by Cathy Baker | Faith |
The Gospel changes all our relationships.
- Relationships are hard—they’re a mess, exhausting, and draining—but they’re also life-giving. So we don’t walk away.
- The way we do life testifies that Jesus is Who He says He is. This is why we cannot say, “I’m done.”
- One mark of a Gospel-centered friendship is that we’re willing to give our life away. We’re able to do this once we’re fully convinced of God’s love and acceptance for us. This kind of confidence frees us to love others unconditionally.
Brothers and sisters, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. Galatians 6:1
- Who are the spiritual? We are. Every person in whom the Holy Spirit dwells—Christ followers. A Gospel-centered friend neither enjoys confrontation or avoids it.
- The legalist says to one in sin: “I will never understand how you…” The Gospel-centered friend realizes the same potential for sin exists within him/her and says “I’ll get involved.”
- We can be available to bear burdens of our friends because we know there is a true and better Friend who bore the ultimate burden of sin and death for us.
Two questions:
Do we have these types of friends?
Am I being that kind of friend?
– Notes taken from today’s sermon at Summit Church Upstate, given by Jason Malone. To listen to the sermon in its entirety, please click here.
by Cathy Baker | Faith |
Welcome to Sunday Snippets!
Jason Malone brought a timely message from Galatians 5:1-15 this morning. As with all Snippets, I try to jot down everything
verbatim, but it’s not always possible.To listen to the sermon in its
entirety, I invite you to visit Summit’s site.
As we know, Galatians was written to Christ followers, reminding them that anything added to the Gospel of Jesus Christ results in slavery.
- Some confuse the Gospel for spiritual milk, believing it to be a necessity for new Christ followers only, but we never outgrow the Gospel. It’s just as critical for new followers as those who’ve walked with Christ for many years. We never “move on” from the Gospel.
- Only one leads to true freedom: Gospel transformation (motivated by love) and moral reformation (behavior modification).
- The “why” of our obedience is everything, as is seen in Charles Spurgeon’s The Tale of the King, the Carrot, and the Horse:
Once
upon a time there was a gardener who grew an enormous carrot. He took
it to his king and said, “My lord, this is the greatest carrot I’ve ever
grown or ever will grow; therefore, I want to present it to you as a
token of my love and respect for you.” The king was touched and
discerned the man’s heart, so as he turned to go, the king said, “Wait!
You are clearly a good steward of the earth. I own a plot of land right
next to yours. I want to give it to you freely as a gift, so you can
garden it all.” The gardener was amazed and delighted and went home
rejoicing.
But
there was a nobleman at the king’s court who overheard all this, and he
said, “My! If that is what you get for a carrot, what if you gave the
king something better?” The next day the nobleman came before the king,
and he was leading a handsome black stallion. He bowed low and said, “My
lord, I breed horses, and this is the greatest horse I’ve ever bred or
ever will; therefore, I want to present it to you as a token of my love
and respect for you.” But the king discerned his heart and said, “Thank
you,” and took the horse and simply dismissed him. The nobleman was
perplexed, so the king said, “Let me explain. That gardener was giving
me the carrot, but you were giving yourself the horse.
- If we are clothing the poor, feeding the hungry, attending church, or anything else to gain more love, favor, or blessings from the Lord, then we are doing these things for ourselves, not Christ.
- Anytime we catch ourselves doing something good, pause for a moment and ask: Did I do that so Christ will love me or because He loves me?
Today’s snippets don’t begin to do Jason’s sermon justice. It was superb teaching on true freedom in Christ—so much so that I often found myself listening more and writing less. I encourage you to visit the link above and listen to it in its entirety.
Additional reference: Mere C.S. Lewis
by Cathy Baker | Faith |
Welcome to Sunday Snippets!
Kyle Estepp delivered this morning’s message, based on Galatians 4:21-31. As with all the Snippets, I try to jot down everything
verbatim, but it’s not always possible.To listen to the sermon in its
entirety, I invite you to visit Summit’s site.
