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Published: 27 May 2018

We’ll be starting a study of Galatians this week.  Galatians has been called, “Little Romans,” “The Christian Declaration of Independence,” and “The Magna Carta of the Christian Faith.”  Martin Luther used Galatians as his handbook for the Reformation.  It’s a tense and powerful little letter and we’ll get the picture that Paul was not casual in his response to the legalism creeping into the region of Galatia.  What is legalism?  Legalism is when we add to the gospel.  If we say that standing with God requires something in addition to faith in the death, burial and resurrection of Christ we pervert the gospel.  It is important to remember however, that a call to righteous living is not legalism.  If, through the power of the Holy Spirit we have been made saints, we should live like saints.  It is not asking too much to expect people who say they are Christians to live like Christ. The Sermon on the Mount, not our traditions and preferences is the litmus test for what that looks like.   Some would say that liberty is the answer to legalism.  I would prefer to say (based on Romans 14 and 1 Corinthians 8) that love is the answer.  Love is the disposition of the believer that blesses rather than curses, that defers rather than demands and that respects rather than rejects.  Let’s avoid legalism at all costs!  Let’s not allow our liberty to unduly offend the struggling saint.  Let’s become people of love who care about and know the difference.

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Published: 11 May 2018

That is the title of a book by Colin Marshall and Tony Payne.  It is not a book about growing grapes, it is a book about church organization.  You may wonder how that metaphor fits but it is actually more obvious than it appears.  A trellis is built to support a growing vine.  The vine grows by God’s mysterious blessing.  In a vineyard, a trellis with no vine is simply decoration.  And, a vine with no trellis is a sprawling and chaotic mess.  The steward of the vineyard builds a trellis to support the life that God is bringing to his vine.  God does one part; the steward of the vineyard does the other.  Church is like that.  God is the One who brings life to people.  He sustains, provides, restores, saves and transforms people.  As those people are drawn together and continue to grow, some structure is necessary.  A constitution, a building, the organization of people and programs all keep the growing vine from becoming a sprawling mess.  However, if the focus is on the trellis itself, the vine may languish.  Too often in church history, the emphasis has gone from one to the other.  There ends up being growth with no support or lots of organization with no life.  In fact, over-organization can actually squelch life.  The role of our Board, comprised of Elders and Deacons, is to monitor this process.  We attempt to work in prayerful harmony with what God is doing as He brings life to this local church.  We develop structures, buildings, programs etc. to provide a place for the growth to occur.  We cannot make the vine grow…that’s His job.  But, we can work with Him to provide a place for that life to flourish.  Please pray with us as we learn more about this from Acts 14 on Sunday.