Remember preparing for Christmas as a kid? We would spend hours thinking through our wish list, circling and deciding what would make the perfect gift. As adults, we rarely take the time to think about we would really want. Not in regards to Christmas gifts, but what we really want to have in our lives. If we had a wish list about what we hoped God would provide for us, what would it be? In John 10:1-18, we find that Jesus is offering all of His followers a perfect gift: a leader who loves and cares for them.

Church attendance across America is on the decline. As people move away from Sunday gatherings, something huge is changing. God created the church for His children to love and care for each other. However, can that be done if we are not prioritizing gathering together? Our individualistic way of thinking is breaking down the beauty of the local church….we are made for each other.

Have you ever prayed for help in difficult or trying circumstances, only to never have it actually materialize in your life? Those unanswered prayers, or the deliverance that never seems to arrive on schedule, can create more questions than answers about the faithfulness of God. More often than not we're left to wonder whether God cares for us, or whether we can truly trust Him when life hurts. Thankfully the ancient book of Psalms offers us some modern day insight into the confidence and trust we can place in God in every situation...even when life hurts.

Since the time we were born, we have been in the process of learning how to be independent. We have learned how to provide for ourselves, take care of ourselves, even how to take care of others. Though this is a good thing, we can forget a key factor: that everything we have is from God. Are we really as self-sufficient as we believe, or can our perspective be skewed because of our culture? The story of the Israelites in Exodus 16 brings a new a fresh perspective of God’s provision for His people.

We've all fallen into the trap of thinking that if we just follow a specific checklist, we're doing the right stuff to make God happy. The New Testament church in Galatia was no different, adding laws on top of salvation. Fortunately, God knew that we'd want to try to prove salvation with rules instead of faith. Hear what Paul shares about living in true freedom with Christ and what kind of fruit that produces in our lives.

Halloween is the one time of year when its socially acceptable to for adults to dress up on costume to assume a new identity. But does a change of costume really alter our identity? Of course not! But through our justification by faith in Christ, we're recipients of a new identity that does not change. In Galatians 4. the Apostle Paul powerfully demonstrates why or identity in Christ is vastly superior to any identity we can find in the world around us. Our identity in Christ frees us from seeking our identity in ourselves!

Paul continues to make His case to the churches in Galatia that we are saved by faith in Jesus, not by our good works. In chapter 2, he is using the concept of how we are justified to God because of what Jesus has done, but what really is justification? Is it a big theological word and idea, or a concept that is vital to understand the gospel and our journey with God?

As Christianity spread, tensions were rising between people who gave their lives to Christ. The Jewish people wanted the non-Jewish converts to follow Jesus, AND Jewish customs, including following the Old Testament law. Paul points out that Christ followers have received the Holy Spirit by faith in Him, not by works or what Law they followed. If believers had to do both, it would mean they would have to pay back Jesus for the salvation He has offered. Do you think we could pay him back for all of the sin we have committed?

Paul had to address a major issue in the Galatian churches he had started: they were beginning to believe a different gospel then what Paul had taught them. The people were starting to blend Judaism with Christianity, which meant they needed good works to be saved. This was causing confusion and was not what Jesus had taught then when He was on the earth. Salvation is offered purely on the grace of God, not on the merit or works of humans. Works based religion still bleeds into our culture today causing confusion and a false hope. What is the true gospel and how do we know it when we see it?

Cancel culture is not a new thing. People have always had ways of suppressing the voices and actions of people that they disagree with. In fact, American Christianity has its own culture and uses platforms to express its displeasure with the world. Is that what Christ as called His followers to? Debating, disagreeing, and making sure the world knows what is right and wrong? In Titus 3 we will find that Paul has some clear direction for the Christians of his day that rings true in our culture: Jesus calls us to remake ourselves, not the world around us.--