Paul Wackes

Glorious Impossibility: Part 1

1) What is this really about? We treat the sermon on the mount like its a glorious self-help book. We read the Bible as if its about us. The Bible is about Jesus and what He has done. Jesus is describing…

Matthew 5:1 (ESV), Matthew 5:2 (ESV)

A Shadow of Similar Realities

God is about God, and is predicated about His value not ours. No one is a greater threat to your happiness than you are. God owns salvation and it is His, we cannot do anything in regards to our faith.…

Unique Yet Part of the Whole

When you start talking about what theChurch might be, you have to realize its going to be a bumpy ride. 1 Corinthians 12 You should not be ashamed of your testimony, you should rejoice in it. The idea…

Putting it All Together

1 Peter 2 A fear is the justification is in our good right that we would forget to pursue holiness and rationalize sin. God loves the sinner but hates the sin. God loves the sinner hates the sin, this…

Free at Last: Part 10

What does it look like to be free? The law makes you selfish, focuses everything on you. Turn us inward and not outward. The law focuses us on "getting better." The more I focus on getting better, the…

Galatians 5:15 (ESV), Galatians 5:16 (ESV), Galatians 5:17 (ESV), Galatians 5:18 (ESV), Galatians 5:19 (ESV), Galatians 5:20 (ESV), Galatians 5:21 (ESV), Galatians 5:22 (ESV), Galatians 5:23 (ESV), Galatians 5:24 (ESV), Galatians 5:25 (ESV), Galatians 5:26 (ESV)

Further into Joy

Galatians 3:10-14 The Lord calls us to come to Him like a child. You are accepted by God through Christ. Galatians' hearts had doubt and fear and tried to add things to the gospel so that they may be…

Why not the Law?

You are not saved through the work of your hands, but through the work of Jesus Christ. People who attacked Paul's gospel, we are cursed and originated from man, they preached the "additional works" gospel.…

God Saves

Our greatest hope is God being about God: God is after my joy, set free from the universe being about you, and making disciples of ALL nations. The goal is not about converts. There is a way to eat, watch…

Free at Last: Part 9

When we rest in done we are free. The constant voice of the law saying do, do, do is being overshadowed by the voice of the gospel saying done, done, done. You are not what you do, you are what Jesus…

Galatians 5:1 (ESV), Galatians 5:2 (ESV), Galatians 5:3 (ESV), Galatians 5:4 (ESV), Galatians 5:5 (ESV), Galatians 5:6 (ESV), Galatians 5:7 (ESV), Galatians 5:8 (ESV), Galatians 5:9 (ESV), Galatians 5:10 (ESV), Galatians 5:11 (ESV), Galatians 5:12 (ESV), Galatians 5:13 (ESV), Galatians 5:14 (ESV), Galatians 5:15 (ESV)

Learning Contentment

Philippians Chapter 4:8-20 We struggle with discontentment because we struggle to trust God. We should all be content with what have, because God will always take care of you. In Genesis 2 you see man…

Garbage and Glory

Philippians 3 In this chapter Paul lists his resume. He is saying that if anyone who has the right to put favor in himself it is Paul. But he states that with everything that Paul has done, it is counted…

A Forgetfulness that Leads to Foolishness

You can love just about anything, we love really weird things. The word "love" no longer has any substance in its meaning. Actual love moves to engaging and rebuking when the ones we love are leading…

Living to God

We get God's righteousness and He takes upon our sin. The law shows us where we are sick and where we need help, the law does heal us. If you believe that you sin without any consequences you truly are…

Free at Last: Part 8

When you mix our doing with God's done, you are hearing the wrong thing. The message of grace is not new or novel. The false teachers used scare tactics to scare us into morality. The implication was…

