Series Intros

The churches of Galatia, to whom Paul is writing in his letter to the Galatians, were the churches that Paul planted on his first missionary journey in the cities of Pisidian Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, Derbe. You can read about it in Acts 13-14, and you can see it below. Thanks to David Barrett (biblemapper.com) for the great map! The question of how the timeline of Galatians 1:11-2:14 fits into the narrative of the book of Acts is a very difficult question. Since…

This Sunday we will be starting a new sermon series through Paul’s letter to the Galatians. In Galatians, Paul passionately defends the gospel of God’s grace against those who would distort it by suggesting that our justification before God comes in part by our own righteousness, instead of solely through faith in what Christ has done (Galatians 2:16). “Justification by faith”, then, is the main doctrine dealt with in Galatians. It is at the heart of the Christian message, and can’t…

After our series in Hebrews, we’ll be doing 2 short series in Jonah & Ruth. Both Jonah and Ruth are somewhat unique books in the Old Testament, and share some commonalities and contrasts: They both are vivid stories which are told in a 4-scene structure, they both deal with the themes of faithfulness and the gospel’s implications for “outsiders”. But, whereas in Jonah, his unfaithfulness and hypocrisy is displayed, in Ruth, faithfulness and integrity are displayed. Whereas in Jonah, the gospel…

We’re beginning a new series on the book of Hebrews. I’ve come to love the book of Hebrews. I’ve studied it numerous times, and am fairly certain that most of those times I didn’t really understand it (not to claim that I’ve mastered it this time! Probably next time I study it I’ll say the same thing). Hebrews is a wonderful book, somewhat unique in the New Testament in the way it describes the nature & implications of Jesus’ role…

I’ve been preaching through Jesus’ “Sermon on the Mount”. If someone is familiar with any of the teaching of Jesus, then chances are it is this sermon. In the words of John Stott, this sermon “is probably the best-known part of the teaching of Jesus, though arguably it is the least understood, and certainly it is the least obeyed.” In the sermon, Jesus speaks to those who are his disciples, and presents a radically high view of the Christian life…