We are continuing our series "The Promise," and we are looking at the promise of Peace. In Isaiah 9, the people are promised a Messiah that would bring about a period of peace for all people. And Luke picks up this idea in his Birth Narrative.

The very first people that the birth is announced to, outside of Mary, Joseph, and Elizabeth, are shepherds.

Why shepherds? 

Because Luke is making a theological claim that the peace of Christ is for all people, and everyone gets to receive that gift so long as they surrender to the lordship and leadership of Jesus. He is the true King that will usher in the peace of God forever.

A promise is an assurance that a certain thing will come to pass. We make promises all the time. Sometimes we see them through. Other times they never become a reality. But God is different. When he makes a promise, we can be confident that he will be faithful to bring it to fruition.

The Bible is full of promises from God to his people, and there is one life-changing promise we celebrate every Christmas: God's promise of a Savior named Jesus.

This Sunday we take a look at this idea of the Promise of Hope. 

Colossians 3:12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 

In Colossians, Paul tells the church to put to death the former ways and to put on Christ. It's an amazing passage talking about how we get ourselves ready for thankful worship. 

Galatians 6:2 Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.

Paul spends the last chapter of Galatians looking at burdens and loads. When we carry each others' burdens, Paul says that we are fulfilling the law of Christ. It's a pure act of love to sit with someone suffering and help them get out of their pit, and each one of us is called to help one another get out of our dark places. 

As Pastor Jon mentioned last week, this is part two of the message that he was preparing. He spent some time looking at the phrase: "brothers and sisters." It's because we are family that we care for one another. It's because we are family that we serve one another. It's because we are family that we love one another as Christ loves us.

Galatians 6:2 Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.

As we've been looking at Galatians, one of the concepts that Paul wants to unpack: law versus grace. 

Law is what we do, but grace is what God has on our behalf in Jesus. And the way that we uphold the law of Christ is by carrying each other's burdens. 

What God desires out of our relationships is serving one another, praying for each other, and loving the way that God loves us. 

Jesus is both our teacher and model for living this out. He taught his disciples to love another, and he himself also showed the way.

Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

This week, we'll be spending some time looking at the Fruits of the Spirit — specifically patience.

We continue our series in Galatians with a message about the Spirit-Filled Life and how we are adopted into the Father's Kingdom!

Galatians 4:4–7

Galatians 2:20 — I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

There's a church fight going on, but it's not about the carpet, the volume of the worship, but about what it means to live the life of faith. In this passage, Pastor Jon unpacks one of the great passages of this study in Galatians, "I have been crucified with Christ, it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me" (Galatians 2:20). What Jesus is offering is life beyond our wildest imaginations because of this one crucial choice to live a crucified life. 

Galatians 3:24-25 — The Law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we may be justified by faith. But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.

We continue our study of Galatians with a further look at the role and use of the Law… and why Paul commends it as “good,” “perfect,” and “holy”…even though it’s powerless to help us keep what it demands.

Galatians 2:20 — I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Paul is huge on community in Galatians, and community is about submitting one to another. As Jesus gives himself to us, we too are called to give ourselves to one another. Though, we all know how hard that is!

It's mutual submission, learning how to surrender and give honor to the other as we also give honor to the Holy Other. The cross calls all of us to lay down our rights and privileges to the Lord.