Story: The Sermon

Story

Joseph -

ILL - Mom’s ice incident - define her story/my story 

Ill - my testimony

define by introversion

Story.

My Story

Our ego side blinds us to others personhood

Pace in moment misses the here and now

ILL - Pic of family (parents)

Success blinds us to story serving

Envy blinds us to celebrating others. 

Detachment

From our storyTo His story

Promised land 15%

See pic

Everyday I’m camping - LIE

ME

My Story

ILL - Pic of family (parents)

ILL - Pic of family (parents)

WE

GOD

Metanarrative ______

Narrative ___

Micro-narrative _

Before we unpack this second chapter of Galatians, let’s set the stage with some background information: Paul wrote to the churches in southern Galatia after having a hand in starting them on his first missionary journey to Asia Minor. Upon arriving back in Antioch from his first missionary journey after eighteen months on the road, Paul received a report that the churches he had started in Galatia had fallen into hard times—specifically, they had fallen into error. A group of Judaizers—those who sought to make living under the Mosaic Law a requirement of the Christian faith—had gained an influence in the Galatian churches. Church is no stranger to controversy - if you come to faith thinking the church is perfect you’ll be sadly disappointed. God is preparing us to be that perfect bride but we all have a ways to go. ILL - almost church split over where we should pray before a service. Some controversies are trival; some are huge like poverty, justice, gender equality, racial divides. It was this last one that emerged early in the early church.Paul wrote the book a few months before his attendance at the Jerusalem Council in AD 49, a meeting where the apostles would take up this very topic (). Paul’s letter speaks wisdom and clarity into the first real controversy that plagued the church in its early years—the relationship between Christian Jews and Christian Gentiles. Paul’s tone is aggressive because he was passionate that people embrace unity in Christ, no matter their racial distinctions. For him, this was no minor issue, as he went so far as to call the Galatians deserters of Christ, people turning from the truth toward a gospel contrary to the one they had received from Paul ().ILL - racismWhen the Galatians fell away so quickly from the gospel of grace Paul had preached to them, they also made clear their disloyalty to Paul’s authority as an apostle. Therefore, Paul began the letter to the Galatians by spending two chapters defending that very issue. If they could discredit Paul they could discredit his message. Paul shores up his message and his God-given authority.In Chapter 1 - CODY: “Another Gospel Is Not THE Gospel” … “Jesus + Nothing = Everything”Chapter 2 begins in vv. 1-10 with Paul outlining some of his personal journey as a leader of the early church and the false leaders that emerged to try and impose something other than the true Gospel on Gentile believers.Pick up the story in verse 11.Why are these verses in Galatians? Paul was defending in leadership to the Galatians emphasizing his Gospel came directly from Jesus not human teachers and his message was the same message approved and proclaimed by the other apostles. But in case the Galatians or his opponents refused to accept his leadership or message he recounts an incident with Peter in Antioch when Paul issued the sternest of rebukes. Peter - fisherman turned follower of Jesus; went from a denier of Jesus at the crucifixion to a powerful leader and preacher in the early church in . But some things were going off the rials by . The former fisherman was so drenched in his Jewish tradition that it was hindering his ability to fish for people. It took a spectacular vision and encounter with a centurion named Cornelius. Cornelius was a Gentile considered unclean by the Jews. No good Jew would defile himself by going to the house of a Gentile. But in Peter’s vision God spoke to Peter declaring that nothing or no one that God has created should be considered unclean. Peter became a huge proponent of this PARADIGM SHIFT - Gospel was leap frogging not only over regional barriers but social barriers. GREAT NEWS FOR US! This was a major turning point in the church and the understanding of what the Christian life was all about. Jews who would not even eat with Gentiles or even enter their homes could now embrace them as brothers and sisters.Somewhere after Peter’s great revelation and support for Gentile believers something went off the rails. Peter went from a great advocate for Gentile freedom to succumbing to pressure from some of these false leaders. When representatives came from the Jerusalem church came to Antioch they tried to impose the Jewish laws again on the Gentile believers. Peter and Barnabas were intimidated by their forcefulness and withdrew from the Gentiles. Maybe it was fear, wanting to maintain their image, or to be accepted - but whatever the motive they changed. Peter hadn’t gone all the way back into legalism but his actions were not consistent with his message. He was sending MIXED MESSAGES. He was blurring the message of the Gospel and obscuring the freedom it provides. Paul recognized the GOSPEL and the FUTURE of the church was at stake so in v. 11 he opposed Peter to his face…got all up in grill in front of other people. “Peter, you’ve been eating ham sandwiches with Gentiles and now you want them to only eat kosher. You’ve been demonstrating freedom in Christ and now you want to demand bondage to the law. “Paul calls Peter out on his chameleon move in front of some prominent Jews. He then emphasizes that our identity in Christ is rooted in justification by faith, not works!We don’t know for sure how Peter responded but we do know that when they arrived at the Jerusalem Council, which convened to discuss this very issue of legalism and requirements on the Gentiles, it was Peter who spoke out clearly on releasing the Gentiles from the burden of the Law and to recognize them as equal recipients of God’s amazing grace!Paul’s confrontation shut down Peter’s mixed messages:It reset Peter’s perspective and put his leadership back on the right pathIt reaffirmed Paul in his ministry so that he could continue to follow God’s call and plan to build the early churchIt reminded the church that the Gospel, the message of the finished work of Christ, is the only thing that advances us towards holiness and releases us from hypocrisy

God’s story

Gen - Revelation

Story of creation, redemption and the re-creation.

