Welcome to Galatians. . .                   

. . .a small book of just six chapters written by the apostle Paul.  If you were along as we explored the book of Acts, you remember that Jesus stepped into Paul’s pathway—Paul, a proper Jew, full of scholarly self-righteousness, who had mercilessly persecuted the new Christians—and Paul was radically converted to a Jesus-follower.  After a time, he set out on three journeys where he preached the good news of Jesus Christ, and saw many people—Jews and Gentiles alike—come to put their trust in the saving grace of Jesus.  Churches were established in various locations as he traveled.  He loved the young believers, and cared so deeply about sustaining them.  At one point he said, ‘It is only right for me to feel this way about you, because I have you in my heart.’  Such deep concern and a God-given shepherd’s heart prompted Paul to write letters to the churches he had helped form.  Usually, the letters addressed a situation or endeavored to correct wrong thinking or behavior of the converts.  We can be certain that as Paul dictated his God-inspired thoughts to a listening scribe, he was visualizing the faces of the particular people he addressed.  His loving concern for them comes through time and again in his comments to them, starting with the church in the province of Galatia.  Let’s take a look at Galatians 1.1-5:

 ¹ This letter is from Paul, an apostle. I was not appointed by any group of people or any human authority, but by Jesus Christ himself and by God the Father, who raised Jesus from the dead.² All the brothers and sisters here join me in sending this letter to the churches of Galatia. ³ May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace. ⁴ Jesus gave his life for our sins, just as God our Father planned, in order to rescue us from this evil world in which we live. ⁵ All glory to God forever and ever! Amen.  (NLT)

It seems that Paul is under attack, as was his teaching, so he opens his letter with his credentials.  To be an apostle, a man must have been present in Jesus’ early life, and also have witnessed his Resurrection.  Paul met neither of those qualifications.  Yet, Acts 9 records for us in dramatic form how Jesus himself appointed him.  Remember, he was on his way to Damascus, when suddenly he was knocked down, and blinded by a great light. . . he heard from Heaven, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?"  (In Hebrew, his name was ‘Saul’, while in Greek, it was ‘Paul’—don’t be confused, thinking it could be two different people)  "Who are you, lord?"  “I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting!  Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.” He did, and the rest is history, you might say--so convinced was Paul of the person of Jesus Christ being the long-awaited Messiah.  So, while there arose from several camps those who would discredit him as an apostle, he established his apostleship as directly from God.  It was through a face-to-face meeting with Jesus Himself that Paul’s course was irrevocably changed—the proud Jew was humbled, and at the same time given his authority to preach about Jesus, the Messiah.

->You know, at some point in your life, Jesus stepped into your path as well.  He showed himself to you in some way. . . and only you could choose how you would respond.  We know how Paul responded to Jesus, but how about you?  Many of you responded with belief, by putting your trust in Him, and wanting to know Him more.   Since then, you’ve had as much or as little of God as you have wanted.  God is ready and willing to fill you with His Spirit, and grow you up more and more in the things of God.  If you ever look around and think, ‘Man, I want what she’s got—I want that strong connection she seems to have with God. . .’  Well, you can have it—bow your heart to God, and ask Him to help you love Him more and love others more fully; that is a prayer He loves to answer.

“May the Lord give you grace and peace”

Christine