Galatians 4:8 (ESV), Galatians 4:9 (ESV), Galatians 4:10 (ESV), Galatians 4:11 (ESV), Galatians 4:12 (ESV), Galatians 4:13 (ESV), Galatians 4:14 (ESV), Galatians 4:15 (ESV), Galatians 4:16 (ESV), Galatians 4:17 (ESV), Galatians 4:18 (ESV), Galatians 4:19 (ESV), Galatians 4:20 (ESV), Galatians 4:21 (ESV), Galatians 4:22 (ESV), Galatians 4:23 (ESV), Galatians 4:24 (ESV), Galatians 4:25 (ESV), Galatians 4:26 (ESV), Galatians 4:27 (ESV), Galatians 4:28 (ESV), Galatians 4:29 (ESV), Galatians 4:30 (ESV), Galatians 4:31 (ESV)

Substance over Shadows

Christmas Blues and Christmas Hangover are two terms that happen at Christmas. It is what happens when expectation comes to reality. All things at Christmas are not exactly how you think it should feel…

Promises and Patience

We have all the information that there is as quickly as we want. Most of us get extremely annoyed when things take too long. We as a people are extremely impatient. Food and eating starting the worshipping…

Free at Last: Part 7

The false teachers: depends on us and what we need to do Paul: depends on God and what He has already done The Gospel is not your life and mine. The Gospel is about ChrIst's life, death, and resurrection.…

Galatians 4:1 (ESV), Galatians 4:2 (ESV), Galatians 4:3 (ESV), Galatians 4:4 (ESV), Galatians 4:5 (ESV), Galatians 4:6 (ESV), Galatians 4:7 (ESV)

The Gospel and Licentiousness

You can be justified by God through no act of your own, but by the divine act of Jesus. The law has no right to save you, but has the right to show you why you need grace and the gospel. Whence diagnostic…

The Diagnostic and the Cure

Galatians 1 Overview In Christ, He imputes to us His righteousness. All the glory, honor, and praise belongs to Christ and Christ alone. People believe you need Christ AND something else. If the gospel…

Awaiting an Advent

Isaiah 59 We are waiting for hope in all the wrong places. We look for hope in places where hope does not exist. When life is hard for you, where do you run for hope? In you dark moments your true hope…

Free at Last: Part 6

If you count on you, you will not make it. God is holy and His demands are holy and He demands perfection and we are imperfect; therefore we cannot enter heaven. The God who makes the demands of perfection…

Galatians 3:15 (ESV), Galatians 3:16 (ESV), Galatians 3:17 (ESV), Galatians 3:18 (ESV), Galatians 3:19 (ESV), Galatians 3:20 (ESV), Galatians 3:21 (ESV), Galatians 3:22 (ESV), Galatians 3:23 (ESV), Galatians 3:24 (ESV), Galatians 3:25 (ESV), Galatians 3:26 (ESV), Galatians 3:27 (ESV), Galatians 3:28 (ESV), Galatians 3:29 (ESV)

Resurrection and Return

Christmas is a good thing but is a shadow and not the substance. A shadow will not comfort us. It's okay to party but do not put your heart in theses parties. The world is broken and it is not what it…

Free at Last: Part 5

"A low view of the law produces legalism, a high view of the law produces grace." The Bible shows us how Christ meets the demands the Bible puts on us. The false teachers were telling the Galatians that…

Galatians 3:10 (ESV), Galatians 3:11 (ESV), Galatians 3:12 (ESV), Galatians 3:13 (ESV), Galatians 3:14 (ESV)

Incarnation and Implications

No matter what happens in our world, greed, murder, and hate still exist. trying to fix an illness that we do not know exists does not end well. How do you compare yourself to? Man or the holiness of…

John 1:1 (ESV), John 1:5 (ESV), John 1:9 (ESV), John 1:18 (ESV)

A Call to Pray

You are not going to accidentally grow in godliness. The main issue in our prayerlessness is that we know that God loves us. We think that in 10 years from now we are better than we are today, so that…

Matthew 11:28 (ESV), Luke 18:1 (ESV), Luke 18:6 (ESV)