Don't Mess with the Message

DON’T MESS WITH THE MESSAGE
Galatians 1:1-9

S: Gospel
Th: Grace-Full Living
Pr: WE ARE TO PROCLAIM THE GOOD NEWS AS IT IS.
?: How?
KW: Responses
TS: We will find in Galatians 1:1-9, three responses we can have to the good news.

The _____ response one can have to the good news is…

I. DELIGHT (3-5)
II. DESERTION (6-7)
III. DENIAL (7-9)

RMBC 4/30/00 AM

INTRODUCTION:

1. Have you ever thought that you communicated it clearly?

ILL Notebook: Communication (chicken quarters)

On a busy Friday night at a restau-rant where Cliff Johnson had recently started waiting tables, the owner suddenly emerged from the kitchen and handed him money. "We’re in trouble!" he said. "We’re out of quarters, and customers are waiting. Go next door and get me $40 worth."

Cliff ran to the supermarket next door, but a cashier said she wasn’t allowed to give out that many quarters. Deter-mined, he sprinted to a convenience store two blocks away, but it was closed. At a gas station farther down the road, the clerk took pity and gave him the four rolls of quarters. Twenty minutes after he’d left, Cliff handed the coin rolls to his boss.

"Where are the quarters?" he asked.

"Right here," I said breathlessly.

His face sank. "I meant chicken quarters."

Well, the boss thought he had communicated clearly, didn’t he?
But it proved otherwise.
And it is a lesson to us about the nature of communication.

2. Misunderstandings prove we need to check and recheck our message.


TRANSITION:

1. We begin a new series today on the letter the apostle Paul wrote to the churches in Galatia.

We call it Galatians.
It was written, not to one church, but to several churches that Paul and Barnabas had visited on Paul’s first missionary journey to what is now known as southern Turkey.
It was here that Paul discovered how ready the Gentile population was to hear and receive the good news about Jesus.
People were responding positively to the message of grace.

2. Our new series corresponds to our theme for the year: “Grace-Full Living.”

Paul’s message to the churches in Galatia will reinforce two purposes we have in mind for you this year.

2.1 Our first purpose is to reinforce the essence of the gospel.

Yes, it is something that you should already know.
No, I am not trying to bore you.
But on the other hand, it is so important, it is so essential to our faith and to who we are, we can never be found neglecting it.
Besides, the gospel should never cease to thrill us.
We should never be found lacking in the celebration of where we have been and where we are now.
The gospel is a message of grace.
We are here today because of amazing grace!

2.2 Our second purpose is to advocate a lifestyle characterized by grace.

Since we have been changed by grace, it calls for a different way of living.
We walk a path of grace and we do it under the power of the Holy Spirit.
Now, there is an art to walking in the Spirit.
It is an art we must master, for it is the true path of faith.
When we walk this path, we will be characterized by "grace-full living."

Our study of Galatians these next several months will help us in these matters.
Now…

3. The opening verses of Galatians establish the authority behind the person and writings of Paul (1-2).

Paul, an apostle—sent not from men nor by man, but by Jesus