Done in Love

 

  

  Pastor Fred continued the series by preaching out of Galatians 5:1-12. There are several things that caught my attention. The first one is the issue of freedom. We have been from sin and death so my question is why do we want to give up on that freedom that God gives us and return to sin and death? It is essentially we become like a dog who returns to its vomit. In all reality, that is just disgusting.

  My second observation is that are we willing to wait and is worth waiting for?  As we wait, this doesn’t mean we just sit on our hands and do nothing. What I am offering us to do is what I call holy waiting. It is still waiting on God to do what only He can do, but we are also being obedient and doing things that we know God has commanded us to do. I know waiting isn’t the easiest thing to do, but waiting means that we are being faithful and trusting God will show up in His perfect timing while doing what we know in love. 

    My third observation is that we should be known by who we know, where we are going and we are motivated by love of God. What is meant by this is that we should know God and His grace and the world knows that we are a disciple of Christ. The second part is life is a journey and the destination matters. Are we developing our relationship with God so that heaven is where we go. Also, what is our motivation for doing things. Is it out of guilt or because we have to? We should do things not for self promotion or a get out of jail free card but because of our love for God. Not only that, but it is our way to glorify and worship God. Also when we do things out of love, we are bring Jesus to other people and to show others that they are loved by God. It is pointing people to God and it is called being apart of the body of Christ. The church thrives when we all do our part. So what is God calling you to do in love?

  To wrap up, God calls us to abide in Him. This means we can’t earn our salvation by following certain laws. So here is my big question to close out this blog. Just as the first century church thought that circumcision was a necessary step for salvation, what is our thing that we thing is necessary for salvation, but really isn’t? 

Grace and Peace

Tom Boustead

  

Getting our toes stepped on

   Pastor Fred continued our sermon series by preaching out of Galatians 4:21-30 and he explored the Old Covenant and the New Covenant. If we are focused on the Old Covenant which is focused on legalism and it makes it about what we can do for God and we insist that we have to earn our salvation. It is about doing things for God so that we might find favor. Or we don’t do things because we think that we will upset God and He will not love us, or that we will look bad in front of other Christians. In essence this could be perverting the good news of the Gospel and the power of God because it makes it about what we can do and not on what God can do. How about instead we are mote concerned with the freedom of the new covenant and focus what God does to and through us.  So here are some of my thoughts.

  The first one is from Matthew 21:31 which Jesus tells the religious leaders that the prostitutes and tax collectors will make it into heaven before them. The religious leaders new the law and the freedom that God has to offer, but they chose not to live out in that freedom because they were more concerned about following their version of the law instead of living in Gods grace. The prostitutes and tax collectors took their checkered past sought Gods grace and forgiveness and chose to do the will of the Father. So my question is, do we want to look holy or to be holy?

  My second thought is that we may believe in God, but how often we don’t like what He has to say.  In essence we feel that our twos are getting stepped on.  I think that this is why we avoid the Old Testament because we don’t like what God has to say. God seems vengeful and it doesn’t give us the warm fuzzies. How often have you heard that the God of the New Testament is not the same God of the Old Testament? We serve a God that never changes and just because we don’t like what God has to say doesn’t mean that there are two different Gods or that God changes. The Old Testament points to the New Testament and the New Testament fulfills the Old Testament. We can’t have one without the other.  On a side note, if are either red letter Christians or want to disregard the Old Testament, that is working towards heresy. 

  I will with the story of Nicodemus when he met with Jesus in John 3. He was a teacher that was supposed too know the law and God because he spent all of his time studying it. So did Jesus call Nicodemus a fool because he didn’t know what it means to be born again or that he knew what it meant to be born again and he just didn’t like the answer? I think we are a lot like Nicodemus because we know the answer a lot of the time but how often do  we still ask questions to hopefully get an answer we like or to get God to change His mind? I will close with what Jesus essentially told Nicodemus, the flesh produces flesh and is subject to and lives and dies by the law while the spirit produces spirit and lives by grace and has eternal life. So do we live by the bondage of the law or the freedom of grace in the spirit? 

