North Center Baptist Church
Brooklyn Park, Minnesota
A diverse church for all ages
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February 14, 2010 Galatians 5 by Pastor Stan Audio “THE CALL TO FOLLOW CHRIST” SERIES #7, MINISTER TO OTHERS GALATIANS 5:13-15 (P.826) FEBRUARY 14, 2010 INTRODUCTION -- North Center’s vision is to make disciples who know Christ, grow in Him and show their love for Him. Every believer is a disciple, called both to know and to follow Christ. We’ve started this New Year with a discipleship emphasis on the theme “The Call to Follow Christ.” Along with the sermon series on Sunday mornings we’re using a workbook through the week that’s based on a diagram called “The Disciple’s Cross.” At the center of the Cross is Christ, emphasizing that being a Christian means having a real, life-transforming relationship with Christ. Following Christ, being His disciple, means abiding in Christ, living a Christ-centered life. Our relationship with Christ is not just one part of our lives—it’s the central reality of our lives. Our relationship with Christ connects to and directs everything about our lives. -- The arms of the Cross are means God employs to enable us to live this kind of a life. Each week we’ve been examining a different arm of the cross. We’ve looked at the “Word,” referring, of course, to the Word of God, the Bible. We can’t grow spiritually without the discipline of Living in the Word, spending time in the Bible, not just on Sundays but every day, reading, studying, and meditating in it and living by it. Then we looked at prayer. Praying in faith is an essential discipline for the lives of those who are seeking to follow Christ. Like God’s Word, prayer needs to be a daily spiritual discipline in the life of the believer. We need to have a time each day when we commune with God by reading the Bible and by praying. The vertical arms of the Cross are spiritual disciplines that are primarily connected to our relationship with God. The horizontal arms of the Cross are about the disciple’s relationship with other people. The arm labeled “Fellowship,” refers to fellowship with other believers. Having meaningful relationships with other believers is essential to discipleship; if you’re going to abide in Christ (keep your life focused on Him and keep on following Him) you have to have fellowship with other believers who are doing the same. The other horizontal arm is labeled “Witness.” All those called to know and follow Christ are to witness to the world, to those who are not yet believers. The primary mission of the Church before the return of Christ is to be His witnesses, to tell others abut the salvation that is available to all who turn to know and follow Christ. Today, we come to the final week in this series. Notice that all of the arms of the cross point outward and written across the horizontal arms are the words “Ministry to Others.” The Christ-centered life will move you to minister to others. You cannot follow Christ without giving yourself in service to others. We find this truth taught many places in the NT. Let’s look at one of them in Galatians 5. I. THE CALL TO FREEDOM (V. 13A) The assertion in this verse is one that many Americans would think strange: that the call to follow Christ is a call to freedom. Many would associate the church more with rules and regulations and “don’t-do” lists than with freedom. In their minds, if the Church had a cable show, it would be called something like “What Not to Wear, Watch, Drink, Think, Say, Do, or Enjoy.” But look at how Paul starts this fifth chapter: Cf., 5:1 So how exactly is it that Christ sets us free? A. FREED FROM THE PENALTY OF SIN To begin with, Christ frees everyone who comes to Him from the penalty of their sin. He paid the penalty of the sin of everyone who trusts in Him in His death on the Cross. B. FREED FROM LEGALISM Christ also frees us from legalism, from the hopeless endeavor to earn our salvation through our own works. Romans 10:4 (NASB) For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. The Jew |
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