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Pastor Ian Thompson — Bootle Protestant Free Church

Galatians 4 calls believers to remember who they truly are in Christ: not slaves, not servants, but adopted sons and daughters of the living God. In this sermon, Pastor Ian Thompson explores Paul’s heartfelt plea to the Galatian church — a warning not to abandon the liberty of the Gospel or return to the bondage of idols, rituals, or the expectations of the world.

Drawing from the imagery of children, slaves, and heirs, this teaching unpacks the contrast between life under the Law and life under grace. Pastor Ian explains how Christ, born “in the fullness of time,” entered our condition to redeem those under the Law and bring them into the family of God. He highlights the danger of spiritual drift, the subtle pull of man‑made religion, and the ever‑present temptation to return to what Christ has already freed us from.

This sermon speaks to the heart of Christian identity — adoption, inheritance, and the cry of “Abba, Father.” It also reflects Paul’s pastoral grief as he watches his spiritual children wander toward practices that undermine the Gospel.

Key themes:

• Bondage vs. liberty in Christ
• Adoption as sons and daughters
• The danger of returning to ritual or idol
• Paul’s pastoral heart for the Galatians
• Standing firm in Gospel freedom

A clear, warm, and pastoral exposition for believers seeking to understand Galatians 4 and to stand fast in the liberty Christ has given.

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Description: 
In this sermon, Pastor Ian Thompson continues our journey through Paul’s letter to the Galatians, exploring one of the most urgent and clarifying passages in the epistle. Paul asks the foundational question: “Why then the law?” and unfolds three layers that reveal the true purpose of the law, the supremacy of the promise, and the identity of every believer in Christ.

This message examines:

• The purpose of the law — revealing sin, restraining sin, and driving us to Christ.
• The temporary nature of the ceremonial law and the enduring role of the moral law.
• The schoolmaster image — how the law escorts us to Christ, but cannot save us.
• The superiority of the promise — given directly by God to Abraham.
• The unity of believers — “neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female.”
• Putting on Christ — being clothed in His righteousness and adopted into God’s family.
• Living as heirs, not slaves — walking in confidence, grace, unity, and love.

Pastor Ian also offers pastoral reflections for the weary, the proud, and the uncertain, reminding us that our identity is no longer defined by our past, but by faith in Christ alone.

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In this sermon, Pastor Ian Thompson opens one of the most hard‑hitting sections of Paul’s letter to the Galatians. Galatians 3:1–18 forms the doctrinal heart of the epistle, confronting the church with a choice that still shapes Christian life today: law or faith, works or grace, performance or promise.

Paul’s thunderous cry — “O foolish Galatians!” — is explored in its full context, reminding us that chapters and verses were added centuries later. Paul’s grief and urgency flow from everything he has already said: the danger of drifting from the Gospel, the seduction of legalism, and the temptation to finish the Christian life in the flesh after beginning in the Spirit.

This message unfolds in three movements:

• The Just Shall Live by Faith (vv.1–11) 
  Paul takes the Galatians back to Abraham, showing that righteousness has always come by faith, not works. The sermon highlights the Reformation‑igniting truth: “The just shall live by faith.”
• The Law or Faith? (vv.12–14) 
  The law demands perfection — and none can give it. Christ redeemed us from the curse by becoming a curse for us, fulfilling “Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree.” The blessing promised to Abraham — righteousness, the Spirit, and life — comes only through faith in Christ.
• When Is a Promise Not a Promise? (vv.15–18)  
  God’s covenant with Abraham came centuries before Moses. The law cannot cancel, replace, or undo the promise. If we cling to works, we cannot cling to Christ. If we trust our performance, we cannot trust His grace.

Pastor Ian applies this truth to the modern church, warning against today’s “Judaizers” who smuggle works back into salvation — whether through rituals, habits, or expectations God never commanded. Salvation is Christ alone, received by faith alone, kept by grace alone.

