I've heard some say that they thought people in the Old Testament were saved by the Law but in the New Testament it is by faith. But the Apostle Paul corrects that error in the churches in Galatia who had been led to believe they needed to add circumcision to faith to be saved. Paul points out in Galatians 3:6-11 that Abraham, who lived five centuries before the Law, was saved by faith. This is repeated in Romans 4 & 9 and James 2. In the verses that follow he reminds them that the covenant God gave Abraham (cf. Gen. 12) says all nations would be blessed through Abraham's seed (Christ). He goes on to say the "righteous man shall live by faith." We can only do that because of Christ.
Then he tells us "cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree." The tree is a reference to the cross where criminals died. Christ was cursed on a tree. Who cursed Him? God did because Christ took our punishment while we were given His righteousness. We will look at this more this Sunday in the last half of Galatians 3. Join us at 10:30 or on Livestream.
It was a blessing recently to have attended the regional Pastors and Wives Retreat at Cannon Beach. Dr. Greg Bookman spoke on the Life of Christ in a way that blessed us all. You can watch all the sessions at http://sukofamily.org/bnn/.
Ladies of all ages begin a new study in the Attributes of God led by Nancy Suko on Thursday mornings at 9:30.
School is on and things are happening at Discovery with Awana starting, the Ladies morning Bible Study studying back, SALT Groups starting and preparations underway for our Living Nativity. Let's get going and growing in serving our Lord. Our building expansion project start has been moved to spring to avoid the winter rain. See our calendar for more details.