What do you think Jack is up to?
March 16, 2010
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Posted by Eric Hughes
Apply: Galatians 6:6-10
March 15, 2010
What a joy it was to worship together and to hear, study, and respond to God’s Word! All that we do is made possible because of the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross. Today we studied Galatians 6:6-10, where Paul uses the illustration of sowing and reaping to encourage believers to be sowing to the Spirit and doing good to others. You can listen to or download the message here. I trust you will exercise your freedom to do good today and this week! Feel free to use the following questions to discuss and apply the message with family and friends as well as in care group.
1. How has the principle of “you reap what you sow” been revealed in your own life? Can you think of specific examples (both good and bad) where you reaped the result of your sowing?
2. What are some specific ways in which you desire to replace sowing to the flesh with sowing to the Spirit? Take time to pray for one another and ask for God’s grace to empower you to do so.
3. How does knowing that God loves you and is in control help you to fight weariness and to not give up? Is there anything that is causing weariness now that you would like prayer for?
4. How do we balance God’s call to do good to everyone with the natural restraints and limitations of our lives? How can we stay truly free to do good without adding the burden of trying to prove ourselves to God?
5. What is an act of doing good to others that you sense the Lord leading you to do?
I am thankful that the Lord is with us, within us, surrounds us, is behind us and ahead of us so that we may do good and walk I His ways, and then reap His rewards in due season, if we do not give up. Let us press forward in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, expecting great things for our church in the days to come!
God Bless,
-Chris-
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Posted by Chris Mangold
Tomorrow Morning at SGC
March 13, 2010
Another great weekend at SGC! Gary and Betsy Ricucci just left for home after an awesome marriage seminar today! How kind of them to come and serve us! We trust that all who came were encouraged by the grace of God available to us as couples.
We are looking forward to gathering tomorrow for church. Our day will begin at 8:30 with the final Bible For Life classes and our New Members Class. If you are new and are interested in becoming a part of our New Members Class, you can come tomorrow and join the class. At 9:00, our Sunday morning prayer team will gather to pray for our service. Please join us if you can.
Chris McCrea will be leading us in worship tomorrow. We look forward to exalting Jesus Christ together in song.
Our sermon will come from Galatians 6:6-10. This section contains the wonderful principle of sowing and reaping. It is also the 3rd to the last sermon in our Galatians series! What a rich series this has been!
We will end our time together with an opportunity to pray for anyone in need and with a cup of coffee in the lobby!
Have a great evening and we’ll see you tomorrow morning!
Eric
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Posted by Eric Hughes
Relationships in the Church
March 11, 2010I wanted to post the quote I read from Instruments in the Redeemer’s Hands, written by Paul Tripp. I also have added two more that are excellent! May God continue to build us by His Spirit into the church He wants us to be!
“The church is full of people dealing with the effects of sin, people who are not fully formed into the image of Jesus Christ. The church is full of people who have lost their way and don’t even know it, who haven’t made a 
connection between their daily problems and the transforming grace of Christ. Everywhere you look, you will find couples who are struggling to love, parents who are struggling to be patient, children who are attracted to temptations, and friends who battle the disappointments of imperfect relationships. This is 100 percent of the church’s membership! The church is not a theological classroom. It is a conversion, confession, repentance, reconciliation, forgiveness, and sanctification center, where flawed people place their trust in Christ, gather to know and love him better, and learn to love others as he has designed. The church is messy and inefficient, but it s God’s wonderful mess – the place where he radically transforms hearts and lives.”
“I am deeply persuaded that the foundation for people-transforming ministry is not sound theology; it is love. Without love, our theology is a boat without oars. Love is what drove God to send and sacrifice his Son. Love led Christ to subject himself to a sinful world and the horrors of the cross. Love is what causes him to seek and save the lost, and to persevere until each of his children is transformed into his image. His love will not rest 
until all of his children are at his side in glory. The hope of every sinner does not rest in theological answers but in the love of Christ for his own. Without it, we have no hope personally, relationally, or eternally. This love is not a band-aid attempting to cope with a cancerous world. It is effective and persevering. It is jealous, intent on owning us without competition. It faces the facts of who we are and how we need to change and simply goes to work. Any hope for the problems we face – with our own hearts and with a dark and corrupt world – is found in the love of the Lord Jesus Christ for us.”
