Last Sunday I preached the 2nd part of an important set of messages from Galatians 2. Galatians 2:10 says, “Only, they asked us to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do.”

In that message I said, “If you are new with us … to Springs of Grace – I think it is important for you to know what is at the core of our ministry… The passion that fuels this church and drives all that we do is NOT ministry to the poor.” I went on to talk about 2 Corinthians 8:9 which says, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.”

I then took some time to look at the glory of God in this gospel and said this: “So the minute the vision of caring for the needy becomes a driving force for a church – that church is on its way to death.

What must always drive the church is the glory of God in the gospel.

There is something more gripping to the heart than you caring for the poor – something more amazing than you caring for the needy and that is God Himself becoming poor that He might make many rich… That is what drives us as a church.”

One man in our church stopped me after the service and he said – “but so many churches think that social ministry or meeting the needs of the poor is what Springs of Grace is about. They think this is our emphasis of ministry and they have a different emphasis. The reason they think that is because they see verse 10 as an optional add on to the gospel rather than a necessary outworking of the gospel.”

I believe he is absolutely right. The truths communicated in this message – http://springsofgracebiblechurch.org/2013/06/30/63013-remember-the-poor/

– create such a needed mindset shift that they really need heard many times before they begin to sink in. I still remember the first time someone clearly showed me from the Scripture God’s great love for the poor. I thought they were blowing a few verses out of proportion. Then as I read my Bible I started seeing it everywhere. (It was very similar to the first time I heard the truth that God was sovereign.)

I will be going on to the next verses in Galatians on Sunday, Lord willing. I am asking the Lord to not let us go on as people without committing to help each other to remember the poor. Would you listen to this message again (or for the first time if you weren’t able to be in the service Sunday)? http://springsofgracebiblechurch.org/2013/06/30/63013-remember-the-poor/ I think it would help us live out the gospel we treasure so much.

Galatians 2:1-9 lay out for us the gospel that all of the apostles agreed on. There is a precise gospel that we love and esteem. It is the gospel that we desire to grow in the knowledge of and it is the gospel that we are committed to. We are not interested in opening our arms or minds to another gospel because there really is no other gospel (good news). You could listen to that message here: http://springsofgracebiblechurch.org/2013/06/23/62313-the-apostles-are-all-in-agreement

They also all agreed on “remembering the poor” as a part of the universal outworking of this gospel where Jesus became poor that He might make many rich!