Pastor's Corner: WHAT'S THE BIG IDEA?

    “The Promise, the Prelude, and the Provision” Galatians 3:15-22 Introduction : I heard the story of a pastor who showed up at church with a bad cut on his neck.   What had happened?   He said he was thinking so intently about his sermon while he was shaving that morning that he had cut himself.   One lady commented, “He should have been thinking more about his shaving and cut his sermon!” Speaking of mirrors... it is good to take a careful look in one on a regular basis! That is one function of the Bible (James 1:23-24).   It serves as a well-lighted mirror, to show us our need, and to point us to Jesus. We’ll see that idea in this central part of the letter to the Galatians. Context: False teachers had come to Galatia and were corrupting the message of the Gospel, by adding requirements to it, particularly circumcision and certain other “works of the law.” Paul had preached the message of the Cross to the Galatian churches: Grace alone, through ...

  Faith and Blessing (or, The Just Shall Live by Faith!) Galatians 3:6-14 Introduction : Rabbi Shammai wrote that Moses gave 365 prohibitions and 248 positive commandments (I didn’t count them, I’ll take his word for it!).   David in Psalm 15 gives 11 requirements; Isaiah 33:15,16 lists six, Micah 6:8 gives three, Habakkuk 2:4 reduces them to one: “ the just shall live by faith .” This simple statement is central to the book of Romans and is the main theme of the letter to the Galatians .   Paul’s experience on the Damascus road, and the message that he received from Jesus, brought a 180 degree turn in his life from reliance on works, to faith. After centuries of apostasy in the Roman Church, the religious world was shaken when a monk named Martin Luther read these words and was converted, and it became the battle cry of the Protestant Reformation: The Just shall live by Faith . This is the message that Paul preached on his first missionary journey through Asia Minor...

  Getting the Gospel Right: Faith Alone! Galatians 3:1-6 Introduction : Many years ago, Haddon Robinson told the story of a fire, a burning apartment building in NYC’s Harlem. A blind girl was perched on a window on the 4 th floor.   They were unable to get a ladder to her since the alley between the buildings was too narrow.   They were trying to get her to jump into a net, but since she couldn’t see it, she was afraid and clinged to the window.   Finally, her father arrived, and he shouted to her, “It’s Daddy, there is a net, jump!” Immediately, she jumped and was so relaxed she didn’t even strain a muscle in the four-story fall.   She couldn’t see, but she heard her daddy’s voice, and she trusted him completely. She knew he loved her, she knew what he was saying was best, and so she jumped, she did what he said . Trusting Daddy, taking Him at His Word, entrusting ourselves to Him. That is faith. The just shall live by faith!     ...