just a little punch

James 2:11-13

11 For he who said, "Do not commit adultery," also said, "Do not murder." If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. 

12 So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty. 

13 Forjudgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

When I pick up my kid at school every day I ask how he is was during the day… I do like to know if he had a fun day and if he felt good and all that stuff, but when I ask I am asking about his behavior, because he has had some issues in the past and i want to stay on top of that and make sure that he is behaving. So the other day I asked how he was and he got all excited, a little too excited… “I was so good during nap time today Dad, I was so quiet and the other kids were being loud, but I was quiet… and when I wanted to play with Sophia under the table (yeah, I know that sounds odd for nap time) instead I just closed my eyes and tried to take my nap, and I never talked, even when Mr. Matt had to talk to all the other kids, I was being so good, I
was being super good, etc… blah blah blah” he went on and on about how good he was being during nap time.. so when he finally finished bragging about his nap time skills Mr Matt leaned down and said “you really were good during nap time buddy, but then what happened?” and my son was still up beat and just passed right on past this info - “oh yeah, well then i punched Vinnie, but I was super good during nap time!!”
When I wanted to know how his day was it just wasn't good enough to know that he was good at nap time, if you are good at nap time but get in a fight at playground time you can’t call is a great day! So Liam still had consequences for fighting even though he was being good. So here is the thing, I need to get my kid to understand that he has to follow the rules.
So we set up consequences for actions, both positive and negative.
Anything from not getting a piece of candy on the way home all the way up to some bigger consequences for bigger crimes. He needs to learn from his mistakes… however, it would be really rough if his school had a one strike and you're our policy. See, what happens is he and his friends get playing ninja turtles and one gets hit, thats what happens - its not like a real fight or anything… the teacher knows that, he still needs it to stop
but he knows that Liam is not a threat to the class so he is able to show Mercy and not kick him out of the school.
It’s the same way with God. Sure we all sin, and sin is sin. there will be consequences for our actions of course and we will hopefully grow and learn from those… but God usually doesn't sentence us to death every time we sin… be a really empty Earth if He did! He shows us Mercy when He could show judgement. That doesn’t make sin ok, there are always consequences in life, but his Mercy allows us to keep going so we can learn from our
mistake.

Answer this:
1) Name a time that you received Mercy instead of judgement.
2) Why does God even care, if we are all technically forgiven already why would he work consequences into our lives for the
actions we do?
3) “For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do _____, you
have become a ___________ of the law.”
4) Take a minute to journal about this passage.

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Written by Jeff

you're not the boss of me!

James 2:8-10

8 If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself," you are doing well. 

9 But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. 

10 For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it. 

We’ve been all taught at a young age the golden rule: do to others, as you would have them treat you. This rule goes along with the royal law of “Love your neighbor as yourself” which we all know we should be doing.
But, living in a broken world it is hard to not show favor to some people over others. When I was younger I
became friends with two girls who had already known each other for many years. One summer, we would hang out virtually every day. I don’t know about your success in a friendship with three people, but it is hard not to exclude someone. One day I would be excluded, the next day I would be best friends with one of the girls. Of course I loved the days where I was best friends, but I also loathed the days where I was excluded. None of us are friends today and it might have had something to do with that, rocky summer we had.
No one likes being left out. God knows how He created us. He knew this about us.
The second part of the verse talks about how if a person keeps all the laws except for one, they are as guilty
as the person who has committed all of the laws. I love how simple God is with sin... no sin is greater than
another.
Teaching third grade I sometimes have to make judgment calls on who should get in trouble, etc. One day
recently one of my students came to me saying another boy pulled his hood and made it loose. When I asked
the boy if this was true he said, “Yeah, but when I said sorry the other boy said ‘Sorry doesn’t help!’”
In my classroom we have a rule to keep our hands to ourselves. So this boy thought that even though he broke
that rule, he thought he would be ‘free’ from punishment because the other boy was rude in the apology
response. He didn’t recognize that both of them were wrong in their actions.
Sometimes we can look at the way other people live their lives and compare it to how we live ours... Well, at
least I don’t smoke... or, at least I don’t curse... etc. All sins are sins. If you break one, it is the same as if you break all of them. It's so simple!


