what's your brand?

Galatians 6:17-18

From now on let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus.

18 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers. Amen.

In Galatians 6:17 Paul says, “From now on, let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus.” These marks could be physical scars from the persecution he endured while preaching the Gospel or symbolic of the bond he had with Jesus.

Let’s think all the way back to the first chapter of Galatians. Paul wrote in Galatians 1:10 “If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.”

Paul describes himself as a servant, or bondservant, or slave, of Christ meaning that he is, according to the dictionary, “a person bound is service without wages.” So in other words, Paul owes Christ everything and should not expect anything in return. These bondservants were often branded so that people would know who their master was.

By saying that he bears the marks of Jesus, Paul is saying that he belongs to Jesus and will live his life to honor Him. In the same way, we should make Jesus the center of our lives and go out of our way do what He wants us to.

Paul concludes the book by saying, “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers and sisters, Amen.” This is Paul’s way of saying goodbye to the people of the church he is writing to, and in doing so, he emphasizes the grace of Jesus. Which is something that we should remember is endless and should always be thankful for.

Answer This:

1.   What are ways that you can “bear the marks of Jesus” in your everyday life.

2.   How had God shown you his endless grace?

3. From now on let no one cause me _________, for I bear on my body the marks of __________.

4. Take a minute and journal about this topic.

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Written by Hannah Pergolizzi

the mayor of coffee

Galatians 5:16-24- But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 

So I’m doing pretty good today: it’s about 11:00AM, I am sitting in a coffee shop sipping an incredible cup of coffee from Burundi and as much as I like this cup of coffee I have made the active choice NOT to bow down in front of it and start singing its praises. It’s really good though, so I might get tempted later. So, Im doing great at not worshiping Idols this morning. I’ve put down this cup of coffee and a breakfast burrito and nothing else really - so I am also doing pretty great at avoiding drunkenness today too. Sorcery hasn't been an issue for me all day, although if there was a spell to enable me to make coffee this good I might actually consider it. There’s a cute chick a couple tables away that has a couple interesting tattoos that keep catching my attention but so far I have been free from impure thoughts and any sexual immorality.  I have been 100% free from rivalries all day today (but I haven't spent much time on Facebook today with Drew Harkins and that trash-talking group of weak hockey players at Grace Bible). Peter, the barista, got my order perfect so I have not had any fits of anger yet today. Orgies have yet to be a temptation in my life. So, as I said, I am doing pretty good today. I haven't done any of the things on that list of stuff to avoid in that passage…   but (and this is a true story) after I sat down my friend Steve walked into the coffee shop and came over and said hi. Steve went to some things with our youth group when he was in high school and now is really connected at another church in town. He is just a really cool guy. After he says hi to me he sits down by himself and another guy jumps over to his table and start talking to him about a book he is reading, I hear them saying something about Jesus and Prayer or something… just seems like a cool conversation with someone that Steve knows. Then the door opens and the next guy says “hey Steve”, Steve knows this guy. One more comes in, 2 strangers had already sat at Steve’s table so they talked with him a little bit, and now another guy comes in and sits at Steve’s table. Meanwhile Steve has pulled out his computer, a nicer Macbook then the one I am using… it’s official : I’m jealous of Steve today. Dang it. I had been doing so good at that list, I had worked so hard at not breaking any of those things on that list, and I blew it over a friend with a cooler computer that happens to be the mayor of this coffee shop today. Oh well.

It’s pretty ridiculous to try to go through life that way right? Proud of myself for not dabbling in sorcery at all today, thats silly. Life is not about a list of things that I don’t do. This passage makes that so clear, it’s about walking by the Spirit. When we do that, then we don't have to worry about falling into that other stuff. Focus on being filled with Love and patience and kindness and God will take care of the rest.

Answer This:

1. What is something that you have worked so hard to avoid only to fall for it again and again?   What would happen if you took the opposite approach and first tried to work on a positive option instead?

2. Think about the people that you look up to, the ones that you go to when you have an issue…  what is it about them that attracts you to them so much? Is it the things that they DON’T Do, or is it the things that they Do Do?   (yes, I know I said do-do)

3. “But I say, walk by the ________, and you will not ____________ the desires of the flesh.”

Take a minute and journal your thoughts.

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Written by Jeff Harkins

like boogers in the wind

You know, we haven't played Balderdash in Sunday School in a while...

Let's do one now real quick, one of those crazy laws...

Ok, guess which one is correct: In Alabama, it is illegal to:

1) flick boogers into the wind.

2) have an ice cream cone in your back pocket.

3) sell peanuts after sundown on Wednesday.