- Any addition to the gospel is no gospel at all. It’s legalism.
- Our sonship is no longer based on perfection, but that of Christ’s.
- If we are depending on moral excellence to rescue us, we are in as much spiritual slavery as Hagar was in physical slavery.
Paul quotes Isaiah 54:1
“Sing, barren woman,
you who never bore a child;
burst into song, shout for joy,
you who were never in labor;
because more are the children of the desolate woman
than of her who has a husband,”
says the Lord.
“Enlarge the place of your tent,
stretch your tent curtains wide,
do not hold back;
lengthen your cords,
strengthen your stakes.
For you will spread out to the right and to the left;
your descendants will dispossess nations
and settle in their desolate cities.”
- God chooses to save the world through the barren woman—for this is how the grace of God works. His grace isn’t just for the fertile Hagar’s, but also for the barren Sarah’s.
By what means of rescue are we depending on?
What does our life declare?
Reference: Tim Keller’s, Relating to the Law: Four Kinds of People
by Cathy Baker | Faith |
Welcome to Sunday Snippets!
Campus Pastor Brook Taylor delivered a timely message from Acts 2:42-45 this morning. As with all the Snippets, I try to jot down everything verbatim, but it’s not always possible.To listen to the sermon in its
entirety, I invite you to visit Summit’s site.
Here goes…
- Listening to or viewing a sermon online/TV isn’t a bad thing — but using this as our only means of doing church is not how the Church was designed to work with the Word of God. [Watch for an upcoming blog post as I explore this subject in more detail. -CB]
- Sometimes, in searching for the “right” small group we think that being around others who are like us in life stage, affinities, backgrounds, etc. will naturally make us more apt to draw closer to the Lord — but the truth of the matter is that biblical community thrives through our common identity in Christ. He is the only commonality we need to enjoy true fellowship. Rubbing elbows with those who have different strengths, weaknesses, and struggles helps us to grow as Christ followers. [Watch for an upcoming blog post on this subject as well – a personal testimony, if you will. -CB]
- True community doesn’t just happen. We must be intentional.
- The more we pursue Jesus Christ, the more we’ll have a growing love for His people.
- Intimacy with God is the pursuit of God amidst the people of God.
I’ll close with the final question that was posed to us: Are you engaged in true biblical community?
If not, what’s holding you back? Stay tuned this week as I share some of my own personal journey with life/small groups. You may be surprised.
by Cathy Baker | Faith |
Welcome to Sunday Snippets!
Jason Malone picked up in Galatians 4:8-11 this morning. As mentioned last week, I try to jot everything down verbatim, but it’s not always possible. To listen to the sermon in its entirety, I invite you to visit Summit’s site.
What’s your greatest desire? To be a man/woman of God? To be a godly father/mother? To see your children/grandchildren fully devoted to Jesus Christ?
- Nothing hijacks our desires quicker than idolatry — which is anything or anyone that occupies the place that should be occupied by God alone.
Jesus + Nothing = Everything
Jesus + Anything = Nothing
- Nobody is an unbeliever. We either believe in the one true God or we’re a slave to worshiping gods. Christ followers are not enslaved, but we are tempted to put other things in God’s place.
- “Idols” aren’t always bad, but idolatry is. To be enslaved to – or to lust for something – is to over desire. It doesn’t mean having a normal size desire for something evil, but an over-sized desire for something that’s good. We lust after achievements, sex, money, etc. because the idol comes in saying if you have me, you’ll be fulfilled.
- Why do we put things where God should be? Because in those moments, we choose to love something or someone more than we love Jesus.
- The Gospel is the motivation for all life change.
- We all worship—so what is sitting on the throne of your life? Who or what is competing with God’s place?
Idolatry is always the reason we ever do anything wrong.
-Martin Luther
Counterfeit Gods: The Empty Promises of Money, Sex, and Power, and the Only Hope that Matters, by Tim Keller, Reviews
Jesus + Nothing = Everything, Tullian Tchividjian
