, in the person of the Holy Spirit, dwells within, sanctifying our bodies as temples of the Holy Spirit and enabling us to approach the throne of God in prayer…“Therefore, The life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” In this fourth thesis Paul describes the modality of the Christian life and again reiterated its objective source in the living Son of God and the love that sent him to the cross…The object of this faith is Jesus Christ, the Son of God, “who loved me and gave himself for me.” This is a rich expression that contains in summary form the whole doctrine of atonement. No impersonal force or cosmic law or external necessity compelled Christ to die. It was the love of God, unmerited, immeasurable, infinite, that sent Jesus to the cross. Not for his own sake but “for me” he endured the rigors of Calvary.” - Timothy George

Everyone goes away in the end

And you could have it all

My empire of dirt

I will let you down

I will make you hurt

- Johnny Cash

“Even a weak faith in Jesus is a billion times stronger than a strong faith in anything else.” —Timothy Keller

Gathering Recap - 05/14/2023 - Galatians 2:11-19

Call to worship:

1 I waited patiently for the Lord;
    he inclined to me and heard my cry.
2 He drew me up from the pit of destruction,
    out of the miry bog,
and set my feet upon a rock,
    making my steps secure.
3 He put a new song in my mouth,
    a song of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear,
    and put their trust in the Lord.

Psalm 40:1-3

Gathering Video

Questions for reflection:

How does fear manifest itself in you? Do you tend to get bigger, smaller, or shapeshift?

In what ways does the gospel free us from our tendencies of fear and hypocrisy?

How does justification by faith work itself out in our daily lives?

Corporate Prayer:

Our Father in heaven,

We are grateful for your plan and provision. It is only by Jesus we are saved and sustained. We ask for the empowering of Your Spirit to ground us in truth, send us in love, and keep us aligned with your heart in the midst of the world.

In the name of Jesus we pray, Amen.

If you are able to support the church financially, we invite you to give securely by clicking the button below:

Notes//Quotes//Slides:

Galatians 2:11-19

“When I get honest, I admit I am a bundle of paradoxes. I believe and I doubt, I hope and get discouraged, I love and I hate, I feel bad about feeling good, I feel guilty about not feeling guilty. I am trusting and suspicious. I am honest and I still play games. Aristotle said I am a rational animal; I say I am an angel with an incredible capacity for beer.” - Brennan Manning

Proverbs 29:25

God's love is a costly love. It never takes the easy path away from relationships. Instead, it plots how to move towards other people. It thinks creatively of ways to surprise them with love. - Ed Welch

“Dikaiosynē and pistis are chief among the qualities which make human associations possible.… For Cicero and others, pistis/fides and dikaiosynē are jointly foundational for any state. Sometimes justice is specified as the foundation of trust, and sometimes trust of justice.… When pistis/fides and dikaiosynē/iustitia come together in Greek and Roman texts, the power of each to forge social relationships, create polities, and change socio-political landscapes is multiplied.” - Teresa Morgan

“Paul’s approach makes all the difference. Paul did not simply say: You’re breaking the rules (even though Peter was), but: You’ve forgotten the gospel: your own gracious welcome in Christ. Paul did not focus so much on the sinful behavior as on the sinful attitude of self-righteousness that lay beneath it. God did not have fellowship with you on the basis of your race and culture (v 15). Though you were good and devout, your race and customs had nothing to do with it (v 16). Therefore, how can you have fellowship on the basis of race and culture (v 14) - Tim Keller

[Pistis] is, first and foremost, neither a body of beliefs nor a function of the heart or mind, but a relationship which creates community. - Teresa Morgan

To live by grace means to acknowledge my whole life story, the light side and the dark. In admitting my shadow side I learn who I am and what God's grace means. As Thomas Merton put it, "A saint is not someone who is good but who experiences the goodness of God…My deepest awareness of myself is that I am deeply loved by Jesus Christ and I have done nothing to earn it or deserve it.” Brennan Manning

Gathering Recap - 05/07/2023 - Galatians 2:1-10

Call to worship:

39 The salvation of the righteous is from the Lord;
    he is their stronghold in the time of trouble.
40 The Lord helps them and delivers them;
    he delivers them from the wicked and saves them,
    because they take refuge in him.

