Freedom Church Chester

Sunday, 25 November 2018 | Graham Webb // Mark 3 | The Way of the Kingdom of God // Jesus was accused of being mad (Mark 3:21). Christians are often accused of this too. But our faith experience is not crazy; it’s a sane reaction to what we know of God’s character and faithfulness. // // They said that Jesus was bad (verse 22). But there was no foundation for this charge. He only did good. // // No: Jesus was God (see Mark 4:41). He was not mad & not bad; he was God and he is worthy of our praise. //

Sunday, 18 November 2018 | Keith Cooper // Galatians 4:8-11 | Don’t Go Back // God is engaged in a war to recapture our hearts, tearing down idols, bringing us home. The Galatians were turning back to idols. Paul feels the pain of this betrayal and expresses his dismay. // // The law can diagnose the disease, but it cannot produce the cure. The only way is grace and it is grace against which the Galatians have turned their backs. // // The antidote to idols, whatever the idol might be, is Jesus Christ.

Sunday, 11 November 2018 | Andy Lawrie // Galatians 3:23-4:7 | The Grace of Law // // The Judaizers didn’t appreciate that the whole purpose of the law was up point out sin – not to be followed for its own sake. Rather, Paul says, “So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith” (chapter 3, verse 24). We are not to be critical and judgemental but to see the love and grace shown in both the law and Christ’s fulfilment of the law. // // An intense focus on the law, on right and wrong, may seem noble but it can completely distract us. We should be focusing our attention on Jesus, on who he is – on how the Law, Jesus’s sacrifice and how the entire body of scripture points to and gives glory to God – and we must do likewise. //

Sunday, 4 November 2018 | Elizabeth Linton // Galatians 3:15-22 | So what’s the point of the law? // “Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made, and it was put in place through angels by an intermediary.” (verse 19) // // To reject the false, we need to know the true. Paul argues from truth, from scripture, to demonstrate to the Galatians the real purpose of the law and its place in God’s overriding story of grace. The law did not set aside any of God’s previous purposes; it acted to highlight sin and to prepare the way for the One who would conquer sin.

Sunday, 28 October 2018 | Keith Cooper // Galatians 3:10-14 | Law’s Curse, Faith’s Blessing // // The person who relies on the law is not operating in faith. That person CAN NOT please God. Law demands COMPLETE obedience to the WHOLE law. Breaking just one law results in the curse of God as if every law was broken. The law brings curse, not blessing. // // The just shall live by faith in Christ. Jesus, through his shameful death, crucifixion, took the full weight of shame and guilt that the law would impose on us. The curse is removed and we receive that benefit through accepting his sacrifice through faith in him. // // (Apologies for the poor audio quality for the first 41 seconds of the sermon.) //

Sunday, 21 October 2018 | Dave Scotland // Galatians 3:1-9 | The Gospel & the Word // // - Hearing // - Believing // - Receiving // // This is the power of the gospel. We must hear the word of God, believe it and receive. In so doing, our hearts and lives will be transformed and our expectations will be lifted.

Sunday, 14 October 2018 | Keith Cooper // Galatians 2:17-21 | Grace: free, yet priceless // Paul deals with the argument against grace. Misunderstanding the free gift of grace, some people were becoming blasé about sin causing a decline in their behaviour. Paul bluntly states that this is to miss the point entirely. // // And just because grace is freely given, that doesn’t mean it was free. Christ paid a heavy, heavy price to achieve this, in being beaten, mocked, crucified, experiencing the righteous anger of God as he took on all sin, and ultimately being separated from his father. // // Now for us, having been saved by grace through faith, there is no sense in returning to the law. The is no sense in rebuilding the works-based structures that were torn down when we accepted Christ’s sacrifice. An intimate, personal life-giving relationship with Jesus through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is the only coherent way to live. // // Law says, “Do.” Grace says, “Done!”

Sunday, 7 October 2018 | Rob Pomeroy // Galatians 2:11-16 | In Step with Truth // // Peter takes a wrong turn in his journey of faith. Paul boldly corrects him, imploring him to walk in step with the truth of the gospel. As we see this drama play out, we learn not to allow our fear, pride and jealousy interfere with our appreciation of God’s free gift of grace.

Sunday, 30 September 2018 | Keith Cooper // Psalm 112 | Dedication & baptisms // One of the greatest promises in the Bible is that those who follow Jesus Christ will have eternal life. God’s way and his provision is the only way. // // In today’s meeting, parents commit their baby daughter to the lifelong journey of learning about God. Meanwhile, two members of the same family take the step of obedience to Jesus, by undergoing baptism by full immersion.

Sunday, 23 September 2018 | Emma Beddoes // Galatians 2:1-10 | The Truth of the Gospel Preserved // // The Jews were expecting the Messiah, but they had fixed ideas about what he should be like. This led them to add ideas and rules to the gospel. // // But there are no add-ons. We don’t believe a ‘gospel plus’. We receive the revelation from God, we recognise it as truth, and we respond to it in submission. We don’t need to ‘get ourselves ready’ before we can become Christians. The important issue is to know and love God and to cling to and preserve the true, unadulterated gospel.

