G Notes

The good things in life require work. And it's no different when it comes to enjoying spiritual freedom. The good news is that spiritual freedom is a free gift. Jesus did the hard work. He endured the cross in order to win our freedom; and now anyone who repents of their sin, who commits to Jesus, and who believes that He was raised from the dead is granted spiritual freedom. That's the moment of conversion. At that moment, sin is no longer master over that person. By grace through faith, the new follower of Jesus is freed from sin and from it's eternal consequences. Jesus makes us free, but we do have to live out that freedom. We do have a role to play if we want to enjoy the freedom that Christ has secured for us. This is where the spiritual disciplines come into play. Today, I'm summarizing the fourth spiritual discipline that we covered in a recent sermon series entitled Freedom . I hope these summaries are helpful, but I do recommend listening or re-listening t...

Here's installment number three in this current blog series. What I am doing is providing a basic summary of the sermon series which we concluded a few weeks ago. The series was entitled Freedom. Many of us struggle to live a life of spiritual freedom, and one of the main reasons that is often the case is because we neglect to practice the spiritual disciplines (i.e. worship, prayer, giving, Bible study, serving, and Christian community). Practicing these disciplines doesn't make us free. Faith in Jesus is what makes us free. It's trusting in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus that makes us free. However, it's through the disciplines that we enjoy the freedom that Christ won for us. I recommend taking the time to listen (or re-listen) to the messages in the series. To do so simply click here: FREEDOM . What I am doing in my blog is simply summarizing some of the key points we made in regard to the six spiritual disciplines that we discussed during the se...

Last week I began a six week blog series in which I am summarizing the six spiritual disciplines we recently covered in a sermon series entitled Freedom . If you did not read last week's blog post, I recommend starting there. I also suggest listening to the sermons. The summaries I am posting are simply...summaries. Listening to the specific messages, whether for the first time or as a reminder, should help you to better understand and apply the spiritual disciplines into your daily life. To listen to our sermons, click here: Freedom . The second spiritual discipline we discussed in our sermon series was prayer. What is prayer? I personally find prayer to be a mystery. A child can do it yet adults stumble over it. It's simple yet profound. It's the easiest thing in the world to do yet the hardest thing to do. It's very practical yet very theological. Anyone can do it yet many don't. Prayer is a mystery. So what is prayer? I'm not sure that's the right qu...

This past Sunday we concluded a 12 week sermon series entitled Freedom . The premise of the series is that too often too many of us don't experience spiritual freedom. That's usually due to one of two resons. First, it may be never having repented of sin, placing wholehearted trust in the person and work of Jesus Christ, and succumbing to His Lordship. Freedom begins with embracing the gospel. There is no spiritual freedom apart from Jesus. Second, it may be due to neglecting the spiritual disciplines in daily living. Spiritual disciplines include: worship, prayer, giving (stewardship), Bible study, serving, and Christian community. That's not an exhaustive list; but simply the six disciplines we covered in our sermon series. Spiritual disciplines are gifts from God. They are God-given tools given to us by which to stand firm in our freedom (Galatians 5:1). Practicing the spiritual disciplines don't make us free. Jesus makes us free. We are freed from sin, from its ...

"For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another." ~ Galatians 5:13 (ESV) That one verse is packed with theological goodness. First, it reminds believers that we have been called by God to live a life of freedom. To be called "called" means to be urgently invited into a new type of life. Through the gospel of Jesus Christ, God urgently invites us to receive freedom from sin and to enjoy a life in which sin is no longer master over us. By grace through faith, we are invited into a life of freedom - a life with new privileges and responsibilities. Second, the verse warns us that it is very possible for followers of Jesus to turn back to a sinful life. It is possible for believes to walk back into the prison that Jesus has unlocked rather than to enjoy the freedom that Christ has won. Thus, each of us every day have a choice: walk in freedom or walk back into sin's prison...

Last week, I provided a few thoughts in regard to the importance of discovering the spiritual gift(s) God has bestowed on us as followers of Jesus; and I gave a suggestion on the best way to go about discovering those gifts. This week, I'd like to provide a few insights into some of the spiritual gifts that are specifically mentioned in the Bible. Scripture doesn't provide an exhaustive list of every possible spiritual gift, but it does mention a few. It is important for us to have a proper understanding of the gifts that are mentioned for three reasons: a gift will not be used properly for the common good of the church if it is not understood and applied biblically a misunderstanding of gifts can (and probably will) cause division in the church a proper understanding of the gifts listed in Scripture will help us to better discern those gifts that are not listed in Scripture. So let's take a look at some of the gifts mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12:8-10, 28-29 and Rom...

One of the joys of belonging to a church is discovering where we should serve within and outside the church. Serving is a blessing. It is a blessing to serve God and others. As Acts 20:35says, " It is more blessed to give than to receive ."  In order to enjoy the blessing that can only come through a life of service, two things are absolutely necessary. First, accept the gospel. We can't the blessed servant God wants us to be unless we first humble ourselves and allow God to serve us the grace we so desperately need. Jesus came from heaven to earth not to be served but to serve; and He did so through His sinless life and through His atoning sacrifice on the cross. Second, we must discover what spiritual gift(s) God has blessed us with. God doesn't only bless us with grace and forgiveness, but He blesses us also by empowering us to live the blessed life of a servant. So here's my quick attempt to provide a little insight into the spiritual gifts. Hope,...