From this week's passage in Galatians chapter 3, Troy shares the apostle Paul's reminder that we’re sometimes frantically and frustratingly searching for something that we already have. And what we possess are the benefits of the gospel, God's good news about Jesus, which is all we need, and is something we can never earn through our own efforts.

To kick off our new message series through Galatians and Ephesians, Troy explains that either Jesus saves us, or we save ourselves, and that second option is actually hypothetical and impossible.  Salvation is not based on our ability to keep God’s rules, but on the ransom of Jesus, paid with His blood.

As we celebrate the Christmas holiday and we consider why Jesus was born, we would have to say that He was born to die. And because He was born as God in the flesh, He was able to live a perfect life, die on the cross to pay for our sins, and rise again to live for all eternity.

As Albert Schweitzer found out, despite his many talents and personal accomplishments, "Every person I know who has been truly happy has learned how to serve others." What Schweitzer discovered was something Jesus taught a long time before that. Jesus did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many. He also instructed us to do the same, which leads us to a much greater joy and fulfillment than we could ever have by serving ourselves first.