Sunday, 16 September 2018 | Keith Cooper // Galatians 1:13-24 | Born Free! // // Paul, mindful of who he was prior to conversion and of how he met Christ, was determined to preach only the true gospel. This message of grace and hope was given to him by God and no other. All the glory and praise was to go to God and God alone. // // This message of grace is hard for us to understand. We use words like ‘deserve’ and ‘fair’. We think that those with a better standard of living deserve to be saved more then those who are obvious sinners. When the wicked repent and are saved, we ask if that’s fair. // // God’s grace is not based on our merit or efforts. It is based entirely on his goodness, his love and his generosity. Our attitude towards God’s gifts, to us and to others, can only be gratitude. None of us deserves God’s grace and yet he gives it anyway, as he chooses. //

Sunday, 9 September 2018 | Andy Lawrie // Galatians 1:6-12 | New Gospel = No Gospel // // Paul, with his passionate care for the church, is writing urgently to the Galatians, to warn them about straying away from the true gospel. False teaching was a continual problem for the early church. // // Today we have the same problem. Gospels of moralism, individualism, prosperity, consumerism and more seduce and tempt us away from the true gospel. The only true gospel has Christ at the central focus. It's all about him & his glory. We cannot save ourselves; only Jesus saves. // // To ensure we do not stray from the truth, we need to stay close to the word of God, to ensure we read our bibles. We must remain humble and let God correct us when we err. This is for our good and for his glory.

Sunday, 2 September 2018 | Keith Cooper // Galatians 1:1-5 | Gospel Truth // // We often struggle with the feeling that we need to earn the love of God. This is contrary to the teaching of scripture. There’s nothing we can do: it’s entirely a free act of grace on the part of God. It can’t be earned; it can only be received.// ​​// Paul writing this letter offers by way of credentials his calling from God. We are wise if we follow God’s calling on our lives, directed by scripture, confirmed through prophecy. This provides a position of faith, an ongoing assurance through easy times and difficult of our position within God’s purposes. Further Paul’s motivation was, as ours must always be, not our power or recognition but the glory of God.

Sunday, 19 August 2018 | Rob Pomeroy​ // Genesis 9 | Noah – Part IV // // Today Rob wraps up our study of Noah and the Flood. Through this story, we learn of sin and salvation, grace and redemption. We see God’s sovereign purpose for us and his relentless pursuit of his divine plans – for our good and for his glory.

Sunday, 12 August 2018 | Keith Cooper​ // Genesis 8 | Noah – Part III // // God remembers us. He remembers his promises to us. He keeps his promises. // // After the storm, God renews life. Noah, as a kind of second Adam, is intimately involved in the re-creation of the earth. Noah operated in faith, waiting on God and completing the tasks God assigns him. We too would do well to wait on God, to understand how to do the right things at the right time with the right motives.

Sunday, 5 August 2018 | Paul Jackson​ // Genesis 7 | Noah – Part II // // We see poetic, repetitive language in Genesis 7, a kind of ‘second creation’, which mirrors the creation account in the earlier chapters of Genesis. This account deals with the destruction and ‘remaking’ of the earth. It deals with God’s judgment on those who were living apart from him, apart from his law. // // We need to recall that God isn’t a one-dimensional person, whose only characteristic is an out-of-context kind of love. No, God hates sin and injustice and leaving those who hurt people unpunished. God is holy. In Genesis we see God show a side of his character – righteousness and justice – that is real.// // We also see here a prefiguring of Christ. The ark is the instrument of God’s salvation and protection for his chosen people. In a similar way, Jesus provides salvation and protection for those who are in him at the final judgment.//

Sunday, 29 July 2018 | Keith Cooper​ // Genesis 6 | Noah – Part I // // Time after time, God’s people drift into apathy and rebellion. Every time, God raises up a remnant. Noah and his family were such a remnant, through whom God demonstrated his constant, consistent plan to save mankind. // // The thing that set Noah apart from the rest of humanity was that he listened to God, and in faith, acted on what he believed God to be saying. He valued obedience higher than his own dignity.

Sunday, 22 July 2018 | Dave Scotland​ // Genesis 4:8-16 | Crouching sin // // Sin takes control of us and masters us if we do not subdue it. Despite God’s warning, Cain allowed sin to conquer him; he murdered his brother Abel. God therefore brings judgment – but restoration and reconciliation are his ultimate aim. // // This is the story of wretched man meeting a faithful God. This is the story of sin and redemption.

Sunday, 15 July 2018 | Keith Cooper​ Genesis 4:1-7 | Cain and Abel Although Adam and Eve had rebelled against God, they continued to have a relationship with him. We see them give praise to God for the blessing of their children. Two of their children, Cain and Abel, are pictured in the continuing tragic story of sin. God, knowing the heart of man, rejects Cain’s sacrifice given as it was with impure motives; he accepts Abel’s. God, whose heart is always towards forgiveness, issues a warning to Cain, lest his sin get the better of him. In the story we see God’s intention to bring forgiveness and reconciliation to a sinful world.

Sunday, 8 July 2018 | Andy Lawrie​ // Genesis 3:20-24 | Banished // // Sin is embedded within human nature and experience. It is the choice we so often make. It is a choice with consequences. In today’s sermon, Andy looks at the consequences for Adam and Eve of their sin but also the hope that was to come.