Grace and Peace

Tom Boustead

The Unexamined Life

   Pastor Fred continue our series by preaching from Galatians 4:1-20 this weekend. One of the things that hit me kind of hard is that everything has a tax or a cost. It reminded me of a famous quote from the movie Top Gun which is “does our ego writes cheques that our bodies can’t cash?” Or the even scarier realization that does our ego write cheques that our soul can’t cash. To put it plainly, evert word action or inaction comes with a price. Does our ego get in the way and either think that the cost either not that high or we are going to benefits outweigh the cost? I pray that when we speak and act that we count the cost of doing or saying it. 

  Another observation is that we all are a slave to something. The basic concept is whether we are a slave to sin or a slave to Godliness. When something enslaves us, it can be the only thing we think about and it even consumes us. Some people would call this an addiction. We just finished up the state high school hockey tournament for Minnesota tonight. At one time tonight there were 2,200 people waiting hoping for a ticket to get into tonight’s championship game and Grand Casino Arena holds over 18,000 people and this is where the game is played. Now there is nothing wrong with wanting to catch the game, especially if you are a fan of one of the teams, but if your day, week, or year is ruined because you couldn’t watch the game in person, or you place hockey over God, there is a problem. I challenge each one of us not only to be a slave to righteousness, but also a child of God.  It is taking Gods free gift and accepting it knowing that we can’t do anything to earn it. It’s about God being the center of our attention. So what are the things that prevents us from keeping God at the center of our lives?

  My final observation is how well do we hear bad news or correction? When we hear these things we often become defensive and often shut the other person out.  When we are being corrected, how often do we try and justify our behavior, even if we know we are in the wrong? We often care more about forming a response to the correction than understanding what the other person is trying to say. I know I’m not the only person who hates to be corrected because it feels like I have been gut punched. So when these opportunities of growth come our way, don’t be afraid to listen, ask questions to clarify and lean on other people of God to see if they see the same thing and ask for accountability. Do not forget to show grace to the person sharing the difficult truth and to yourself.

  I will close with this, when receiving some difficult news or a hard truth, practice Psalm 19:14 in which we are examining the words of or hearts and what we meditate on. It is so that they can be pleasing to God. It is going to those dark and scary places of our lives and not only repenting, but to give it over to God. Also, according to Socrates, the unexamined life is not worth living 

Grace and Peace

Tom Boustead

The Promise

   Pastor Ben continued the current series by preaching from Galatians 3:14-29 and the promise that we have. There is a lot here and let’s wrestle with the idea of law and the promise that God gave us. My first observation is that the law isn’t useless. Not only does the law show us the need for a Savior, but it also sets up some guard rails. Just as good parents create good rules or laws for their children, God does the same for us. These rules are not suppose to be downers, but it gives us freedom and joy. These rules lets us know what the expectations are and how we shall live. In essence it takes the guessing game out of life and are relationship with God and others. How much better do are relationships or jobs go when we know what those expectations are and when we are held accountable to those expectation and we know what to do. 

  Now there can be to many rules, and this often leads to legalism. It means that our salvation and relationships are based on what we do or don’t do.  We can either crumble under too many rules or we can be reminded of the two core rules of loving others as ourselves and to love God with everything we have and letting our life be dictated by that. So my question is preventing us from loving God and others with all we have?

  The question that Pastor Ben asked and bears repeating “does the law cancel out the Promise of God?” The answer to the question is an emphatic no because not only did God make a promise with us, but He also made a covenant with us. If we go back and read Genesis 15, this where God makes His covenant with Abraham and that his descendants will be in the number of the stars in the sky. What seals the covenant is that God used a torch to do between the animals that were sacrificed to seal the deal. The covenant means that God will hold up His end of the deal and that we will be His people and He our God. So, what does it mean to covenant with God?

