La Gracia Cambia Todo, Enero 25, 2026

Good morning, Fellowship family. I hope that you guys are warm in the midst of all this cold weather. Even though we're missing you, we're glad that you guys are watching from home. But if this is your first time watching us, we'd like to welcome you and invite you to meet with us here at Fellowship Español. For those that don't know me, my name is Alfredo Zuniga. I am the Español campus pastor here at Fellowship. I'm overjoyed spending this morning talking about the word of God. And after these beautiful songs that we recently sang, we also have an opportunity to worship through our offering. This time, we're unable to do it through our physical offering boxes, but you can do it online. And just take some time this Sunday and just to give to the Lord however much he's blessed you with. This morning, we continue in our Galatian series, and this morning we're going to see how the grace leads us to serve one another. I'd like to begin by reading the passage in Galatians chapter 6, verse 6 to 10. Let the one who has taught the word share all good things with the one who teaches. Do not be deceived, God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone and especially to those who are of the household of faith. So last week, we saw how the grace of God changes people that are conceitful, people that are full of envy, and to people that love, and people that want to serve, and that's the calling that we get today from the grace of God. And that grace leads us to serve one another. So we can see in verse 6 how we serve the family with gratitude, in gratitude. But the one who has taught the word share all good things with the one who teaches.

Let's remember that Paul had mentioned that there were teachers in the church of Galatia enseñándoles con el fin de manipular a la gente a la cual ellos enseñaban. They were teaching to be able to manipulate the people that they were teaching. O sea que el maestro enseñaba a la persona con el propósito de obtener algo a cambio de ellos. So the teacher would teach someone with the end of gaining something from them. Pero eso es claro que no es la cultura que vemos que los líderes son llamados en el Nuevo Testamento. We can see that that's not the culture of the leaders that we see in the New Testament. Si no, al contrario, el apóstol Pedro nos enseñaba que los ancianos deben ser personas que se entregan su vida por las ovejas. So on the contrary, you see Peter showing us and teaching us that the elders would be people that would give themselves to the church, to the body. Pablo mismo decía que él había trabajado con sus manos para darle a las personas a las cuales servía. Paul himself said that he would work to be able to give to the people that he served. No una idea de utilizar la enseñanza para obtener algo a cambio. Pero al mismo tiempo, puede la iglesia entonces caer en la tentación, en no ser agradecidos con las personas que invierten en ellos espiritualmente, y pueden ser los pastores, pero también pueden ser otros líderes de los d-groups o de los ministerios de mujeres, ministerios de hombres. It could be other leaders like the d-group leaders or the various ministries of men and women. Y entonces, lo que Pablo les está llamando a la iglesia aquí, que si tú estás siendo bendecido con alguien que te enseña y te guía, ¿por qué tú no le haces a esa persona partícipe de regalos y servicios en gratitud? Then why don't you give those people or be a participant of gifts and shows of gratitude? En servicio. In service. Él quería que mostráramos esa gratitud a esas personas. He wanted us to show our gratitude towards those people.

Y no sé tú. And I don't know about you. Pero cuando yo recuerdo en mi vida a las personas que Dios ha usado para que yo llegue a donde llegue o para que mi matrimonio esté donde esté. When I remember those people that have been put in my life to show me where I'm at now and to invest in my marriage, surge en mí una gratitud de querer de alguna manera amarlos y honrarlos y cuidarlos. I feel this gratitude in some way or another to be able to serve them, to pay it back. Y más en el sentido de gratitud, no porque esas personas me están exigiendo algo. And not in a sense of obligation, but more of a coming from a sense of gratitude for what they've done. También la segunda forma en que servimos a la familia es sabiendo que hay una recompensa. And again, the second form that we can serve our family is knowing that there's a reward. Mira lo que dice en versículo siete al nueve. Just look at what verse seven to nine say. No se dejéis engañar, de Dios nadie se burla, pues todo lo que el hombre siembre, eso también segará. Do not be deceived, God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. Porque el que siembra para su propia carne, de la carne segará corrupción, pero el que siembra para el Espíritu, del Espíritu segará vida eterna. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. Y no nos cansemos de hacer el bien, pues a su tiempo, si no nos cansamos, segaremos. And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap if we do not give up. Es muy interesante lo que puede ocurrir en nuestras vidas cuando vivimos en la carne. It is very interesting what can happen in our lives when we live according to the flesh. Es que nosotros podemos justificar nuestras acciones carnales. That we can start to justify our carnal purposes or motivations. Nuestras actitudes pecaminosas.