“When we forget the call to incarnate the love of Christ, we take our relationships as our own. Soon they are governed by our pleasure, comfort, and ease. We get irritated at people who interfere with these things, and much of our anger is due to the fact that we are relationship thieves. People do not belong to us; they belong to God! Relationships between sinners are messy, difficult, labor-intensive, and demanding, but in that, they are designed to result in God’s glory and our good as he is worshiped and our hearts are changed. Effective personal ministry begins when we confess that we have taken relationships that belong to God and used them for our own selfish purposes. When we have confessed and repented, we are ready to ask what role our relationships can play in the work Christ wants to do. If the relationships God gives us are not mere luxuries for our own happiness, what is God’s plan for them? God’s relationship to us is loving and redemptive, and he wants our relationships to mirror those qualities.”
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Posted by Eric Hughes
Apply: Galatians 5:25-6:5
March 8, 2010
God’s grace continues to abound to us as a church! What a sweet time in the presence of the Lord yesterday. And what a privilege it is to worship Jesus Christ our Savior who conquered sin and death on the cross, in our place, on our behalf, because of His great love for us! Yesterday we studied Galatians 5:25-6:5. This was really part two of what it means to live and walk by the Spirit. This week’s text had corporate application for us as a church. We learned that the Holy Spirit is the key to how we live our lives together in this church. We then looked at the Spirit’s role in building humility, gracious accountability and the grace to excel in bearing one another’s burdens. You can download or listen to the message here. We hope these questions will help you apply God’s word to your life.
1) What is the Spirit’s role in our interactions with one another as a church? What is the difference between a church that is cordial toward one another based on social etiquette and a church that is filled with the Spirit?
2) How do you believe the Spirit wants to change you and help you regarding humility towards other brothers and sisters in our church? Have you been humble in your interactions with others in this church or has their been conceit leading to provoking or envying? What will change look like for you the next time you have opportunity to interact with your church family?
3) Real sin happens and shouldn’t be ignored, according to Gal. 6:1. How do verses 1-2 teach us how accountability should occur? Do you see accountability as a negative or do you see accountability as a moment of redemption where the grace, mercy and forgiveness of Jesus Christ will be magnified? Of these two options, which do you think the Spirit is prompting you to look at: A) Go to your brother or sister; or B) Restore them gently?
4) Are you actively caring for someone right now? Are you actively carrying someone else’s burden right now? Or, have you walked on the other side of the road? Are you aware of the hurting around you? Is there anyone in your care group that is struggling and could simply use your prayer and support right now? Is there anyone you know the Lord wants you to get to, to extend care? How will you get in contact with them?
Folks, the Spirit is at work in our church! Paul Tripp reminded us that we are not a theological classroom, but a redemption, confession, conversion, forgiveness, and reconciliation center filled with flawed people who are being changed by the grace of God. We are God’s wonderful mess, he said! And yet God is filling us with His Spirit, He is transforming us as a church, and He is using us in each other’s lives as ministers of grace. How amazing is that!?!
Grace to you today,
Eric
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Posted by Eric Hughes
Apply: Galatians 5:16-25
March 1, 2010
Yesterday morning, Kirk Alexander preached a fine sermon from Galatians 5 entitled Life in the Spirit. You can listen to or download the sermon here. Kirk showed us from this text that the Spirit is the key to living the Christian life. He showed us the War, the Warriors and the Way to Win! We hope these questions will help you apply this word to your life.
1) If we are no longer under the law, then how does the Christian life “work” with regard to growth in holiness and godliness?
2) What is the difference between the Spirit’s power to affect change in us and the law’s power? How is legalism a “slap in the Holy Spirit’s face”?
3) How would you describe the warfare between the flesh and the Spirit in you? What does the war look like? Where are the battlegrounds? Times of day, people you interact with, tempting situations, etc.?
4) Why is the “fruit” of the Spirit singular in the original language? What does this tell you about all of the traits of godliness here? Do you see these as a “list” of things to grow in or the very character of God that He is working into you by the Spirit within you?
5) In which graces do you believe the Lord is calling you to grow by the power of His Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience…)? How will you pray and pursue godliness in this area in the days to come? How can you pursue this kind of godliness in freedom by the Spirit and not as a new “thing to do” to earn God’s acceptance or favor?
6) We are to walk by the Spirit. We are to live by the Spirit. How do you believe the person of the Holy Spirit is calling you into a deeper relationship with Him right now?
Grace to you today! May the Spirit give you power today to walk with Him and bring glory to God!
Eric
Welcome to at the corner, a place where the pastors of Sovereign Grace Church hope to serve you by discussing various topics.
