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GOSPEL :: FAMILY :: MISSION

Galatians 5:13 – 18 | Responsible Freedom

What do you think of when you hear the word “freedom”? Some of us inevitably think of the freedoms we have as American citizens (our God-given freedoms or rights as the statement goes) we have the right to freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom to bear arms, etc., etc. Others, when thinking of freedom, will think of a cultural interpretation of freedom where we are taught that we are free to do whatever we want, whenever we want, however we want, with whomever we want.

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Galatians 5:7 – 12 | Obeying The Truth Of The Gospel

What stops you from obeying the truth of the gospel? This is Paul’s simple question to his Galatian audience today. As I said last week, Paul is going to hone in on what it looks like to live in the freedom of the gospel instead of living in religious slavery or legalism. In our text today, he continues with that central desire in mind – the desire to see Christians living in the freedom of the gospel rather than living in religious slavery.

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Galatians 3:26 – 29 | The Highway to Eternity

We are living in difficult times. I do not think I need to list all of the difficult things we are living through as a church family. If I have done my job well enough, then I know, and you know that I know at least some of what most of us in this room are trying to endure. The question that I think we are all asking – and that I think Paul may be asking in the subtext of our text today is this: “How do we remain on the highway to eternity?”

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Psalm 59 | Enemies at the Gate

The superscription of our Psalm today, helps us to feel the emotional tone of the Psalm and to also understand the context of David’s prayer to God. As far as emotional tone is concerned, just like Psalm 58 from last week, this Psalm is meant to be sung during a regular worship gathering of God’s people because the superscription is addressed “to the choirmaster”. This a community worship song.

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Psalm 58 | How to Deal With Wickedness

Psalm 58 is a heavy Psalm to study. It is a Psalm that is full of angry emotion, uncensored accusations, and violent, wartime imagery. One author says that this Psalm “is a prayer for spiritual warriors” who are engaged in spiritual warfare against evil in this present darkness (Eph. 6) because, although this Psalm “is directed against the corrupt and wicked rulers of Israel” we all need “to realize that we are looking not merely at a portrait of others but also into a mirror where we can see ourselves”.2

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