Answer this:
1. What is a rule that you recently broke? What are the consequences of
breaking that rule?
2. What does it mean that if you are to break one rule then you are as guilty
as the guy that breaks all the rules ?
3. “For whoever keeps the whole law but ______________ in one point has
become ___________ for all of it.”
Take a moment and journal about this.

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Written by Melissa McKechnie

Father Abraham Had Many Sons

Galatians 4:28-31           

²⁸ And you, dear brothers and sisters, are children of the promise, just like Isaac. ²⁹ But you are now being persecuted by those who want you to keep the law, just as Ishmael, the child born by human effort, persecuted Isaac, the child born by the power of the Spirit.

³⁰ But what do the Scriptures say about that? “Get rid of the slave and her son, for the son of the slave woman will not share the inheritance with the free woman’s son.” ³¹ So, dear brothers and sisters, we are not children of the slave woman; we are children of the free woman.

Isaac was Sarah’s child, in verse 26 it describes Sarah as the “heavenly Jerusalem; the free woman”. Ishmael was Hagar’s child, in verse 24 it describes Hagar as “Mount Sinai.” (where people received the law that enslaved them) In other words Hagar was the slave and Sarah was free. Now look at our passage for today, in verse 28 it says we are “children of the promise, just like Isaac” who was born of the free woman, even though we are being persecuted like Ishmael who was born of the slave. Ishmael was born  in attempt to bring about the fulfillment of God’s promise but Isaac was born as God’s own fulfillment of His promise. (Explained in verses 22-23)

Paul is saying that all those who have come to God through faith in Christ are the sons of Abraham through Sarah. Men who approach God through their own righteousness, of law/works, are really sons of Hagar, (slaves under bondage.) Once again in graphic terms, Paul has pressed the point of the superiority of faith over works, of the promises made to Abraham over the temporary restraints of the law. Faith is everything, works is nothing.

1. Would you say faith is more important than works? Explain your answer:

2. Explain faith:

3. Explain works:

4. Do we ever put our works above faith? How do we find ourselves doing these things?

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Written by Sarah

Brooks Was Here

Have you ever watched The Shawshank Redemption? There's an old guy in the movie his name is Brooks. He's been in the prison for 50 years and has figured out life in the system. He's a guy that's important; he’s respected by many of the prisoners (he runs the library among other things). He is given parole but is scared to leave. He leaves and gets a job and place to live. Brooks ends up hanging himself because he can't handle life outside of the prison. He's lived in prison so long that is has become his identity and he fears the freedom and newness of life outside of prison.

Galatians 4:21-27

21 Tell me, you who want to live under the law, do you know what the law actually says? 22 The Scriptures say that Abraham had two sons, one from his slave wife and one from his freeborn wife. 23 The son of the slave wife was born in a human attempt to bring about the fulfillment of God’s promise. But the son of the freeborn wife was born as God’s own fulfillment of his promise.

24 These two women serve as an illustration of God’s two covenants. The first woman, Hagar, represents Mount Sinai where people received the law that enslaved them. 25 And now Jerusalem is just like Mount Sinai in Arabia, because she and her children live in slavery to the law. 26 But the other woman, Sarah, represents the heavenly Jerusalem. She is the free woman, and she is our mother. 27 As Isaiah said,

“Rejoice, O childless woman,

    you who have never given birth!

Break into a joyful shout,

    you who have never been in labor!

For the desolate woman now has more children

    than the woman who lives with her husband!”

I've read this passage numerous times this past week. The phrase, "you who desire to be under the law" jumped out at me this time and made me want to scream "NOOOO!"

This is the struggle of the Early Church is having. They have lived their whole lives under the Law. It's what they know; it's what makes sense. It is part of their identity (think about the Pharisees). They don't know how to live under the freedom that the grace of the new covenant brings, so they desire the Law. Just like Brooks who wants to return to prison cause it's what he knows.

Can you relate to that? Feeling like it's easier to stay in a current situation because the new is unknown and scary.

This past weekend I was at a Beth Moore conference. She talked about the Israelites grumbling and complaining about how great it was in Egypt and wished they had stayed. But they were slaves in Egypt!  They were choosing slavery over freedom!

