Dear church,
My two greatest hopes for us as a church and for every member of Our Saviour, is that we would be people ferociously dependent on the Gospel of Jesus Christ and we would joyfully proclaim this Gospel to those who do not believe it. The two most significant barriers to those goals are the culturally manipulated definition of what it means to be a Christian and the propensity for those of us who follow Jesus to quickly forget the footings the Gospel is built on. Enter the Apostle Paul’s letter to some of the first churches he planted: Galatians. People have not changed much in the last 2000 years. Just like we are prone to, these early Christians struggled to see that the good news of Jesus Christ is life-saving for those apart from Christ and life-transforming for those already in Christ.
You’ve probably heard me quote Tim Keller when he says that many Christians assume the Gospel is a message mainly for those who are not Christians. It is basic, a kind of “ABC” primer before we move on to more advanced ideas and doctrines. Nothing could be further from the truth. Keller says, in the face of this belief, the Gospel is the “A to Z” of the Christian life. “It is not only the way to enter the kingdom; it is the way to live as part of that kingdom.” This is the message of Galatians.
My plan is to spend the fall and the better part of the winter moving line-by-line through this precious gift from God. As we do this together, I hope and pray that God would tighten our grip on the Gospel and, as He does this, any semblance of attempting to save ourselves and boast in our own righteousness would slip through our fingers and fall away. There is great power in the Word of God. Because of that power, I expect these to be important Sundays for us all. I hope you will make it a priority to be in corporate worship each week. Together, let’s pray about who God is calling us to share the Gospel with and invite into the fellowship of our church.
For the sake of His name,
Pastor Adam