Nicodemus was a man that sought Jesus, but he struggled every step of the way. He couldn’t grasp what it takes to be made right with God, nor could He fathom how Jesus willingly went to His own death, and he cold certainly not understand how Jesus’ apparent defeat was actually the greatest victory of all time. We all feel like Nicodemus sometimes, but the cross of Jesus should encourage us to stand firm in our faith and trust in the mighty victory that He won there, for God’s glory and for our eternal peace and joy.

What’s stopping you from being what God called you to be? What are you waiting for, before you commit yourself to the service of God in obedience to His word and by faith in His power? There is only one thing we need to wait for, One person. The Holy Spirit. When we have believed the Gospel and received forgiveness and reconciliation with God we receive the Holy Spirit of God, but we if we want to be witnesses (as we’re instructed to be) we need His power. We should not let anything else delay us, nothing else should stop us from obeying Jesus’ Word to repent and be baptised, and become witness for Him and His powerful Gospel.

Who do we live for? What motivates us when we get up in the morning? When we believe in Jesus Christ, we surrender our rebellion against God, admit that we have angered Him and trust that He has forgiven us by allowing Jesus to take our punishment. We can not let it end there. If we believe that Christ died for us, and that He now lives in us, we must live for Him, and no longer for ourselves and our own selfish desires. God has designed us for a purpose and He saves us in order to enable us to live for Him and for His glory.

Modern culture is obsessed with virtue-signalling, also know as self-righteousness. It’s deemed to be good, but it’s a man-made religion. All man made religions teach the same thing, they teach that we need to obey some supreme being in order to get their favour. Jesus teaches that the only way to be made right with God is by faith alone, in Christ alone, by His grace alone. When we trust in our own abilities to be “good enough” to please God, we sin against Him. In the closing stages of the 2nd chapter of Galatians, Paul reveals the shocking truth about self-righteousness.

Antioch was the epitome of the Gospel. Jews and Gentiles sharing meals together - meals formerly unclean, made clean by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Antioch was the leading pillar of Christianity, even sending Jewish believers out to preach to Gentiles. Peter fully embraces this culture and no doubt enjoyed it. But when the legalisers arrive from Jerusalem, he crumbles under the pressure of the law and undoes all the hard work done to get Antioch to where it was. Paul calls him out on it and we can learn from this incredible, unusual encounter!

The Church is constantly under attack and at risk of being distracted or pulled apart. The Gospel of Jesus Christ has the power to set us free and enable us to serve God with all our heart soul mind and strength together. The unity of the Church does not require uniformity, but it does require a universal commitment to the universal and objective teaching of the Scriptures. We are to be grateful to the Lord Jesus Christ for sending and empowering people like Paul to preserve the teachings of Jesus and keeping the Church unified in our mission.

The last verses of the first chapter of Galatians conclude in three powerful points. Paul didn’t get the Gospel from the 12 disciples of Jesus or from Jesus brothers. The Gospel He got directly from Jesus was exactly the same as theirs. This Gospel turned his life around, The power and purity of the Gospel astounded the Church and glorified God. We get the Gospel from the 12, from Jesus brothers and from Paul in the writing of the New Testament. If the Gospel we have doesn’t turn our lives around, then either it’s not the true Gospel, or we haven’t truly trusted it.

Paul shows us how God called and equipped him with a purpose. We can learn from this to recognise when God is calling us, and also how to respond to the call. God not only saves us this way, but also send us out with His purpose, and our lives are suddenly filled with meaning, value and purpose. We do not want to miss out on this call, are you responding to God’s call on your life?

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.