Calvary Monterey Podcast

Pastor Nate Holdridge continues our Growth Nights with the topic of A Jesus Famous Men & Women Live As A Sacrifice Unto God.

Title: Live In Step With The GospelSpeaker: Nate HoldridgeText: Galatians 2:11-16Galatians 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: When God delivered the people of Israel from their captivity in Egypt, the final victory they won over their captors was at the Red Sea. As Moses stretched out his hands and his staff, the waters parted so Israel could cross on dry ground. And when the Egyptian armies pursued them, the waters closed upon them, ensuring freedom for God's children.From that point on, Israel was meant to walk in line with the events of the Red Sea. When intertribal disputes arose, they needed to realize that, for all their differences, God chose all of them that day—they were united at the Red Sea. When they were faced with impressive foes in the Promised Land, they needed to remember who they were, God's victorious people—they needed to be motivated by the Red Sea. And when God gave them the tabernacle system of worship, they needed to remember that they were already God's chosen people—they became his at the Red Sea. And Israel should have pushed forward in determination, all because of the great and final victory God had won for them at the Red Sea.And this great gospel message should produce a determination in us: I am going to live in step with the gospel I believe. I will unite with everyone who comes under the banner of the gospel. I am motivated to do so because that same gospel calls me up into a better version of life. And justification only comes by faith in that gospel—I will never trust my personal performance to gain me right standing with God, nor will I require others to perform above and beyond the gospel to get right standing with me. I will live in step with the gospel.Links:Sermon NotesDiscussion Questions

Title: The Beautiful, Acceptable GospelSpeaker: Nate HoldridgeText: Galatians 2:1-10Galatians 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: So this passage tells us Paul's story of presenting this unearnable, freeing, and versatile gospel to the apostles in Jerusalem nearly 2,000 years ago. They considered it, and though they may have been quietly tolerating some who distorted the gospel by adding the Old Testament law to it, they stood up and recognized the gospel of grace as the gospel transmitted from Christ to them.We have a similar decision before us today. Our decision does not impact church history as much as theirs did, but it greatly influences us and the people around us, even subsequent generations.Will we think of acceptance by God as something we can earn through good works or religious ceremonies? If so, we have destroyed the gospel.Will we allow ourselves to come under human controls that tell us we must add this or that behavior to the gospel to be approved by God? If so, we have destroyed the gospel.And will we preach a message that forces everyone into a particular mold? If so, we have destroyed the gospel.Instead, we must accept this unearnable, freeing, and versatile gospel message just like the apostles did.Links:Sermon NotesDiscussion Questions

Title: Paul's Gospel Is LegitSpeaker: Nate HoldridgeText: Galatians 1:10-24Galatians 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: Our passage today helps us to consider Paul's gospel (and, thus, the theology that stemmed from his gospel) as legitimate. Neither he nor any other apostle in the first century delivered a man-made message but a divinely inspired and conspired plan of redemption through Christ's cross. It's an inconceivable message in that humans could and would not fully conceive of it. And we have a decision today—do I receive Paul's gospel and all the theology that flows from it, just as the early church, those closest to Jesus, did? Or do I reject Paul, his gospel, and his gospel theology in favor of how I see the world, truth, or even Jesus? But, for those who have received the gospel message Paul (and others) preached, our passage also helps us consider the impact of that message on our own lives today. We aren't apostles. How we receive the gospel isn't vital to the underpinnings of Christianity. But Paul's testimony should reawaken in us an appreciation—not only for his gospel story—but ours. Paul's past life had a stranglehold on him, driving him even to the zealous murder of Christians, but Christ broke through and created a new man in place of the old. And, for as powerful as our pasts are, we must remember that Jesus makes all things new. If you are in Christ, you are a new creation, old things have passed away, and all things have become new (2 Cor. 5:17).Links:Sermon NotesDiscussion Questions

Title: Accept The Gospel As IsSpeaker: Nate HoldridgeText: Galatians 1:1-9Galatians 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: When I was an early-teen, my friends and I often played a simple game we called Quarters—I think we heard about it from Michael Jordan. Each of us would carry around a roll of quarters, and during school breaks, we would find a wall where two guys would take turns flipping quarters against it. Whoever's quarter landed closest to the wall—and the group was there to help judge—took home the other guy's quarter.Every once in a while, a teacher or yard supervisor would catch us and tell us to stop because it was an introduction to gambling. We'd get in a tiny amount of trouble; they were never very concerned.But imagine if we were tossing quarters as a way to compete for our future earnings. You win this toss, and I give you everything I earn for the next sixty years! Any teacher who overheard us would probably laugh. But imagine our game was somehow legally binding; they would've sternly rebuked us because the stakes were too high.Adding to the gospel should never be done—the stakes are too high. We should not add the idea that our salvation is contingent on the quality of our surrender to Jesus. We should not add the idea that our salvation comes when we hold the right cultural expression of the gospel. We should not add the idea that we can save ourselves by being good people who do good things. We should not add the idea that we can save ourselves through regulation or religious ceremonies.We cannot, and the stakes are high if we do—we don't fly, and people don't get saved! Instead, we must accept the gospel as is: the divinely inspired and initiated death, burial, and resurrection of Christ on our behalf—God's rescue mission to save despairing sinners.Links:Sermon NotesDiscussion Questions

This year at our annual Women’s Conference we have guest speaker Sharon Thomas from Established Footsteps ministry teaching us on “Saying YES to Kingdom Living”.Link to her ministry:https://linktr.ee/establishedfootstepsministry

This year at our annual Women’s Conference we have guest speaker Sharon Thomas from Established Footsteps ministry teaching us on “Saying YES to Kingdom Living”.Link to her ministry:https://linktr.ee/establishedfootstepsministry

This year at our annual Women’s Conference we have guest speaker Sharon Thomas from Established Footsteps ministry teaching us on “Saying YES to Kingdom Living”.Link to her ministry:https://linktr.ee/establishedfootstepsministry

A special message from Pastor Manny Collazo this Sunday in Psalm 10.

Pastor Nate Holdridge continues our Growth Nights with the topic of A Jesus Famous Man Fosters A Gospel-Oriented Community.