She also talked about the story of Peter walking on water. Peter could've stayed in the boat. The boat was a good, safe place from where they could see Jesus. However, stepping out of the boat brought Peter to a place that was scary, yet closer to Jesus.

God wants us to have abundant life (Jn 10:10). He doesn't want us living in Egypt or staying in the boat. Christ died so we could live for so much more! Don’t choose to live under the Law when you can live under grace.

Put your fears aside. Trust God enough to move forward in your relationship with Him. Don't desire the Law; experience the abundant life that grace brings.

Questions:

1) Can you relate to Peter, the Israelites, or the early church? In what way do you need to choose freedom over slavery?

2) "you who _______ to be under the ______."

3) From what you know of Abraham and his two sons, held to the verses about them relate to this idea of grace/law and the old/new covenants?

4) Take some time and journal about this passage.

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Written by Amber

Ahora on Telemundo

Galatians 4:1-7

Think of it this way. If a father dies and leaves an inheritance for his young children, those children are not much better off than slaves until they grow up, even though they actually own everything their father had. 2 They have to obey their guardians until they reach whatever age their father set. 3 And that’s the way it was with us before Christ came. We were like children; we were slaves to the basic spiritual principles of this world.

4 But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. 5 God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children. 6 And because we are his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, “Abba, Father.” 7 Now you are no longer a slave but God’s own child. And since you are his child, God has made you his heir.

So there was this guy that lived in Brazil. His name was Amador Aguiar. He built a bank and started making money, and more money. Along the way he has a family and adopts 3 children, all of them girls. He is an older man and near the end of his life he is a Billionaire he ends up marrying his secretary, she happens to be 40 years younger then him…   seriously, everyone says that this real life story is like a Latin American soap opera…

So finally he dies.

They family is called together to have the will read because that is what they do in soap operas… and his daughters are there to learn what they have inherited and his super young wife as well. As it is read it becomes apparent that the former secretary turned very young wife is going to receive everything, all of the Billions of dollars and his 3 daughters will not receive anything! The problem is that the man’s Lawyer steps in and says that this is not the Will that he set up with the man. Amador Aguiar had drafted a will giving a lot of his money to his daughter and some to his wife, but after he went into the hospital and was dying and on medication for some reason he decided to change the will and all of his money went to the wife, oh yeah, and the wife was the only one that knew anything about this new will. Straight up soap opera!

So the daughters, who have been daughters to this man have now been cut out of the will for the secretary that convinced a dying man 40 years older then she is, to marry her, and then rewrite his own will and give her everything… she is getting all the money. The daughters naturally argue this and take it to court and the courts want to give some money to the daughters…  so the young wife fights back saying that they are not really his daughters he had adopted them…    she even paid to have the man’s body exhumed (dug up) and tested for DNA just to prove that they were adopted and not really his birth children. The tests were accurate - he was not the birth father, he had simply adopted them.

When the court ruled, they ruled in favor of the girls, as they should have… because they are his daughters. You see, in Brazil the rule is that when you are adopted you really become part of that family, so what would rightfully belong to a daughter also rightfully belongs to an adopted daughter. And the girls got their Billions, to this day they are listed as some of the richest woman on earth, but there was a time when that money was theirs, but they couldn't spend a penny of it.   They were rich but they couldn't buy a cup of coffee because the money was still being controlled by someone else and they had not actually received their inheritance. The law that held up their money was so powerful that it held their money away from them. But the relationship that they had with this man, their father, that is what eventually gave them the right to have every penny of that money, the inheritance of their father.

It’s just like that with God. Just like it says in these first few verses of today’s passage that before Jesus came we were like those children, who’s money was being held up as a result of a law…  but eventually Jesus came and it is because of our relationship with Jesus that we can now lay our hands on the full inheritance.

Even though we are adopted children of God, we have access to the full inheritance and it is free to us now that we have the ability to have a relationship with Jesus. This passage is a great reminder that the law is a good thing to obey, but it does not bring freedom, the true freedom that we find in life is by having a relationship with Jesus.

Questions:

1.      Have you ever has something that was rightfully yours but had to be held up by some rule, system, or restriction like that until a certain time?

