Galatians 1:6—“I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel”
One of the great fallacies that has infiltrated and marred the church today is that believers must move on to deeper and bigger things besides the gospel. God’s will is never to move believers from the gospel but His desire is that He would move His church deeper into the gospel.
As we begin the Gospel Revolution, our plea to God is that He would take the believers in our church community on a journey to understand and treasure the gospel like never before. Do we want people to respond to the gospel for the very fist time through the Gospel Revolution? Absolutely! But as I think through the sanctification process for us individually and for us corporately, we must allow God to transform us into a community that is completely grounded in the gospel—unshaken by new trends, selfish desires and false teachings.
It is my belief that growing in the knowledge and love for the gospel will be a life long endeavor; we will never arrive. So not matter how mature, wise or passionate we believe we are, God wants to take us deeper. God wants to take the Christian deeper in the love and knowledge of the gospel.
What will keep us from allowing God to take us deeper in the historical truth and present realities of the Gospel? Pride!
The scripture says that, God opposes the proud but give grace to the humble (James 4:6). As the Gospel Revolution journey begins, let us move forward with the humility that understands that God is not finished in growing us in our understanding of who He is and what He has done for us—in fact, the journey has just begun.
By His grace, let us run from the sin of pride and instead let us run towards the gospel.
By His grace, let us partner with God so that He can move us deeper into the great news of God’s love to save and restore a sinful people to a Himself.
By His Grace & For His Glory,
Gabe Garcia
What is the Gospel?
Is the Gospel only for non-Christians or is it also for the seasoned believer? The goal of the Gospel Revolution teaching series is to assist us in mining the depths of God’s Word while loving and treasuring the Good News of the Gospel like never before. Join the Gospel Revolution and allow God to awaken your passion for Him, the Gospel and what it means for the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ to transform the way we think and live for the glory of God.
Get even more out of the teaching series by joining a BOSS community group and going through the church wide devotional study. All of our junior high, senior high and adult community groups will do the study and the weekend sermons will be based on the study’s lessons. The study guide and 40-Day devotional is designed to assist you in your understanding of the Gospel and ignite a passion to share it with others.
How can you be a part of this church wide study?
Lead or host a group: We want everyone in the church to participate in this study, but will need many more groups to make that happen. What do you need to do? Simply be willing to open your home one night a week for the six weeks of the study, and invite other friendly people from our church and community to join you.
Join an existing small group: We have about 40 community groups at BOSS (including an online group) and this is the perfect opportunity to connect with one in your area. You can register for a group at our web site, www.bossonline.org or fill out contact form at the table you will be contacted by a group leader.
Make it a family Bible study: Make sure you go over the lessons and devotionals with your kids so they are involved in the revolution and can share the Gospel with their friends!
What is the cost of the study? Gospel Revolution devotional study guides are $5 each or 5 books for $20—we encourage you to buy extras and invite friends and family members to go through the study with you! You can purchase your books at the GR table at our weekend services or stop by the church office.
To join a group, go to the Community Groups page here and fill out the contact form and you will be contacted by the group leader. Want one-on-one help to find a group? Send an email to communitygroups@bossonline.org. The Gospel Revolution Devotional Study Guides are are available at our weekend services for only $5 each or 5/$20, or you can stop by the church office. Pick up your book and get connected to a group today!
“Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God”—John 1:12-13
Today’s families are struggling to keep the family unit together. In our self-serving culture, it is no wonder why family members have become so disconnected. People’s personal agendas, selfish desires and minimal commitment have only built up more walls in their homes. These attitudes have even affected the way people choose to connect into the local church. But that’s not how God intended for us to be in relationship with others. It is God’s design for all of us as believers to become a part of God’s Family and to live life, love others and serve together as one body.
In this teaching series, “We are Family”, we will examine what it means to be believers in Christ who have been adopted into one big spiritual family. Through the nine-week series, we will challenge you to live out your spiritual identity as a child of God by taking on a new commitment with responsibilities that come with being a family member. We pray that the Scriptures, messages and this study guide will open opportunities for great blessings and spiritual growth that will come from our commitment to be fully engaged members in the family of God.
