“When Christ calls a man, He bids him come and die” by Dietrich Bonhoeffer

“The cross is laid on every Christian. The first Christ-suffering which every man must experience is the call to abandon the attachments of this world. It is that dying of the old man which is the result of his encounter with Christ. As we embark upon discipleship we surrender ourselves to Christ in union with His death—we give over our lives to death. Thus it begins; the cross is not the terrible end to an otherwise god-fearing and happy life, but it meets us at the beginning of our communion with Christ.

When Christ calls a man, He bids him come and die. It may be a death like that of the first disciples who had to leave home and work to follow Him, or it may be a death like Luther’s, who had to leave the monastery and go out into the world. But it is the same death every time—death in Jesus Christ, the death of the old man at his call.”

~ Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship 

Financial Peace University

FPU w/Dave Ramsey – September 10^th

We all need a plan for our money. Financial Peace University (FPU) is that plan! It teaches God's ways of handling money. Through video teaching, class discussions and interactive small group activities, FPU presents biblical, practical steps to get from where you are to where you've dreamed you could be. This plan will show you how to get rid of debt, manage your money, spend and save wisely, and much more!

This group will be meeting on Tuesday nights, for 9 weeks, beginning on September 10^th and all of the meetings will be held at the Dunedin House of Beer.

The cost is $93 for all the materials.  (Also, it's free for people who have already gone through FPU and want a refresher.  If these people want the updated material it's $49.) 

Lastly, there is no childcare provided for this. 

Contact Jeremy Perrin for more details or just see our FPU page HERE.

Led by the Spirit: Galatians 5

I found Pastor Heaths sermon this morning to be very encouraging. Galatians 5 is not an easy text to unpack because there is so much there. He did a great job in taking us through Paul's argument and bringing the text into our day and lives. May we be led by the Holy Spirit as Gods renewed and redeemed people.

There is another element to this text as well that I would like to bring out which I believe will further encourage and challenge us.

The Shekinah of God led the Israelites through the wilderness in form of cloud and fire (illustrated here). Remember from our series on 'Meeting Jesus at the Feast' that the Shekinah means that God is with us. God actually and really settled, dwelt and inhabited with his people in the tabernacle. Paul is using Exodus language, wanting the reader to remember the stories of how God revealed himself to his people while in the wilderness. Jesus has sent the Spirit to inhabit, settle and dwell with his people. As the cloud and fire demonstrated the active and true presence of God then so now the fruit of the Spirit demonstrates the true and active presence of God in his people today.

This is wonderful news! As Heath made the point to teach us this morning, the fruit of the Spirit is not a list of rules you have to follow to "get in", it is how God reveals to the world and to his people that he is dwelling in and with us. Isaiah hopes for a King who will come and his name will be Emmanuel, which means, "God with us" (see Isaiah 7:14, Matthew 1:23). Jesus has come and he has brought in himself the God of Israel. The one true God of Israel has become King of all the nations through the work and victory of Jesus. In Jesus, God has again dwelt and settled in and with his people. 

This is who the Holy Spirit is: God empowering, indwelling and leading the people of God. To be led by the Spirit is to be filled and freed by the very Shekinah glory and presence of God. Galatians 5 reminds us that we are the new temple where God has chosen to live. This is also what humans were created to be. Let us who are called and justified by the God of grace, worship him as we live free reflecting him who is beautiful and sovereign. 

The Eager Wait: Running a Good Race

But by faith we eagerly await through the Spirit the righteousness for which we hope. Galatians 5:5

What does Paul mean when he says that “we eagerly await"? Many have taken this to mean that they are to wait passively for the second coming or some sort of end times event like a rapture or rise of the Anti-Christ. This thinking has led to a theory that Christians are to have nothing to do with culture i.e. arts, politics or social work, but rather we are to await our “real” home, Heaven. Others have thought that waiting for the hope of righteousness is living the “best we can while we are here”. This usually entails a moral code of some sort, with great emphasis given to personal morality and righteousness. The problem with this approach has been discussed and explained by Pastor Heath as we have looked at Galatians on Sunday mornings and have discussed these sermons in our community groups.

So what does it mean when the text says that we eagerly wait? Most commentators I have looked at have explained it as a waiting that is active. In fact Paul seems to convey the same idea in the next verse, “For in Christ neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.” 5:6. Another version says it this way, “…but faith working through love.” (NASB). The eager wait of the believer is having our faith work through love. We are saved by grace and kept by grace, this means that we have nothing to do with our being called as God’s people. But there is work going on in this wait, God is at work. Our faith which is a gift from God is expressing itself through love. For Paul, waiting for the hope of righteousness is the action of faith working through love.

The thought continues, “You were running a good race, who cut in on you and hindered you from obeying the truth?”5:7.  This analogy illustrates what waiting really is here in Galatians 5. To eagerly wait is to run a good race.

Every race has a goal, a desired end, a finish line. The race mentioned here has a finish line as well and Paul is passionate in his coaching. He wants to see the Galatians run a good race and finish strong. The finish line, mentioned in verse 5, “the righteousness for which we hope” is the hope of the believer. What awaits the believer at the end of this life? What hope do we have when all seems hopeless and dark? Is death the final experience for us? Are we to suffer forever? Will this world remain evil and broken? Paul is adamant that Jesus was crucified and buried and then he was raised. This is the testimony that serves as the very foundation of the Church. Jesus is resurrected, he is the true Messiah, the King of the nations. He is the one who has made and is making all things new, all things right.

