If there is only one gospel, then somebody has to be in charge of it. So who signs off on it? Who has the authority to bring it current, or soften it a little, or make it fit the times we are living in? That is the question these two verses answer, and Paul answers it three times without blinking. Twice he says the same word over anyone who would preach another gospel: let him be accursed. Anathema. And every time you ask who is allowed to change the message, the answer comes back the same. No...

The Danger of Desertion | Galatians 1:6-7 | Bible Study In the one letter where you expect a thank you, Paul writes a rebuke instead. A church that had the real gospel is walking away from it, and the word he reaches for is the word for a soldier who left his post. Is there really only one gospel? Galatians 1:6-7 · The Gospel Revealed More at www.brianoverturf.com

Paul opens every other letter with thanks. Not this one. He goes straight to I marvel, and in his world that was the opening line of a formal complaint. They knew from the first word that something was wrong. What was at stake was the gospel itself. They had the real thing in their hands, and they were already walking away from it. The world says all roads lead to God. Many ways up the mountain. Just be sincere or jump through this hoop. But what does God say? Is there really only one gospel? ...

How far did God go to rescue you? Paul answers that question four times in one sentence. In this study through Galatians 1:3-5, Pastor Brian Overturf walks the four answers: the price Jesus paid, the prison He broke open, the Father's plan that was older than the world, and the praise that belongs to Him alone. The companion book, God's Rescue Plan, is available at brianoverturf.com

Paul says hello and cannot stop there. He sets out to write a greeting, grace to you and peace, and before the sentence is over he has told the whole gospel. Four answers to one question: how far did God go to rescue you? He gave Himself. That is the price. To deliver us from this present evil age. That is the prison. According to the will of our God and Father. That is the plan. To whom be glory forever and ever. That is the praise. He paid a price you could not pay, broke a prison you could...

A verse-by-verse Bible study through Galatians 1:1-2, going deeper than Sunday's sermon with the commentaries open. Paul answers one question before he argues anything else: when the Bible tells you something you don't want to hear, who says you have to listen? His answer comes in three parts. This word was sent, not from men. It was signed by Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised Him from the dead. And it is settled. Along the way we correct something many of us were taught wrong — God n...

When the Bible tells you something you don't want to hear, who says you have to listen? Imagine two pieces of mail. The first is a flyer you glance at and toss in the trash. The second is a certified letter. It's official, it's signed, and it came from someone with the authority to make you deal with it. So when you open your Bible... which one are you holding? Paul answers that question before he argues anything else. In two verses he tells us this word was sent, not from men. It was signed, ...

Galatians is going somewhere. Before we get down on the ground and walk it verse by verse, we take it from 30,000 feet.This is Part 2 of the introduction, the Bible study companion to Sunday's sermon. Six chapters, three legs, one destination: chapters 1 and 2, the gospel revealed, straight from Jesus Christ and not from men. Chapters 3 and 4, the gospel explained, justified by faith, adopted as sons, made full heirs. Chapters 5 and 6, the gospel lived, and that is where the plane comes down. Fr...

Where We're Going — Galatians Introduction, Part 2 Before we walk Galatians verse by verse, we take it from thirty thousand feet. Six chapters, three parts, one destination. Paul opens by telling his own story, because someone had walked into these churches and told them his gospel was second hand. It wasn't. It came by the revelation of Jesus Christ... the same revelation we hold in our hands today. Then he explains what it says: justified by faith, adopted as sons, made full heirs. And then t...

Almost nobody walks away from Jesus. They just add to Him. One word, "unless," is what nearly cost the Galatian churches the gospel.This is Part 1 of a two-part introduction to Galatians, the Bible study companion to Sunday's sermon. Before we go verse by verse, we go back to Acts 13 through 15 to see where these churches came from, what came in behind Paul, and why he fought the way he did.WHAT WE COVER- Paul and James are not at war. Why "faith," "works," and "justify" carry different senses i...

Paul planted a church on grace, then watched false teachers try to add "Jesus plus" circumcision and the law until the whole gospel was almost lost. In this first introduction to Galatians, we trace the story in three parts: a gospel planted, threatened, and defended by a man who would rather curse an angel than watch grace get traded away. The big question underneath it all: what would you fight to protect? Come see why the answer is grace plus nothing, and why it's still worth guarding today.

In today's world, discussions about the end times are abundant, often sparking either fear or mere entertainment. However, the Apostle Paul's perspective on the Rapture, as recorded in 1 Thessalonians 4:13–18, offers a different message: "Therefore comfort one another with these words." In this powerful message from AL Pastor with Brian Overturf, host Brian Overturf dives deep into seven biblical reasons that support the belief that the church will be gathered to Christ before the Tribulation pe...