  The covenant that God made with Abraham is incomplete because the law points out that we are sinners and has no way to rectify it. This means that Jesus is the completion of the covenant. His sacrifice is what allows our sin to be forgiven and for us to be in full relationship with God. This only happens if we take this free gift and apply it to our lives. This is where true freedom comes in, because we didn’t have to earn our salvation or Gods love because God gives it freely. True freedom is a response not out of force or obligation, but because we want to and it is us loving God freely and obeying God willingly because what He has done in and through us. This reminds me of the famous line from the movie Braveheart with Mel Gibson. The quote goes, “they may be able to take our lives, but they will never take our freedom.” So here is a question to ponder, what is the difference between doing something out of obligation and doing something out of freedom and our own free will?  My challenge for us this week is loving others as God has loves us and loving God with everything we have to the point it changes what we do and who we are. 

Grace and Peace

Tom Boustead

 

  Pastor Fred continued the sermon by preaching from Galatians 3:1-14 and in this passage, Paul is calling out the church in Galatia for being dense and being focused on the wrong thing. Throughout this passage, the Apostle Paul differentiates between being followers of the Gospel and being followers of the law

  So my first question is what are we a slave too? When Paul ask this question, he got laughed at and the response of the Jewish people was that they are children of Abraham and they never have been slaves.  Paul corrected them by explaining that they are either a slave to the Gospel or to the law. If one is a slave to the Gospel, we are focused on being in right relationship with God and embracing His grace. If we are slave to the law, we are slaves to rules and religion. In essence our salvation is tied to the rules we follow and the things we don’t do instead of embracing Gods grace. One way to look at it is are we obedient to our feelings or to the Gospel. Back in the late 90’s the soda, Sprite used the slogan of “Obey Your Thirst.” In essence, this is putting our desires and urges at the top of our to do list and to do what satisfies us.  Just remember our urges and desires can and will change like the wind and often are not that Godly or beneficial 

 My second question is what does it mean to be vain?  If any of you know the musician Carly Simon, you probably know her hit song Your So Vain. It is a song lamenting about a bad break up and that the former boyfriend thinks that the world revolves him and that the song is about him. Being vain is a number of things, such as self centered behavior, not struggling with an ego problem and even self loathing. This is my two cents and take it for what it is worth, being vain is believing our own press clippings and living them out. 

  My final question is what does it mean when Jesus took care of the curse? The Apostle Paul describes in this passage that we can not save ourselves. No matter how hard we try and follow every rule and law out there, we are going to break at least one. When we do this, we are found guilty and it breaks our relationship with Christ. When we live this way, we are trying to earn our salvation and the Bible is clear that is something we can not do and if it was, it would make Jesus sacrifice pointless. Why would Jesus go through something so painful and humiliating if there was another way? This is where faith comes in. If  we believe in faith what Jesus did for us is true and we accept it, we are credited with His righteousness just as Abraham was. 

  If you were at the Saturday night service, we sang the song In Christ Alone as we took communion. This is the meaning of the Christian life and that Jesus is the only way to eternal life because if it were left up to us, we be in a world of hurt and pain

Grace and Peace 

Tom Boustead

Grace

   Pastor Fred continued the sermon series by preaching out of Galatians 2:11-21. One of the things that jumps out at me in this passage is how Paul is correcting Peter, along with a number of the other disciples and the church in Galatia. Often this correcting leads to conflict, but I challenge each one of us to find healthy Godly ways to deal with conflict. It reminds me of the times when people have come along side me and helped me me to embrace healthy conflict to point out some of my actions, thoughts and or speech, not to condemn but to spur on change and Godliness

  My first observation is that we are justified by grace and not by our works. How often do we think that the things we do or say will either make God love us more or less or even decide our fate on eternal life. It doesn’t work this way, because if it did, Jesus death on the cross is pointless. It means that the rules of the Old Testament, especially the Ten Commandments are good enough to save us and that our salvation is about what the rules I can follow instead of Jesus death and resurrection. Why would Jesus subject Himself to suffering and death if there was another way? 