4) wear a fake mustache that causes laughter in church.

5) drive a car without windshield wipers..

Some laws seem absolutely ridiculous. But they were all instituted for some reason. All five of those laws are actually real ones (according to dumblaws.com anyway). There must have been incidents where these things occurred that made some lawmaker put these laws into effect… Like why does McDonald's coffee say Caution Hot? Cause some lady sued them after she burned herself on their hot coffee. Laws may seem weird and outdated but generally have some sort of reason behind them..

Galatians 3:21-22

21 Is the law then contrary to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law. 22 But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.

 God did not just arbitrarily put laws into the Bible. There are reasons for why he made the rules He did. Some of them are for the people's health and safety-they didn't have refrigerators to keep food fresh or the FDA making sure things are served properly. Telling them not to eat certain things helped them not get sick. Some laws are to give healthy boundaries for living in community with other people-I’d be annoyed if my neighbor was borrowing my donkey without permission. Some laws are given to make it clear what is sin and what it not-although it can be summed up as love God and love others, we can be a little thick and need the specifics spelled out for us. Convictions are great, there are certain things that I will never try because I have a conviction that I choose not to participate, that’s fine. But laws restrict us from what we generally want to do… I want to drive 80 miles an hour, but the law won’t let me… He will live his life with laws holding him back from being alive, only to find out one day that what he thought was a law was just something someone once told him, and Jesus wanted him to live.

Jesus came to abolish the law. His death and resurrection brought us the new covenant. We are now under grace not the law. The verses today are talking about that idea. Does the law contradict promises of God? Certainly not!

In his book, Uprising, Erwin McManus addresses grace and the law. He says “The law says do not murder; grace says that we are not even to hate our enemies, but to love our enemies. The law says do not commit adultery; grace frees us from having lust in our hearts for another man's wife. The law says to give 10% to tithe; grace says be generous, we would never stop you at 10%. You can give 20, 30, 40% of your income if you'd like. Grace is never less than the law. Grace is not freedom to live beneath the law, but to live beyond the law.”

Don’t think that I’m telling you that you must follow everything the law says. Verses 22-23 talk about the law imprisoning us. It’s impossible to live up to it. But just because we are under grace, we cannot ignore all the law has to say. God didn't get rid of the law so we can live however we please. He wants us to be able to focus on loving Him and loving others and not get caught up in the legalistic details.

1. Are there any specific laws that confuse you or frustrate you?

2. Think about what Amber said about the Law and Grace. Law might say one thing but Grace could go one step further - now apply that to a “law” in your house… what if you treated it with “Grace” instead?

3. “so that the ___________ by faith in Jesus Christ might be ___________ to those who believe”

4. Take a minute and journal your thoughts:

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Written by Amber Carter

it's all about the grace, bout the grace

When you first go to kindergarten, you learn the very basics: the alphabet, numbers, colors, shapes. You then progress to reading, adding & subtracting, and they start teaching you geography and science. By the time you're in high school, you're so far advanced beyond those basics that you hardly ever even give them much thought. The alphabet, numbers and colors are so ingrained into your thinking that you probably don't even pay that much attention to them.

Galatians 2:20-21

20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21 I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.

Christianity is different. We learn the basics and as we progress and learn new things, we can't forget the basics or we've lost the point.

Reread those verses. These are some pretty powerful statements that Paul is making.

God loves you. God loves you when you feel unlovable. God loves you when you are deep in sin. God loves you. God loves you so much that He sent Jesus to die for you. He knows that we can’t follow the Law. He humbled Himself and came to earth to live a perfect life to take on our sins. What an amazing way to show His love for you!

There’s more… He loves you so much that He doesn’t want you to struggle and give in to the flesh. Christ lives in you. He is always with you. He hasn’t saved us and then left us to fend for ourselves. He helps us live out our faith.

The other thing Paul addresses in these verses is the grace of God. That’s another thing that is so basic, but we can’t forget about it. As we read our Bibles, we learn more and more of what it means to follow Christ. There are things we should and shouldn’t do. It’s easy to start to focus on those should’s and shouldn’t’s and make them matter. When we do that, we start to become judgmental and legalistic of others because we’ve created a new law. We take grace out of the picture and then Christ died for no purpose. We need grace and Christ’s death! Don’t forget the basics!

1.    Do you have a tough time believing God loves you? Do you ever feel like you don’t deserve His love?

2. I live by faith in the Son of God, who _______________ me and gave himself for me.

3. What can you do this week to help you focus on Jesus and the cross so that you don’t live as if He died for no purpose?

4. Take a minute and journal your thoughts about this passage:

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Written by Amber