From Bumper Cars to Carnival Swings

Paul Taylor preaches a seven week series from September 7 through October 26 on the book of Galatians.

Being born again as a follower of Christ means becoming part of the new family that He has created. But learning to love people in a family can be really difficult. One thing that complicates matters is how different each person is. It's hard to love someone who is really different from you. That's what the young churches of Galatia were experiencing shortly after becoming Christians. In particular, it was challenging for the Jewish believers to get along with the Gentile believers. To make this easier, some people suggested that Gentiles had to be circumcised. That way, they would be just like the Jews and everybody could get along much better. But Paul wrote a letter to these churches trying to convince them not to fall for this. He was clear: the gospel message is about the formation of a new family whose members are different from each other in remarkable ways, and yet are still able to love each other deeply because of their relationship with God through Christ. We have a lot to learn today from Galatians about how to love each other as a family, even when people seem so different and hard to love.

This Week

A Message From God

Galatians 1:11-2:14

In order to correct their understanding of the gospel, Paul begins by demonstrating to the Galatians that the gospel he is preaching to them comes directly from God. By walking through his history and calling into ministry, he shows how it was God and not other people who gave him the gospel. Because the gospel comes from God and not from other people, it is capable of creating a new family of people arranged under God as the Father.