  My second observation is do we treat Gods grace as meaningless. There is this concept that the German theologian and pastor by the name of Dietrich Bonhoeffer coined which is Cheap Grace. It is the concept that we accept Gods forgiveness without repentance, transformation or obedience. It’s essentially telling our spouse or friend that we are sorry and either not mean it or do nothing to change our attitude or behavior. As kids we are all guilty of this when we were made to apologize to someone. We may say the words, but there is no meaning or actions behind those words. So how do we turn this unmerited favor from something that has no real effect in our lives to something we not only live for, but grow and be transformed by?

  My third observation is how often we do things to other people and not give it a second thought, or how many times are we hindered by the things that have either been done to or said to us? We tend to say and do things and not give them a second thought how it impacts other people and then we are perplexed on why our relationships go south. How many of us have that one friend we often to tell other people that they may come across as a jerk, but they have a good heart once you get to know them. This doesn’t give that person a right to be a jerk even if they have a “good heart.” When we are in a jerk or snarky mood, we tend to either be oblivious to how are words and actions affect other people, or we do know and just don’t care. That makes us a jerk and we should spend sooner time in prayer so that we can be more aware of how our words and actions affect other people and to seek forgiveness. Pastor Haven asked the youth group recently the question of “How responsible are we in how other people see and respond to us?” In essence, how responsible are we for the opinion that other people have of us? In other words, are we taking our words, thoughts, actions and even our intentions captive so that we are glorifying God with them?

  The other side is that when we are offended, do we carry that hurt for years while letting it fester and to grow like  wild fire and have it turn our lives upside down. Yes we meet to forgive and to have healthy boundaries, but we also need to develop heathy confrontational skills. It is the ability to point out and express things that are either hurtful or sinful in a Godly manner. I have coffee on Monday mornings with a group of people and we all have such a relationship that we can say things to each other that I would not say to anyone else.  To be honest, when we say those things, how strong is the sarcasm in those statements. We know each other’s intentions and when we cross the line and take it too far, we can call it out and take care of it right there. My final question is when we do this, are we doing it with the intention of seeking forgiveness and restoring a relationship, whether to us or with God or are we looking to be vengeful and to destroy a person and or relationship to make a point?

Grace and Peace,

Tom Boustead

Grace and Peace

   Pastor Fred continued the sermon series on Galatians by preaching out of 2:1-10. One of the main points of the message is that are we seeking to cause chaos and discord, or are we looking to unify. When we are unified, we may not all look alike, think alike or do the same things, but are we going towards the same goal.  In essence are we putting Jesus at the center of everything we do. 

  Just remember, everything we say and do is not done in a vacuum. Most of our communication is not so much in what we say (which is important) but how we say it in the tone of our voice, our body language and if we are using sarcasm. In the book of James, Jesus brother tells us that we need to put a bridle on our tongue because it has the ability to give and to take life away. I know there have been plenty of times where I have had to go apologize for something I said. We can ruin or make someone’s day by one unintentional comment.

  What happens if we keep the main thing the main thing. There are some messages that need to be delivered in person, and not over text, snap chat or email. That’s why Paul went to Jerusalem to talk with the leaders of the church to see what side they were on. One side is the idea of the false teachers either trying to add stuff or take things away from the Gospel such as food restrictions or circumcision. Or were they willing to serve God without adding all the extra rules that are more culturally based and not Biblically based. To use that Bob Dillion quote again, “we all have to serve someone,” so is it God and His goodness or the false teachers who pervert God and His grace by adding things to the Gospel.

  Pastor Fred finished up his message talking about peace and I want to add in joy also. When we fully pursue God, we will get those things and it is something that we can take comfort in and strive for. One of the things that hit me is that how many of us are putting out this fake peace and joy. What I mean by this is that we tell others that we are living the dream and in all reality, or is our life is a hot mess and we are struggling. Where as Gods peace is easy, this fake peace takes work and is often not with it because we will get burned out and maybe even become cynical or bitter. I found out in my own life when I reach for the fake peace, my relationships are not as solid and I lose the ability to share my highs and lows and it puts me on an island and isolated? So here is something to ponder, are we seeking after true God give us His peace that passes all understanding? Or are we  striving for human peace that will leave us alienated, burnt out and trusting no one?

Tom Boustead