Trusting Not Striving

Introduction - Setting the Scene

Good morning and welcome, especially if you’re visiting us, or here to celebrate the baptism today. Over the next few weeks we’re exploring a short letter in the Bible called Galatians. It was written nearly 2,000 years ago but it speaks into something very real today: how do we know we’re accepted? How do we know we’re loved? This is an amazing letter, with an amazing message - and because I don’t want to hold you hostage and we’ve got really exciting things coming up, I’m not going to try to go on too long, but that does mean we’re not going deep. So do go home and read this amazing letter, and if you have any questions at all about it please come and ask afterwards!

Paul’s Story: From Opponent to Messenger

Galatians was written by a man called Paul. Now, Paul didn’t start out as a follower of Jesus. In fact, he was completely against Christianity. He worked hard to shut it down. But then he had a personal encounter with Jesus, one that turned his life completely upside down. Paul discovered something that changed everything: that God’s love isn’t something you earn, achieve, or prove. It’s a gift. It’s grace.

And so Paul spent the rest of his life travelling, telling people what he had found - that the message of Jesus is about freedom, not pressure.

The Problem in Galatia — and in Us

But when Paul wrote this letter, he had received bad news. The people in these young churches had started to believe something different. They were being told that yes, believing in Jesus was good but they still needed to do more. To work harder. To keep all the rules. To earn their place with God.

And Paul writes because he knows exactly where that road leads to guilt, fear, exhaustion, and endless striving.

And even if we wouldn’t put it in religious words, most of us know what that feels like. Our whole world is shaped by it:

the constant pressure to be enough

to perform at work

to have the perfect home

to look good

to parent well

to have the right relationships

to keep up appearances on social media

We’re constantly told: “You can be anything, achieve anything if you work hard enough.” But the goalposts always move. The satisfaction never lasts. The treadmill never stops.

Radical Freedom

And into that world — into our world — Paul speaks. He says: That is not how God works.

In chapter 1, Paul says: this good news didn’t come from people. It came from God. And it’s simple: because of Jesus, you can have a completely fresh start not because you earn it, but because He loves you.

In chapter 2, Paul explains that we are made right with God not by keeping rules or trying harder, but by trusting Jesus. He puts it like this: “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live… I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20)

It’s not: fix yourself, then come to God. It’s: come as you are — and let Him change you from the inside.

The Heart of Chapter 3: A New Family

And now, in chapter 3, Paul takes us to the heart of it. He says the law , all the rules, was like a guardian for a child. It helped people see right from wrong. But it was never meant to heal us. Only Jesus can do that.

And so he writes: “In Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith… for all of you who were baptised into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.” (Galatians 3:26-27)

That’s what we’ve witnessed today in baptism. It’s a picture of that new life — not earned, but received. Not performed, but gifted.

And then Paul says something radical: “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:28)

In other words: none of the things that usually define us: our past, our status, our failures, our differences, none of it matters when it comes to God’s love. In Jesus, we’re invited to belong. Fully. Freely.

We’ve heard this Before!

It’s not so different from what we seen in the baptism today - and in our Luke reading. The man is lost, broken, and alone. Jesus steps in, frees him, clothes him, and gives him a place to belong.

Baptism shows us the same thing: we don’t wash ourselves clean. Jesus washes us.

We don’t earn God’s love. He gives it.

That’s the good news Paul is shouting in Galatians: 

it’s not about what we do, but what God has done for us.

The Invitation — For Us Today

So let me ask you gently today:

Are you tired of trying to hold everything together?

Tired of chasing approval?

Tired of wondering if you’re enough?

Tired of running but never arriving?

Paul would say to you exactly what he said to these people he loved: You don’t have to run anymore. The striving can stop.

Because in Jesus, God has already done everything necessary. On the cross, Jesus took all of our sin, all of our failure, all of our striving and said: It is finished. And when He rose again, He opened the door to new life, life not based on your achievements, but on His grace.

And that offer still stands today. This isn’t about religion. This isn’t about church rules. This is about relationship. It’s about freedom.

So today, if you hear that gentle voice tugging at your heart — come.

You don’t have to fix yourself first.

You don’t have to get your life sorted.

You don’t have to be ready.

Jesus is ready. He has done it all. And He simply says: Come to me. Trust me. Let me give you the life you’ve been chasing everywhere else.

That’s the invitation of Galatians. That’s the invitation of the gospel. And that invitation is open to you, even today.

It might be an invitation you’re hearing the first time, or for the hundredth, but I’m going to pray for us now and if you’d like to join in with this prayer, either out loud or in your heart, then you are so, so welcome to do so.

Let’s take a moment to be still.

Maybe today you’ve sensed that invitation. to stop striving, to stop running, and to come home to Jesus.

If that’s you, you might like to echo these words quietly in your heart as I pray:

Lord Jesus, I am tired of trying to do life on my own. Thank you that I don’t need to earn your love. Thank you that you died and rose again to give me a new start. Today I choose to trust you. Please forgive me, change me, and help me to live in your love. Amen.

Maybe today something’s stirred for you, perhaps for the first time, or perhaps after a long time. You don’t need to have it all figured out. The message of Jesus is simply this:

You are loved. You don’t need to earn it. Jesus has done everything to offer you forgiveness, freedom, and new life. And that invitation is open to you.

If you’d like to explore that more, or if you have questions, we would love to listen and walk with you.

No pressure, just come and chat with me or someone on the team after the service. Or if you’d prefer, use one of the cards or scan the code and we’ll get in touch in a way that feels right for you.

You are loved. You don’t have to earn it. Jesus offers a new start.

The invitation is open.

If you’d like to explore that more: Fill in a connect card Scan the code Or chat with someone after the service