Obsession

"Abraham had two sons," Galatians 4:22.

Wait - what's with this obsession with Abraham?! Well, first, he's our ancient ancestor in faith. And, mainly, that. Bottom line: if he's not our ancestor, we don't go to heaven when we die. God made promises to him (and Sarah), right? And God's promises to him go also to his seed/offspring/descendant. Hmm. Oh, yeah. Sorry. We had forgotten for a moment. So, he had two kids? Yes. But only one belonged to a special line of descent that led to Jesus. One kid, from a slave woman, was born into slavery. The other kid, from a free woman, was born into freedom. Jesus was born in the free line. We, too, in the faith of Christ, are born children of the free woman. Free, from the curse of the Law.

We meet freely today with a brother or sister. And, together, we give thanks saying: Free! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we're free at last!

Unnatural

"You were formerly enslaved to unnatural gods," Galatians 4:8.

Once upon a time, we were slaves to things that by their nature are not deity. Well, yeah, sure, we considered these things divine, but they weren't. We created these things in our own images and called them gods. We gave them a thousand names. And bowed to them. And we became their slaves. Once upon a time. But now, in Christ (God's son), we have come to know the One and Only God whose very nature is complete God-ness. Or, better: we have come to be known by the One and Only God. God knows us. The One and Only real God has adopted us. He knows us as his kids, heirs of his sky kingdom.

We visit with a brother or sister today, joyful in the knowledge of our true God's love. And, together, we give thanks to him that he frees us to be what he created us to be in his image.

Abba

"God has sent the Spirit of his son into our hearts," Galatians 4:6.

Why did God send his son's Spirit into us? Because he, God, has adopted us. In Christ. (His son.) And since he adopted us in Christ (his son), he sent the Spirit of Christ (his son) into our hearts. And the Spirit of Christ (his son) in our hearts cries out to God: Abba! Father! So, when our hearts call out to God, we call out to God as sons (and daughters) to our father, our abba, taught by the Spirit of his son. Slaves no longer! Children of God. Heirs in Christ (his son) of all his promised blessings: sky kingdom.

We visit today with a brother or sister, children of our mutual father, calling on our God. And, giving thanks together, Christ's Spirit spurs us on to love and actions worthy of God's children.

Rehearse

"Why should I be afraid in bad days?" Psalm 49:5.

O, Lord God: You ransom our souls from the power of the grave! You take us in! We do not fear the rich and powerful even when their evil surrounds us. Our hearts meditate on your wisdom. When we feel hedged in by the fortunes of the privileged, of the influencers, we turn back to your promises! We remember you: no wealth, no power arising from this world has the capacity to buy back a single, solitary soul from death. We remember: no ransom resourced in worldly energy can touch the value of one person's life. We rehearse the precepts we hear from you. You are our Ransom! You are our Redeemer!

We praise our God together with a brother or sister today for his grand mercy, his blessed assurance, his eternal faithfulness, his overwhelming generosity to us in Christ Jesus, our Lord.

Totally

"God sent out his son, born out of woman," Galatians 4:4.

God sent who? His son. When? When time was completely full. When the Law exercised its harsh authority. How did his son get here? Birthed, from a woman. His mother. Naturally. (A granddaughter, a great, great, etc., great-granddaughter of Abraham & Sarah.) Yeah. Now we, too, were children, but not of God. Rather, we were enslaved to nature's domain, under the Law's curse. Why did God send his son timely, under the Law, born from a woman? To redeem us from the curse, to adopt us his children, all his children to be just like his son.

We fellowship with an adopted brother or sister today redeemed by our elder brother, Jesus. And, together, we sing praises to God, our father, who loves all his kids totally.

Sequence

"You are Abraham's seed," Galatians 3:29.

