SUNDAY LITURGY & NOTES
Our lives are full of rhythms. These rhythms form and shape us. It is important each we that we learn and grow in the rhythms of grace. At Mosaic we our rhythms of grace are formed by the story of the Gospel. Our rhythm of this week is below:
RHYTHMS OF GRACE: May 17, 2026
ADORE—Psalm 133
God So Loved
In the Shadow of the Glorious Cross
ADMIT—Acts 15.8-10
GREETING
PRAYER
MESSAGE
Firm Foundation
ASSURE—Ephesians 2.13-15
COMMUNION—Acts 15.8-11
Living Hope
ACTIVATE—1 John 3.16-18
LITURGICAL READINGS
ADORE: Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity! It is like the precious oil on the head, running down on the beard, on the beard of Aaron, running down on the collar of his robes! It is like the dew of Hermon, which falls on the mountains of Zion! For there the LORD has commanded the blessing, life forevermore.—Psalm 133
ADMIT: And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us, and he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith. Now, therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear?—Acts 15.8-10
ASSURE: But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two.—Ephesians 2.13-15
ACTIVATE:By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.—1 John 3.16-18
MESSAGE MANUSCRIPT:
TITLE: OPPOSITION TO FREEDOM—Galatians 2.1-10
INTRO: DEFAULT TO TRUST CONCEPT
In his 2019 book Talking to Strangers, the author Malcolm Gladwell discusses the concept of what he calls “default to truth.” In chapter 3 he tells us the story of the most successful spy in American history. The spy did not work for us, but for Cuba. She became a high ranking official and was a spy for 17 years (1985-2001). Ana Montes was respected, decorated, and trusted as our top expert on Cuba. Of course people had suspicions about her throughout her tenure, but people would also “default to truth.” It was until definitive evidence was presented from a different Cuban investigation that she was found out.
Many consider America one of the most free countries in human history. In one of the most famous songs about our country there is a line that says, “home of the free and land of the brave.” If America is considered a nation of freedom, then how much more is the Christian free? And as there will be those who seek to infiltrate America how much more will there be those who seek to infiltrate the church? Well that is what Paul is addressing today. Paul is talking about the opposition we face when it comes to our Gospel freedom.
BIG IDEA: GOSPEL FREEDOM ALWAYS ATTRACTS HIDDEN OPPOSITION
BIBLE INTRO: Galatians is one of Paul’s most influential letters. Some Christians have called it “Mini-Romans”. It has much of the same content as Romans, but it is much shorter and much more raw than Romans. One of the reasons it is so raw is Paul is so upset about what is happening to the churches he started in Galatia. Typically Paul will use the formal structure of a letter during his time, but in this letter he does not. Christians who have pointed out this literary feature have said it is because he is so concerned and upset. There is a group of “very religious” people who have infiltrated the Galatian churches and are confusing them about the Gospel. To confuse the Gospel is to confuse people about salvation, what it means to flourish as a human, and most importantly, about the very nature of God. There is now a culture of confusion, suspicion, accusations, fear, and distrust among the Galatians.
Last week Paul began addressing some of the underlying suspicions and accusations. He continues doing that today. This section breaks up into two parts: [1] Opposing Freedom (Gal 2.1-5) and [2] Accepting Freedom (Gal 2.6-10). So, let’s first explore how these infiltrators who are opposing freedom.
1. OPPOSING FREEDOM—GALATIANS 2.1-5
Paul opens this section by continuing his personal stories. He says that fourteen years later he took a trip to Jerusalem, and he tells us why—READ Gal 2.1-2. Some people were accusing Paul of twisting the Gospel. They said he was teaching a Gospel that contradicted the Gospel the apostles in Jerusalem were teaching. Paul is confident he has nothing to hide, so he heads to Jerusalem to face his accusers head on. He takes Titus with him as evidence and to apply pressure to the situation. Titus is a gentile Christian who had not been circumcised—READ Gal 2.3.
And now Paul gets to the heart of the matter—READ Gal 2.4-5. There are “false brothers” infiltrating the church. And what are they doing? They are spying on our freedom, trying to take us back to slavery, and ruin the Gospel. Notice how Paul says they are doing this “secretly.” This is how most try to ruin the Gospel and its advancement. It is subtle, hidden, underneath the surface. When it is blatant it is obvious and easy to spot. These spies knew the pain points of these young Christians and were trying to exploit them. How are they doing this? They are trying to get these gentile Christians to act like Jews. They are saying in order to become a true follower of Christ you need to not just adopt Christ as your Savior, the love of your life, but you need to become like him ethnically.
