Last week, we saw Paul speaking to the Galatians about the teaching of the false Gospel and how he wished curses on those who spread and practice the false Gospel. As part of the accusations against Paul, the Judaisers accuse Paul of preaching a Gospel that is pleasing to man. You can understand their contempt because they lived their lives legalistically, trying to earn God’s favour through rigorous rituals and traditions. But they missed the point entirely. The Gospel indeed is a Gospel of grace and there is nothing we can or need to do to earn salvation - apart from acknowledging our sins and our need for a saviour. Paul addresses these accusations by sharing his personal conversion circumstance and how those point to a God-revealed Gospel of grace.

Have you realised that most of what we pursue with all our energy is empty and worthless? Are you tired of that? Jesus, the Son of God, God in the flesh, gave His life to pay the price of our sin and set us free from the power and consequences of our sin. By His grace and by faith in Him, we can have freedom to love and obey God, instead of being enslaved to our own dark and worthless desires. This freedom is the Gospel of Jesus, it’s more powerful than we can imagine and we need to hold tightly to it, because it’s more despised, rejected and opposed than we realise.

When Jesus was born in Bethlehem 2000 years ago, most people wanted a Messiah and knew that God had promised to send Him, but very few insiders were actually ready when He arrived. Anna was ready and waiting for Jesus. How many of us, even those who know that Jesus is returning, are ready for Him?

The year is done and the milestone of another year is here. What do you expect from the year to come, what are your fears and aspirations? What if this is the year of Christ’s return, will we be ready? Is there anything more important than being ready for His return? Simeon shows us how ordering our priorities will make us ready for Christ’s return, he also shows us God’s faithful loving nature and that all our efforts to be ready will be worth it, and will be richly rewarded.

The Insiders series has shown us that being ready for Jesus’ return is knowing Him, having a growing daily relationship with God and the Lord Jesus Christ. Joseph, Jesus’ step father, can inspire us and help us to cultivate that relationship by learning to listen to, trust and obey the Word of God. This takes time, and can only happen by the power of the Holy Spirit, but it’s meant for every one of us.

Throughout the Bible, when we see people being chosen by God for big tasks, we see them hide away and come up with outlandish excuses as to why they cannot do what God calls them to do. Think of Moses and the burning bush, with Moses telling God he has a speech impediment and so cannot do what God calls him to do. Or Saul hiding in the supplies on the day of his anointing. Or Gideon hiding in the threshing floor. The list goes on. When Mary is given the largest task known to man, her response shows something that we have not seen in the Bible until now - an incredible heart. Today we will look at aspects of Mary’s life and learn what about her makes her an insider - someone we can learn from by their interactions and relationship with God.

When Jesus came to walk this earth, most people weren’t ready. Despite all the prophecies that He fulfilled, most rejected Him. Why did Zechariah get to be an insider, someone who was made aware of, and ready for, the arrival and mission of Jesus Christ 2000 years ago? What can we learn from him so that we are ready for Jesus return? Zechariah had knowledge and obedience. He did the right things, but something was missing. God helped provide what was missing, by His grace. We can follow Zechariah’s example, but we too must learn to trust in God’s grace, or we won’t be ready for Christ’s return.

Christmas isn’t just history, it’s not just looking back. Jesus teaches us to look forward to His return and to be ready for Him. The Insiders Christmas series looks at His teaching and at examples of people who were ready for His birth 2000 years ago. By looking at them, we can learn lessons about being ready for the fulfilment of God’s promises through His prophets and most importantly through His own Son. Jesus is coming back, will we we ready like the Insiders, or will we be left outside because we weren’t prepared?

Baptism is an act of Worship in obedience to the commandment of our Lord Jesus Christ. It declares what He has done for us in His life, death and Resurrection. The Scripture repeatedly tells us to repent and believe the Gospel, assuring us that through faith in Christ we are saved by God’s grace. Baptism not only declares this but visually reminds us of the power of Jesus Christ over sin and death.

Baptism is a source of debate, disagreement and sadly division within Christ’s Church. Much of this uncertainty stems from a failure to understand the power and purpose of the Gospel. What do you think about when you think about baptism? The first response if often the thought of being washed clean - but does baptism in water wash away our sins? If it does then do we need to be baptised to be forgiven? Comparing baptism and the Gospel in action in the life of a Roman soldier called Cornelius helps us to understand the purpose and power of each, clears confusion and motivates us to Glorify God by being baptised.

The Church is built on Jesus by Jesus. The Church is not a building, it’s the Family of God. Family Church is here to Love God, love others, Worship God alone in Spirit and in Truth, and Honour & Obey God’s Holy Scriptures. We do this by practising Scripture, Prayer, Worship and Serving, every day, everywhere we are.

Not all Scripture seems inspiring at fist glance, but all Scripture is inspired by God. It is His Word breathed out to all of us. The ending to Ephesians talks about someone called Tychicus. Who is he, and why should we care? Tychicus has so much to teach us and is sent to encourage us, we just need to ask our Heavenly Father to reveal His awesome Word to us. Tychicus teaches us that we should stop worrying what the world thinks about us, and worry about what Jesus knows about us. If you’re tired of searching for approval, or of proving yourself, listen to the story of Tychicus.

The final instruction on putting on the whole armour of God is to keep praying “in the Spirit”. What is “praying in the Spirit”? The armour is God’s armour, and it protects us because it’s God’s power. Prayer is how we “put on” God’s power to protect us from the enemy. All the armour is put on with prayer, and so it’s important to be reminded what true and powerful prayer really is, and how we should be praying.

So far, each part of the armour of God protects a certain part of our bodies, each with their own spiritual applications. Today, we take a look at the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, which like the shield and the helmet are to be taken up by us. The sword of the spirit protects us from the whole onslaught of the enemy, and when wielded correctly, we are able to parry his blows and push him back. Today we will look at the spiritual as well as practical applications of the sword of the Spirit and how we can weild it in our own lives, so that we can have an impact on this spiritual war we are engaged in.

The Shield, Helmet and Sword are to be “taken up”. We’ve seen how faith in action protects us from harm and ensures that we do the work of God, now we see how trusting in God’s ultimate salvation must be lived out to effectively protect our minds in the heat of spiritual conflict.

The first three pieces of armour are to be in place all the time, the second three need to be “taken up” and used as the specific attacks of the enemy occur. They are necessary in addition to the first three. They prevent the attack from reaching to the level protected by the first three. The shield of faith is not only what we believe, but what we do abut our belief. When we don’t act on our faith, we get more deeply impacted by the evil one’s attacks. Standing firm in our faith and continuing our work, guards us and keeps us from harm!

We are at war whether we like it or not. When we are going through any form of conflict, our natural desire is to have to end so that we can experience peace. In today’s message, we learn that we need to take peace with us into the battle in order to win it. Like most of God’s wisdom, it is counter-cultural but profoundly accurate. When we seek peace before the battle, we are assured of victory. To prepare us for this peace, Paul tells us that we must put on the sandals of peace. In the ancient Meditteraen, the war sandals were a major advancement in modern warfare. They were studded with spikes to give them stability in battle. Yet they were light, allowing great mobility for the army. Let’s take a look at the spiritual implications of these two attributes of the sandals.

God has given us armoured spiritual protection from the attacks of the enemy, we’ve learned that we wear these through reading, trusting and praying through the Word of God. Having looked at the attack against who God is, and the belt of truth, we turn to the Breatplate of Righteousness, and the attack on who we are in God’s eyes. Job is given to us as an example of how to fight under the protection of God’s Righteousness through Jesus Christ our King.