Isaiah 7 contains the incredible promise that God would send a child who would be “God With Us”. Matthew’s gospel confirms that this is the heart of the Christmas story: God made His home with us, so that we could find our home in Him.

God gave more information to Isaiah about what this “God with us” would be like.  In Isaiah 9:6 we’re told He would be: Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father and Prince of Peace.  This December we are unpacking each of these names to see how Jesus fulfils God’s promises in every way.

In this message we tune into what it means to not just recognise Jesus as a wonderful counsellor, but to come home to Him as our Wonderful Counsellor.  Our response doesn’t change who He is, but it does change the impact He makes on our lives and in the lives of others through us!

As we finish our study in Galatians we once again marvel at the free gift of God’s grace that we receive through faith in Jesus. As he closes the letter Paul tells us that what really counts – our salvation in Jesus – also really costs. The gift is not free. Jesus gave His life so we might have life. Paul himself bore the marks on his body that proclaimed the price he paid to be a messenger of the good news to others. The gift which is free to us came at a cost to others! That leaves us with two vital questions: 1) will we receive the new life that has been purchased for us; and 2) will we count the cost so that others might receive this gift too?

The letter to the Galatians was written to guard the salvation that had come to the people of Galatia through the gospel.  The message of Jesus was under attack by false teachers and many Christians in Galatia hadn’t even realised!  Some of them were being fooled into following Old Testament laws that were only ever intended to prepare the people of Israel to receive their Messiah – laws which had no power to save them, only to frustrate them.

The same is true of every other ‘law’ that we are used to operating by.  Most churches in our culture haven’t been fooled into operating by Old Testament laws, but we are operating under the rules of 21st century western capitalism!  Our temptation is to become fixated with growing churches instead of making disciples, which means churches are competing for market share and Christians move from church to church based on the quality of experience being offered.

Galatians 6 brings us back to the reality that we reap what we sow.  In our case, giving in to the law of the market economy means training Christians to be consumers instead of disciples, robbing them of the salvation that Jesus brings in our everyday experience of life and stealing the witness of the Church.  God calls us to repent just as strongly as He called the Christians and the false teachers in Galatia to!

After arguing powerfully for the gospel of Grace against a religion of works, Paul now applies his message very practically in the lives of his readers. He contrasts the works of the flesh with the fruit of the Spirit and calls us to the better path of keeping in step with the Spirit. Mike reminds us of what we’ve seen in the letter – that the works of our flesh can sometimes look like lawless self-indulgence and it can also look like legalistic self-righteousness. But the way of the Spirit is to trust in the finished work of Jesus and all that He has accomplished for us; and to express that faith in obedience that is not possible in our own strength but is possible through the Spirit’s power. The Holy Spirit moves Paul to explain this very practically as his letter draws to a close, showing what this looks like not only in our individual lives, but in the way that we need each other’s help to keep in step with the Spirit.

The Apostle Paul finishes his defence of the good news that we don’t have a list of laws to live up to, we have a new identity to live out of. This new identity is ours by God’s grace alone and is received through faith in Jesus Christ, not by any effort of our own. Having argued for the gospel from their personal experience, Scripture, history, reason and their relationship with Paul; the closing argument is an analogy from the life of Abraham and his two wives. It’s a powerful illustration of what it means to be children of Promise. Placing our faith in God to fulfil all His promises is the only way for us to have true fellowship with God and each other, for us to live in freedom from sin and law and finally, for our lives to bear good fruit – fruit that we cannot produce by our own efforts.

In his letter to the Galatians Paul is fighting a threat to the fellowship that Galatian Christians have with God and with each other; the freedom they have to live the life that Christ has given them; and the fruitfulness that comes as a result of God’s life welling up in us and overflowing through us. In chapter 3 Paul argues from the personal experience of the Galatians, the testimony of the Scriptures and the voice of reason to prove that we are made right with God and each other by grace alone which is received by faith alone in Christ alone.

Our fellowship with God and each other could never be accomplished by following the Old Testament law or through anything else that depends on human merit. This challenges the way we so often see and treat God, ourselves and other people. What would it mean to live this truth out in community today?

In our last 2 messages from the book of Galatians we’ve seen Paul rebuke Peter (2:11-14) and then the Galatians (3:1-5) for going back to obedience to the laws of Moses. Is this such a bad thing? According to Paul, absolutely! In between these rebukes (2:15-21) Paul sums up the message of this whole letter. In clarifying the purpose of the law he helps us to understand the doctrine of sin, which is essential for us to understand if we are to appreciate the value of our Saviour.

This message is far more than a correction for a group of people who were struggling to transition from Judaism to Christianity. It’s a message for every human being who needs to understand the root of our common problem and the source of our common hope.

The Galatian churches had fallen into a critical error by adding obedience to the mosaic law as an essential component of the Christian life. Paul explains why this is such a grave mistake and recalls how it has been dealt with elsewhere in chapters 1 & 2. In chapters 3 & 4 he goes on to present 6 arguments to convince the Galatians that they have made a foolish choice in turning away from a salvation that is by faith alone in Christ alone. The first of these arguments is a personal one. He reminds them of their own experience of salvation. He takes them back to the wonderful news of Christ’s death and resurrection and the priceless gift of the Holy Spirit who they received when they placed their trust in Christ. Why would we turn away from such a wonderful gift of grace and start placing conditions on God’s acceptance of us and on our acceptance of one another that are based on our worthiness instead of on Christ’s?

As we celebrate Father’s Day we take some time to think about God’s design for Dads who make a difference in their families, churches and communities. Australian research published by the Fathering Project illustrates that all fathers are making a difference – it’s the type of difference they’re making that counts!

We look at the top 5 risks for children with disengaged or dysfunctional dads to understand the importance of not neglecting our God-given roles; but also to encourage us that we’re probably making more of a positive difference than we realise! We also rejoice in God’s plan for community which means there’s always father-figures who can help us grow as Dads as well as providing fathering support for children.

1 Timothy 6:18-19 describes a blessed life, where we are free to use what God has given us to overflow with good works, being generous and willing to share. This is not only a blessing in this life but it lays a great foundation for the life to come where God will reward every act of faith. These verses describe what we are free for, but not what we are free from. That came in verse 17, which also revealed what it is that frees us.

In this message we spend some time exploring the power of the two “don’ts” and the one “do” of 1 Timothy 6:17. We examine how tempting it is to look for our identity and security in wealth, but how liberating it is when we find our identity and security in God. We conclude by recognising that religious leaders and institutions have not always done well in this area. The Bible is very realistic about that, so we take care to notice the way Paul addresses Timothy’s motives before his message and recognise that leaders and institutions need to be especially careful about the love of money that can pierce them with many griefs.