2.      How would our life with God be different if we were still “slaves” to the law?

3.      “And that’s the way it was with us before ________ came. We were like children; we were __________ to the basic spiritual principles of this world.”

4. Take a minute and journal about this passage.

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Written by Jeff

Bacon Cheesburger

Have you ever tried reading Leviticus, Numbers or Deuteronomy all the way through? I’m currently reading through the Bible on my Bible app (it’s a 365 day plan and marks off the days as you read...  I love it!). Anyway, I’m finally onto Joshua. I say “finally” because Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy are tough books to hold your interest. It’s a bunch of numbering people, a bunch of laws, and not much story line.

I googled “random laws of the Old Testament.” Here’s an example...

In Exodus 23:19 it commands not to cook a goat in its mother’s milk. Some interpreters see this as a ban on mixing meat and cheese. Additionally, Leviticus 11:3 permits the eating of animals with divided hooves that chew the cud only. So you couldn’t eat horses, because even though they chewed the cud, they didn’t have a divided hoof. And even though pigs had divided hooves, they didn’t chew the cud. In that case, I guess the meaty, cheesey, bacony deliciousness that is the Baconator would have to be taken of the Wendy’s menu.

Through reading these books, one thing is clear... I’m glad God had me live after Jesus came to Earth.

Galatians 4:1-7 (New Living Translation)

1 Think of it this way. If a father dies and leaves an inheritance for his young children, those children are not much better off than slaves until they grow up, even though they actually own everything their father had. 2 They have to obey their guardians until they reach whatever age their father set. 3 And that’s the way it was with us before Christ came. We were like children; we were slaves to the basic spiritual principles of this world. 4 But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. 5 God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children. 6 And because we are his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, “Abba, Father.” 7 Now you are no longer a slave but God’s own child. And since you are his child, God has made you his heir.

Because of Jesus, we do not need to be restrained by the all of the laws of the Old Testament. We are set free because of His death and resurrection! Now this doesn’t mean to go crazy... we still need to follow God’s commandments. Rules and laws are there for a reason. Like I tell my third graders, if we didn’t have rules – things would be pure chaos. Our lives would be a mess! But, in the Old Testament, God needed to make plenty of laws so that the Israelites knew what sin was.  Through Jesus’ death and resurrection, the Holy Spirit came. The Holy Spirit is the one that convicts us of sin. The law is written on our hearts when we accept Christ as our Savior. It wasn’t until Christ came — the fulfillment of the law, that humans (Christians) had God’s law written on their hearts.

Jesus was the fulfillment of the law. Matthew 5:17-18 (NIV) says,

"Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished."

Later in Matthew, some scribes ask Jesus, "Which is the greatest commandment?" Jesus tells them that the greatest commandment is to love the Lord with all your heart mind body and soul and the second is like the first which is to love your neighbor as yourself (Mark 12:28-34 NIV). Love can do no wrong to its’ neighbor, therefore love is the fulfillment of the law (Romans 13:10).

What Jesus demonstrated time and time again in the four gospels and during His earthly ministry was that people cannot fulfill the law on their own, that they need to turn to God and stop trying to be righteous by their own forms of self-righteousness.

And, because I'm a teacher - here's where some of my information came from :-) http://www.truthcannotbesilent.org/Journal.asp?JID=191&TID=15

Questions:

1.       What is an outdated rule that you used to have to follow but does not apply to you anymore (example: “come home when the street lights come on”, must be buckled into a car seat, etc..)

2.       What rules do you see people following that seem unnecessary and even like they are causing more problem then helping.

3.       “Now you are no longer a _______ but God’s own child. And since you are his child, God has made you his __________.”

4.       Take a minute and journal about this passage.

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Written by Melissa McKechnie

guardians of my galaxy

Galatians 3:23-29

23 Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. 24 So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. 25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, 26 for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. 27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise.

• •    What is this “law” that Paul speaks so much of? It’s the written law that God gave to Moses to give to the Israelites to instruct and teach them. These people were like prisoners to this law, that is one reason why our savior came down to die to set them (us) free. Since their way of faith came, they no longer had to live with the law as their guardian. (Jesus is now our Guardian) The Law of Moses is also called the “Book of the Law”, the “Mosaic Law” and “Book of the Covenant.” In chapter 2 Paul had to instruct the Galatians again that they are not saved by keeping the “Law of Moses” and in chapter 3 he says they are placing themselves back under the curse of the law (Mosaic Law) by trying to observe everything that was written in the Law.  