In the concluding message of our series on the book of James, we tackle a profound and often overlooked aspect of Christian community: the responsibility to restore wandering believers. James doesn't end with a simple farewell; instead, it issues a critical job assignment for every follower of Christ. When someone drifts away from God, subtly and perhaps unnoticed, what is our role in their spiritual journey? The Final Charge: A Job, Not a Goodbye Unlike many New Testament letters that conclud...

When you can't take it anymore, the prayer you think is too weak to matter is the very prayer that moves the hand of God. In this second half of "When You Can't Take It Anymore," Pastor Brian closes out James with two final answers: trust the power, and take hold. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much... and that righteous man is simply the believer. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and his prayer shut the sky and opened it again. So whatever you walked in carryin...

Every one of us reaches a point where we can't take it anymore. So what do you do when you get there? In this message from James 5, Pastor Brian walks through the three things James tells us to do when life gets to be too much: take it to the Lord, call for the elders, and care for one another. Whether you're suffering, celebrating, or so worn down you can't even pray for yourself, there's one direction for all of it. The end of yourself is not where God gives up on you. It's where the perfect w...

Paul's last letter opens by remembering two women — a grandmother named Lois and a mother named Eunice. From a Roman prison cell, on the edge of his own execution, Paul traces Timothy's faith back to the women who handed it down. In this Mother's Day message, Pastor Brian asks every mother in the room one question: Mom… is your faith still being handed down? Whether your children are in the nursery, in their teenage years, or grown and living their own lives, the work of a mother doesn't have an...

The waiting is hard. But what you do while you wait reveals everything about what you actually believe. In part two of "The Judge Is at the Door," Pastor Brian Overturf continues in James 5:7-12 with the final two things God asks of His people while they wait for justice. Walk with the witnesses — the prophets who spoke the truth and paid for it, and Job who held on to a God he couldn't explain. And weigh what you say — because a person whose word can't be trusted without an oath has already los...

Last week James pronounced judgment on the wealthy oppressors and ended with one phrase that wouldn’t let us go: “He does not resist you.” So what are God’s people supposed to do when justice doesn’t come on our timeline? When the wrong people keep winning? When we’re tempted to take matters into our own hands? In Part 1 of this series, Pastor Brian opens James 5:7-9 and walks us through the first two of four answers James gives the waiting church. We learn what it means to wait like the farm...

Pastor Brian Overturf continues his verse-by-verse journey through James with the second half of James 5:1-6. After last week’s two charges — hoarding what God meant to circulate, and stealing the wages of the workers — James brings two more charges that get heavier before they get better. Charge three: you have fattened your hearts. A life so absorbed in its own comfort and pleasure that it has lost the ability to feel anything for the person at the gate. Charge four: you have condemned, you h...

In this episode, Pastor Brian walks through James 5:1–6 and reveals God’s response to injustice. James speaks with prophetic urgency against those who hoard wealth and exploit others, but this message is ultimately for those who have been wronged. If you have ever been overlooked, cheated, or hurt, this is a reminder that God sees and God hears. The Lord of Hosts has not missed a single cry.

Full sermon notes can be downloaded here -> https://drive.google.com/file/d/1btRUz5unWJYOdFd2ztbOrUn0LzIiP-XF/view?usp=share_link She thought He was the gardener. She was more right than she knew. In this Easter Sunday message from John 20:1–18, Pastor Brian Overturf traces one of the most overlooked details in the resurrection account — Mary Magdalene mistaking the risen Christ for the gardener — and shows why that moment is not a mistake at all. He IS the gardener. The second Adam, come back ...

THE245 Eschatology runs Sundays, April through June at Arvin Assembly. Register now at ⁠www.arvinassembly.com/eschatology⁠ Does it feel like the world is spinning out of control? Does God know what's happening — and does He have a plan? The answer is yes, and He wants you to know it. In this episode, Pastor Brian gives a full preview of THE245 Eschatology, a new course launching this April through the Arvin Assembly School of the Bible. Eschatology is the study of last things — and roughly one ...

In the Crowd, Missing the King Arvin Assembly of God | Arvin, California | March 29, 2026 Preached by Pastor Brian Overturf Palm Sunday is the one Sunday of the year when the crowd is already excited before the sermon begins. But the original crowd on the first Palm Sunday was excited too, and they missed Him completely. In this message from Luke 19:28 through 44, Pastor Brian traces three movements through the text: the deliberate, prophetically-loaded royal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem; t...

Surrender is not a moment. It is a lifestyle. And James 4:11–17 shows us exactly what that looks like when it gets up in the morning and goes to work. In this message we walk through three arenas where wholehearted living either shows up or it doesn't. The words we speak about people. The plans we make about our future. And the things we already know but are not yet doing. Because a life fully surrendered to God sounds different, plans differently, and steps boldly into obedience. Not out of o...