Florida Coast Church

In the previous section, Paul asserted that no one can be right before God by observing the law but rather through faith in Christ.  In Galatians 3:1-14 , he presented three strong arguments to support his assertion.  He laid out in the clearest terms the difference between two systems of salvation: relying on the works of the law and relying on Christ.

Continuing his defense of the one and only gospel in Galatians 2:15-21 , Paul addressed two basic questions: 1) How can we be in a right relationship with God?  2) How can we live godly lives?  It turns out that the answer to both questions is the same: by faith in Jesus Christ.

In Galatians 2:1-14 , Paul continued his personal story about his interaction with the leaders in Jerusalem, relating that they completely supported his message and ministry.  He recounted these events in detail in order to defend the gospel and protect the unity of the church.  It is still true today that we can maintain unity amidst great cultural diversity only if we hold on to the one and only...

Continuing his argument that he received the one and only gospel directly from Jesus Christ, Paul demonstrated in more detail in Galatians 1:11-24 his lack of dependence on the apostles in Jerusalem.  He also brought up the most shameful part of his past, which he mentioned repeatedly in his letters, and which served to magnify the grace of God in his life and in ours.

As we begin a new series in the letter to the Galatians that will take us through most of the rest of this year, we read in Galatians 1:1-10 Paul’s opening salvo against those who were trying to distort the gospel.  Beginning with  his opening greeting, Paul emphasized what the gospel is and that there is only one true gospel.

Pastor Al Barth preached from John 4:1-30 about Jesus’ encounter one hot day with a foreign woman who had a checkered past.  As it turns out, we have much in common with that woman and the same need for what Jesus had to offer her.

Before preaching on John 4:1-30, Pastor Al Barth gave an encouraging review of the history and work of City to City in helping to start new churches around the world.

The vision that John saw in Revelation 4-5  concludes the opening section and prepares for the rest of the book.  After reading about the difficulties in the seven churches, we get a glimpse of the heavenly control room and witness a two-part worship service focused on a central throne.  This second vision reminds us of what is really happening in the universe and helps us to keep going amidst the...

In the final of the seven letters in Revelation 3:14-22 , Jesus addressed the church in Laodicea, which had no redeeming qualities. He described the church as lukewarm. It is remarkable that Jesus explicitly expressed his love, humbled himself to show his love, and promised the most exalted privileges to this, the worst of the seven churches. In other words, this letter shines with God’s grace and...

In the letter to the church in Philadelphia in Revelation 3:7-13 , we read the second of two letters that contains only praise and encouragement from Jesus for the church.  Although the church in Philadelphia looked weak, it was actually strong, because it had done the one simple thing that all churches and all Christians must do: keep Christ’s word.  Jesus’ instruction to them (and to us) was cor...

In the letter to the church in Sardis in Revelation 3:1-6 , Jesus had a surprise announcement for the church and promised a surprise visit if things did not change for the better.  The announcement was that, in spite of appearances of vitality, the church was really quite dead, which would have fallen as a huge surprise to the church itself and to everyone who knew the church’s great reputation.  ...

In Revelation 2:18-29 , Jesus sent the longest letter to the church in the least important city, Thyatira, perhaps because its situation was complicated.  In general, it was a great church, growing in faith and love.  However, they tolerated false teaching that led to bad living.  Jesus himself would deal with the false teacher and her followers, and he called the rest simply to hold on and keep g...

In Revelation 2:12-17 , we meet the Church in Pergamum, a group of Christians that one has to admire for holding fast to the name of Jesus in a city that Jesus called “Satan’s throne,” and even after one of their number had been killed for his faith.  Although they were steadfast in resisting outside attacks, they were less vigilant about the beliefs and practices of their own members, so Jesus ur...

Although the church in Smyrna may not have looked like much on the surface, Jesus’ evaluation of it was wholly positive.  He did not tone down his description of what the believers were about to suffer, but he pointed to the way to face all the challenges of life and death without fear and full of faith.  Although we may never have to face what those early Christians faced, we all have to live, an...

In Revelation 2:1-7 , we read the letter to the church in Ephesus, a cosmopolitan port city where intellectual and religious currents were always trying to divert the faith of the Christians.  Jesus commended the Ephesian Christians for standing firm for the faith in such a difficult environment but called them back to something essential they had forgotten – love.  Although truth and love are equ...

In our summer sermon series, we are going to study the first three chapters of the last book of the Bible, beginning with Revelation 1 and then taking the letters to the seven churches of chapters 2 and 3 one at a time.  In this first chapter, we have an introduction that teaches us how and why to read the book and then see a stunning portrayal of Jesus, which serves as the base of the following l...

With the book of Acts , we finish our review of Bible history. Unlike Old Testament history, New Testament history ends on a very positive note. In Acts, Luke recorded the advance of the gospel from Jerusalem into Judea and Samaria and all the way to Rome. The first Christians and many others after them did such a good job that the gospel has reached all the way to us, and now it is up to us to ta...

It is good to have more than one person ready to verify facts, especially when they are well-informed and honest.  In the case of the remarkable life of Jesus, we have four accounts written by people close to the source, which we traditionally call the Gospels, because they record the gospel, or good news, about Jesus.  After considering their authorship, we look at their overall structure and the...

With the books of Ezra and Nehemiah , we arrive at the end of Old Testament history with the Jews back in their land after having been taken away by Babylonia and sent back by Persia.  They returned in at least three phases, under the leadership of three men – Zerubbabel, Ezra, and Nehemiah – in order to rebuild the Temple, the people, and the city, respectively.  All was set for a glorious ending...

Although the books of Kings and Chronicles cover much of the same history, they have different and complimentary perspectives, focusing mostly on the time of the united Kingdom of Israel under Solomon and then the divided kingdoms of Israel and Judah. Kings answers the question: What went wrong? Chronicles answers the question: Is there any hope for us? It turns out that there was more hope than t...

Thanks to Pastor Rick Hunter of CityChurch for his sermon on Acts 17:16-34 , where Paul had a unique opportunity to preach to a group of well-educated men who did not know the Bible.  This sermon sounds very different from those he preached in the Jewish synagogues but contains the same Gospel message.  As Christians present this good news to people of all backgrounds, we can learn much from Paul’...

Ringing in our ears from the book of Judges is the cry for a king, so we are not surprised to find that the book that is now divided into 1 Samuel and 2 Samuel answers the need for a king.  However, the process was not very neat, since there was a first failed attempt to have a king and then a second more successful one, which was not without its own problems.  As we see in all the books of the Ol...

When people read the Bible, they may be surprised to find shocking stories of wickedness mixed with stories of great faith, sometimes in the very same people.  In other words, it contains stories of people like us.   Judges reports on the chaotic situation in Israel after the death of Joshua during which a series of deliverers rescued God’s people time and time again from self-inflicted problems....

In Exodus, the focus was on coming out of Egypt.  Numbers recorded the wandering in the desert between Egypt and the Promised Land.  Deuteronomy was preparation for entering the Promised Land.  In Joshua , we read of the fulfillment of God’s long-standing promise to give the land to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  The corresponding call of the book is for God’s people to be faithful...

In Deuteronomy , the fifth and final book of what is called the Pentateuch or the Five Books of Moses, we have three sermons that Moses gave to the people before his death and before the people were finally to enter the Promised Land: one focused on the past, one on the future, and one on the present. A summary of his message is: God loves you, so trust and obey him. Along the way, Moses touched o...