Finding Real Freedom

ORDER OF WORSHIP:

Welcome
Song of Praise “This Is Amazing Grace”
Call to Worship Psalm 106:1-5
Song of Praise “And Can It Be”
Confession of Faith Galatians 5:1
Song of Praise “Who You Say I Am”
Prayer of Adoration
Greet One Another
Ministry Spotlight Student Ministry
Prayer of Intercession
Giving of God’s Tithes and Our Offerings
Song of Preparation “Yet Not I But Through Christ In Me”
Scripture Reading John 8:31-36; 56-59
Sermon “Finding Real Freedom” Craig Swartz
Prayer of Commitment
Song of Response “Amazing Grace (Our Chains Are Gone)”
Benediction

SERMON NOTES:

Alexis de Tocqueville:

“I sought for the greatness of the United States in her commodious harbors, her ample rivers, her fertile fields, and boundless forests–and it was not there. I sought for it in her rich mines, her vast world commerce, her public school system, and in her institutions of higher learning–and it was not there. I looked for it in her democratic Congress and her matchless Constitution–and it was not there. Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits flame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power.”

C. S. Lewis:

“A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse.”

Mark Lilla:

“Jesus seems to be telling Nicodemus that he must recognize his insufficiency, turn his back on his autonomous happy life, and be reborn as one who understands his dependence on something greater. That seems like a radical challenge to our freedoms and it is.”

Luke 4:18-19

1. THE  OF FREEDOM

John 8:31-32

Yakov Smirnoff:

“On my first shopping trip, I saw powdered milk–you just add water, and you get milk. Then I saw powdered orange juice–you just add water, and you get orange juice. And then I saw baby powder, and I thought to myself, what a country!”

Martin Luther.

There are others who hear the gospel; but when the battle grows hot, they declare: ‘Upon my soul, should I forsake this or that for the sake of the gospel? My doctrine demands more than just an initial acceptance and much praise. I know that it is easy to believe in the beginning. But where are those who remain steadfast, who persevere, endure and say:  ‘Let come whatever God send me!… Whether I live or die, I shall remain with Christ!’

2. THE  OF FREEDOM

John 8:33-34

Nelson Mandela:

“As I finally walked through those gates to enter a car on the other side, I felt, even at the age of 71, that my life was beginning a new. My ten thousand days of imprisonment were at last over.”

Anonymous:

“Sin causes this self-sovereignty to live in all of us. We tend to want more control than we are wise enough or strong enough to handle. We want people to follow our way and stay out of our way.  But when we wish for these things, we are forgetting who we are, who God is, and what grace has blessed us with.”

3. THE  OF FREEDOM

John 8:56-59

Charles Spurgeon:

“There, I told you that there is no such thing as perfection.”

Jonathan Edwards:

“My heart is like an abyss infinitely deeper than hell.”

John 1:29

Luci Shaw:

“Now native to the earth as I am, nailed to my poor planet, caught that I might be free, blind to my womb to know my darkness ended, brought to this birth for me to be new-born, and for him to see me mended, I must see him torn.”

John Owen:

“We should know the answer to two questions when we’re going to someone for help. Is that person willing to help us, and is that person able to help us.”

John 8:31b-32; 36

Leader:  Christian what do you believe?

All:  “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.

So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”