RoboPreacher

i feel a change in me A Sermon from Galatians : “For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery.” Easier said than done there, Paul… For as strange of a correspondence as this letter to the Galatians is, today it manages to get even stranger. It goes to eleven , as it were. “For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters, only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence.” Pardon me? Do not use my freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence? Than what, pray tell, shall we use our freedom for, Paul? This freedom Paul speaks of, if it even is a freedom, is most certainly one that is not apparent to us. We all know that freedom is for our self. If you want to indulge yourself, fine. Freedom is to be sued to pursue our desires. The only time we’ve ever thought of not using this freedom, is when one’s freedom threatens to impinge upon another’s. Otherwise, we all know that

watch me unravel, i'll soon be naked A sermon from Galatians 3 : The moment is as precious , as it is fleeting. It takes everything we have to keep the moment from slipping through our fingers.  And the moment , the present, is all we have!  The past is just that, and the future is never guaranteed. Therefore, we must learn to savor the now , the present. At least, so goes the conventional wisdom. After all, consider the alternatives… To lose the moment, the now, can only mean one thing for us, Death. Capital “D,” Death. The end of it all. This letter of Paul’s that we just read from, then. You know, the one you were daydreaming during the reading of; it ought to terrify you. No doubt it sent a shiver down the spine of the Galatians. As Paul went through everything the Galatians had counted on, only to shout “no longer.” What the Galatians had , Paul looked at in the light of the cross. And in light of that , declared all of it was now gone . 

there's a cross & in the center there's a hot soft light A sermon from Galatians : As a young seminary graduate, staring down the very real possibility of, against all odds , being trusted with the mantel of pastor; I received what I have come to realize as the worst possible advice .  “Just be yourself,” was the suggestion. Just be myself??? I am sure I am not the only one to have received , and attempted to follow , such flimsy advice.  Just be yourself… Earnest fool that I was, though, I took that advice to heart. When I was confronted with one trial or another, I tired to thy own self be true… Only, things didn’t get better… In fact, more than a time or two, things actually got worse ! Let’s just say it took me longer than I’d like to admit to realize that was why; the advice! Being myself wasn’t making things any better. Honestly, ‘being myself’ was part and parcel to the problem! So much for that “advice.” This common adv

i guess do whatever moves you Only God could have done something like that .  And Paul isn’t talking about miracles. Although what he’s talking about is a miracle; in a way… No, Paul is talking about The Gospel. Only God could have decided to call the un godly. That’s what “the Gospel” is, God’s decision to be God for those who have turned from God. After all, who would ever decide to overcome godlessness, by being a God for exactly those who have turned from God ? Only God could have done something like that . Something like that , could only be a revelation from God… …Only God could have done something like that. And Paul isn’t talking about miracles. Although what he’s talking about is a miracle… No, Paul is talking about his own call .  Only God could have done something like call someone like him , to be an apostle. After all, who would ever thinking of calling a persecutor of the church, to be its advocate? Only God could have done so