Psalm 37:39-40

Gathering Video

Questions for reflection:

1. Has the gospel set me free from he middle school mindset? Have I settled into the freedom, validation, and security the gospel provides?

2. Do I struggle with hypocrisy? What ways am I prone to it?

Corporate Prayer:

Our Father in heaven,

We are grateful for your plan and provision. It is only by Jesus we are saved and sustained. We ask for the empowering of Your Spirit to ground us in truth, send us in love, and keep us aligned with your heart in the midst of the world.

In the name of Jesus we pray, Amen.

If you are able to support the church financially, we invite you to give securely by clicking the button below:

Notes//Quotes//Slides:

1. Has the gospel set me free from he middle school mindset? Have I settled into the freedom, validation, and security the gospel provides?

2. Do I struggle with hypocrisy? What ways am I prone to it?

Gathering Recap - 04/30/2023 - Galatians 1:11-24

Call to worship:

5 Commit your way to the Lord;
    trust in him, and he will act.
6 He will bring forth your righteousness as the light,
    and your justice as the noonday.

7 Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him;
    fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way,
    over the man who carries out evil devices!

8 Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath!
    Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil.
9 For the evildoers shall be cut off,
    but those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land.

Psalm 37:5-9

Gathering Video

Questions for reflection:

How has the persecution of the church historically fueled clarity and calling in the world?

What kind of transformation does the gospel bring?

Where do you see God’s mission intersecting with your everyday life?

Corporate Prayer:

Our Father in heaven,

We are grateful for your plan and provision. It is only by Jesus we are saved and sustained. We ask for the empowering of Your Spirit to ground us in truth, send us in love, and keep us aligned with your heart in the midst of the world.

In the name of Jesus we pray, Amen.

If you are able to support the church financially, we invite you to give securely by clicking the button below:

Notes//Quotes//Slides:

Galatians 1:11-24

“All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.” - John 6:37

“You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide.” John 15:16

Genesis 12:1-3

1 Peter 2:9-10

“But now even more the report about him went abroad, and great crowds gathered to hear him and to be healed of their infirmities. But he would withdraw to desolate places and pray.” - Luke 5:15-16

“In these days he went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God.” - Luke 6:12

Ephesians 2:8-10

Connection Points:

- The revealing of Jesus reorients everything

- Commune with God as you go for God

- Notice preoccupations and pain points, and turn them to prayer

- Live into the presence, power, and promises of God

Gathering Recap - 04/23/2023 - Galatians 1:6-10

Call to worship:

1 Fret not yourself because of evildoers;
    be not envious of wrongdoers!
2 For they will soon fade like the grass
    and wither like the green herb.

3 Trust in the Lord, and do good;
    dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.
4 Delight yourself in the Lord,
    and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Psalm 37:1-4

Gathering Video

Questions for reflection:

Is salvation the sheer grace of God—or is it something else?

To whom or what are we really looking to for salvation and to make sense of the world in which we live?

Corporate Prayer:

Our Father in heaven,

We are grateful for your plan and provision. It is only by Jesus we are saved and sustained. We ask for the empowering of Your Spirit to ground us in truth, send us in love, and keep us aligned with your heart in the midst of the world.

In the name of Jesus we pray, Amen.

