Sermon Response Guide
PRIMARY SCRIPTURE:
Galatians 3:1-9 NLT
1 Oh, foolish Galatians! Who has cast an evil spell on you? For the meaning of Jesus Christ’s death was made as clear to you as if you had seen a picture of his death on the cross. 2 Let me ask you this one question: Did you receive the Holy Spirit by obeying the law of Moses? Of course not! You received the Spirit because you believed the message you heard about Christ. 3 How foolish can you be? After starting your new lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort? 4 Have you experienced so much for nothing? Surely it was not in vain, was it?
5 I ask you again, does God give you the Holy Spirit and work miracles among you because you obey the law? Of course not! It is because you believe the message you heard about Christ.
6 In the same way, “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.” 7 The real children of Abraham, then, are those who put their faith in God.
8 What’s more, the Scriptures looked forward to this time when God would make the Gentiles right in his sight because of their faith. God proclaimed this good news to Abraham long ago when he said, “All nations will be blessed through you.” 9 So all who put their faith in Christ share the same blessing Abraham received because of his faith.
Key Points
- By grace through faith, we are not only freed from religion, but we are freed to relationship with Jesus.
- The moment we outgrow God is the moment we stop growing.
- God delights in our faith and God is working in everything to cultivate our faith.
Memory Verse
Ask God to write this word on your heart this week:
“After starting your new lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort? Have you experienced so much for nothing?”
-Galatians 3:3b-4a NLT
Questions for Reflection
Take time to reflect and respond to these questions on your own in the presence of the Holy Spirit, or with trusted friends or family members:
1: What do you think it means to be freed from religion and freed to relationship?
2: What role does relationship play in:
· The Trinity (God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit)?
· Salvation + Sanctification (coming to know Christ as Savior and the lifelong journey of becoming like him)?
· The Church (body of believers around the world)?
· Witness (inviting others to come and see the freedom we have found in Christ)?
3: Considering your own life, do you feel like you spend more time seeking perfection or the one who is perfect (Jesus)?
· How would you describe the difference between the two pursuits?
· Why do you think it is easy to believe they are one and the same?
· What is the danger in that confusion, and what do you think we can do to guard against it?
4: Have you personally experienced the Holy Spirit?
· How do you know?
· What is one way the Holy Spirit has helped you to live in freedom?
5: Read Philippians 2:13 and Hebrews 11:6.
· What do these verses have to do with today’s primary Scripture (Galatians 3:1-9)?
6: Read this excerpt from Galatians 3 paraphrased in The Message (MSG).
“It’s obvious that you no longer have the crucified Jesus in clear focus in your lives.
…
Let me put this question to you: How did your new life begin? Was it by working your heads off to please God? Or was it by responding to God’s message to you?
…
Did you go through this whole painful learning process for nothing?
…
Answer this question: Does the God who lavishly provides you with his own presence, his Holy Spirit working things in your lives you could never do for yourselves, does he do these things because of your strenuous moral striving or because you trust him to do them in you? Don’t these things happen among you just as they happened with Abraham? He believed God, and that act of belief was turned into a life that was right with God.”
· How does this biblical paraphrase help you to understand today’s sermon?
· What particularly stands out to you in this excerpt from Galatians?
7: What is the primary truth God revealed to you through today’s sermon + response guide?
· How will you respond to what God showed you today?
Pray
Lord, thank you for freeing us from religion and freeing us to relationship with you. We confess we are often quick to thank you for your rescue in the past, but slow to live into your relationship of rescue in the present. When we are tempted to believe we can stand on our own two feet without you, show us how desperate we are for you. Holy Spirit, stir in us an assurance and a hunger for more of your presence and power in our lives.