Application includes:

• Guarding your heart from drifting back to law
• Refusing to measure others by performance
• Resting in the promise, not your own strength
• Walking in the Spirit, not the flesh

This sermon calls every listener to live as children of the promise — never bewitched by performance, never burdened by law, but anchored in the grace given to Abraham and fulfilled in Jesus Christ.

Key Themes: Justification by faith, promise vs. law, grace, Judaizers, covenant, Abraham, Christian assurance, Spirit‑filled living.

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Pastor Ian Thompson

In this Teaching Ministry episode, we explore Paul’s public opposition to Peter in Galatians 2:11–21 — not as a personal conflict, but as a courageous defence of the Gospel of grace. Peter’s moment of inconsistency under pressure becomes a warning for all believers: our behaviour must match the Gospel we confess.

Pastor Ian walks through the passage with clarity and pastoral warmth, showing how peer pressure can blur the Gospel, why Paul’s confrontation was necessary, and how both men ultimately stood united in Christ. This sermon highlights the heart of Christian identity: “I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”

Listeners will be encouraged to stand firm for the Gospel, correct one another in love, and recognise the different gifts God gives His people — just as Peter and Paul did.

Scripture: Galatians 2:11–21
Series: Teaching Ministry — BPFC
Speaker: Pastor Ian Thompson

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Pastor Ian Thompson continues the Galatians series with a clear and pastoral exposition of Galatians 2:1–10. In this passage Paul travels to Jerusalem “by revelation,” bringing Barnabas and Titus with him, to ensure that the unity of the church is preserved and the gospel remains undefiled.

Titus stands as a living testimony that salvation is in Christ alone, by faith alone, without the works of the law. Paul exposes the danger of false brethren who seek to add human requirements to the gospel and shows why he refused to yield even for an hour. The apostles recognise Paul’s ministry, extend the right hand of fellowship, and remind him to remember the poor — the natural fruit of true gospel faith.

This teaching highlights three essential truths:
• The gospel must never be compromised.
• The unity of the church must be guarded.
• The fruit of the gospel is compassion.

A steady, Scripture‑centred message for believers seeking clarity, assurance, and confidence in the finished work of Christ.

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Pastor Ian Thompson — Bootle Protestant Free Church

In Galatians 1:11–24, Paul defends the divine origin of the gospel he preached — a message not received from men, not shaped by tradition, and not adjusted to culture, but given directly through the revelation of Jesus Christ. This teaching explores Paul’s dramatic transformation from persecutor to preacher, his independence from the Jerusalem apostles, and the early testimony that caused the churches of Judea to glorify God for such a miraculous change.

Key themes include:

• Paul’s claim that his gospel is from Christ alone
• His journey from violent persecutor to bold apostle
• Why his message is not secondhand or inherited
• How the early church responded to his conversion
• The continuing role of the moral law through the lens of Christ
• The danger of reshaping the gospel to fit cultural pressure
• What true conversion looks like in the life of a believer
• How Paul’s testimony speaks to our identity, mission, and calling today

This episode encourages believers to hold fast to the gospel that comes from God, rejoice in grace that reaches the hardest heart, and walk in such a way that others glorify God because of us.

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Pastor Ian Thompson

Paul’s opening words to the Galatians carry urgency, clarity, and deep pastoral concern. In this sermon, we begin our new series by exploring why Paul wrote this “rescue letter” — a defence of the true Gospel against those who would add rituals, obligations, or human effort to the finished work of Christ.

Paul reminds the church that his apostleship is not from men, nor through man, but directly from Jesus Christ. Because the Gospel he preached is God‑given, any message that adds requirements before a sinner may come to Christ is “another gospel” — a perversion that cannot save.

We look at the danger of mixing grace with works, the modern echoes of Judaizer teaching, and Paul’s solemn warning that even an angel from heaven must be rejected if he preaches anything beyond Christ alone. The sermon also offers pastoral clarity on repentance, assurance, and the security of salvation: grace is free, grace is given, and grace is never a licence to sin.

