Flagstone Church of Christ

Imagine hosting a party and planning every detail only to have that one person show up that wasn't invited. Not only that, but they mess everything up for everyone else. How would you handle it? What do you do with an uninvited guest? That's what a man named Simon had to figure out when he invited Jesus for dinner. We'll discover together how Jesus used an awkward social situation to t...

How do I know if the Holy Spirit is working in my life? How do I know if the Holy Spirit is guiding me? How do I know if the Holy Spirit is even real? Paul says in Galatians 5 there's a simple way to determine whether the Holy Spirit is active in my life or not. Let's find out together what that is!

On this Mother's Day, we want to focus on a meal Jesus shared with His mother. There are countless numbers of meals they shared together as Jesus grew up in Mary's home, but there was one meal in particular that gets mentioned in scripture. This wasn't any ordinary meal though - it was a wedding reception. And this wasn't any ordinary party - it was a moment when Jesus' mother...

With freedom comes responsibility. We can't just use the freedom we have in Christ as a license to make any choices we please. So what do I do with the freedom I have? Maybe even a tougher question to answer: what do I not do?

As we celebrate our 2023 graduating seniors, we're unpacking what it means to reclaim that childlike faith that we all once had. Children seem to be so curious and in awe of the world. They rest in the complete dependence of their parents. As adults it seems we have lost both of these incredible qualities. Is it possible to become like a child again?

To this point in his letter to the Galatians, Paul has been debating whether or not following the rules of the "old law" and adopting a checklist mentality is what makes a person righteous or whether it's simply faith that brings us closer to God. In chapter 5, Paul gives another reason why faith matters more than checklists...it's all about freedom.

It would difficult to determine how many times Jesus ate supper with His disciples. And many of those occasions probably didn't seem that significant at the time. But there's one supper that Jesus shared with His disciples that had a lasting impact on them. And what might be just as important is what took place around that same table a few days after that particular meal. What was it that...

Have you ever tried to rake leaves when a strong wind is blowing? Or how about washing your car just in time for the rain to start pouring down? It's frustrating when we put effort into things and then feel like nothing was gained by all the work we did. Paul had that feeling with the Galatians too. Was it a waste of time for him to preach freedom in Christ? Was all his effort pointless?

Most of us want to have clean hands before we eat, especially if our hands are going to actually be touching our food. But we probably have different methods of pre-meal handwashing (just rinsing with water, a dab of soap, completely lathering both hands, etc.). We can argue about the level of cleanliness and probably feel justified in defending our opinion. There was a time mentioned in scripture...

We need to continue in our journey to understand what it means to be adopted, what it means to be heirs, and what it means to be "one." There are some powerful truths Paul shares in this part of his letter to the Galatians.

Most of us have a certain person or maybe a handful of people that we would just love to spend all of our time with if we had the opportunity. Most of us also have a certain person or maybe a handful of people that, for a variety of reasons, we would rather have nothing to do with at all. But when Jesus went to eat at Matthew's house, He showed us that everyone is invited to spend time buildin...

Mealtimes provide opportunities to get to know someone or connect with someone in a relaxed atmosphere. At the dinner table is when I tend to let my guard down and allow others to get a better glimpse of the real me, and I get a chance to get a clearer picture of them as well. Multiple times in scripture Jesus is shown enjoying a meal with others. These often become teachable moments for both His...

We've had to obey rules at different times in our lives - house rules, traffic laws, workplace policies, etc. But have we kept all of those rules perfectly all the time? Probably not. If I try to determine my value based on how good of a rule-follower I am, I'm setting myself up for major disappointment, because I'm never going to perfectly follow all the rules all the time. In Galatia...

Everyone likes a good story. We like to see how different characters and events are woven together, and we appreciate a strong storyline that runs through the story itself from beginning to end. However many of us fail to see scripture as a story. We might see a collection of stories, or we might only see a list of rules and regulations. But we often miss the fact that scripture itself is a story...

Peter gets personal! In these verses we see Paul give a defense for his ministry and the gospel that the Galatians have set aside. He shares of a moment where he even rebuked the apotle Peter in a spicy argument giving way to one of the most famous verses in the letter: Galatians 2:20.

Many of us don't like boundaries and guardrails. We don't enjoy being given limitations or having rules dictated to us. So it's only natural for many of us to be uncomfortable with what we perceive as "regulations" in scripture. It causes to have a negative view of God's guidelines for our lives and to balk at "being told what to do." But the boundaries God sets...

Many of us have had to deal with our own measure of disappointments - plans that fell through, promises that were broken, expectations that led to let-downs. Enough disappointing experiences can cause us to become cynical and to think that there's nothing worth really believing in. But when it comes to God's Word, we find something we can trust because the promises made in scripture are pr...

People are often either like thermostats or thermometers. Thermometers are constantly changing with whatever the temperature of the room is. People who consistently change their opinions based on whom they are currently listening to are "thermometers." But thermostats stay consistent; they actually affect the temperature of the room. People who know what they believe and are able to infl...

It seems that our society as a whole has become convinced there is nothing in our culture that is absolutely true. There's no black and white - only gray. There's no absolute right and wrong - there's just "my truth" and "your truth." There's nothing that's actually real - everything is fake or "staged." It makes it difficult to believe that there...

When the Emancipation Proclamation was issued in 1863, there were many former slaves who didn't know what to do with their newly-granted freedom. Some even returned to enslavement because they were so uncomfortable being "free." A similar spiritual struggle was taking place centuries ago with new Christians in Galatia - they had been set free through Christ but had no idea how to live in that newl...

Maybe I've never actually read the Bible before. Maybe I've read bits and pieces but never really let the words sink in. Maybe I used to read it often, but now it's a book I rarely pick up. No matter what your past experience with God's Word has been, we invite you to join us on a journey to revisit scripture (or maybe dive in for the first time) as we discover why the words of this ancient book a...

We all have past mistakes and failures, words we wish we wouldn't have said, and choices we wish we wouldn't have made. We deal with enough guilt and regret on our own, but that burden can be made even heavier when someone we're connected to continues to bring it up. Whether it's a friend or a family member, when that person consistently reminds me of my shortcomings, that's a warning sign that so...

God's people followed 70 years of captivity with 20 years of half-hearted devotion and effort. God had allowed His people to suffer the consequences of centuries of sin and injustice, and almost immediately they were returning to old habits. So God used Zechariah to let His people know how He felt about their attitudes and actions.

Almost every relationship has its share of disagreements, conflicts, and misunderstandings. However, when it seems like every time I try to have a conversation with this particular friend or co-worker or family member the end result is an argument, or when one of us seems to never really listen to the other, those are red flags. Those are warning signs that something in this relationship needs to...

How I feel about myself is vitally important to my well-being. When someone else's words or actions consistently cause me to feel bad about myself, that can have a devastating effect on my self-esteem...especially if that person is a friend or even a family member. How can hits to my emotional health serve as warning signs in my relationships? And what can I do when someone I'm connected to contin...