Graciously includes our story

Our story comprised of multiple episodes

Proper perspective:

God - purpose for us - circumstances found inside His story

Typical

-shape our story

micro-narratives are the things that shape our story instead of God’s meta-narrative sahping our stry

The narrative we choose will determine our outcome. It is a matter of choice. Our circumstances we cannot chose (family, history, personality)

The narrative we choose will:

-define our person

-develop our character

ILL - Steve Carter. Promised land 15%

Promised land 15%

See pic

See pic

-display our God - allow our incorrect narrative to shape our view of God and our view of who we are

allow our incorrect narrative to shape our view of God and our view of who we are

YOU

WE

​ NLTWell then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of his wonderful grace? Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it?

Metanarrative ______

Narrative ___

Micro-narrative _

-Graciously includes our story

-Our story comprised of multiple episodes

God - purpose for us - circumstances found inside His story

Typical: micronarratives:

-shape our story

-define our person

-develop our character

-allow our incorrect narrative to shape our view of God and our view of who we are

Ministry

Our story - demonstrate to the world/people His story “works together for our good” Tom. 8

Encounter many stroeus in our people

Proper persepctive

ILL - testimony services

Joseph -

ILL - Mom’s ice incident - define her story/my story 

Grace doesn’t give us a license to sin; it gives us freedom to overcome our sin and grow to become more like Jesus.So with grace comes great RESPONSIBILITY but not a great list of RULES.We has responsibilty to own our own spiritual walkWe have responsibility for influencing the faith journey of otherswe have responsibility when we step into leadership to model Godliness and holiness

Ill - my testimony

​ NLTDear friends, you always followed my instructions when I was with you. And now that I am away, it is even more important. Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear. For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.

define by introversion

Another version: Work out your salvation with fear and trembling; “Work hard” - seems contradictory. Faith by works? No…work hard to show the results of your salvation!Like Peter sometimes we are more concerned with what others are doing, saying or thinking about us that our own walk with God. If we would live our lives this this way, working hard at demonstrating the work Christ has done us, obeying God with deep reverence and fear we wouldn’t have to scream at people to convince them to smarten up. Our lives would be so attractive they would naturally want what we have.Gospel is personally transformativeILL - YC stage; personal issuesNeed to worry about ourselves

We send MIXED MESSAGES when we impose RULES before RELATIONSHIP“I am a sinner if I rebuild the old system of law I already tore down.”Gospel does not impose rules on people it infuses God’s love on peopleILL - Series: Walk - growing up; Sunday afternoon walks; Sunday afternoon walks - Red Cliff; walk but not run. Religion provides you with a list of requirements to find God: attend, take the sacrament, be baptized as a baby or an adult, take a class, give money, abstain from certain vices. Not bad things at all. But when we impose these rules on people or even our expectations on people we rebuild the old system that Christ came to tear down. Gospel is not about trying to do enough to be accepted by God. The Gospel is about the fact that what Christ has done for us is ENOUGH. The Gospel isn’t about doing enough to get to God its about a God who’s done everything to get to us. It’s not rules; it is relationshipWeYour Life’s Message Matters * Be a Champion of Grace  * Get Back Up Imagine the reach of the gospel when our lives line up with it’s message.   If we have been sending mixed messages with our lives know that your Your Life’s Message MattersIf we have been living by rules not relationship stop working and start resting…in Christ’s finished work.If we have been imposing rules and expectations on others become a Champion of GraceIf we have blown it like Peter Get Back Up. Our failures are never fatal.PRAYER/// S.O.A.P challenge for the week ahead We want to take this opportunity to lead our people through feeding themselves the Word. One of the most practical tools for this is the S.O.A.P method. We are going to provide tools for Spruce Hill’ers to journey through Galatians devotionally between the weeks of messages.We will have hard copies available and make a google doc downloadable for those who choose to participate. Unfortunately, the false teaching brought to the Galatian churches by the Judaizers has been extremely difficult to root out even today. We must walk a fine line—on one hand, we do not want to fall into the legalism that the Galatians struggled with, but on the other, we cannot just live as if anything goes. The Christian’s commitment to Christ is based on the free gift of grace through faith, but as Paul articulated at the end of Galatians, it also results in a life of walking by the Spirit.Is the fruit of the Spirit evident in your life, or do you find yourself living according to the flesh or “the compulsions of selfishness” ( MESSAGE)? Too often we lose ourselves at the extremes, ending in a legalistic attempt to earn our salvation or a devil-may- care attitude about our sin.Use Paul’s words in Galatians as an encouragement to pursue a life of holiness, not in your own strength but in the knowledge of God’s empowering grace in your life._____________________________________________________________________________________ Application

Story.