Early in the modern Christian missionary movement, many of the European Christians didn’t just try to convert people to Christ but also try to “civilize” them. This meant they tried to get them to dress, eat, and live like Europeans. While the Gospel frees us from an allegiance to our ethnic identity that does not mean we need to abandon it to “truly” convert. You can be an American, German, Chinese, Peruvian, and whatever else kind of ethnicity and a Christian. The Gospel comes into anyone’s life, culture, country, etc. and it affirms, confronts, and redeems various aspects of our cultures.
In whatever culture you become a Christian in you want to be mindful that there are various aspects of your culture that are good, bad, redeemable, and irredeemable. When we attempt to impose our culture on people as a means to become truly holy, enlightened, or righteous then we return them to slavery and ruin the Gospel. If Christian missionaries can do this, if it was happening in churches the apostle Paul started, if it is subtle and hidden then what hope do we have?
2. ACCEPTING FREEDOM—GALATIANS 2.6-10
If we are going to know what we need to preserve then we need to know what we are looking for. Paul expresses the Gospel here but you could miss it if you don’t know what you are looking for—READ Gal 2.6. Did you catch it? The first time I read it this week I certainly did, so here it is. We can find it in two key phrases, “God shows no partiality” and “added nothing to me.” Let’s look at these two phrases. The phrase “God shows no partiality” can be found in other places in the NT, but has its roots in Deuteronomy 10. The book of Deuteronomy is a series of sermons Moses gave to the generation of Israelites that were about to enter the Promised Land. Listen to what he says:
Behold, to the LORD your God belong heaven and the heaven of heavens, the earth with all that is in it. Yet the LORD set his heart in love on your fathers and chose their offspring after them, you above all peoples, as you are this day. Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no longer stubborn. For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who is not partial and takes no bribe. He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing. —Deuteronomy 10.14-18
Moses declares God is the God of everybody, everywhere, and everything. This same God has chosen little old Israel above all the other nations in existence. They are special, near and dear to Him. And what makes them special? NOTHING. God has “set his heart in love” on them. What the Gospel reveals to us is we are ACCEPTED not because we have some cultural value, moral purity, self-discipline, or anything else that makes God look down and say, “Wow! I’m really digging that person or those people.” No, God accepts us because He chose us. And how did He do that? By revealing the glory of His Son to us. In fact the phrase “God shows no partiality” means God turns His face toward this group for no special reason. God turns His face toward us because He turned His face away from His Son at the Cross. God removed His favor and gave Jesus His condemnation instead at the Cross. When we love and treasure Jesus for what He suffered and endured for us we get God’s acceptance. This is why Paul can say that his opponents added “nothing” to him. Paul had all the acceptance he needed in Christ.
The acceptance doesn’t stop there—READ Gal 2.7-9. When the Jerusalem apostles listen to Paul explain the Gospel and his actions they actually affirm him. In fact they can see that Paul has a unique ministry/calling different from their own. When I stop and reflect on this I am SO thankful for how God used Paul to fight for this. It is the very reason why people like you and me can be a part of the church, be Christians, and so much more.
Grace is like adoption. A child does not enter the family because they have the right background, the right record, or the right achievements. They enter because love has chosen to give them their name. And once the father gives the name, nobody else gets to decide whether they belong. That is Paul’s point. The Jerusalem leaders did not make Paul acceptable. They do not determine if the Galatians are acceptable. They perceived the grace God had already given. Because God shows no partiality, the only thing that qualifies sinners before God is His grace in Christ, not our works.
When you are in Christ you have been given a new name, a new identity. I wrote down some statements this week that communicate the difference between how Paul and other apostles see acceptance vs how the false brothers see acceptance:
You changed your behavior so now you are accepted
You are accepted so now so you can change your behavior
You can be accepted by moral purity
You can be more morally pure out of acceptance
These are MASSIVELY different statements.
Finally, let’s briefly deal with this strange final verse—READ Gal 2.10. Why a statement about loving the poor? Well, first it is ALL throughout the Bible, but second it is one of the most practical ways to demonstrate Gospel acceptance. When we seek to love and care for the poor we are remembering the Gospel. The truly poor bring nothing, but are fully accepted out of love and given grace. Go back and read Deuteronomy 10 this week and see God’s encouragement to love the poor. Dam will teach a lot more of this next week.