If you are able to support the church financially, we invite you to give securely by clicking the button below:

Notes//Quotes//Slides:

Galatians 1:6-10 - Kim J Reading

That was another reason why local Jewish communities wo“Seen from an outsider’s perspective, Paul had done something totally unacceptable both to the local Jewish community and to the wider Greco-Roman society, the social and civic fabric of the towns in southern Turkey. For the Jews, he had declared that anyone who belonged to Messiah Jesus was part of Abraham’s family, an heir-in-waiting to the worldwide promises of Genesis, Isaiah, and the Psalms. For the local pagan communities, he had, without a by-your-leave, established a network of communities whose members did not worship the local gods, offering as their excuse the strange claim that they were Abraham’s family and thus entitled to the privilege granted to the Jewish communities.That was another reason why the local Jewish Communities would be horrified: If this new group were to claim the same exemption, without in fact being ethnically Jewish, would not the pagan authorities clamp down and maybe attack them all? Paul was upsetting the delicate, and at times fraught, social balance.”

- N.T. Wright

“When the glow of justification is ascribed to another, and a snare is laid for the consciences of men, the Savior no longer occupies his place, and the doctrine of the gospel is utterly ruined.”

- John Calvin

“First, it teaches that good works are enough to get to God. If all good people can know God, then Jesus’ death was not necessary; all it takes is virtue. The trouble is, this means bad people have no hope, contradicting the gospel, which invites “both good and bad” to God’s feast (Matthew 22:10). If you say people are saved by being good, then only “the good” can come in to God’s feast. The gospel offer becomes exclusive, not inclusive. Second, it encourages people to think that if they are tolerant and open, they are pleasing to God. They don’t need grace—they get eternal life for themselves. And so “glory for ever” (v 5) goes to them, for being good enough for heaven. The gospel, however, challenges people to see their radical sin. Without that sense of one’s own evil, the knowledge of God’s grace will not be transforming, and we will not understand how much God is glorified by the presence of anyone at all in heaven.”

- Timothy Keller

“And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. 2 For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3 And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, 4 and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.”

—1 Corinthians 2:1-5

Questions:

Is salvation the sheer grace of God—or is it something else?

To whom or what are we really looking to for salvation and to make sense of the world in which we live?

Gathering Recap - 04/16/2023 - Galatians 1:1-5

Call to worship:

7 Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him;
    fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way,
    over the man who carries out evil devices!

8 Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath!
    Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil.
9 For the evildoers shall be cut off,
    but those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land.

Psalm 37:7-9

Gathering Video

Questions for reflection:

What threats are there to the foundations of the faith?

How has Jesus sustained his people through the ages?

In what ways can we pursue health and life together with the gospel as center?

Corporate Prayer:

Our Father in heaven,

We are grateful for your plan and provision. It is only by Jesus we are saved and sustained. We ask for the empowering of Your Spirit to ground us in truth, send us in love, and keep us aligned with your heart in the midst of the world.

In the name of Jesus we pray, Amen.

If you are able to support the church financially, we invite you to give securely by clicking the button below:

Notes//Quotes//Slides:

Galatians 1:1-5

Acts 15:6-11

Acts 15:19-21

“Paul was against the legalism of the Judaizers because it usurped the work of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit and forced all converts to become Jews. It was not what was done that rankled Paul; it was why these things were done that produced his quick reaction. The system is one of “addition by subtraction”— adding to the gospel by subtracting the sufficiency of Christ and the Spirit.” - Scot McKnight

“Paul was preaching—and this is what the letter to the Galatians is all about—that whenever anyone believes in the crucified Jesus as Israel’s Messiah and the risen Lord, that is already a sign that such a person is part of God’s true people, no matter what the person’s ethnic or moral background may be. New believers from a gentile background, Paul taught, were full members of God’s people without the demand for circumcision. Nor did they need the other regular signs of Jewish identity, the Sabbath and the food laws.” - NT Wright