​ NLTThen fourteen years later I went back to Jerusalem again, this time with Barnabas; and Titus came along, too. I went there because God revealed to me that I should go. While I was there I met privately with those considered to be leaders of the church and shared with them the message I had been preaching to the Gentiles. I wanted to make sure that we were in agreement, for fear that all my efforts had been wasted and I was running the race for nothing. And they supported me and did not even demand that my companion Titus be circumcised, though he was a Gentile. Even that question came up only because of some so-called believers there—false ones, really—who were secretly brought in. They sneaked in to spy on us and take away the freedom we have in Christ Jesus. They wanted to enslave us and force us to follow their Jewish regulations. But we refused to give in to them for a single moment. We wanted to preserve the truth of the gospel message for you. And the leaders of the church had nothing to add to what I was preaching. (By the way, their reputation as great leaders made no difference to me, for God has no favorites.) Instead, they saw that God had given me the responsibility of preaching the gospel to the Gentiles, just as he had given Peter the responsibility of preaching to the Jews. For the same God who worked through Peter as the apostle to the Jews also worked through me as the apostle to the Gentiles. In fact, James, Peter, and John, who were known as pillars of the church, recognized the gift God had given me, and they accepted Barnabas and me as their co-workers. They encouraged us to keep preaching to the Gentiles, while they continued their work with the Jews. Their only suggestion was that we keep on helping the poor, which I have always been eager to do.

Our ego side blinds us to others personhood

Choosing to WALK All Summer we are journeying through the book of Galatians (in the New Testament) together on Sunday mornings with a series called WALK.   But, we want to invite you and challenge you to go deeper in your own time with God by spending some time through the week in the scripture that is shared on Sundays. The above picture outlines a simple, yet very effective devotional method that we are providing for you to use. Here it is on a downloadable Google doc. Take one day this week and read and another day to read . After reading that section, grab a journey or typing method and write out 1 or 2 verses that really spoke to you.  Observe what Paul is saying in the text you read and then apply it to your life.  End each time by writing out a prayer.  We will keep adding sections of scripture to this doc through the Summer and make some hard copies available on Sundays.  This is a great time to restart your time alone with God and to do so while journeying through a book together with your SHCC family.  Go Deeper!

Pace in moment misses the here and now

Success blinds us to story serving

Envy blinds us to celebrating others. 

Detachment

From our storyTo His story

See pic

Everyday I’m camping - LIE

Fwd: [New Post] In Faith, We Choose . . .

ILL - Mom’s ice incident - define her story/my story 

We’re Christians because we have faith in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Which can seem sort of easy to have faith in since it happened 2,000 years ago and didn’t cause us any personal pain.

Ill - my testimony

It’s much harder to have faith when God allows a man to get hit by a car while he’s biking with his son. Or when God tolerates an innocent child being sold into the sex trade. Or when God seemingly doesn’t answer cries for mercy for loved ones suffering debilitating pain.

define by introversion

There are two elements of God’s perspective missing from ours . . . two things we have to grasp and embrace by faith if we’re going to make sense of pain and tragedy in this world . . .

Story.

The long view – God sees timelessly. We think right now; He thinks eternity. What looks like tragedy to us in the short-term is grace and mercy in the long. We must learn to trust in the long view and trust that God knows what he’s doing through pain and tragedy in our lives.

Our ego side blinds us to others personhood

The broad view – God is always doing multiple things in multiple lives at the same time. We have no idea how momentary pain or overwhelming tragedy are being used to challenge someone, to break down a hard heart, or to raise up compassion.

Pace in moment misses the here and now

When starts with “We know” (that all things work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose for them), it means we “know in advance.” We know God loves us and He’s in charge, so in faith, we surrender. We yield our demands for a certain outcome. We trust He knows what’s best, and is doing something good, even while we struggle through tough times.

Success blinds us to story serving

In faith, we choose to rest in the fact that He’s using our pain and the suffering for His purposes. In faith, we choose to pray continuously and rely on His strength to get through whatever we’re going through. In faith, we choose to trust that after we do all we can, the outcome is up to Him. And in faith, we choose to believe God has a plan and will use our pain for good somewhere for someone.

Envy blinds us to celebrating others. 

That’s what faith is.

Detachment

Scripture: Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see. ()

From our storyTo His story

Mentor Tip: If you experience a tough time during your mentoring season, bring your mentees in on it. Let them support you and model for them how to have faith and trust God during seasons of struggle.

Promised land 15%

See pic

Everyday I’m camping - LIE