The worship service started off with the reading of Scripture from the Book of Genesis 35:1-5 by the Worship Team leader, followed by the Praise & Worship service. Upa H Zabiak dedicated the offertory. Then Pastor Dr Suankhanhau Gualnam led the congregants into the Mass Prayer, urging them to keep praying to God regarding Manipur, that even though it may seem as though things are not in our favor right now, God is on our side, we just have to keep our faith.
The next session comprised of a series of announcements regarding the upcoming (3) weddings and the Women’s Camp to be held in the Church. Then Nu Mangouching gave a short report on the 43rd Dorca Convention held in the year 2024 back in Lamka.
This Sunday was a Sunday school class, presided over by Pastor Hau. The teachings were taken from lessons 19 and 20 from the Hilhchianbu and were based off of Galatians 5:1-12. Pastor Hau broke down the lessons into four main points.
- Galatians 5:1 :- The fact is that Jesus has made us free. We don’t make ourselves free. Freedom is a gift of Jesus, given to us and received by faith. If we live in bondage to a legal relationship with God, it isn’t because God wills it. God pleads with us to take His strength and walk in that freedom, and to not be entangled again with a yolk of bondage.
Today, people live in the headlong pursuit of “freedom,” which they think of as doing whatever they want to do, and never denying any desire. This is also a kind of liberty, albeit a false one; it is not the liberty that the Bible mentions here. The liberty is our freedom from the tyranny of having to earn our own way to God, the freedom from sin and guilt and condemnation, freedom from the penalty and the power, and eventually freedom from sin. Stand fast means that it takes effort to stay in this place of liberty. Someone who is legally made free in Jesus can still live in bondage; they can be deceived into placing themselves back into slavery. - Galatians 5:2-4 :- When we embrace the law as our rule of walking with God, we must let go of Jesus. He is no longer our righteousness; we attempt to earn it ourselves.
The legalists among the Galatians wanted them to think they could observe some aspects of the law without coming under the entire law. But when we choose to walk by law, we must walk by the whole law. Do not fall under some ritualistic regime. When we embrace the law as our rule of walking with God, we depart from Jesus and His grace. We are then estranged from Christ, separated from Him and His saving grace. We become self-righteous. - Galatians 5:5-6 :- Neither circumcision or uncircumcision avails anything – neither one matters at all. You aren’t better if you are circumcised or uncircumcised. You aren’t worse if you are circumcised or uncircumcised. The only harm is trusting something that is completely irrelevant.
What does matter is faith working through love. You have faith? Wonderful, but if it doesn’t work through love, it isn’t real faith. And your love alone isn’t enough either, your love must have faith: an abiding trust in Jesus and what he did for us.
Herod had faith that John the Baptist was a true prophet, but there was no faith working through love, and he had John the Baptist murdered. Real faith, saving faith, will work through love. - Galatians 5:7-12 :- The Galatians had a good start in the faith, but it isn’t enough to start well. They were still in danger of falling from grace. At the root of it all, the Galatians were leaving Jesus to to pursue their false and empty teachings of man. In this case, legalism.
The warning is driven home – the corrupting influence of legalism and other doctrines that diminish Jesus are like leaven in a lump of dough. A little bit will soon corrupt the whole lump. In the Jewish way of thinking, leaven almost always stood for evil influence, so the legalistic commitment they have right now may be small, but it is so dangerous that it can corrupt everything. The false teaching came from a person (who hindered you); but it didn’t come from Jesus. Judgment awaits those who lead them astray and away from Jesus. Every action bears its consequences.
The legalists accused Paul of preaching circumcision, “…in that case the offense of the cross has been abolished.” Legalism can’t handle the offense of the cross. The whole point of Jesus dying on the cross was to say, “You can’t save yourself. I must die in your place or you have absolutely no hope at all.” When we trust in legalism, we believe that we can, at least in part, save ourselves. This takes away the offence of the cross which should always offend the nature of fallen man. In this sense, the offence of the cross is really the glory of the cross, and legalism takes the glory away.
Sacred castration was known to citizens of the ancient world; it was frequently practiced by pagan priests of the cults in the region of Galatia. Paul’s idea here is something like this: “If cutting will make you righteous, why don’t you do like the pagan priests, go all the way and castrate yourselves?” In writing this, Paul also wished that these legalists would be cut off from the congregation of the Lord.
With such a dramatic conclusion to this point, Paul has made one thing clear: legalism is no little thing. It takes away our liberty and puts us into bondage. It makes Jesus and His work of no profit to us. It puts us under obligation to the whole law. It violates the work of the Spirit of God. It makes us focus on things that are irrelevant. It keeps us from running the race Jesus set before us, it isn’t from Jesus. A little bit will infect and entire church. Those who promote it will face certain judgment, no matter who they are. Legalism tries to take away some of the glory of the cross. In light of how serious all this is, it is no wonder that Paul says he wishes that they could even cut themselves off!
With the conclusion of the class, the Praise & Worship team took to the stage again, and the worship service ended with Upa T Roumuan giving the benediction.
