Continuing on the battle between the spirit and the flesh, Paul challenges people to acknowledge that "God is not mocked." In other words, He can't just be "blown off". What you sow, you will also reap. If you sow to the Spirit you will reap the fruits of the Spirit. If you sow to the flesh, you will reap corruption. In this message, Pastor Troy Billow challenges you to ask yourself where you are in light of this dynamic. What are you planting in your own field?
What does it mean to "practice" sin? Throughout our struggle between the flesh and the Spirit, this struggle brings about burdens that we as believers face every day in some way. In Romans 7, Paul is empathizing to those he is preaching to by sharing his experience with that struggle, so he shares a way to have grace towards people who are on the mend, and are being restored in their walk with the Lord. In this message, which is a follow-up to the previous one, Pastor Troy expounds on what it means to bear one another's burdens while dealing with your own struggles as you are a work in being on the mend yourself.
The mindset of the disciples, after Christ left them to be at the right hand of the Father, was "you're leaving us with this scary commission to do what you did? What will become of us?" Before Jesus left, He told them that he was going to send a "helper, the Spirit of Truth who Comes from the Father" (John 15:26-27). That Spirit will help the disciples do what they cannot do in the flesh, and the same goes for us believers today. This will be a struggle as common pursuits within human nature like sexual immorality, hardness of heart, and initiating conflict with others who get in our way, are ways of the flesh, and ways of the Spirit restrain the other, in pursuit of radiating love, peace, patience, gentleness, and an abundance of other things that make us more like Christ in action. By walking in the Spirit, we are no longer under the Law, but are walking in "Agape" love, a love that is self sacrificing, serving, and gracious to other people, as Paul and Pastor Troy Billow expound on in this message.
This week we commemorate the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church with a video, and a message about Stephen, the first known Christian martyr. Stephen was one of the first leaders of the church. Filled with the Holy Spirit, he was convicted to bring people the message of salvation through Jesus Christ. Steven condemns his stiff-necked, Jewish brothers for being so flesh-filled in their hearts and ears, and for resisting the Holy Spirit. The flesh filled heart is "cut away" when you allow the Word of God to inform you and change you. They were so flesh filled and resistant to the Spirit, that they stoned Stephen and in the process of stoning him, as his body was failing, he saw Jesus standing at the right hand of God, and remained joyful beyond the point where his body failed. What does that mean to us today? Resistance remains, however our life and our overall purpose is about getting ready to meet Jesus Christ.
Throughout his letter to Galatia, Paul has been hammering hard on the anvil of truth. He has been explaining that the theological paradigm has changed due to what Christ did for us. If we receive Him and trust Him, you are saved by faith, not by any merit we can generate on our own. If you believe in Jesus Christ, you are GUILT FREE. In other words, because we are no longer bound by the Law, we have Liberty. However the one thing Christ asks of us is to serve one another and love people, and although that is either extremely easy or extremely hard for some people, the level of trust you put in Christ on this matter will determine your motivation on following this command through.
Full Title: "A Little Leaven Leavens The Whole Lump" (Galatians 5:7-12)
Paul challenges new Christians by asking them "who hindered you from the truth?" Paul goes on to say that they were doing so well, but something happened. What happened? Judaizers derailed the gospel message in these believers by pushing Mosaic Law and circumcision on them. Paul then uses the baking process of bread (unleavened- see Exodus 12 vs. leavened) to illustrate how in light of the power of the Gospel, a little leaven (false doctrine) leavens the whole lump (corrupts the congregation/family in Christ). After explaining this, Paul then gets bolder and says to those Christians, that those Judaizers who want these Christians to mutilate themselves through circumcision, should just go all the way and completely emasculate themselves. In this theologically heavy message, Pastor Troy Billow fully explains the meaning behind what Paul is saying.
In Psalm 139, King David, who is intimitely connected with God, and knows that He is with him, revels in the soothing truth that he is fearfully and wonderfully made. David is moved by the love, the meticulous detail, the effort, and the want by God to have a relationship with everyone he creates. David goes on to reflect in how God knit him together in his mother's womb. This truth is still true and is as relevant today as long as human beings continue to be knit together and allowed to live. In this special message on life, birth, and relational love, Pastor Troy Billow counters the culture today which tells lies and makes billions of dollars trying to justify terminating what God is working to knit together to have a relationship with Him.
Paul does not want the newly converted Christians to return to the practices required by the Law. With Christ, the practices of the Law are what Paul now sees as "religious bondage". While there are benefits of obeying out of duty and fear, God wants a relationship out of love. Paul speaks on the consequences of trying to go back to the Law and earn righteous merit with God, especially since we are unable to do it. The Law is REQUIRED to be done perfectly and completely. Jesus Christ fulfilled the Law perfectly and completely, and out of love, provides that righteousness to you, if you choose to receive it. All that is required through Christ is that you accept, receive, and trust Him by faith. The Holy Spirit, if you yield to him, does the rest.
Our special guest speaker, Pastor Emeritus John Billow, brings a rich and thorough message on Psalm 23. When Israel's first King lost his anointing because he disobeyed God, David was given that anointing instead. This ignited jealousy and adversity that David had to endure, but he could only endure it by the strength and wisdom of God. David's strength is what God had done in his heart, and it is your strength too. But when you get that strength, how do you nourish it? By God's Word and submitting your thoughts around it. Discover how David utilized this power in His life, kingdom, and example which we are still exploring to this day.
As religious Jewish forces work to "undo" Christianity in this time period, Paul (a man who was once one of them), who encountered the risen Christ personally, now understands Christ's role in God's plan until the end of the age without contradicting the Law and Old Testament, and is guided by the Holy Spirit, now zeroes in on the theology that the Jews are using to justify their perceived "merit" with God as a people. Here Paul tries to set up a template to explain the Law and explain God's grace through the most commonly accepted account of the Hebrew Bible; the promise given by Abraham. Here, Paul illustrates how Abraham and Sarah's lack of faith bore Ishmael and how faith bore Isaac. That said, Paul uses that scenario to illustrate how believing in one's own religiosity is like going the route of Ishmael, but believing in Jesus is like believing in Isaac. In this theologically heavy message, Pastor Troy Billow explains in an easy to understand way, how Paul is trying to use Abraham and Sarah's situation to birth children of the promise to explain how Christ will carry that promise through in full as everyone who receives Him through faith are included as children of that promise first given to Abraham.