Monday, August 10, 2009

Sunday in Retrospect

This past Lord's Day was met with great challenge for me: I am in the middle of a series from the epistle of Paul to the Galatians...and, 6 weeks deep into our series, I must pause...and will not be preaching in our church until the 3rd Sunday in September. This is typically the time when I am both out...and also allowing our associates to share in the preaching moment; also leading up to my Pastoral anniversary. That being said....I tried my best to summarize the 3rd chapter of Galatians in the span of 30 to 40 minutes, to no avail. The primary verses were intended to be verse 13, verses 19 through 20. The context dealt with the law and it's purpose. THEN....there is the issue of Abraham and faith. All of these are different subjects, though can be dealt with together. I labeled my message 'The Man in the Middle'. On the surface, it is a spinoff of the much-hyped MJ song, 'The Man in the Mirror'. Paul's argument is that the man in the mirror's futile attempts will fail and human achievements have a tendency to dissipate at the detriment of keeping the law. The law sets us up for failure but it also magnifies the gravity of God's grace. Jesus bridges the gap of between man's human inadequacies and God's divine love and grace.

God smiled upon our worship and His Word; and one came forward today - by Christian experience. To God be the Glory!

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