”In this short letter, Paul outlines the bombshell truth that the gospel is the A to Z of the Christian life. It is not only the way to enter the kingdom; it is the way to live as part of the kingdom. It is the way Christ transforms people, churches and communities. We’re going to hear him solving their issues not through telling them to “be better Christians”, but by calling them to live out the implications of the gospel. Paul will explain to us that the truths of the gospel changes life from top to bottom; that they transform our hearts, our thinking and our approach to absolutely everything. The gospel—the message that we are more wicked than we ever dared believe, but more loved and accepted in Christ than we ever dared hope—creates a radical new dynamic for personal growth, for obedience, for love.” - Tim Keller, Galatians For You

1 Cor 3:10-15

“The church is a community that exists because something has happened that makes the entire process of self-justification irrelevant. God’s truth and mercy have appeared in concrete form in Jesus and, in his death and resurrection, have worked the transformation that only God can perform, told us what only God can tell us: that he has already dealt with the dreaded consequences of our failure, so that we need not labor anxiously to save ourselves and put ourselves right with God.” - Rowan Williams

Values Graphic

“As a country we are turning away from religion, from community involvement, from patriotism, from marriage, from having children. We are turning toward money, toward work, toward politicizing everything, toward fewer interactions with people, toward more time online. How are our choices working for us? We are becoming less happy, more stressed, more depressed.” - Maxwell Anderson

They call it radical individualism. What this amounts to is simple enough. We in America have been socialized to believe that our own dreams, goals, and personal fulfillment ought to take precedence over the well-being of any group—our church or our family, for example—to which we belong. The immediate needs of the individual are more important than the long-term health of the group. So we leave and withdraw, rather than stay and grow up, when the going gets rough in the church or in the home. - Joseph Hellerman

All earthly cities are vulnerable. Men build them and men destroy them. At the same time there is the City of God which men did not build and cannot destroy and which is everlasting. - Augustine

Gathering Recap - 04/09/2023 - Easter 2023

Call to worship:

When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him.2 And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. 3 And they were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?” 4 And looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled back—it was very large. 5 And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe, and they were alarmed. 6 And he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him. 7 But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.”8 And they went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had seized them, and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.

Mark 16:1-8

Gathering Video

Questions for reflection:

What evidence of the resurrection is most compelling to you?

How does the resurrection bring real life ramifications for today?

Corporate Prayer:

Our Father in heaven,

We are grateful for Your story and the grace we find in the gospel. We confess our only hope, joy, peace, and life is in our risen Savior Jesus. We ask you to empower us by the Holy Spirit to love You with all our heart, mind, soul and strength, and to love our neighbor as ourselves.

In the name of Christ we pray, Amen

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Notes//Quotes//Slides:

Galatians 1:1-5

“Jesus never wrote a book, raised an army, or ruled a realm. And yet he has become, by any measure, the most influential person who has ever lived.” Rebecca McLaughlin

“It is hard today to understand just how offensive the idea of a crucified messiah would have been to most first-century Jews. Since no one would have made up the idea of a crucified messiah, Jesus must really have existed, must really have raised messianic expectations, and must really have been crucified.” - Bart Ehrman

“One could simply dismiss the resurrection as a lie, and declare belief in the risen Jesus to be the product of a deludable mind. However, there is this nagging fact to consider: one after another of those who claimed to have witnessed the risen Jesus went to their own gruesome deaths refusing to recant their testimony. That is not, in itself, unusual. Many zealous Jews died horribly for refusing to deny their beliefs. But these first followers of Jesus were not being asked to reject matters of faith based on events that took place centuries, if not millennia, before. They were being asked to deny something they themselves personally, directly encountered.” - Reza Aslan

“This event is psychologically surprising. It would have been as unexpected as Richard Dawkins, the vocal Oxford atheist, suddenly announcing that Jesus appeared to him in his study and that he was now a Christian. While we might think he was crazy, it would be hard to deny that something extraordinary had taken place to bring about such a complete reversal. In fact, the conversion of Paul is even more surprising than the hypothetical conversion of Dawkins, given that Paul embraced not a world religion with billions of followers but a despised, persecuted religious sect with no power and few adherents. Therefore, anyone who doubts the resurrection must provide a plausible account of why Paul underwent such a dramatic conversion in such a short period of time.” Neil Shenvi

