November 29, 2009

Mr. Jim Stein

6:00 pm Worship Service

Covenant Christian Reformed Church

Winnipeg, Canada

Call to Worship: Psalm 146:5-10

⁵ Happy are those whose help is the God of Jacob,

whose hope is in the LORD their God,

⁶ who made heaven and earth,

the sea, and all that is in them;

who keeps faith forever;

⁷ who executes justice for the oppressed;

who gives food to the hungry.

The LORD sets the prisoners free;

⁸ the LORD opens the eyes of the blind.

The LORD lifts up those who are bowed down;

the LORD loves the righteous.

⁹ The LORD watches over the strangers;

he upholds the orphan and the widow,

but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.

¹⁰ The LORD will reign forever,

your God, O Zion, for all generations.

Praise the LORD!

Opening Prayer

Hymn: 432 - For the Beauty of the Earth

Greeting

Confession of Faith - Our World Belongs to God #27 & 28 p.1027

Hymn: 291 - May the Mind of Christ, My Saviour

Prayer

Scripture: Romans 6:15-23; Galatians 5:1-14

Sermon: What are we set free from? What are we free to do? Grace = Service & obedience

Is it possible to live this way?

Prayer

Hymn: 591 - Savior, Like a Shepherd lead Us

Offering:

God's Blessing

Hymn: 555 - Lead On O King Eternal

Luke 4:18-19

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,

because he has anointed me

to bring good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives

and recovery of sight to the blind,

to let the oppressed go free,

¹⁹ to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

Luke 13:12 When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, “Woman, you are set free from your ailment.”

John 8:31-36 Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; ³²and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” ³³They answered him, “We are descendants of Abraham and have never been slaves to anyone. What do you mean by saying, ‘You will be made free’?”

³⁴Jesus answered them, “Very truly, I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. ³⁵The slave does not have a permanent place in the household; the son has a place there forever. ³⁶So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.

Acts 13:38-39 Let it be known to you therefore, my brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you; ³⁹by this Jesus everyone who believes is set free from all those sins from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses.

Romans 5:15-17 But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died through the one man’s trespass, much more surely have the grace of God and the free gift in the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abounded for the many. ¹⁶And the free gift is not like the effect of the one man’s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brings justification. ¹⁷If, because of the one man’s trespass, death exercised dominion through that one, much more surely will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness exercise dominion in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.

Romans 8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.

1Corinthians 7:22-24 For whoever was called in the Lord as a slave is a freed person belonging to the Lord, just as whoever was free when called is a slave of Christ. ²³You were bought with a price; do not become slaves of human masters. ²⁴In whatever condition you were called, brothers and sisters, there remain with God.

1 Corinthians 9:19, 21 For though I am free with respect to all, I have made myself a slave to all, so that I might win more of them.

²¹To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law) so that I might win those outside the law.

Galatians 1:3-5 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, ⁴who gave himself for our sins to set us free from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, ⁵to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

Galatians 4:31-5:1 So then, friends, we are children, not of the slave but of the free woman. ^5:1For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

Hebrews 2:14-15 Since, therefore, the children share flesh and blood, he himself likewise shared the same things, so that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, ¹⁵and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by the fear of death.

1 Peter 2:16-17 As servants of God, live as free people, yet do not use your freedom as a pretext for evil. ¹⁷Honor everyone. Love the family of believers. Fear God. Honor the emperor.

1 Peter 2:24-25 He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that, free from sins, we might live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. ²⁵For you were going astray like sheep, but now you have returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls.

Romans 6:15-23 free from sin, sanctification, eternal life

Galatians 5:1-14 For freedom, called to freedom

Romans 6:15-23

What then? Should we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! ¹⁶Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? ¹⁷But thanks be to God that you, having once been slaves of sin, have become obedient from the heart to the form of teaching to which you were entrusted, ¹⁸and that you, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. ¹⁹I am speaking in human terms because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to greater and greater iniquity, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness for sanctification.

²⁰When you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. ²¹So what advantage did you then get from the things of which you now are ashamed? The end of those things is death. ²²But now that you have been freed from sin and enslaved to God, the advantage you get is sanctification. The end is eternal life. ²³For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Galatians 5:1-14

For freedom Christ has set us free; stand fast therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

²Now I, Paul, say to you that if you receive circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. ³I testify again to every man who receives circumcision that he is bound to keep the whole law. ⁴You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace. ⁵For through the Spirit, by faith, we wait for the hope of righteousness. ⁶For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision is of any avail, but faith working through love. ⁷You were running well; who hindered you from obeying the truth? ⁸This persuasion is not from him who calls you. ⁹A little leaven leavens the whole lump. ¹⁰I have confidence in the Lord that you will take no other view than mine; and he who is troubling you will bear his judgment, whoever he is. ¹¹But if I, brethren, still preach circumcision, why am I still persecuted? In that case the stumbling block of the cross has been removed. ¹²I wish those who unsettle you would mutilate themselves!

¹³For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love be servants of one another. ¹⁴For the whole law is fulfilled in one word, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

Points to Ponder…

1. Why are Christians so afraid of freedom in Jesus Christ?

2. Jacques Ellul states in his book The Ethics of Freedom, …”we are freed only by the love of God. If we place ourselves outside of love, we place ourselves outside of freedom. Freedom exists only in virtue of the new relationship which God sets up between beings.”

3. Galatians 2:4-5 But because of false believers secretly brought in, who slipped in to spy on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus, so that they might enslave us—⁵we did not submit to them even for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might always remain with you. They want to see if we’re really free.

4. Ellul continues, “Becaise Christ brought freedom into the world, those who profess him and live by his freedom have to be bearers of freedom into the world.”

Holy Spirit

CHRIST

In YOU

righteous & justified

free indeed

under Christ’s law

slaves to Christ - servants gladly

obedient

grateful

On Being a Christian