Sermons from November 2015

Relationships are only as healthy as the individuals that make up those relationships. Therefore, individual wholeness is the key to healthy relationships. Relationships don�t put you in conflict with others as much as they put you in conflict with your own sinful nature.

As Christians we have incredible and incomparable resources for life change. And so, it just makes a world of sense that the Creator of the Universe would have Children who are less and less characterized by the �works of the flesh� (vv19-21) more and more characterized by the �fruit of the Spirit�

In the first half of chapter 5, we learned that Christian freedom gives us a whole new motivation for living. In normal religion, the motivation for morality is fear and/or pride. In gospel Christianity, the motivation is a heart captivated by Christ�s love (5:6, 14). In this passage we learn how to grow in character through this new dynamic of love.

If salvation is a gift from God by grace through faith in Christ Jesus then what incentive do I have to live a holy life? If you can�t earn your salvation by your behavior, and can�t �un-earn� it by your behavior than what would motivate you to obey God? It is the Freedom of the Gospel that gives us life changing incentive and motivation to live a life wholly devoted to…

Non-Christians will tend hear gospel presentations as appeals to become a �nice person� rather than a �new person� unless we are clear in articulating the drastic difference between moralism and the Gospel. Even among Christians the default mode of our hearts is �moralism��that is, the idea that our performance determines how God feels about us. Unless we are actively…