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New York UBF, US
November 1, 2013

Galatians 5:1 “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”

NY UBF held its first Galatians Bible School during the Columbus Day Weekend. We invited Pastor Ron Ward and Dr. Mark Yang from Chicago, who are well informed and experienced Bible instructors. Initially, Mother Barry and Pastor Mark Vucekovich were invited but unfortunately they were unable to join us. Although NY UBF had studied the book of Galatians during Sundays in 2010, we felt it wasn’t enough. We wanted to deeply understand the truth of the gospel and experience freedom from the bondage of legalism, which many of us struggle with.

On Saturday morning, we had a brief introduction to the Book of Galatians by Pastor Ron. Each session had a clear topic to think about.

The topics were:
• “Why not a gospel but the gospel”,
• “The difference between self-realization and God’s revelation”,
• “The difference between law and promise of God”,
• “What does freedom from the bondage of the law mean” and
• “How do we exercise our freedom in Christ”

Our Bible School consisted of 6 sessions studied in two large multi-age groups. Pastor Ron led one group and Dr. Mark Yang led another. We studied 3 lessons on Saturday, two lessons on Sunday after the worship and one lesson on Monday. Amazingly, each lesson lasted more than two and half hours. The sessions were filled with honest and transparent responses about the passage and our daily lives. It wasn’t just a one-sided lecture but a very open discussion. Overall, an average of 50 coworkers participated in each session.

Presently, NY-UBF is experiencing some struggles especially in dealing with generational and cultural issues in the ministry. We are being challenged by so many contemporary gospels that are not the real gospel at all. But despite these challenges, our GBS brought us together, and through this Bible study, we also heard the voice of God as one body in Christ. All of us were able to eat, talk, cry and laugh together in fellowship. God really blessed our long Columbus Day weekend with His Word!

Due to Galatians Bible Study, our coworkers are greatly motivated and encouraged to live by faith in Christ. We deeply appreciate Pastor Ron Ward’s and Dr. Mark Yang’s prayer and labor of love as they came to lead our studies. We have not studied the word of God so intensely in recent years so it was really good to study the whole book all at once. If possible, at the beginning of 2014, our coworkers want to have another Bible school. May the Lord continue to help us to grow mature in Christ and be able to serve the gospel ministry throughout New York campuses and the world.

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