The True Place for Good Works

Galatians 0

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We are complete in Christ, but how do we become in daily life what we already are by the grace of God in his sight? It’s only by working with God. Works follow salvation, but don’t produce it, and this is a work of grace in which we must be diligent. Grace is not opposed to effort, but it’s only opposed to earning.

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Faithfulness through Love

The faithfulness of Christ is a recurring theme of this letter. A most necessary antidote to the formalistic tendencies of the Galatian Christians. It's nowhere more impressively shown than through the cross, the ultimate expression of his faithful love for us. Indeed, Christ’s own faithful working to God’s plan is the contrast made in this letter with the hopeless error of those who were relying on their own works to make themselves acceptable to God.

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Jerusalem Above

Sections of the Bible – Galatians 4, Hebrews 12 etc. - all seem to be connected and to offer us an explanation for the basis of Christian worship in the Church Age, this present Day of Grace

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The Formation of Christ

In the Roman custom of adoption, the new father bought the son he wished to adopt. There was a commercial basis for the legal transaction of adoption – one which bought out all the debts and obligations of his or her old life – and the adoptee was in reality a new person with a new identity and a new life in the eyes of the law and society then. That’s the background to understanding what’s happened to the believer on the Lord Jesus.

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The Faithfulness of Christ

In chapters 3 and 4 of Galatians, we read about God giving his promise to Abraham; then giving his Law through Moses; and then giving His son, Jesus; and finally, he gave his Holy Spirit to reside in all New Testament believers in Christ. This is the orderly, planned giving of a truly great Giver!

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It all points to Faith Alone

Successively, in the third chapter of Galatians, we explore with Paul 1) the necessity of faith; 2) the futility of our own fallen flesh; and 3) the freedom that’s alone found in Christ. Beginning with God’s restart with Abraham, and leading on through the time of the Law given through Moses, Paul shows the final and fullest revelation of God is in Christ. The Bible is consistent, but its revelation is progressive.

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Trouble Back at Base

Tells of the impact of the first mission from Antioch. Lots of Gentiles reached. Mixed reactions. Political and ethical concerns raised by 'the old country.' Leads to the landmark Jerusalem Council of Acts 15. This sets the benchmark for the orthodox Gospel - to which later Reformers would return.

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An Historic Handshake

Moving into the second chapter, we relive the historic struggle to maintain the purity of the Gospel and the harmony of early Christianity. The first test was the result of the expanding Gospel mission among Gentiles. Would initial agreements hold?

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The Pure Gospel

This talk presents the 'unique selling point' of Christianity. About how the Gospel is not 'Do' but 'Done!' It explains how to add to the Gospel is, in fact, to subtract from it. The Gospel of God's grace is free, but not cheap. Listen to find out how.

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The Grandmother who helped a curse become a blessing

Brian Johnston highlights the good, the bad, and the ugly of 8 family relationships from the Bible which both young and old can learn from today! CHAPTER ONE: THE GRANDFATHER WHO COULDN'T LET GO OF HIS BITTERNESS CHAPTER TWO: A GRANDSON WHO WOULD SEE THE REVERSAL OF HIS GRANDFATHER'S DISAPPOINTMENT CHAPTER THREE: THE GRANDFATHER WHO WOULD HAVE BEEN SO DISAPPOINTED CHAPTER FOUR: THE GRANDSON WHO WASN'T JUDGED BECAUSE OF WHO HIS GRANDFATHER WAS CHAPTER FIVE: HOW A FOREIGNER BECAME A (GREAT) GRANDMOTHER TO KING DAVID CHAPTER SIX: A GRANDSON WHO PROVED A WORTHY SUCCESSOR TO HIS GRANDFATHER CHAPTER SEVEN: THE GRANDMOTHER WHO TEAMED UP TO RAISE A MAN OF GOD CHAPTER EIGHT: THE GRANDMOTHER WHO HELPED A CURSE BECOME A BLESSING

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The grandmother who teamed up to raise a man of God

Brian Johnston highlights the good, the bad, and the ugly of 8 family relationships from the Bible which both young and old can learn from today! CHAPTER ONE: THE GRANDFATHER WHO COULDN'T LET GO OF HIS BITTERNESS CHAPTER TWO: A GRANDSON WHO WOULD SEE THE REVERSAL OF HIS GRANDFATHER'S DISAPPOINTMENT CHAPTER THREE: THE GRANDFATHER WHO WOULD HAVE BEEN SO DISAPPOINTED CHAPTER FOUR: THE GRANDSON WHO WASN'T JUDGED BECAUSE OF WHO HIS GRANDFATHER WAS CHAPTER FIVE: HOW A FOREIGNER BECAME A (GREAT) GRANDMOTHER TO KING DAVID CHAPTER SIX: A GRANDSON WHO PROVED A WORTHY SUCCESSOR TO HIS GRANDFATHER CHAPTER SEVEN: THE GRANDMOTHER WHO TEAMED UP TO RAISE A MAN OF GOD CHAPTER EIGHT: THE GRANDMOTHER WHO HELPED A CURSE BECOME A BLESSING

Listen

Faithfulness through Love

The faithfulness of Christ is a recurring theme of this letter. A most necessary antidote to the formalistic tendencies of the Galatian Christians. It's nowhere more impressively shown than through the cross, the ultimate expression of his faithful love for us. Indeed, Christ’s own faithful working to God’s plan is the contrast made in this letter with the hopeless error of those who were relying on their own works to make themselves acceptable to God.

Listen

How Christianity makes sense of suffering

Everybody experiences suffering. No matter what you believe about the world, you have to be able to account for that fact. Maybe you are an atheist and believe that there is no meaning in suffering - things happen and whether they are good or bad is a matter of opinion. But most people live as though there are absolute rights and wrongs and therefore need to give a reason for why bad things happen to good people. Brian explain just how Christianity uniquely explains the seeming injustice of bad things happening to good people.

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The hope of the Hebrews letter

God uses the analogy of a garden to illustrate that He doesn’t want Christians to be isolated after they’ve been born again. Like a gardener, He wants to gather and plant them together in an organised garden setting. Likewise, God is a builder that brings individual stones together to form His house according to His own design. In this series, Brian Johnston traces the development of God’s House in the Bible and how it can still function today. This is ideal for those searching for church development, Christian discipleship, Bible history, early church, first century church and the teaching of the apostle Paul.

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Isaiah

A pastor once said: ‘When I was a schoolboy, we would occasionally see a turtle on a fence post and, when we did, we knew someone had put him there. He didn't get there by himself!’ These talks introduce us to a number of Old Testament Bible ‘fencepost turtles’ – people whose position in life was given to them by God to work out His divine purposes – and also brings some practical lessons and challenges from these examples for Christians today. Jewish Old Testament characters include: Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Gideon, David, Esther, Daniel, Isaiah and Zerubbabel.

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Out of this world

The letter to the Hebrews is surely the greatest teaching letter in the Bible. It describes the Christian's hope in worship. This is quite distinct from the hope of the Gospel and of our Lord's return. It comprises a spiritual experience which is available now. We have not understood corporate worship until we discover this 'out of this world' worship invitation!