Our sinful attitudes. Y disfrazarlas de cosas que lo justifican. And disguise them in ways that justifies them. Y validar mis acciones. And therefore validate my actions. Y pasar lo que pasaba en lo que el Pastor Brandon nos enseñó la semana pasada. And you can see that also in what Brandon was teaching us last week. To make ourselves in people that are conceited. To start to see what people aren't giving me. But not to look at what I'm doing for others. It's so easy for us to deceive us. But the deceitment that Paul is talking about here. And it's some idea that says that for some reason God is not going to see what I'm doing. And then he says, don't be deceived. God is not mocked. But you can say, well, I've never mocked God. But do you think that acting in a sinful way. Ignoring the fact that God takes sin seriously. Don't you think that's mocking God? It is. It's saying that he doesn't see it. Saying that it doesn't matter to him. It's saying that the consequences that God has outlined for us says that it's not true. This is saying that every action has a consequence. It is important that us as adults. That we be reminded oftentimes it's the same thing that we remind our children. That everything that you do. That will bring a consequence to your life. And in this case it's saying if you sow to your own flesh. Then you will harvest corruption.

You'll reap corruption. I remember a conversation that I had with a friend when I was just a recent convert. And he was living in a immoral relationship with his girlfriend. And I told him, you know, doesn't the word say that you should repent of your sin and go to him? And this is to mention that he was a band member of a Christian group that I was a part of. So he responds. God understands me. God knows that it is difficult the way that I'm living. And he's telling me exactly what Paul is saying that is the opposite. That God cannot be mocked. That God takes sin seriously. That we can't take the grace as a license to sin. And that corruption. Brings death to our lives. Brings death to our relationships. It contaminates our hearts. But on the contrary. When you sow for the Spirit. That you will reap eternal life. Think about that idea of sowing. It's hard labor. You have to look for a place. Put the seed. And then wait impatiently for it to grow. Think about how contradicting it is to be able to work so hard. And sow things for actions that lead to corruption. And unfortunately church, when we allow our flesh to be able to continuously ruin our lives. Control our lives. We'll end up ruining our lives. So what does it say?

If we sow to the Spirit, then we will reap eternal life. And it doesn't mean, or it shouldn't mean that if I do good, then I will be rewarded for the good that I do, and then I'll gain eternal life for the good that I do. Because the whole book of Galatians, he's mentioned that it's not by works. But then sometimes we have the incorrect perspective of what eternal life actually is. Some people think that eternal life starts when we're already in the heavens and the clouds playing the harps. But the beauty of eternal life, that it is available for us today, in the moment that we came to know Christ, that we have eternal life. You know the sad thing? Most people aren't enjoying this eternal life. I ask you, are you enjoying from this eternal life? That life that you live as you've been controlled by the Holy Spirit, that you experiment, you feel love, joy, peace, is available for us today. And for that reason, we shouldn't get tired of doing the service that the Lord has called us to do. This is not like an immediate action that if you do something, something immediately will happen. It says that in due time, we will reap. You know the bad thing of those that use the sowing and the reaping analogy in a different way? In a bad interpretation? Is that they want the reward now. That they want the reward to be these temporal things of this world. That idea to sow to the Spirit, is that we're sowing with our gaze on the eternal. So those that serve with the motivation to gain something now, end up disappointed. End up hurt. That they had the wrong perspective of their service. But when we have our gaze on eternity, we can serve continuously. This is the last thing, that we serve the family consistently.

Let's look at what verse 10 says. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith. So what is the conclusion of what we've seen today? Understanding that God judges. Understanding that God rewards. Understanding that we should be grateful. Understanding that we will reap eternal fruit. Do good to everyone. in cada oportunidad? As we have opportunity. Yo te pregunto, ¿estás buscando oportunidades? I would ask you, are you guys looking for opportunities? ¿O estás esperando que otras personas lo hagan para ti? Or are you waiting for others to do that for you? ¿Estás haciendo esto consistentemente o ya te has dado por vencido? Are you doing this consistently or have you given up? Dice, especialmente a los de la familia de la fe. And it says, especially to those of the household of faith. Es que conocemos un famoso dicho. We know this famous saying. Que dice que es oscuridad en la casa, pero luz afuera, o candil de la calle, o oscuridad en la casa. It says, light in the streets, darkness in the home. Lásimosamente puede pasar lo mismo en la familia de la fe. Unfortunately, it can happen also in the family of faith. Que podemos servir gente fuera de la iglesia. We can be serving people outside of the church.