Five Big Ideas for This Series:
1. Once we place our faith in Christ and turn from a life of sin, God becomes our Heavenly Father and we are adopted into His family. (John 1:12-13).
2. Throughout the New Testament, God uses the family of God as a metaphor for the local church (Ephesians 3:14, 2 Corinthians 6:18, Matthew 12:49-50, John 3:14-18).
3. As believers, we are ALL called to be active and committed members of the family of God and the local church. Isolation from the family and non-commitment to the family is sin (1 Corinthians 12:12-27).
4. When we commit to our responsibilities within the family of God and the local church, we experience incalculable blessings.
5. When we are faithful to our responsibilities to our church family, not only will we grow spiritually but also our church will become stronger and more effective at reaching people with the gospel message.
SERMON SERIES: GOD WITH US
He was the perfect gift from God…a baby born in a stable who would later die on a wooden cross as part of God’s sovereign plan to bring salvation to the world! What does that mean to you? Perhaps it’s time to unwrap the best gift you will ever receive.
Join us this Christmas season as we examine the life of Jesus in our series, “God With Us“. Through drama, incredible music, and dynamic messages, we will explore how God’s Son was truly a man sent to all mankind to bring hope and love to everyone.
December 4th and 5th: “Jesus Came to Save”
December 11th and 12th: “Jesus Came to Serve”
December 18th and 19th: “Jesus Came to Sympathize”
December 23rd: “Special Christmas Eve Service”
December 26th: “Holiday Celebration Service”
SERMON SERIES: WHEN GOD FEELS DISTANT
Does God feel distant at times? Do you sometimes feel sluggish in your desire to have a growing relationship with God? The Christian journey is often a series of ups and downs. Rather than a lethargic approach towards our Christian walk, we must have a passion to build a growing relationship with God. Join us during this five-week series as we uncover Biblical and practical ways to draw near to God and learn about God’s spectacular promise to draw near to us.
Our theme passage: “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.” —James 4:7-10 (NIV)
WEEKEND REFLECTIONS (Nov. 27th/28th)
“Pray without ceasing…” —1 Thessalonians 5:17
For the believer, prayer is often a natural first reaction that takes over when we feel overwhelmed or stressed by our circumstances. In the face of adversity or crisis, we have no problem turning to God in prayer.
But what about that situation that never seems to change or improve? That prayer that God doesn’t seem to answer? How long are we supposed to pray about our bad financial situation? For our unbelieving spouse? For the child that has drifted away? How long are we supposed to take our petition to God? Does He even hear them? Let’s be honest, what many of us struggle with is the need for persistent prayer.
It’s true that sometimes the answers to prayer seem slow in coming. Still, that should not deter us from taking our requests to God. In his message today, Pastor Sherwood shared a biblical example of why we should “always pray and not give up.”
In Luke 18:1-8, we find the parable of the persistent widow (at the time, widows and orphans were among the most needy and the apostles in the new church insisted that they be cared for). This widow kept coming in front of an uncaring judge insisting that he give her justice and he refused her time after time. Though the judge did not “fear God or care about men” he eventually gave in and granted her request so she wouldn’t “eventually wear him out with her coming.” We don’t know exactly how many times she went before the judge, but we know it was enough times that he finally responded to her out of sheer exhaustion.
So is that what we are supposed to do—spend day after day crying out to God over our situation? The notes in the Life Application Bible explain it like this: “To persist in prayer and not give up does not mean endless repetition or painfully long prayer sessions. Always praying means keeping our requests constantly before God as we live for Him day by day, believing He will answer. When we live by faith, we are not to give up. God may delay answering, but His delays have good reasons. As we persist in prayer, we grow in character, faith and hope.”
Yes. No. Wait.
All three are answers to prayer. We all like the first one, the yes. We love it when God responds positively to our petitions right? Still, there are three answers and while the other two may not be our favorite answers, there is a benefit to them. Pastor Sherwood reminded us in his message that God draws us closer to Him through delay (wait) and denial (no). It may not seem like it, but God IS working. He is working in us and through us and around us while we wait. The key is for us not to wait passively, but to draw closer to Him and grow stronger in our faith and confidence in Him and bend our will toward His.
“Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that He has promised.” —Hebrews 10:36
What “answered” prayer is drawing you closer to God? What are you doing to strengthen your faith while you wait on Him?
WEEKEND REFLECTIONS (Nov. 6th/7th)
Someone once said, “The hardest thing about the Christian life is that it is SO daily.”
Isn’t that the truth? If we claim to be a Christian, a Christ-follower then every day we have to make the decision to follow Jesus’ example when it comes to our relationships. Our speech. Our work. Our commitments. Everything.
In his message, Pastor Gabe Garcia reminded us that every decision, every choice we make is an opportunity to honor God with our obedience or to dishonor Him by choosing to disobey His Word. And it is a choice.
Romans 6:16 says: “Don’t you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living.” (NLT)
In 1 Samuel 15, King Saul is given specific instructions by God to completely destroy the entire Amalekite nation including the animals, but Saul and his men chose to spare the king’s life and keep the best animals. When confronted by the prophet Samuel, Saul tried to justify his disobedience by saying he planned to sacrifice the animals to the Lord. Samuel replied, “Listen! Obedience is better than sacrifice, and submission is better than offering the fat of rams.” God isn’t interested in our excuses or justifications or partial obedience. He wants our total obedience to His Word.
What if the next time you were faced with a difficult choice or situation, you made the intentional decision to honor God with your choice and to be a slave to righteousness, a slave to His right-way of living? What if you made the intentional decision to honor God even if it meant you had to do the hard thing like end that unhealthy relationship? Or walk away from that job or promotion you have been waiting for? Or follow through with that commitment that has now become inconvenient?
The Word says you become the slave of whatever (or whomever) you choose to obey—and it’s a daily choice. Who are you going to obey?
Pastor Gabe said, “You can’t expect to grow closer to God if you don’t obey God.” What is getting in the way of your obedience to God and ultimately a closer relationship with Him? What are you going to do about it?
WEEKEND REFLECTIONS (Oct. 29th/30th)
This weekend we began a new sermon series at BOSS, “When God Feels Distant: Pursuing Him At All Times and At All Costs.” Our theme Scripture is James 4:7-10. Take a look at the passage in the Amplified Bible:
“So be subject to God. Resist the devil [stand firm against him], and he will flee from you. Come close to God and He will come close to you. [Recognize that you are] sinners, get your soiled hands clean; [realize that you have been disloyal] wavering individuals with divided interests, and purify your hearts [of your spiritual adultery]. [As you draw near to God] be deeply penitent and grieve, even weep [over your disloyalty]. Let your laughter be turned to grief and your mirth to dejection and heartfelt shame [for your sins]. Humble yourselves [feeling very insignificant] in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you [He will lift you up and make your lives significant]. “
It’s pretty clear in this passage what God is asking us to do to draw close to Him:
1. Be subject to God
2. Resist the devil
3. Come close to God
4. Get your soiled hands clean
5. Purify your hearts
6. Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord
In his message, Sherwood called James 4:7-10 a “recipe” for drawing close to God when He feels far from us. God doesn’t move or push us away. It’s our sin, our disobedience that causes us to move away from Him. The Amplified passage makes it clear that the responsibility falls on us to come close to Him. (Recognize that you are sinners; realize that you have been disloyal; be deeply penitent and grieve, even weep over your disloyalty; feel very insignificant in His presence, etc.). When we drift away from God and the things of God, He doesn’t give up on us. He waits patiently on us to come back, to come close to Him. He provided the way when He sent Jesus to die for our sins. He’s done His part and is waiting on us to do ours. It’s up to us to accept His terms:
1. Be subject to God
2. Resist the devil
3. Come close to God
4. Get your soiled hands clean
5. Purify your hearts
6. Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord
Easier said than done, right? Maybe at first, but it will get easier as we take the intentional steps to live it out each day. The reward? The reward is great: “…He will exalt you [He will lift you up and make your lives significant].” Are you up to the challenge? What are you going to do to draw closer to God?
Which one of these instructions from God is most challenging to you and why?
