Missio Dei Community - SLC

Kyle Costello continues our Advent sermon series, Blessed Intervention.

When stories become familiar they can become tame or easily dismissed. Maybe no time of

year is that temptation greater for the Jesus follower then at Christmas. We sings songs of

hope, but is there any? This baby Jesus is supposed to mean something, but does he? During

Advent this year we are going to look at the story of Jesus coming to earth and let the Bible tell

us why its so profound. This week we begin by looking at Philippians 2 and asking God to make

real to us again the profound act of his son coming to earth.

Kyle sits down with Josh Rosenthal to discuss why and how we sing our worship.

Jonny Morrison finishes up our series Age of Rage with Galatians 6. The book of Galatians is a letter to a church about how to be Church in a divided time. For 8 weeks we’ve explored how the gospel unifies hows, how the cross free us, and how the Spirit empowers us to love. In his final word to the Galatians Paul applies all that he’s said to real everyday life. What does it look like to love like Jesus? Carrying the burdens of others especially those who hurt us.

Kyle Costello continues our Age of Rage series by examining Galatians 5.

In our series, Age of Rage, Kyle Costello takes a look at Galatians 4:8-9.

At some point in our life we have to be willing to assess how we follow Jesus and in what areas we don’t. Throughout this series we have discussed many ways we can buy into false gospels rather than God’s Gospel, and today it gets more personal. Today we look closely at ways we are still choosing to be enslaved rather than to be free in Christ. Today we look to the Bible not for rules to get us free from slavery, but for the depth of Christ to compel us to leave our enslavement.

In out series, Age of Rage, Jonny Morrison looked at Galatians 3:10-29. Throughout

the series we’ve been exploring the feelings of our cultural moment by asking, "Why does our

world feel the way that it does?" Yesterday we specifically asked why our world seems so

divided and tribal? Tribalism and division are fundamental concerns for Paul in the book of

Galatians because he is watching the young church dived along theological and racial lines. In

Galatians 3 Paul pinpoints the false gospel underneath our tribalism and calls us, by our death

in Christ, to put on Christ and be united in Him. We are to become a cruciform people.

It's not popular to confess that you have been fooled, but has there ever been a time in your life

where you have been? What did that feel like? When Paul writes to the Galatians, he says that

they have been fooled or bewitched into believing a message other than the message of Jesus.

Do we do that? How?

This week Kyle Costello teaches through Galatians 3 and looks specifically at the questions Paul asks the Galatians to help them see how they have trusted in a message other than that of Jesus.

How tempted were you to judge someone today? Even if it was just a dialogue in your head,

how tempted were you or how did you give in to a desire to shame, judge, mock, or blame

someone? Where does that come from in us? How do we address issues when people hurt us

or as Christ Followers when people in our community live outside of the Gospel? These are

important questions and thankfully Jesus and his followers not only dealt with them but gave

us a way to follow as we seek to be people who offer Grace and Truth to the world rather than

shame, blame, and judgement.

Take a closer look at Galatians 2:11-20, and how Paul's rebuke gives us insight into healthy confrontation within the context of being the church in our current cultural moment.

Kyle Costello takes us through the passage.

We are currently in a series entitled, Age of Rage, exploring the feelings, emotions, and tensions

of our current cultural moment. The goal is to diagnose and address feelings of dissonance,

resentment, anger, loneliness, and anxiety––diagnose and address with the gospel and ask how

the Church can respond. We’ve been rooted in the book of Galatians and the Apostle Paul

doesn’t mince words in his diagnoses of our deepest problems he says we’ve trusted in false

gospels, rival “good news” stories.

What are these rival good news stories about? If you peel back all the layers and get to the very

bottom of it all the rival stories are the “gospel of self;” stories that put the weight of salvation,

fulfillment, and flourishing on our shoulders. On the one hand that is appealing because it

smells like freedom, but the truth is a ““gospel of self”” leads to reduction, exploitation, and

anxiety.

Jonny Morrison preaches week 3 of our Age of Rage sermon series.

In week 2 of our series Age of Rage, Kyle Costello continues walking through Galatians 1 and exploring the feelings of our current cultural moment.

The world doesn’t politely suggest ways to fulfillment; rather it intensely confronts you with

them. The world says wealth and importance is paramount. It says the powerful are the real

valuable people. If we choose a different way the world mocks us.

So where does that leave the Christ follower? Can we mix the gospel of the world with the

Gospel of Jesus? And what happens if we do? The story of Jesus, like the claims of the world,

is no different in asserting its path to fulfillment powerfully. Jesus doesn’t live, die on the cross,

and be raised from the dead to politely suggest his way is a good one. Jesus' life and words tell

us that his Gospel is an objective truth that is to be believed above and beyond the ways of the

world.

So how do we decide? Are the invitations of the world where we will find our peace and

thriving? What if we feel like we have tried both and both have left us empty? Can we really

trust the message of Jesus? What and how can we uncover the lies or the truth behind

these competing claims? This week we dig deep into Galatians to listen to Jesus, see what he

is doing in the midst of his people, and ask the questions above.