Good works matter — but they are the fruit, never the root. Our hope is found in Christ and Christ alone. Anything else is sinking sand.

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Pastor Ian Thompson

Galatians is often treated as a sharp theological argument, but this sermon reveals its deeper heartbeat: the cry of a spiritual father watching his children drift from the gospel he first delivered to them. Drawing from Paul’s own words in Galatians 4:13–15, we explore how the apostle arrived in Galatia weak, wounded, and vulnerable, and how the church received him “as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus.” 

This episode uncovers the personal crisis behind the doctrinal one. The Judaizing teachers were not simply adding religious customs; they were redefining the gospel itself, turning Christ’s finished work into “Christ plus.” Their message pulled the Galatians back toward the slavery of the old life  a return to fear, chains, and performance-based acceptance. Paul’s sharpness is not authoritarian anger but fatherly anguish: “My little children, of whom I travail in birth again…” 

You will hear how Paul’s wounded love mirrors the heart of God, a Father who calls, warns, pleads, and pursues His people when they wander. This sermon invites listeners to read Galatians not as a cold theological treatise but as a love letter written in tears. It calls the church back to the simplicity of grace, the sufficiency of Christ, and the freedom of the gospel.

As BPFC begins its Galatians series, this message sets the tone: a pastoral plea to return to Christ alone, with joy, humility, and the freedom that comes only through grace.

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Visiting Speaker: Tom  Greig

This week’s BPFC Teaching features a visiting preacher delivering a stirring message on the spiritual fight every believer is called into. Drawing from Exodus 13:17–22 and 1 Timothy 6:12–16, the sermon challenges Christians to recognise the reality of spiritual warfare, to face life’s battles with faith, and to trust God’s leading even when the road is not the easiest one.

Tom reminds us that God did not lead Israel by the nearest route, but by the right route — the one that would shape their hearts, strengthen their faith, and prepare them for the promised land. Likewise, the Christian life is not passive. We are enlisted into God’s army, called to fight the good fight, resist compromise, and stand firm in truth.

The message includes reflections on:

• The dangers of spiritual passivity
• Why God leads us through wilderness seasons
• The difference between exegesis and eisegesis
• The battles of Abraham, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, David, Nehemiah, Paul, and Christ Himself
• The call to share our testimony with neighbours, family, and community
• The importance of recognising God’s voice through Scripture
• The need to resist idolatry and distractions
• The assurance of salvation and the hope of heaven

This sermon is both evangelistic and pastoral, urging believers to live boldly, share their faith, and trust God’s purposes in every struggle.

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Pastor Ian Thompson reflects on the Battle of the Somme through the lens of Joshua 22:1–5, drawing together themes of loyalty, sacrifice, fraternity, and Protestant faith.

On the 1st of July 1916, thousands of young men stepped forward in duty and devotion — many never returned. Their courage and sacrifice remain woven into the shared memory of these islands. In this sermon, we remember the fallen not only with solemn gratitude, but with a call to live lives worthy of their legacy.

The two‑and‑a‑half tribes of Israel crossed the Jordan to fight for their brethren, declaring, “We will not rest until our brothers have rest.” Their loyalty was lived, costly, and real — just as it was for the men of the 36th (Ulster) Division, the Newfoundland Regiment, and the many who served from across the then‑Empire.

This message speaks to the Orange family, the bands community, and the wider PUL fraternity, reminding us that our pillars of fraternity, friendship, and Protestant faith stand firm only when centred on Christ and His Gospel.

We honour the fallen best not by sentiment, but by faithfulness:

• standing firm in our Protestant faith
• living as disciples of Christ
• supporting our brethren across the world
• upholding the liberties handed down to us
• walking with dignity, humility, and conviction

May we, in our generation, be found faithful — to Christ, to Scripture, to one another, and to the memory of those who gave everything so that we might live in peace.