In order to understand the historical and cultural context of the Book of Galatians, we must know of the Apostle Paul’s missionary journey’s:
Acts 14 – First Missionary Journey (45 -48)
Acts 15 – The Council at Jerusalem (49)
Acts 15-18 – Second Missionary Journey (AD 49-54)
– writing of Galatians (AD 51) and delivering during second missionary journey
Acts 18-21 – Third Missionary Journey (AD 54-58)
Pt. 1 – https://www.buzzsprout.com/11630/9741373-getting-into-galatians-1
Pt. 2 – (43:33) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECO1kKEnF00
Pt. 3 – (39:45) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4aRrg_hXuo
Pt. 4 – (34:49) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UViXsA5jjU
The rhetoric of Galatians chapters 1-4 is not something to be relegated to 1st century Old Covenant things. Rather the Apostle is making the case that nothing that comes from you (self-righteousness, knowledge of self, or decisions) can provide you with right-standing pertaining to God, nor should you add anything of your own doing to Christ’s accomplished work as the means of attainting righteousness, nor should you think that your sin, your lack of knowledge, or decisions could ever keep you from the righteousness God provides to those He calls.
Pt. 5 – (40:08) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WaQH9Q8RPfM
Consider for a moment the articles of our faith, dare I call them the essentials found in Galatians 5 verses 6-8:
– What matters is “faith working through love”
– “Obeying the truth”
– Being persuaded by Him who calls you, not him who troubles you.
Pt. 6 – (37:55) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8z1-YHF1rQ
Today in the sermon at The Blue Point Bible Church we focused in on Galatians 5:16, “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh”.
In our Common Prayer session this evening, we cited Abraham Heschel, who said, “Our goal should be to live life in radical amazement. ….get up in the morning and look at the world in a way that takes nothing for granted. Everything is phenomenal; everything is incredible; never treat life casually. To be spiritual is to be amazed.” ~ Abraham Joshua Heschel
So how do we “walk by the Spirit”? We live with awe.
“Awe is what we feel when we encounter something vast, wondrous or beyond our ordinary frame of reference. It evokes a sense of mystery and wonder. And, given its documented benefits, awe might be our most overlooked, undervalued emotion.”
“It makes us curious rather than judgmental. It makes us collaborative. It makes us humble, sharing and altruistic. It quiets the ego so that you’re not thinking about yourself as much.” It also calms the brain’s default mode network and has been shown to reduce inflammation. In other words, he says, don’t underestimate the power of goose bumps.
“How do you find awe? You allow unstructured time. How do you find awe? You wander. You drift through. You take a walk with no aim,” Keltner says. “How do you find awe? You slow things down. You allow for mystery and open questions rather than test-driven answers.”