Yeah ... well ... ok ... so ... is that a great point? ... or what? Reminder time - here's the backward sequence of events: You (and you, and you, and you) are one in Christ. You dressed yourself with Christ. You were baptized into Christ. You believed in Christ. You were set free from the Law's curse in the faith of Christ. You are the recipient of God's 4000 year-old promises to Abraham. Yeah, and the promises to his one seed/offspring, in Christ. You, in Christ, are, together, Abraham's singular offspring. You, in Christ, by faith, are heirs in line with the promise. Heirs of what? Redemption, to eternal life. After you die, heaven! Get it? Amazing grace!

We meet with a brother or sister today, eager to affirm God's promises to us. And, one together, we praise God for his redeeming love gushing out to us through Christ.

Dressed

"You have put on Christ," Galatians 3:27.

Yes! In Christ Jesus we are children of God through faith! Having been clothed with Christ all of us are not what we once were: not Jew, not Greek, not slave, not free, not male, not female. (Weird, isn't it?) Here, clothed with Christ, we are all one. One. One in Christ. But, wait. When did we put on Christ? When did we get dressed with Christ? Oh, that? Well, what does it say? This is what it says: As many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. That's when it says.

We celebrate unity with a brother or sister today through faith in Christ, our Lord. And, together, we give thanks for God's blessing us as Abraham's one offspring, having put on Christ.

Trainer

"The law became our child-care provider," Galatians 3:24.

Child-care provider? Yeah. Pretty much. A guide. Guardian. Trainer for immature kids. That's what the law was for. But not for to give life. A care provider for whom? Us. For us: immature men and women. For to keep our wild and woolly rebellious ways in check by its curse. For how long? For while we were waiting for something to come. For until the faith of Christ came. And it has. Faith has come! Christ has come! And in Christ, the Law's power to curse is gone. And we are now maturing children of God through faith in Christ.

So as we see a brother or sister today, we recognize Christ alive in each other's faith. And, together, we speak thanksgivings to God for growing us up in that faith.

Highlighted

"If a law were given able to give life, then justification really was by law," Galatians 3:21.

But it's not. Why not? Because law came on account of peoples' failures, not in order to give life. Law cannot vivify. Cannot make alive. Rather, Scripture caught everything under sin. Not life. But (!), the Scripture highlighted God's promise. What promise? That being made right with God comes by the faith of Christ. That justification cannot come by following a thing that just shows how people fail. No. Instead, God justifies people who believe in Christ. That's his promise. Yes.

We meet with a brother or sister today, moving from frustrated failure to living faith in Christ. And, together, we praise God, ever faithful to his promises!

Vindicate

"God, you are my strength," Psalm 43:2.

You, O God, vindicate us. You defend our cause against evil. Yes! You deliver us from deceit and injustice. Even when it seems you have rejected us, we yet take refuge in you! Oppression has no power to sweep us away in mourning. No! Your glory and your truth shine out to lead us. They light the way home. To you. We follow them to your mercy, to unmeasurable joy! And our heartstrings resonate by your presence. We do not succumb to despair - No! We hope in you, O God, and we keep praising you, our Savior. Our. God. Yes!

As we call on a brother or sister today, we encourage hope in God. And, together, we give grateful praises for God's mighty salvation power.

Two

"God gave an inheritance to Abraham by a promise," Galatians 3:18.

And that covenant's inheritance did not come to him by keeping the Law. (What inheritance? Life.) No Law bound Abraham as a condition to inheritance. The Law didn't even show up for another four centuries! And, anyway, a later Law does not undo God's first promises. Yes. So. God made the covenant with whom? Who got the deal of God's inheritance? Two (2) people. Who? Abraham and Christ. Nobody else. And, they did not have to follow some Law to get the inheritance. No. They just needed to be there, wowed by God's extravagance.

We meet with a brother or sister today awed by God's amazing grace. And, together, we praise our God for the share he gives us in his promises with Christ.

Hanged

"Christ became a curse," Galatians 3:13.

