Sermon Central
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Finding Freedom (4th Of July Sermon)
Contributed by Randy Trotter on Jun 30, 2012 (message contributor)
Summary: The only real freedom was paid at the cross! We find our real freedom at the cross in Jesus Christ alone! You were created for, chosen for and liberated for freedom through Jesus!
FINDING FREEDOM
The United States is all about “FREEDOM!” Over 200 years ago people came to this land to find “FREEDOM!” To find “FREEDOM” from “TYRANNY”, “FREEDOM” from “BONDAGE”, “FREEDOM” from “RELIGIOUS BONDAGE”, “FREEDOM” for “FREE SPEECH”, “FREEDOM” to “WORSHIP” as they see fit & as “GOD LEADS THEM!” & “FREEDOM” to be “WHO GOD WANTS THEM TO BE!”
Men & Women have died to find “FREEDOM!” Millions are looking for “FREEDOM” through “SELF GRATIFICATION, FALSE RELIGION, GOVERNMENT, MIND EXPANSION, SEXUAL GRATIFICATION, HOLLYWOOD, ENTERTAINMENT, ALCOHOL & DRUGS!”
The only real “FREEDOM” was paid at the “CROSS!” We find our real “FREEDOM” at the “CROSS” in “JESUS CHRIST ALONE!”
“FREEDOM IS ALL ABOUT LIFE!”
Jesus said in John 10:10...
“I am come that you might have LIFE and have it more ABUNDANTLY!”
What does “FREEDOM” look like when you find it! It is Joy Unspeakable, It is Full of Glory, It Happiness, It is Moving! It is Liberating! It is Unbinding!
You were “CREATED” for “FREEDOM!” You were “CHOSEN” for “FREEDOM!” You were “LIBERATED” for “FREEDOM!”
Galatians 5:1 tells us...
“Stand Fast therefore in the Liberty wherewith Christ has made us FREE,
and do not be entangled again with the yoke of Bondage!”
This is telling us to be “FREE” and to “STAY FREE!”
I. We stay “FREE” in our “RELATIONSHIP!”
"...there is a friend that sticks closer than a brother."
Jesus is all about “RELATIONSHIP!” Folk, there is something inherently wrong with “RELIGION!” I know that may shock you but it’s true! Would you be surprised to know that God didn’t create “RELIGION?” That’s right man created “RELIGION!”
Please know that “RELIGION” isn’t wrong within itself for all that “RELIGION” is, is man’s way of finding God! Therein lies the problem!
But man’s way is always fraught with “FALSEHOODS & ERROR!” So much of “RELIGION” is lacking “TRUE RELATIONSHIP!”
Jesus is all about “RELATIONSHIP!” Without “RELATIONSHIP, TRUE RELATIONSHIP” Religion is “HOLLOW & UNFULFILLING” at best!
If your “RELATIONSHIP” is lacking in Jesus then you’ll never truly know what “FREEDOM” is all about!
II. We stay “FREE” by understanding the “WORD OF GOD!”
Young People of our nation need to know what “FREEDOM” means!
FREEDOM in “KNOWING!”
John 8:32 tells us...
“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you FREE.”
FREEDOM in “KEEPING!”
“But whoever keeps his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected...”
FREEDOM in “DOING!”
Numbers 15:40 “That you may remember, and do all My commandments, and be holy unto your God.”
The “DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE” is the single most & greatest “EMANCIPATION DOCUMENT” man ever wrote!
But, the “WORD OF GOD” is the single most & greatest “EMANCIPATION DOCUMENT” in all history!
The “WORD OF GOD” does what the “DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE” could not do! The “DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE” could not set the heart of man free!
The “WORD OF GOD” does set the heart & soul of man “FREE!”
III. We stay “FREE” by “ADHERENCE!”
Adhering to “PRINCIPALS” that lead & apply to the “FUTURE” & beyond time itself!
What is happening to our nation today is the "LACK OF ADHERENCE” to the “CONSTITUTION!" It’s not the ignorance of the Constitution it is the “IGNORING” of it! Of it’s “PRINCIPALS, PROMISE & PRIZE!”
To know “FREEDOM” one must “PRACTICE FREEDOM!”
The “PRACTICE FREEDOM” has a “COST” and is not “FREE!” One of the great lessons of life is that which you “PAY FOR” has “GREAT VALUE!”
The “PRACTICE OF FREEDOM” is a “COST” in and of itself! It is a “SELF-DETERMINATION” whose “PRIZE” is “FREEDOM!”
The greatest “PRACTICE OF FREEDOM” is the adherence to the “GREATEST DOCUMENT OF FREEDOM!” That is the “WORD OF GOD!”
“...If you will diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD your God, and will do that which is right in his sight, and will give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon you...”
“But you, O man of God...follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness!”
Closing!
How “FREE” are you this morning! Is your “FREEDOM” wrapped up in a “MAN-MADE” document alone or is your “FREEDOM” first and foremost founded in “GOD’S CONCEPT OF FREEDOM!
