There are a lot of burdens you’ll face in this life that you can handle alone—just between you and God. You can strive and work and slowly make progress. With God’s help, you can get through by yourself, but as Pastor Mark will ask in today’s message, why should you? If it’s all about proving yourself, you’re going to burn out and likely find yourself sliding back under the burden. God gave us the Holy Spirit as a comforter and helper as we face the struggles this world throws at us. And He gave us brothers and sisters in the faith. They can pray for you; They can keep you accountable and make you stronger. Don’t waste that amazing gift.

Can you think of anything in your life that has been a burden? I’m sure we all can. Many of our burdens we have been born into. The heaviest of them is sin. It’s a weight that will drag us into eternal despair if we don’t do anything about it. As Pastor Mark will remind us in this message, Jesus has offered us relief from those burdens. Oftentimes, even after we ask Jesus to save us, we still hang on to those remnants of our sinful nature. It’s a matter of stubborn pride, a desire for momentary pleasure, or it may simply be habitual. Whatever the underlying issue is, Jesus wants to remove that burden entirely.

If you had never stepped into a church or had a conversation with a believer, some of the terms and phrases used could be confusing. Christians might even sound like a violent bunch, with all the talk of crucifixion and sacrifices. Well, don’t worry – we’re not planning on hurting anyone or anything – we’re referring to a state of the heart. As Pastor Mark will explain in today’s message, to find freedom in Christ, there’s a part of each of us that has to go away – it needs to die, as He did on the cross. When He died, He carried the weight of those burdens of guilt we carry in our hearts; we just have to accept what He did.

There’s been a tendency among parts of the church to blame personal sin on forces outside of our control. Some point to chemical or psychological imbalances. Others point to demons as forcing them into actions and attitudes they don’t want. While there are sometimes psychological issues at play, in general, sin is a personal choice, and the responsibility for it lies squarely on our shoulders. Pastor Mark will explain in this teaching that resisting sin starts in your heart. If you determine to faithfully serve God, who has saved you by grace, He will equip you. It’s not that you’ll never fall, but it shouldn’t be a routine part of life.

What have you been choosing today? To serve self or to serve God? It’s a daily decision. Many days, it can even be a moment-by-moment battle. This battle is easily lost if you depend on your own strength. But, when you lean into God and open yourself to the filling of the Spirit, He can empower you to be victorious. As Pastor Mark continues our study in the book of Galatians, he’ll challenge us to choose God in our daily lives. You have to get practical about it. Maybe it means putting up reminders in your home or workspace, or you may need an accountability partner. Whatever it takes – be purposeful about it.

Love goes far beyond feelings. Our world equates love to that feeling of pleasure you get when you look at someone you find attractive and who is attracted to you. It centers around what that relationship does for you. That’s not real love. Real love serves others, even when you get nothing in return. In this world, you’re going to have to choose to love. It’s not going to come naturally, but it’s what you’re called to as a follower of Christ. As Pastor Mark will challenge us in this message, we must commit ourselves to loving others, even when it doesn’t feel good or serve our purposes. That’s when Christ will be seen most clearly in us.

The Law doesn’t have grace built into it. As Pastor Mark will illustrate in this message, if you roll through a stop sign, even if you almost stop, you’ve still broken the law. If you drive 56 in a 55 mile per hour zone – you’ve broken the law. If the police weren’t human, they would fine you on the technicality. With God’s Law, we’re judged on a heart level. That makes it impossible to be righteous – according to the Law, at least. That’s why we need Christ. He has provided the only way for us to be righteous. He alone was able to perfectly follow the Law as God intended, and then He gave Himself to take the punishment for our failures.

If you found out tomorrow that you were the long-lost first child of the Queen of England or one of the world’s richest people – Bill Gates or Jeff Bezos for example—you would suddenly find yourself as an heir to great power and wealth. As incredible as that would be, each one of us is invited to become heirs in a Kingdom that’s far greater than the greatest kingdoms of earth. As Pastor Mark will explain in this teaching, all that’s required to become a part of God’s family – to be embraced as a child of the Creator of the Universe –is to surrender your life to Jesus. In that instant, you become a beloved Child of God.

We often get comfortable in our spiritual slavery. It’s hard to imagine any person choosing to remain in slavery when offered a way out, but freedom also bears new responsibilities, and that can be intimidating. In a spiritual sense, we may desire to be free, but we know that accepting Christ’s offer of salvation will come with its own costs. Even for many of us who are saved, we have an inclination to go back to the bondage that we’ve been freed from. Much like the Israelites wandering in the desert, we miss the fleeting pleasure we knew and lack the stamina and patience to wait on God’s promises.

Throughout the centuries, people have fashioned their own forms of Jesus in order to accommodate their needs. We all desire a Savior – God’s placed that desire in our hearts – but if the one true Jesus doesn’t fit the mold that we prefer, we have a tendency to go looking for a version of Him that will. Many religions and denominations have been formed as a result of this prideful desire. If you really want eternal salvation and freedom right here and now, there is only one source of it. As Pastor Mark will explain in this teaching, the true Son of God who died on the cross to pay for your sin is the only one who can provide that salvation.