Preposterous! Isn't Christ a blessing? Isn't Christ the one who redeems from curses? Yes. That baby in a manger whose birth amazed everyone around, even angel armies - became a curse? When? When?! When they nailed him to a cross. When he was hung on that tree. God's Law spoke a curse on anyone hanged on a tree. (We already knew it cursed anyone failing to keep it.) So, Jesus, who kept it all, received the curse reserved for us who didn't. He bought us back from that reservation. Redeemed us. And gifted us with Abraham's blessing, rightfully his. Yes. Apart from our works of the Law. We may receive the Spirit's promise, life, through faith.

We meet up with a brother or sister today in the joy of the Holy Spirit. And, together, we give thanks to God for the Spirit's overflow of hope.

F

"However many depend on the works of the law, are under a curse," Galatians 3:10.

Huh? Yes. Whoever thinks they're made right with God by following the Law, is wrong. Wait! Isn't the Law supposed to teach the blessed way to life, doing the right and avoiding the wrong? Yes. It is. And it does. Anyone may live by doing its works. Doing. And anyone gets cursed to death in failing it. We failed. Big fat F. So, how to get life? The Good Book says: Faith, like Abraham had, is the way to life. But the Law is not about faith, it's about doing. Working its works. (No mistakes!). And here's God's new deal: Christ took the F for us, and gave us his A+. We believe in that. We trust in him.

As we meet with a brother or sister today, we share the faith-walk in Christ's perfect work. And, together, we give thanks to God for his marvel, freed from the curse, to a new covenant of life.

Pre-evangelized

"God had preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham," Galatians 3:8.

Really? Yes. God pre-evangelized to Abraham. Hmm. Did God tell Abraham about Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection 2000 years before Jesus came? No. Not quite. The Good Book says this about that: God told Abraham that all the ethnics would be blessed in him. Justified by faith. That's the Good News God revealed to Abraham. And Abraham believed God. And anyone who believes in God like Abraham did, becomes a child of Abraham, reckoned righteous by God. Justified. Gospel truth. Good News!

We share with a brother or sister today in faith that Christ gave himself for us. And, together, we praise God that he counts us as the blessed children of Abraham (and of Sarah)!

Heard

"Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law?" Galatians 3:2.

No. We did not receive God's Spirit by doing the works required by the Law. So. How did we? How did we get the Spirit? Here's how (we remember!): We heard the message that Jesus died on a cross, displayed for all to see. We heard the message that Christ gave himself for our sins. And we believed the message that the Lord was crucified to deliver us from the present evil age. We believed what we heard, that God wanted and planned it all. Yes. We believed in him. We trusted God's work in his son to save us. And that's how we received his Spirit.

We meet with a brother or sister today rejoicing in God's Spirit, trusting God's work in Christ. And, together, we praise God for his grace, for his overwhelming generosity.

Earth

"Trust Jehovah and do good," Psalm 37:3.

Dear Lord God: We depend on you. You give reason to live in the land and enjoy safety! You take care of us. Our own goodness is really you shining like the sun. Our own fairness is really your own brightness blazing at noon. So, we don't fret about the bad guys. We don't envy them at all. You'll fade them away. You'll wither them gone. Yeah, we won't get upset when they seem to get ahead. We just keep on living out your goodness. They'll be gone quicker than quick. Lord: You give the land to the quiet people. You grant the earth to unpretentious folk. The meek inherit the earth. And our refuge is you, our salvation!

When we visit with a brother or sister today we receive your peace doing your good. And, together, we praise your faithfulness through all generations. Thank you!

Irrelevant

"If justification were through the law, then Christ died irrelevant," Galatians 2:21.

What? Does this say that if you could get right with God by working the Law's rules, then the whole thing about Jesus was stupid? That Christ and church and communion and baptism and death and resurrection (and Christmas!? and Easter!?) and all that religion was just a fool's errand? Hmm. Well. Yes. That's exactly what it says. And if resurrection's irrelevant, whoever believes in it is even moreso. So. That's why the Good Book emphasizes nobody can get right with God by the Law's works. And. That's why we believe: We died with Christ. We no longer live. Christ lives in us. We live by faith in God's Son. He loved us. He gave himself for us. We affirm, and do not nullify, God's grace in this faith.

