The temptation for Abraham & Sarah is the same temptation for the Galatians and for us. Will we trust God and his promises or take things into our own hands?

Galatians 4:21-23

The Gentiles have no hereditary claims to be Abraham's children, yet God's gracious promise is extended to them through Christ.

So you want to talk about mommas...

Galatians 4:24-31

HAGAR

Ishmael

Slave Woman

Flesh

Sinai Covenant (Law)

Present Jerusalem

SARAH

Isaac

Free Woman

Spirit

Abraham's Covenant (Promise)

New Jerusalem

Christ-followers' place is the New Jerusalem, the intersection of heaven and earth, here and now.

Like Abraham and Sarah, what areas of your life are most difficult to trust God with? Which areas are you most prone to take into your own hands? Why is that? (kids, marriage, retirement, etc.)

How have you experienced "New Jerusalem" life? Put another way, how have you seen the Kingdom of God realized in your family, neighborhood, or work?

In your everyday life, what practices or rhythms help cultivate trust in God and keep you from taking things in your own hands? What is one practice you could try this week?

For Next Week

Galatians 5:1-15

1 John 4:7-21

Luke 10:25-37

Deuteronomy 30:1-10

Galatians 4:1-3; 8-11

Earning one's salvation through morality and religion is just as much enslavement to idols as outright paganism and all its immoral practices.

In the end, the religious person is just as lost and enslaved as the irreligious person.

Paul wants his readers to feel the force of his emphasis on enslavement to the "elemental things of the world" mentioned in verse 3, and the" weak and worthless elemental things" described in verse 9.

Greek "stoicheia tou cosmou"

Galatians 4:4-7

God sent His Son to secure our adoption as sons of God and His Spirit to insure our experience of sonship.

The subjective experience of the Spirit...

Galatians 4:12-20

"And on a more personal note..."

How would you describe adoption as a child of God? Is this something you have experienced?

In your own life, when are you in most danger of living as a slave, not a son? Are you more prone to moral, religious or immoral, irreligious "enslavement"?

What are some characteristics of a "subjective experience of the Spirit"? Put another way, how have you experienced what Paul describes in 4:6?

For Next Week

Galatians 4:21-31

Genesis 16

Genesis 21:1-21

"How can I picture God's kingdom for you? What story can I use? It's like a pine nut that a man plants in his front yard. It grows into a huge pine tree with thick branches, and eagles build nests in it."

- Jesus, Luke 13:18-19 (MSG)

From seed to plant to tree to home for eagles...same substance, different stages, each stage right for its time, but eventually needing to give way to something greater.

Galatians 3:26-29

"And now that faith has come..."

Galatians 4:1-7

"From slaves to sons...

How are the barriers of race, status, and gender evident in the world in which you live? Do you also see these things evident in the community of faith?

In what ways are these cultural barriers being torn down in your own life? How does your faith inform the way you live, speak, and interact across cultural barriers?

How would you describe adoption as a child of God? Is this something you have experienced?

What are some of the privileges you have experienced through being a child of God? (the Spirit, knowing God as Father, set free from sin , etc.)

For Next Week

Galatians 4:8-20

Colossians 2:6-23

2 Corinthians 12:1-11

Vision Meeting

Thursday, October 5th, 2017

Phil Jeansonne

Galatians 3:15-18

The priority, irrevocability, and seniority of the promise over the law.

Galatians 3:19-20

"Why then the law?"

Galatians 3:21-22

Is the law a negation of the promise? Is it anti-promise?

Galatians 3:23-25

How then does it function? Both then and now?

What are some things that have been "laws" in your own life? (Go to church, don't drink, etc.)

How has the Law served as a "tutor" in your life? In other words, have some of these "laws" actually been beneficial in your life? If so, how?

How has faith in Christ alone affected how you view the "laws"?

How do you keep from placing "laws" upon others, even if they've been beneficial to you?

Galatians 3:26-4:7

Romans 8:14-39

John 1:1-18

"There has never been the slightest doubt in my mind that the God who started this great work in you would keep at it and bring it to a flourishing finish on the very day Christ Jesus appears."

