Ephesians 2:1-22 Everyone loves a good transformation story. The nerdy girl who becomes prom queen, the pauper who becomes a prince, and the underdog who becomes champions. All of these are ultimately a shadow of the greatest transformation story of our time, the story of us.Ephesians 2 describes the radical story of how God has transformed us. Before faith in Christ, we were dead in our transgres...

Ephesians 1:1-23 What is the most memorable Christmas gift you received as a child? Was it a doll, a car, a piece of technology, or maybe a trip? For most of us it was probably something we had wished and waited for that we finally received. Paul wants us to understand at the start of Ephesians that the greatest gifts we will ever receive have come from God.Ephesians 1 is a staggering list of how ...

Galatians 6:1-18 We are to run from sin but what about people in our lives who are caught up in sin? Paul’s answer is clearly no! Instead, we are to “restore [them] gently.”Restoration is hard work. Whether it is restoring a car, a kitchen, or a priceless work of art is painful, tedious work. But it is worth it! The same is true with people, who having been made in the image of God, are worth more...

Galatians 5:13-26 “Are you going to make it?” In a stupid, rash decision my spouse and I decided to run up a down escalator in a local store. We both started out on a run, but midway we slowed to a walk, and a few steps from the top we were panting and straining to make that next step before the escalator reversed our progress. Oh, to be young again!Paul spends much of Galatians describing the Chr...

Galatians 5:1-12 The Christian life is often compared to a race. The longest race I have ever run is 4 miles and it was exhausting. Yet even a marathon is nothing next to the lifelong journey of following Christ. There are daily distractions, obstacles, and temptations that creep in to slow us down. So, the question we want to consider today is how are we running?The keys to running well according...

Galatians 3:23-4:31 Everyone loves a good transformation story. The underdog becoming a champion, an outcast becoming the prom king, or the poor person becoming wealthy all make for powerful tales. Yet this transformation story is not only found in movies or books, but is true of us as well. It is the powerful message of Galatians 4. The truth that we have been transformed.Our autobiography is we ...

Galatians 3:10-22 How many times have you been promised something that you never received? When was the last time you made a promise and did not follow through on it? Sometimes these unfulfilled promises may cause us to doubt the promises of God, but thankfully, he is always faithful to follow through on what he has said.As we consider the promises of God, he will be faithful to all of them but so...

Galatians 2:17-3:9 Are you doing your best? Do you feel like your best is good enough? I tell my kids all the time that all I want them to do at school and in life is to do their best. I think this is decent parenting advice; the problem is that this wisdom does not work when it comes to salvation. If we think our best is going to gain us eternal life, we are clearly wrong because that is exactly ...

Galatians 2:1-16 As we read through Galatians, Paul builds our understanding of the gospel. He wanted the church to understand that grace is central to the gospel. The gospel and our salvation are not acquired by our capabilities but given by grace through the gracious work of Jesus. So, why is it we struggle with the concept of grace so much?Paul begins Galatians by narrating his autobiography an...

Galatians 1:1-24 If we do not understand the gospel accurately, then we cannot get anything else right. If we misunderstand it or stray away from it, then we fail to have a solid foundation for our lives. Paul writes to the Galatians to ensure they are living rooted in and built upon the gospel. The simple gospel is the truth that Jesus died on the cross for our sins, rose from the dead, and by pl...

2 Corinthians 13:1-14 How do you feel about going to the doctor? Do you approach your appointments with great trepidation about what they might find? How would you feel about undergoing a spiritual examination? Would that make you nervous? Well, that is exactly what Paul asks us to do. Paul ended his letter by asking the church to examine themselves. He was writing to a diverse audience and wants ...

2 Corinthians 12:11-21 Impressive people called “super-apostles” had invaded the church in Corinth. These people probably looked great, were well-spoken, and had an aura of leadership that surrounded them. The problem is their hearts were far from God. They looked like Saul, the first king of Israel, who was a head taller than everyone else, and thus impressive on the outside, the problem was thei...

2 Corinthians 12:1-10 Why does God allow hard things into our lives? On 9/11 it is hard not to reflect on the terrorist attack that happened so many years ago and the senseless loss of lives. We may struggle to make sense of situations like this and wonder why God did not intervene. I imagine Paul probably wrestled with this very same question.God allowed Paul to experience unparalleled things lik...

2 Corinthians 11:16-33 How do you know whether you can trust someone? How do you know whether someone is a messenger of God or using God for their own selfish ends? Paul tries to show the church in Corinth that he is a trustworthy messenger of God and does it through bragging. We may find it shocking that Paul will talk about his accomplishments in this way, but ultimately, he is doing it so that ...

2 Corinthians 11:1-15 Is it ever good to be jealous? It may seem strange, but we are told that God is a jealous God. Twice in Exodus God tells Israel that he is a jealous God because they are to be a people for him alone. He is jealous whenever they give themselves to false gods or worship something other than him. If God is jealous, is there ever a positive aspect to us being jealous?Normally jea...

2 Corinthians 10:1-18 How would you feel if someone said you were gentle and meek? Paul uses these descriptions of himself with Jesus being the ultimate model of these characteristics. The world may not value these attributes, but we need to be more concerned with what God thinks than what the world does. It is so easy to think like the world without even realizing it. Paul was concerned that many...

2 Corinthians 9:1-15 Generosity. Most of us would probably claim that we are generous, I mean, who wants to acknowledge that they are tight-fisted and selfish. But are we generous in the way God calls us to be?As Paul highlights the value of generosity, he gives us several principles that should be evident in the way we give. First, we should be eager to give (v.2). The abundance of what God has g...

2 Corinthians 8:16-24 When is the last time you got a heartfelt letter in the mail? It may have been a long time. Regardless, what is better than a letter, a FaceTime conversation, or a phone call, is an in person visit. It feels wonderful to receive the written correspondence, but it is even more amazing to meet with someone in person. As Paul writes the letter to the church in Corinth, he wants ...

2 Corinthians 8:1-15 Grace. Often, we relegate this word to simply God's forgiveness of our sins through the death and resurrection of Jesus, but it is a far bigger reality than that. Grace encompasses every good thing which God puts in our lives. So, it includes spiritual realities like forgiveness and salvation, but it also includes physical things like food, money, etc. Are you aware of the ful...

2 Corinthians 7:8-16 Truth can cut like a knife. When we speak hard truth into someone’s life, it may feel like we are wounding them. This feeling may then cause us to fail to speak when we should. Paul leads us in this discussion in 2 Corinthians 7:8-16. He wants us to know that we need to be people who speak truth into the lives of those who are lost, hurting, and wandering from God.The primary ...