Anderson Sermons

Throughout Galatians, Paul has warned us that we cannot find eternal life through obeying the Law. Nor can we find it through following the desires of our flesh. Instead, he urges us to walk in step with the Holy Spirit, because only the Spirit can make us truly alive. But who is the Holy Spirit? What does He do, and how can we relate to Him? How can we pursue the life that God promises to us, through the power of the Holy Spirit?

Every moment of every day we have to make a choice: will we be guided by the Holy Spirit or give in to the desires of our flesh? Following the flesh always leads to brokenness within and alienation in our relationships. But following the Spirit leads to maturity and a life that reflects the character of Jesus. Choose wisely today…and tomorrow…and the next day….

There are only two ways to live your life – relying on yourself or relying on the Spirit. If you rely on yourself, you will become a slave to your pride or a slave to your passions. But if you rely on the Spirit, He will set you free! You will become free from yourself, free from the power of sin, and free to fully love God and to love others.

We live in a world that is dominated by anger, hatred and division. But we, followers of Christ, are one in Christ! That statement is true whether we believe it or not, and it is true whether we behave like it or not! But when we believe we are one, and when we begin live as one, we fulfill our calling to help people find and follow Jesus by reflecting the nature and character of our Creator and Redeemer to a desperately fractured world.

Who are you? Do you find your identity in your job, your marital or family status, your race, your gender, your political party, your abilities, or something else? All of those labels have meaning, but the Scripture tells us that the first thing that comes to our minds when we think of ourselves should be, “Child of God.” We who have trusted in Jesus for eternal life are first and foremost identified by our relationship with Him. Understanding our identity in Christ has the power to liberate and to transform us like nothing else can.

We are not good at keeping our promises – we make them and then we break them! But God always keeps His promises. Because of this we can have absolute confidence that our sins are completely forgiven and we are in right relationship with God both now and forever. Praise God that our hope is in the faithfulness of Father, Son and Spirit and not in ourselves!

How can you know whether or not you are right with God? Does God approve of you based on how well you follow a certain list of rules? And what happens if you fail to obey the rules perfectly? Galatians tells us that God declares us to be in right relationship with Him, now and forever, on the basis of what Jesus has done rather than on the basis of what we do, and that only the power of Jesus, not a list, can transform us into the likeness of Jesus.

For the past 55 years, Grace Bible Church has been helping people find and follow Jesus, both in Bryan/College Station and around the world. Throughout our history we have remained deeply committed to the Word of God, the gospel of grace, the power of students and families worshiping together, and the call to make disciples among the nations. For the past two years, our Every Knee initiative has allowed us to take bold next steps toward our unique vision as a church. We are grateful to God for how far He's brought us, and we are excited about what still lies ahead.

Do you expect God to do big things, genuinely supernatural things, in your life and in the lives of others? Paul's own life serves as a perfect example of the power of God's grace as revealed in His gospel to reach the hardest of hearts, to transform the worst of sinners, and to commission the most unlikely of servants.

The theme of Galatians is freedom! Not just freedom from the bondage of sin, death, and legalism, but freedom to experience life as God intended: the life of love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, gentleness, and self-control that we all desperately long for. This freedom is found only through the pure, unadulterated gospel of Jesus Christ. Believe it! Live it! Share it!