Paul's Podcast

Today we read how believers are no longer servants but sons. We see 3 truths about this father/son relationship: God redeemed us, resides in us and has prepared a room for us.  It is clear that he desires a close relationship with us... but what kind of relationship do we want to have with him? Find out more about us here - crossroadslondon.org

The Apostle Paul uses an illustration of an immature child as a teaching moment for the Galatians... and the message is clear: It's Time To Grow Up. How can we apply this wisdom to our walk today? Take a listen... Find out more about us here - crossroadslondon.org

What does it mean to be "one in Christ"? Why should the Galatians care? Why should we? Guess we better take a listen and find out... Find out more about us here - crossroadslondon.org

You may have come across signs that say "Under New Management". These are posted on the windows of businesses when a new owner has come in. What they indicate is that the building - whatever it was (restaurant, shop, hairdressers) - is now being run by somebody new. The sign informs us of a couple of truths: 1. Things with the old management have run their course; the old authority isn’t...

Up until now in our study of Galatians, The Law has really come cross as the villain. It’s like the law and grace are two separate fighters punching it out: Grace in the red corner, works in the blue corner, seconds out, bell goes, "fight!" But what we'll see today challenges that mindset. We will see that the law is not against grace, rather the law is in service to grace. How does...

The Apostle Paul makes his case: the Abrahamic covenant cannot be disannulled by the law of Moses. It is a covenant we can count on. Though the promises made by God cannot be disannulled, they can be disregarded. That is what we see happening in Galatia... how do we stop it happening in our lives today? I guess we should take a look and find out... Find out more about us here - crossroadslondon.or...

There's a lot of stuff around Easter: the eggs, the bunnies, the furry chicks, the flowers, the roast dinners, etc, etc. Some of this is interesting & helpful to understand; sometimes it can really help just to keep things simple. So let's keep it simple: there are 3 things we need to understand about Easter from Galatians 3:10-14. Why don't we jump in and find out what they are...

Today, the Apostle Paul is getting out the big gun: Abraham. He spent chapters 1 and 2 proving justification by faith with events from his own life; now in chapter 3 he will prove it with events from Abraham's life. This, as we will come to see over the next few weeks, is a masterstroke in his argument for justification through faith. For today, it will be a big help to us as we see how we ar...

The Apostle Paul’s exhortation in these verses is to live our lives in reliance on God’s Spirit. As believers, we know this is a good idea. It sounds important, we know we can’t rely on ourselves, we know we should & need to ‘depend on God’... but that can seem a little vague… Just what exactly can we depend on God for? Paul spells out 3 things. Three specific areas of our lives where we can c...

History & popular culture gives us many examples of double agents. People who live two different lives at the same time. This illustration demonstrates a key point from Galatians 2:19-21: Christians are not supposed to live two lives, but a new life. What does this mean and how can we do it? Let's find out... Find out more about us here - crossroadslondon.org

There are many different roads to London. The M4, M3, M11, M1, A1, A1M, A4, A40, A24, A214, A503, A30… ok, you get the picture. Whittier in Alaska, on the other hand, has one road. A single road going to the town. It’s called The Portage Glacier Road and it is the only way people can get there. Getting to Heaven is not like travelling to London. Getting to Heaven is like travelling to Whittier. Th...

No one likes a hypocrite. We don't. The Apostle Paul doesn't. Jesus doesn't. And our Heavenly Father doesn't. What practical lessons can we learn from Peter's error in Antioch? Let's take a look... Find out more about us here - crossroadslondon.org

-Antidisestablishmentarianism. -Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia*. -Supercalifradgealisticexpealoidocious. These are long words that don’t really matter. A short, simple yes though - that matters. In chapter 2 verses 7-10, we get to see what the apostles said yes to when it came to Paul's ministry... and we get to think about what we should say yes to when it comes to ours... (*The fear o...

Are you any good at saying no? Not everybody is. It can be hard to say no sometimes... But what we say no to will shape the course of our lives. It is vital that we have someone in our lives who can tell us no; it is also vital that we learn when to say no ourselves. What has this got to do with today's passage? We will see 3 vital ‘noes’ in the first 6 verses of Galatians 2. We will see that...

In a lot of the action movies I’ve seen - and I've definitely seen too many - there is often some kind of kidnapping. And the dialogue between the bad guys and the good guys usually goes something like this: “Hey, we have your precious loved one. Give us a huge amount of money or else.” “Ok, man. But first, I want proof they’re alive.” So then the bad guys have to wheel out the poor victim -...

From here until the end of chapter 2, Galatians focuses on Paul's life. If we understand Paul's life correctly, we have a fantastic example of what a life dedicated to Christ should look like. If we understand him incorrectly, however, we'll make a huge mess of things. See, we're similar to Paul but we're not the same. Let's start by looking at how he received the gos...

We find Paul marvelling today - and not in a good way. He is marvelling (concerned with) what he is hearing from Galatia. Concerned about the gospel, concerned about a  false one being taught, concerned about the false teachers preaching it, and, worst of all, concerned by the foolish believers who are falling for it... Find out more about us here - crossroadslondon.org

Paul is a man on a mission.  A man sent by Jesus, with a message about Jesus, with a motive to bring God glory. Does that sound anything like us Christians today? It should do... Find out more about us here - crossroadslondon.org

Our Bible is full of twos: two paths, two women, two champions, two kinsman, two types of fruit... We like twos because it makes things very clear to us - one is clearly different to the other, so it is easy for us to tell right from wrong. But life isn't always so black and white. Sometimes a lot of the questions we face seem, well, grey. They don't have a clear right or wrong answer, a...

We already know that charity is a big deal. We may even already know what 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 says. But do we know that there are 9 things we can give away - for free - that will help us love each other better? Pastor Brian Clark teaches us another clear, practical & biblical lesson; a lesson we can put into practice straight away. Find out more about us here - crossroadslondon.org

Colossians 1 finds Paul very thankful & very prayerful. Thankful for the true believers in the church there; prayerful over their continued spiritual growth. See, he can spot a true believer by what they have, and a growing one by what they do. So what does he want them to do? And what do you do? And what will God do with what you do? Find out more about us here - crossroadslondon.org

There is a big difference between hearing about something & knowing about something. Just hearing about something doesn’t change your life, knowing about it can do. Hearing the World Cup is starting doesn't really mean anything until you get your wall chart up & start working out who is playing who & when. Hearing the lyrics to that famous song 'It Is Well' is not the sa...

Christmas lights for inside the house, Christmas lights for outside the house & Christmas lights for on the tree. Christmas soldiers, Christmas polar bears & even Christmas puppies.  Go onto a coffee shop and you’ll find Christmas-themed drinks & food. Clothing-wise, Christmas socks, jumpers & hats are pretty standard for the season - frankly, I am afraid about what the future migh...

This week we studied one of the most remarkable events in world history: the birth of Christ. In terms of significance, this will only ever be matched by two other events - his death & resurrection, and his return. It was remarkable because God became man; the long-awaited Messiah had finally arrived. It was made even more remarkable by the fact God worked through regular, faithful believers t...

The Christmas story is a story that has been told so many times by so many people in so many different ways… Firstly, this means it is not always easy to separate the truth from fable. Secondly, even when we are able to cut through all that to what the Bible actually says, we are at risk of approaching these precious scriptures with an attitude of  “here we go again” - because we think we’ve heard...