As we visit with a brother or sister today, we assert Jesus lives doing his good work through believer humans. And, together, we give thanks that Christ died and made us right with God.

Alike

"We have believed in Christ Jesus to be justified," Galatians 2:16.

We, who? Jews. We, Jews from birth. We, Jews (not ethnic sinners). Wait a minute! Who's talking, here? Paul. Paul, a Jew. Who's he talking to? To Peter, a Jew. And to Barnabas, a Jew. And to other believers, Jews. Who do these Jews believe in? In Jesus Christ, a Jew. Why do they believe in Jesus? In order to be justified. To be made right with God. Justified by faith. By trusting in Christ. Compared to what? to working the Law's demands. Neither righteous Jew nor ethnic sinner (i.e., Gentile) gets right with God by the Law's good work. Jew and ethnic alike get right with God through faith in (and of) Christ.

Whether Jew or Gentile, today we meet with a brother or sister, all of us made right with God by faith in Christ Jesus. And we give humble thanks to God for welcoming us, justified together.

Drew

"He drew back fearing the circumcision party," Galatians 2:12.

Drew back from what? From mixing with people who believed in Christ, baptized into him, sure, but who weren't part of the right group. Yep. He cut himself loose from those believers in the wrong group. Drew the boundary wall between. (He, who? Peter, apostle of Christ.) No more pot lucks with those folks. Why? Because he was afraid. Of whom? Of the people in the right group. That these'd draw another wall between and cut him loose, outside. In this, Peter (and company) cut himself loose from walking right in the truth of Jesus' Good News.

We visit with a brother or sister today walking rightly in the truth of Jesus' gospel. And, together, we receive food with glad and generous hearts giving thanks to God.

Scope

"They snuck in to scope out our freedom which we have in Christ Jesus," Galatians 2:4.

Who snuck in? False brothers. What did they sneak in to? To the gatherings of God-believers and of his Christ. What'd they sneak in for? To check Christ's freedom. Freedom? Freedom from what? From the slavish demands of the law. What law? The law of circumcision and of all the imperative curses of the former covenant God made with ancient Israel. Freedom from that. Any compromises? Not even an hour's worth. Freedom: The gospel, the Good News of God's work in Jesus: grace, received by faith.

We meet with a brother or sister today free in Christ, even if jailed for our faith. And, together, we give thanks to the living God for securing our place in his sky kingdom.

Testimony

"The man was persecuting us then, but now runs with the good news of the faith he was destroying," Galatians 1:23.

That's what happens when God spotlights a sinner man's dead works. When God reveals his son, Jesus, people knotted up in their own self-justification's impotence get unleashed to life and to proclaim grace in all the land. That's Paul's testimony. Then filled with bitter rage, now overwhelmed by God's righteous grace. Then wallowing in death's burrow, now shouting out life's reality. Then darkened in self-deception, now radiating the light of God's glory in the face of Christ.

When we see a brother or sister today, we affirm the faith of Christ shining through. And, together, we speak thanksgivings to God for his son's stunning generosity of life, eternal.

Counsel

"Jehovah God knows the way of the righteous," Psalm 1:6.

Yes, Lord, you know the way! You provide for us the way that brings good. Your law gives us righteous counsel to think about deeply at any and all times. Your way yields fruit that's always in season! Your way brings shade from scorching heat. Not at all like chaff blowing away in the wind. Or like failing in the Judgment. No! Your way will never lead us to perish. Your way lets us stand hardy in life's test. Your way yields prosperity.

With a brother or sister today, we walk steady, thankful, in your way, O God, into eternal life. Praise you for your unfailing wisdom and generosity!

Wine

"I was extremely zealous for the traditions," Galatians 1:14.