• •    If we had to live under strict laws and regulations that were our “guardian,” and a savior came to take that away from us so we could be set free; don’t you think you would love that? Well that is exactly what happened; we just live in the time after that happened so we do not know what it was like to live under those laws.

• •     Yes these people still had laws to follow, as we do today, but these laws did not save them or guard them anymore. It was our heavenly Father who now saves and guards us! Through baptism we are united with Christ, by doing this we ALL become one in Him, Praise God for that huge blessing.

 1)  Do you even take time to thank God for the free, eternal gift He blessed us with? (Take some time in prayer right now to do so)

2) Try to picture what it could have been like back then.. How would you feel living under these laws and then being set free?

3) Would you say you have faith in Christ Jesus?

4) Have you been baptized? Why or why not?

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Written by Sarah Davis

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

this is your life

Galatians 3:19-20

19 Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made, and it was put in place through angels by an intermediary. 20 Now an intermediary implies more than one, but God is one.

            In Galatians 3:19, Paul is anticipating questions that the Gentiles may ask him. It says, “Why, then, was the law given at all? It was added because of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise referred had come. The law was given through angles and entrusted to a mediator.” He knows that the Gentiles would question the necessity of the law because in Galatians 3:11 he writes, “Clearly no one who relies on the law is justified before God, because ‘the righteous will live by faith.’”

            Paul explains to the Gentiles that the laws from the Old Testament are no longer the model of how Christians should live, but they should live by faith in Jesus. Knowing that the Gentiles will question why the law was ever necessary, Paul explains that because of our sin, the people needed a way to live until the Seed, or Jesus, could come as a sacrifice.

The verse says, “The law was given through angels and entrusted to a mediator.” This shows that God wrote every bit of the Old Testament and used angels to influence the people who actually wrote it down. The mediator the passage is referring to is Moses because God entrusted him with the law and it was he who spread it to the people.

            Verse 3:20 says, “A mediator, however, implies more than one party; but God is one.” If there is a mediator, there must be more than one party involved because there must be someone being mediated and someone doing the mediating. With God, however, there is only one party because He rules over all and is the only fair and just judge. 

1.   Who is someone that you would say is usually “righteous” ?

2.   What does it look like to “live by faith” ?

3.   What in your life needs to change for you to be “living by faith” ?

4. Take a minute and journal about this passage.

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Written by Hannah Pergolizzi

keep off the grass

Galatians 3:10-14

10 For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.” 11 Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.” 12 But the law is not of faith, rather “The one who does them shall live by them.” 13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”— 14 so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.

So, one of the colleges that I went to was pretty strict. There were rules about a lot of things: you had to make your bed in the morning, you had to be in dorms at a certain time, a guy and a girl couldn't go off campus by themselves alone, all kinds of rules and one of those was that we were not allowed to walk on the grass if we were walking between buildings. There were walkways and paths and they wanted you to use those. The grass wasn't sacred, so if you were gonna set up a blanket and try to impress some poor girl with a cheesy picnic and 3 chords on your guitar you were allowed to go on the grass, but not if you were walking from one building to another… use the sidewalk.

Fast forward a bunch of years and I’m at the exact same school with a bunch of high school students doing a missions trip. We go walking to the dining room from our dorm and some kids start running across the grass. Naturally, I stopped them. I am a law abiding citizen… kind of.  I make them take the long way and walk on the pavement and not on the grass.  They think I’m silly but they humor me. I am only following the rules so they were ok with that.

Next day we are walking with a student or a staff member from that same school and he leads the to cut across the grass… one of the kids calls him out on it but he says “oh, thats not a rule anymore”. See, the rule had changed and I did not know about it.

I still followed that rule, in fact I still do when I go up there now, I walk on the pavement and not the grass or in the path and not the grass…  sure it’s better for the grass, but I do it because it was a rule and for some reason I still submit myself to it. It takes me longer to get to places but I still make myself follow that rule.