This rightness, or righteousness is the end result of the work of Jesus and the Holy Spirit through his people. I believe the righteousness hoped for here is the resurrection of God’s people and the restoration of God’s creation. For what is true of Jesus is true for his people. We eagerly wait for our resurrection, the making right of all things. Our hope is that God will do what he has promised. This is the faith given to Abraham and all who believe. This is a cosmic hope, a cosmic righteousness. It is not about our individual morality or how “holy” we are as measured by a code of conduct. It is all about Jesus and what he has done: He has fulfilled the covenant given to Israel and humanity. He has succeeded where Israel failed. He has purchased a people by suffering and dying as their atonement. He has taken upon himself, in our place, the wrath of God demanded for breaking his Law. He is the means through which God has made the world right and is making the world right. This people he has purchased and redeemed has become the New and True Humanity, finding their identity in what God has done through Jesus and in his mission to restore the world (see Galatians 3:23-4:7).

So we run this race toward the finish line of the eradication of evil and injustice and the redemption of God’s humanity and world. We are eager in our waiting as faith works and expresses itself though our love and compassion for all of God’s image bearers. For we have a hope that is more real and tangible than even our own skin and circumstances. I pray we as a community continue to “eagerly await through the Spirit the righteousness for which we hope.” 

I look forward to these next talks on Galatians as we look at what it looks like to run a good race, to hope in the righteousness of God.

Simple + Practical Ways to be Missional

From Verge

1. Life WITH Mission VS Life AS Mission
2. How To Fit Mission Into Your Schedule
3. 10 Practical Ways To Be Missional (Without Adding Anything To Your Schedule!)
4. 5 Practical Ideas to Use Your Meals to Be Missional
5. 5 Practical Ideas to Bless Others
6. 5 Practical Ways To Bless Your Neighbors
7. Practical Ways to be Missional in Your Neighborhood Part 1, Part 2
8. Simple Ways To Share Your Faith
9. 5 Practical Ideas to Be Missional by Celebrating & Suffering with Others
10. 5 Practical Ideas to Be Missional by Listening
11. 5 Practical Ideas to Be Missional by Knowing The Story
12. 4 Vital Questions for Being Missional in the Marketplace
13. 30 Practical Ways to Be Missional in Your Workplace
14. 5 Practical Ideas To Be Missional With Your Work & Rest
15. Practical Ways to be Missional in Your Community & City – Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5
16. 6 Practical Ways To Use Your Rhythms of Life to Live on Mission
17. The Introverted Evangelist: Living on Mission as an Introvert

BONUS!

• Simple Ways To Be Missional – FREE eBook

BEING the Church; Not GOING to Church

Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,  and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” ~ Matthew 28:18-20

There is plenty of room for Grace Church to grow and expand.  Let's pray that more and more people come, get connected, and become part of Grace Church's mission + vision.  But we have to remember what kind of church we are called to be.  

We're not looking to simply grow numerically, we want to see more disciples, more Christ-followers.  We want to see people connected to the mission of Grace Church, and then watch them begin to see their life as one who is called to live on mission as one of God's sent people.  And this kind of discipleship is not something that happens immediately.  Discipleship like this happens when people engage the truth of God's Word and enter into Christ-centered community with one another on a regular basis.  Discipleship like this happens when people begin to reach out, build relationships with others, and then personally invite them to be a part of what's happening at Grace Church.

Remember, our goal isn't to simply see the auditorium of DHS filled with people on Sunday (though that would be awesome and let's shoot for that!); more so than that, we want to see people following Christ.  We want the auditorium filled with people who do not simply GO to church rather, we desire that room to be filled with Christ-followers who ARE the church, 7 days a week, and in all spheres of life.

Fathers, You are Vital...

Fathers, You Are Vital (Info-graphic) from Centerline New Media on Vimeo.

What is Justification?

In Galatians 2, "[We] know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified" (Galatians 2:16). 

Justification is a recurring word/theme in the New Testament epistles, especially with Paul.  But what does Justification mean?  Does it simply refer to God declaring us, though we are sinful, to be righteous through faith in Jesus Christ, crucified and risen?  Or is it that wonderful truth plus something else wonderful?  
NT Wright and Ben Witherington offer some insight....

Righteous Sinners - The Good News of "Simul Justus et Peccator"

In this short excerpt from his teaching series, “Luther and the Reformation,” Dr. R.C. Sproul teaches the Reformational view of justification as he explains Martin Luther’s Latin phrase, “Simul Justus et Peccator.”

This beautiful doctrine helps us understand how the Apostle Paul would teach (e.g., Galatians 2:17-21) that sinners, who struggle in their continual, sinful shortcomings, can also be justified through faith in Christ.

Some Resources to Study Galatians

As we journey through the wonderful letter to the Galatians this summer, I would like to encourage you to read through and study Galatians yourself (or, even better, with someone else!).  Here are some helpful resources:

Paul for Everyone by NT Wright

Wright's eye-opening comments on these letters are combined, passage by passage, with his fresh and inviting new translation of the Bible text. Making use of his true scholar's understanding, yet writing in an approachable and anecdotal style, Wright captures the tension and excitement of the time as the letters seek to assert Paul's authority and his teaching against other influences. 

The For Everyone Series was created to provide guides to all the books of the New Testament. Each short passage is followed by a highly readable discussion, with background information, useful explanations and suggestions, and thoughts as to how the text can be relevant to our lives today. A glossary is included at the back of the book. The series is suitable for group study, personal study, or daily devotions.

We have a few copies available at church for $10.

Galatians Study Guide

Here's a helpful study guide for Galatians by Tim Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. This study of Galatians is organized into 13 units. Each unit consists of two sections: 1) a Bible study and 2) a Reflection or Exercise section. The first section studies a portion of the Galatians text, while the second section takes some concept from the Scripture and helps you get a better understanding of it (“Reflection”) and/or to apply it practically to your life (“Exercise”).