4/21 “Gospels Which Aren't Good News” Gal. 1&2

good news bad news graphicIN A NUTSHELL: Every other religion other than the Gospel of Jesus Christ is based on a similar premise: Get gain a god’s attention, appease him, and get him on your side.  That is the exact opposite of Christianity.  Jesus came to communicate God’s already offered love, pay the debt we have created by our sin and rescue us from Satan’s deceptive self-destructive control.  Prophets or a Messiah from other religions came to teach us how….  Jesus came to rescue us from…   Now THAT is really GOOD NEWS! ICE BREAKER: Can you recall a jr. high kid that wanted to be liked so much that they drove people away trying to get attention?  Do you think God ever gets frustrated with people thinking they need to work hard in order to convince him to love them?

TEXT: Gal. 1&2

CONNECTING WITH THE TEXTS:

  1.  
  2. The word “apostle” means “sent by or from.” By whom was Paul sent by? By whom was he not sent? Gal. 1:1   What do you think that was important? Gal. 1:11
  3. How does Paul describe Jesus? Gal. 1:3-5
  4. How would you describe Paul’s disposition when he wrote this letter? Gal. 1:6; 3:1; 4:11,12, 19-20;  5:12
  5. What evidence does Paul give insisting this gospel was from God and not from any human being?  Gal. 1:12-2:14
  6. What appears to be the source of the confusion? Gal. 2:4; 4:17; 5:12
  7. How might these phrases define the “good news” of the gospel?
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  • - “we know that a person is not justified by works but through faith in Jesus…” 2:16
  •  -“I died to the law, so that I might live to God.” 2:19
  •  -“the life I live now…I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 

7.   What did Paul remember being the main teaching the Apostles asked him to pass on to those he won to Christ? Gal. 2:10                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                

REFLECTING ON YOUR LIFE:

  1.  
  2.  What are some false assumptions about religion, Christianity, or God with which you have struggled sometime in the past?
  3. What is a sure proof of a person that understands and loves God? Gal. 2:20
  4. Looking at the way you have lived, the choices you have made and the things you have said over the past month did Christ die for a purpose in your life, or for naught? Gal. 2:21
  5. How do you know that your faith is not just a man made list of convictions used to make people do things that someone in the past wrote down to control other people?

CONNECTING WITH YOUR CHURCH:

  • How can you tell if someone is teaching something that is not part of the Gospel of Jesus Christ?
  1. What elements of our church make you want to “follow rules?”  What elements of our church make you want to follow Jesus?

CARE Sheet Resources:  (I highly recommend these two books)

NEXT WEEK:

Title: “Free at Last!” Text: Galatians 5 Questions: How can you tell by lifestyles the difference between those “enslaved by the works of the flesh” and those that are “free to walk by the Spirit?  Parents with your Children – This might be a good time to discuss the history, purpose and significance of circumcision.  Don’t leave this to friends at school. You can find some help with this here: Circumcision

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