What if you had your license and you started out with that “Cinderella license” and you got older but you never changed your license. You are like 30 years old and you only drive in the car when the sun is out and you can’t ever drive with another person… the law doesn’t apply to you any more but you are choosing to live under it anyway.  That would be crazy - right?

That is what God is talking about in this section of Galatians. There were Jews that were choosing to live under these laws that they used to live by to justify themselves, but now that they have Jesus they don’t need to live by those laws… but they still do. And it’s crazy!    But it doesn’t stop there, it wasn't just the Jews.  We do this same thing now too!  Maybe we don’t force ourselves to live under the laws but we do try to show other people how spiritual we are by the things that we do and the things that we do not do. We think we can impress God because we follow his laws, but the reality is that we are cursed by those Laws and Jesus died to set us free from that curse. Are you still walking around the grass? 

1. Name a law that used to effect you but does not effect you anymore.

2. Why did Christ have to become a curse for us?

3. Christ ___________ us from the curse of the law by becoming a _________ for us “

4. Take a moment and journal about this.

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Written by Jeff Harkins

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

to beard or not to beard

 I have a beard because I am a man and that’s what men do - right Damien? Actually I just say stuff like that when I have a beard, then I’ll shave it and be clean shaven for a couple months and I’ll get bored and grow another one… It’s a fun hobby.

One year while I was in college, I was in a school that had some pretty strict rules. I had gone to two different schools and they both had a similar rule - no beards. The schools got to be so strict about it that I would get demerit slips in my mailbox from an RA that would see me at dinner and think I didn’t shave that day… it just grows that fast. When I asked about the rule at one college they said that the average 18 year old kid wont grow a solid beard, it looks unkept, they had a strict dress code and wanted the students to look good so they added that in as a rule. Whether I agree or not that a student looks good with a shabby beard or not, that doesn’t really matter does it? It’s their school and they get to make the rules. If I went into the military I would have to shave every day, so I just needed to accept that is was their rule and deal with it. However, at the other school they took a different approach. They simply said “it is sin”.

Now, at the first school it was a rule, so for me to ignore the rule - ignoring the rule is a sin. There was a law and I had to live under it while I was there. BUT, the second school took it much further, they claimed that it was not breaking the schools rule that was a sin, it was the act of having a beard is a sin and therefore any christian man in America that has facial hair was in sin! (even santa!) 

Galatians 2:17-19

17 But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we too were found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not! 18 For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor. 19 For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God.

Naturally I had to bite on that one and question it… I did go directly to the man that was preaching those words from the pulpit and I asked him “what about my friend Jesus?” At this point that man then challenged me to show him in the Bible where it says that Jesus had a beard… so again I bit and I showed him the part where the Bible says the guards plucked out his beard. The preacher looked me in the eye and asked me what would hurt a man more… to have the hair of a full beard plucked out or for someone to actually pluck out the stubble on an unshaven mans face… he believed that Jesus simply didn’t shave in the 2 days he was in custody. …  I honestly thought the guy was joking. I wanted to get mad and argue with him, but I couldn’t. I remember looking at the smug look on his face as he truly believed he had just won an argument with me… I remember thinking “really, you believe that…  thats so.. sad.” I was sad for him. I couldn't get angry because I was sad for him. What other things in life did he build laws around that simply weren't true? What things in life would he miss out on because of his beliefs? Sure, he would never know the joy of picking icicles out of your facial hair on a snowy day, but what else would he miss out on? How much art will he never see, what foods will he never taste, what books will he never read? Will he ever spin around the living room dancing with his 5 year old, will he stay glued to his chair as his daughter the bride asks him for a dance?

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. 

Answer This:

1.         What are some convictions you have and stand by even though it would be fine for others you still choose not to partake? (example: drunkeness is sin, a glass of alcohol is not sin, however I choose not to drink because I tend to get addicted to things and I don't want to risk it… )

2. What do they mean that the Law brings death? Is the Bible telling you not to obey the law? Is the Bible ok with you kidnapping children and beating up old people?  

3. “For through the law I ________ to the law, so that I might ________ to God.”

Take a minute and journal your thoughts about trust: 

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Written by Jeff