September 20, 2012
Receiving Christ we are freed from slavery to sin and from the condemnation of the law. Why would we waste this freedom to go back to living as slaves? No, we are free now to willingly follow Christ our Redeemer and to love God and others as He directs. Beware of flaunting this freedom with permissiveness or losing it to legalism. You have been set free to follow Christ.
September 18, 2012
Receiving Jesus we are prompted to call God by the name His Son uses, “Abba, Father.” Abba (Aramaic for “daddy.” Two simple syllables easily spoken by the youngest child- “Ab-ba.” Found in Ab-raham’s name – “Father of Nations). In this verse we see the Trinity revealed: God sending, the Son providing, the Spirit prompting… all so that we who are distant from God may be brought near. And so, we can pray “Our Father, which art in heaven…”
September 16, 2012
If we are saved through faith, we must live and walk by faith. Self-effort neither saves nor sanctifies. We must learn to lean, being filled with the Spirit, we lean on Him for power and progress. More prayer, less planning. More leaning, less effort.
September 14, 2012
The apostle Paul sought only the approval of Christ. He was not a people-pleaser. Whose approval do you seek? Be careful not to water-down your faith in order to gain popular acceptance. Better to be rejected by man and be received into the Kingdom with “Well done!” by Christ Himself.
February 19, 2012 | Galatians 5 |
Pastor Gary Combs continues his War of the Worldviews series with this message on the decline of morality and virtue in today’s culture and more specifically in today’s church. Taken from the book of Galatians, the message teaches how Paul told the Christians in Galatia that the only way to live as a Christian was to “walk in the Spirit” and so bear the “fruit of the Spirit” in their lives. Paul taught that following Christ was more than an outward keeping of the law. Christians are to show forth the character of God. We can allow the Lord to give us these nine marks of authentic Christian character, these nine “virtues,” so that we are like Christ, not just in what we believe, or in what we practice, but in our very nature.
September 20, 2011
Fruit is singular. One fruit with nine seeds, each a part of a triad of triads. These are not works. We can’t do them. They are evidence of being connected to the Vine. Abiding in Christ, we increasingly bear these character traits.
September 19, 2011
When He releases us from our slavery to sin, He does not put on us a yoke of being under the law. Christ’s yoke is easy. He calls us to a life of grace. Are you carrying guilt or shame or failure to live up to even your own expectations? Allow Christ’s truth to speak to these. He will set you free indeed.
July 3, 2011 | Galatians 5:1,13 |
Pastor Gary Combs taught from Galatians 5 concerning the freedom we have in Christ. This message reminds us to be thankful for the gift of freedom we have as Americans, but even more thankful for the freedom we have in Christ. This message also warns against being enslaved by legalism.
September 27, 2009 | Galatians 5:19-25 |
Are we marked by our Father? How can others tell that we are authentic Christians? In this intro to a sermon series on the Fruit of the Spirit found in Galatians 5, Pastor Gary helps us see how we can live authentically, walking by the Spirit and not by the flesh, to display the marks of Christ in our life.