Calvary Monterey Podcast

Title: Agape Night 03Speaker: Nate HoldridgeText: John 14

Title: Easter Sunday 2023—Dead & AliveSpeaker: Nate HoldridgeText: Romans 6:8-11Links:Life Group Discussion QuestionsSermon Notes

Title: The Gospel Starts A War WithinSpeaker: Nate HoldridgeText: Galatians 5:16-18Galatians Theme: Galatians describes a life that is free. It is a life in flight. If we cling to the true gospel, if we accept it for what it is, we can fly. But Paul wrote Galatians because the Galatian believers—and all future believers—were in danger. If we adulterate the gospel, if we add to it in any way, we will not fly. Like a bird chained in a birdcage, we will (at best) hinder ourselves from flying into God's ideal for our lives or (at worst) hinder ourselves and others from true salvation.Overview: In the Old Testament, Samson was uniquely empowered by God's Spirit. Set apart by God from his birth, he became a heroic deliverer of God's people. But for as strong the Spirit was in Samson's life, he always battled with the desires of the flesh. It all culminated for him in a relationship with a forbidden woman named Delilah. She enticed him day after day in an attempt to find the secret of his strength, all with the intention of reporting it directly to Israel's enemies. For a while, Samson danced around the truth. But one day, he caved, told her the secret to his strength, gave himself completely to her, and was captured.Links:Sermon NotesDiscussion Questions

Title: Run In Gospel GraceSpeaker: Nate HoldridgeText: Galatians 5:7-15Galatians Theme: Galatians describes a life that is free. It is a life in flight. If we cling to the true gospel, if we accept it for what it is, we can fly. But Paul wrote Galatians because the Galatian believers—and all future believers—were in danger. If we adulterate the gospel, if we add to it in any way, we will not fly. Like a bird chained in a birdcage, we will (at best) hinder ourselves from flying into God's ideal for our lives or (at worst) hinder ourselves and others from true salvation.Overview: Paul was confident that God would help these Galatians run again in grace. He said, "I have confidence in the Lord that you will take no other view" (10). He believed God would work on their behalf and get them back on course, running the race of grace. He had the same attitude towards them that he had about the Philippians:Links:Sermon NotesDiscussion Questions

Title: Enjoy Gospel Freedom Speaker: Nate HoldridgeText: Galatians 5:1-6Galatians Theme: Galatians describes a life that is free. It is a life in flight. If we cling to the true gospel, if we accept it for what it is, we can fly. But Paul wrote Galatians because the Galatian believers—and all future believers—were in danger. If we adulterate the gospel, if we add to it in any way, we will not fly. Like a bird chained in a birdcage, we will (at best) hinder ourselves from flying into God's ideal for our lives or (at worst) hinder ourselves and others from true salvation.Overview: It is important to note what Paul is doing in this paragraph and the coming section in Galatians because many misunderstand. When they read Galatians 5-6, they think Paul is providing needed balance to the radical gospel of grace, as if he finally noticed that he went a little too far and now needs to reign in God's people. But that is not at all what Paul will do here. He is not providing a balance to grace but perspective and clarity on what grace produces in a person's life.Links:Sermon NotesDiscussion Questions

Title: The Great CommissionSpeaker: Phil MetzgerText: Matthew 28Links:Life Group Discussion Questions

Title: Agape Night 02 — True SatisfactionSpeaker: Nate HoldridgeText: John 14:1-14

Title: Reject Anti-GospelsSpeaker: Nate HoldridgeText: Galatians 4:21-31Galatians Theme: Galatians describes a life that is free. It is a life in flight. If we cling to the true gospel, if we accept it for what it is, we can fly. But Paul wrote Galatians because the Galatian believers—and all future believers—were in danger. If we adulterate the gospel, if we add to it in any way, we will not fly. Like a bird chained in a birdcage, we will (at best) hinder ourselves from flying into God's ideal for our lives or (at worst) hinder ourselves and others from true salvation.Overview: By God's grace, we have been brought from barrenness to fruitfulness, slavery to freedom, and law to grace. We now have an eternal and heavenly citizenship. One day, our city will arrive.And it has all happened through the work of Christ. Just as Abraham's plotting and planning could not fulfill God's purposes, our efforts and attempts cannot gain our good standing before God. We needed his plan and power. And just as Sarah received a miracle child in Isaac, so we are born to God through the miracle of Christ's resurrection and the new birth of the Spirit. So when the anti-gospels roll in, let us stand firm against them!Links:Sermon NotesDiscussion Questions

Title: Jesus' Description Is His PrescriptionSpeaker: Nate HoldridgeText: Revelation 2-3Links:Life Group Discussion Questions

Title: Stay Firm In The GospelSpeaker: Nate HoldridgeText: Galatians 4:8-20Galatians Theme: Galatians describes a life that is free. It is a life in flight. If we cling to the true gospel, if we accept it for what it is, we can fly. But Paul wrote Galatians because the Galatian believers—and all future believers—were in danger. If we adulterate the gospel, if we add to it in any way, we will not fly. Like a bird chained in a birdcage, we will (at best) hinder ourselves from flying into God's ideal for our lives or (at worst) hinder ourselves and others from true salvation.Overview: We are still in the middle of Paul's theological case to the Galatian church. After he had gone to them with the full, true, and simple gospel, they had begun to drift from it. False teachers had arrived in their midst, telling them they needed to attach the practices of Judaism to their new faith in Christ. Soon, these brand-new Gentile Christians were acting out Old Testament practices in an attempt to become fully accepted in God's sight.All this was abhorrent to Paul—he referred to it as a gospel contrary to the one they had received, a distorted gospel, a different gospel, one worthy of a curse on all who proclaim it (Galatians 1:6-9). Since the argument of the false teachers was that Paul did not know the true gospel, the first portion of the letter had to do with how widely Paul and his gospel were accepted in the early church—Paul's personal case for the gospel (Galatians 1-2). And since the argument of the false teachers was that Paul's gospel would produce a wild and sinful people who thought grace allowed them to follow their sinful impulses, the last portion of Paul's letter will cover the radical changes the gospel is meant to produce in us (Galatians 5-6). But the middle section of the letter is Paul's theological argument. The false teachers thought they had Scripture on their side, but they had wrongly divided the word, so Paul broke down the Old Testament in a demonstration that the simple gospel of grace and faith in Christ, not works and law, has always been God's plan.But Paul is not a dry theologian. Today, amid his scriptural teaching, Paul made a loving appeal. This section is one of the most intimate in Galatians. He referred to the false teachers, but only twice. But he used personal words like I, me, and you forty-five times. With a bleeding heart, Paul begged the Galatians to stay firm in the gospel of grace. And, as he expressed his heart to them, it was the Spirit expressing his heart for all of us. This passage, in other words, shows us God's desire for us to stay firm in the gospel of grace. And, as I hope to show, he longs for us to stay simple in our relationship with him, free in Christ, and focused on Christ being formed in us.Links:Sermon Notes