Yep. Committed deep within to chase the goal, to track the course of action relentlessly. A fire burning hot in the soul that drives devotion and effort. Yep. That's our brother Paul. What a guy! Ya gotta admire that zeal. It must count for something in God's grading scheme. Yep. Gimme that old-time religion! Good enough for ma and pa, right? But nope. Maybe for them, yes, but not for the present. Not for now. Paul (later) counts his pursuit of the old-time heroes as trash. Nope. Jesus spoke of new wine, new wineskins. New covenant. New testament. New deal. God has worked a new work: raising Jesus from the dead, revealing the Good News of Jesus, his Son, Christ and Lord. Savior of the world.

We meet today with a brother or sister renouncing dead tradition. And, together, we live out thankful lives in Jesus' generous forgiveness of our sins and in the new love taught by God.

Revelation

"The Good News that was preached is not man's good news," Galatians 1:11.

(Wait - preached by whom? by Paul. And by others of that same generation.) God uses that singular announcement, the Good News, to call humans into the grace of Christ. That message did not get started by a man. (Don't kid yourself.) No human committee in a smoke-filled back room hammered out the annunciation. (Don't be deceived.) A bunch of old white men centuries after the fact didn't invent it. (That claim manifests the historical stupidity of its claimants.) The gospel of Christ came from Christ. By revelation. Re-Ve-La-Tion. Not by debates, compromises, deals, good feelings, gut feelings, sharp logic, or sloth. No. Hidden by God, from all beings, until God himself uncovered his deal in Christ. Nobody in heaven, earth, or hell dreamed it. Until it was a done deal. Revealed by God. To save humans. Because he loves them.

Having received the gospel, we meet with a brother or sister today, amazed. And, together, we offer grateful praise for his deep, deep love revealed to us in Christ Jesus.

Gifted

"There is not another gospel," Galatians 1:7.

Well, sure, people can claim gospels of various kinds. But God (God himself, mind you!) calls only through his one Good News in the grace of Christ. Distorted so-called gospels may be taught, clearly. These distortions turn people away from God. Away. From. God. Yeah. Now, God's grace in Christ - his gift of eternal life - comes free to those who receive his call, yet, at unimaginable cost to himself. So: even if an angel out of the sky announces a Good News contrary to what God has already announced by his apostles ... Oh! and even if the same apostles come back with a different deal - God will damn them. Damn them. Thus, warned, we shall not trifle with God's deep generosity.

We meet today with a brother or sister having heard God's call in his gospel. And, together, from deep within, we give thanks for his measureless grace and forgiveness gifted to us in Christ.

Follow-up

"To the congregations of Galatia," Galatians 1:2.

To whom? To the people who had heard the preaching of Jesus' gospel. Yes, and who, in consequence, believed in God truly and changed their lives for Christ. Yes, and who, baptized into Christ, got dressed with Christ. Yes, and who received God's Spirit. Yes, and who congregated together into a body of Christ-followers. (What's with Galatia? it's a region where Paul had already announced the gospel, and now the apostle's writing a follow-up letter - nowadays we call it central Turkey.) Should they pay attention to what this messenger from Jesus writes? (Well, duh!) What's the message? This: God sends his grace and his peace to them. This reminder: the Lord Jesus gave himself for their sins to save them from the present evil age. He, too, sends them generosity and peace.

Hearing the same message from God and his Christ also to us, we visit with a brother or sister today. And, together, we bless God's bounty through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Sender

"An apostle not from men nor through man but through Jesus Christ and God the Father," Galatians 1:1.

What's an apostle? Dictionary time: an envoy. a messenger. somebody sent out with a message. someone sent out to tell someone else's story. It's like dad sending the one kid out to call his other kid in to clean the room. That one kid, the first one, is dad's apostle. Yes. It really is that simple. (And that other kid, the second one, better pay attention to the first one as delivering dad's message, right?) But here's the bigger deal in the New Testament: Who's the sender? The Sender of the apostles is not a man. God, the Father who raised Jesus from the dead, sent out the messengers with that life-giving message. Well, Jesus chose them, too, intending for their hearers to pay close attention to His story.

Visiting with a brother or sister today, we listen carefully to the story of Jesus his apostles told. And, together, we give thanks for his true life-giving word.