- The Apostle Paul; Philippians 1:6 (MSG)

"The way in is the way on!" - Some Other Guy

"What were you thinking?" | Galatians 3:1-5

Four rhetorical questions that expose the Galatian Christians' deficiency in understanding, vulnerability to false teaching, and need for the Holy Spirit whom they had received.

"Can I get a witness?" | Galatians 3:6-9; Genesis 17:4-14, 15:6, and 12:3

Father Abraham takes the stand...

"Which road will you take at the fork?" | Galatians 3:10-14

Four signposts that give both direction and destination

Have there been times in your life when faith was an after-thought and your relationship with God felt entirely dependent on your obedience? How did that affect the way you viewed and followed God?

In your life, what is the connection between faith, being led by the Spirit, and obedience to God?

How have you been redeemed by Christ? How has that changed how you view people?

Galatians 3:15-25

Genesis 12:1-8

2 Corinthians 3:1-18

Religion only has a job if people need to do something to have absoluDon, to work off bad karma, dispel negative energy, or to fix some internal misfiring. However, if Christ has rid us of the power of sin and the sting of guilt and shame...then religion is unemployed!

The gospel leads to both cultural and emotional freedom. The "false gospels" of Galatians and elsewhere lead to intolerance, prejudice, fear, and insecurity.

Galatians 2:1-10

The gospel frees us from judgmentalism, people-pleasing, civility without conviction, hypocrisy, racism, and imperialism. (And a whole lot of other things!)

Galatians 2:11-14

The gospel frees us to be who Christ has made us to be.

Galatians 2:15-21

In which ways are you increasingly aligning your life with the gospel? In which areas have you struggled to align your life with the gospel? What does this look like in everyday life?

In 1-2 minutes, how have you experienced "gospel freedom" in your life?

Are there people in the church that you are "not eating with" because they are unlike you? What attitude lies beneath the surface of that non-action?

Galatians 3:1-14

Genesis 15

John 8:48-59

Romans 4:1-17

To understand the context of the book of Galatians, please read Acts, chapters 13 and 14. These chapters detail Paul's first missionary journey to the region of Galatia which included his visits to the cities of Pisidian Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe.

Galatians 1:1-5

The true gospel is a message of rescue from this present evil age!

Galatians 1:6-9

Deserters, perverters, and another gospel

Galatians 1:10-17

The true gospel is supernatural and is powerful enough to save humanity, disrupt and defeat evil, disrupt and redirect our lives, rescue creation and inaugurate new creation!

Paul's opponents make the gospel: Christ plus ______. What are some things you thought were mandatory to be accepted by God? Has your view changed?

In your own life, how have you experienced the grace and peace of God?

Imagine you came face to face with Jesus like Paul did on the Damascus Road, how might your life be altered? What do you think would change immediately?

"Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier."

- The Apostle Paul to Timothy; 2 Timothy 2:3-4 (NASB)

The war we fight...

The Apostle Paul, Ephesians 6:12

The way we fight...

The Apostle Paul, 2 Corinthians 10:4-5

Why we fight...

The Apostle Paul, Romans 5:10

Were any of the principles or ideas new or challenging to your understanding of the use of violence?

Why would Paul continue to use the military metaphors if the war and tactics are so different? Can you describe how being a soldier of Christ is different than being a literal soldier in an army of the world?

Revisit Ephesians 6:10-20 and discuss the implications of the "armor" of God. Compare this with Ephesians 4:22-32.

What sections of the scripture need more clarification for you?

"Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were entreating through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God."

- The Apostle Paul; 2 Corinthians 5:20 (NASB)

Kingdom citizenship brings a new motivation, a new vision, a new creation, and a new vocation to the life of Christ-followers.

Many say that the world is so influenced by evil that the church should either withdraw from it (isolation) as much as possible or rule over it politically (exploitation). Paul suggests the church should work for human flourishing by engaging the world as ambassadors of Christ.

The who, where, and how of being Christ's ambassadors.

Why do you think the Apostle Paul felt such urgency and compulsion to take the gospel to the Corinthians? Have you ever felt the same urgency/compulsion?

What challenges you the most with being called an ambassador of Christ?

How has becoming a citizen of the kingdom affected the way you "see" the world and the people in it?

How would you define the ministry and message of reconciliation? What is your responsibility regarding this ministry? What are your next steps to fulfilling it?