Series: Simple Faith

Following Jesus is a lifelong, everyday Journey. What can we do when we grow weary in our pursuit of a simple, flourishing faith or when our lives go off course? We will answer that question this week as we close out this series from Galatians. We will see in chapter 6 that we can help one another through accountability and encouragement to stay focused on the goal of the spiritual life.

What does a real Christian look like? You can’t a Christian by their ethnicity, income level, what they wear, or who they vote for. The best way to identify a real follower of Jesus how they relate to other people. This week in our Simple Faith series, we measure ourselves against what the letter to Galatians calls “the fruit of the Spirit.” We’ll exchange our old “spiritual success measurements” for a simple faith of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentles, and self-control.

A Christian’s life should be full of love, kindness, compassion, and good works. But is that what MAKES someone a Christian, or do those qualities flow from a deeper source? Does where our goodness comes from make any practical difference? This week we’ll explore chapters 3 and 4 of Galatians and be encouraged to explore how vital and life-giving a faith-fueled connection with God can be.

What keeps us from living a simple faith in Jesus?  It’s often a natural but unhealthy focus on ourselves. Sometimes we are scared that we are measuring up to expectations set by us, others, or what we think God’s expects from us. Other times, we are tempted to sit in judgment of others rather than moving toward the very people God is wanting us to befriend.  This week, we’ll see how Paul’s letter to the Galatians challenges us to move from fear to faith.

What is the Christian Faith really about? Put simply… Jesus. We tend to make it complicated. We find Jesus and then we start adding things on – cultural traditions, politics, personal preferences – and by the time we are done, we might be following a different Jesus! This complicated faith is not only spiritually exhausting, but it makes it harder to get along with other people. In this first message of our Simple Faith series, we look at the basic message of the Christian Faith, what’s called the Gospel and start the process of removing the religious “add-ons” that we’ve collected along the way.