FREEDOM

Sermon Notes, February 11, 2018

Beccy McGlinchy

            Pastor Garry has returned from helping his mother as she recuperates from surgery.   But since services were cancelled because of ice on February 4, when Beccy was scheduled to fill the pulpit, she delivered the message God gave her on February 11 instead.  The scriptural basis for her message, titled "Freedom," was Galatians 5:1, 13-18, where Paul discusses freedom in Christ.

            What were we saved from?  Beccy says she had lived her life as a slave to fear and anxiety, even though she had been raised in the church.  She had been held back by anxiety and depression from what God had for her.  This passage in Galatians helped her see that she didn't need to live her life enslaved to fear, because Christ had set her free from every sin and every negative thought pattern. 

            God can use what we've been saved from to remind us that people around us are still struggling.  They are slaves to guilt, shame, condemnation, fear, rage...and the list goes on.  They're living a life in hell here, and unless they are freed from their sin through the blood of Christ, they will endure eternity in hell, separated from God forever.  We may not struggle with the sins Paul lists in verses 2-12, but we were all slaves to something before we found Christ.  It's important to remember what we were slaves to so that we remember our own salvation and the victory that God has given us.  This also helps us to feel compassion for people who are still slaves to their sin, and to feel a sense of urgency and excitement to share our salvation story with them.

            What are we slaves to?  Despite being set free from sin initially, we all still have things that enslave us.  It may be our prejudices or our biases toward people, our own fears or disobedience, our past, our families, our habits, our hobbies.  Anything that distracts us from our first love and impedes the mission to which Christ has called each of us may be what enslaves us.  We need to allow God to search our hearts and bring to our spirit those things that still get in the way of our first love.  We can make a difference in the lives of people, one person at a time.  Remember that our love for Christ shines in the darkness.  We need to make sure that nothing gets in the way of the beauty of the Cross as it is being reflected in our lives.

            What are we free for?  "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free."  God has set us free from sin and guilt.  We are more than conquerors in Christ.  We are made to be more than this world offers us.  And God wants us to be free to live by the Spirit.  When we live by the spirit we can love the way God loves us,  so we will go out without shame and advance His kingdom.  We do not have this freedom to live as we want to.  Instead this freedom allows us to live as a reflection of the image of God in a world that is honestly looking for God.  People are lost and dying in their sin.  How are we going to use our freedom that Christ purchased for us on the cross?  Are we going to keep that freedom to ourselves, or are we going to share what it means to live in freedom to a world that needs to be set free?