“The complaint of the depressive individual, “Nothing is possible,” can only occur in a society that thinks, “Nothing is impossible.” The depressive has been wounded by internalized war. Depression is the sickness of a society that suffers from excessive positivity. It reflects a humanity waging war on itself. The exhausted, depressive achievement-subject grinds itself down, so to speak. It is tired, exhausted by itself, and at war with itself. Entirely incapable of stepping outward, of standing outside itself, of relying on the Other, on the world, it locks its jaws on itself; paradoxically, this leads the self to hollow and empty out. It wears itself out in a rat race it runs against itself.” - Byung-Chul Han, The Burnout Society

“Paul's point (in writing) is not simply that God is now my Father and I am now His son. God, in Jesus' great work of redemption, was not establishing a series of isolated personal relationships with His individual followers. He was creating a family of sons and daughters—siblings—who are now "all one in Christ Jesus.” The saving work of Christ therefore has a corporate, as well as an individual, dimension. For Paul, the church is a family.” - Joseph Hellerman, When the Church Was A Family

"Grace means there is nothing I can do to make God love me more, and nothing I can do to make God love me less. It means that I, even I who deserve the opposite, am invited to take my place at the table in God’s family.” - Philip Yancey

“This isn’t about “going to heaven.” It is about the launch of God’s “age to come” here and now, in the midst of the messy “present evil age.” For Paul the “new age” began, when Jesus of Nazareth came out of the tomb on the first Easter morning. The gospel message is all about something that has happened in Jesus, as a result of which the world is a different place. Jesus-followers are summoned to recognize that they now live in that different world and are to order their lives accordingly.” - N.T. Wright

Our true Good Shepherd

Holds dirty feet in his

God-hands and asks us

To let him love us

Down to the dirt

Under our toenails

KJ Ramsey

Lord,

You are the Shepherd who is always more ready

To serve than we are to be served.

Wash us with the water of your welcome.

Wipe our imaginations clean

Of the assumption that we are too dirty to love.

May we let you love us down to the dirt under our toenails

And the darkness in the crevices of our souls

And so learn the direction of love is down.

For you are the God who gets on the ground.

KJ Ramsey

Good Friday - 2023

Call to worship:

 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
    and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
    smitten by God, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions;
    he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
    and with his wounds we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray;
    we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
    the iniquity of us all.

Isaiah 53:3-6

Worship

Gathering Video

Questions for reflection:

What facets of the cross currently fascinate you?

What is unique about Paul’s teaching on the cross in the book of Galatians?

In what ways are you currently being called to a cruciform life?

Corporate Prayer:

Most merciful God,

We confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done, and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We are truly sorry and we humbly repent. For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, have mercy on us and forgive us; that we may delight in your will, and walk in your ways, to the glory of your Name. Amen.

In the name of Christ we pray,

Amen

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Notes//Quotes//

“Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.” - Galatians 1:3-5

“From beginning to end, the Holy Scriptures testify that the predicament of fallen humanity is so serious, so grave, so irremediable from within, that nothing short of divine intervention can rectify it.” - Fleming Rutledge

“Self-denial is not denying to ourselves luxuries such as chocolates, cakes, cigarettes and cocktails (although it might include this); it is actually denying or disowning ourselves, renouncing our supposed right to go our own way.” - John Stott

 “You crazy Galatians! Did someone put a spell on you? Have you taken leave of your senses? Something crazy has happened, for it’s obvious that you no longer have the crucified Jesus in clear focus in your lives. His sacrifice on the cross was certainly set before you clearly enough.” - Galatians 3:1 - The Message

My sin, oh the bliss of this glorious thought

My sin, not in part, but the whole

Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more

Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul - It is Well - Horatio Spafford

“But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. And as for all who walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God.” - Galatians 6:13-15