Pero no aprovechar la oportunidad de la gente con la cual pasaremos la eternidad juntos. But not take the opportunity to serve the people that we're gonna be spending eternity with. Iglesia, hay muchas oportunidades de servir. Church, there are a lot of opportunities to serve. ¿Y sabes qué? You know? Debes estar dispuesto o dispuesta a no recibir un reconocimiento público. And you should be looking without having any kind of recognition. Y no te debe desanimar a veces si alguien no lo nota. And it shouldn't discourage you if someone doesn't notice. Porque sabes quién sí lo nota. But do you know who does notice? Dios. God. Dios sabe tu corazón. God knows your heart. Y por eso podemos nosotros seguir sirviendo, sabiendo que Dios ve todo lo que nosotros hacemos. We can continuously serve knowing that God knows what we're doing. Y si le has estado sirviendo fielmente hasta ahora y has sentido la tentación de darte por vencido o por vencida. And if you've been serving God faithfully up to this point and you've felt that temptation to give up. Dios quiere animarte a que continúes haciéndolo

con la vista puesta en la eternidad. God would like to encourage you to keep going with your gaze on eternity. Y hoy tenemos un ejemplo clarísimo de cómo Dios usa estos actos de servicio en nuestra iglesia. A veces en medio de circunstancias, situaciones muy difíciles. Even in the midst of very difficult circumstances. Así que ¿por qué no me acompañan a ver la historia de la familia Callaway? Join me here to see the story of our Callaway family. I'm Shalyn Callaway. And I'm Sean Callaway. And we have three children together. Estiel, who's eight. Stella, who's five. And Stallings, who's fixing to be two. And we have a son, who's eight. And Stallings, who's fixing to be two. We started at Midtown about a year and a half ago. And then I believe that it was that fall, that October, that I just talked to Sean about, like, we need to find our people. And so we first met the D group at their Christmas party. That first day, it just felt so natural to like have these people like welcome you in and just feel wanted. Then when everything happened, it was just such a blessing. I just started to just feel really weird.

Parts of my body were falling asleep. Like my foot fell asleep. The other foot fell asleep. OK, well now it's like, kind of like my knees down are falling asleep. The tingling that I had felt in different areas of my body was like I had growths to my throat and my neck. I was admitted kind of just for observation. They still didn't know that first day what it was, because some of the tests to kind of confirm Guillain-Barré, which is what I was later diagnosed with, took another day to come back. And then in the morning, I was diagnosed and then it was a matter of four days later, I couldn't walk. I couldn't stand. Couldn't really even understand me because my lips barely moved and I couldn't, you know, move my arms. Sunday night, I got a call about 11.30 or 12 and they were rushing her to the ICU. They're at Baptist. And when I showed up, they were intubating her. That was probably the scariest moment for sure. And there was nothing I could do. I just felt helpless. She was in the ICU for a week, intubated. You know, when scripture talks about bearing burdens, our D group did that through like physically. I mean, I had the girls stop by at the rehab

when I couldn't even speak because I had so much like muscle paralyzed in my face and they just read scripture over me and prayed over me. And I remember tears just streaming down my face because that's kind of the only thing that came out. I couldn't tell them and I assume that Shawn communicated to the group what was going on, but they all showed up at eight o'clock at night. They snuck in past visiting hours. They all had young kids to get to bed and to get to school the next day and things to do in their own homes. But they all showed up to just pour scripture over me. Specifically, I remember we got together, just the guys. I remember we were sitting on the back porch. It was a way to step away and just to be in the Word. And then at the end, you know, we talked about everything that was going on. Just to have a set of guys there as brothers who were just taking on my pain, going through so much, and they're there. These guys who barely knew me at this time, they sat with me, they cried with me, and just showed how much love they have for me. It helped keep the faith during all that. I don't think if I'd had to go through that alone, that I'd come out on the other side, even halfway where I'm at now. They called me, and they said,

hey, you've gotta come up here. We're gonna do a trike. We're gonna put a trike on. It was the start of getting better. She went back to the rehab, slowly started to regain function, and pushed through to Father's Day, and was able to get out. I went through a lot of stages in my illness of grief and anger, and I remember thinking, why would this happen to me at such a young age? And it was them continuing to pray, and it just lifted any little anger that I had, and turned it into praise that I made it through that. I would 100% recommend finding a D-group that fits, and finding your people. There's times where I'm at work now that I've returned, and Sean's here with three kids by himself, and the amount of times that they'll step in to help Sean get the kids loaded in and out of the car, or when I was without you, places afterwards, they knew that I might need help lifting, carrying, chugging along three children. They haven't stopped stepping in, but I don't know that they ever will. We can see the love in the Callaway family. We can see the opportunities that God puts in front of us, even in these hard circumstances. So church, what do we do? We have fellowship with the Lord's family,

and we look for every opportunity to serve. As we know what we sow, we will reap. That serving one another lovingly matters. So therefore, we can do it consistently. With that in mind, church, join me in prayer. Lord willing, we'll see you guys next Sunday. Heavenly Father, we give you thanks for this morning. Lord, help us grow and to be able to see opportunities to serve one another. Lord, free us from pride. Lord, help us serve in humility. Lord, help us love how you love us. To live in a way that you want us to live. And to know that at the end, we will reap that eternal fruit. In the name of Jesus, we pray. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.