Latest / Fostering Faith / Freedom: Living FREE in Christ

Transcript

Freedom: Living FREE in Christ · Fostering Faith

• 0:00
  Welcome back to Fostering Faith. My name is Tracy
• 0:03
  and I'm gonna be your host today. Hey friends,
• 0:06
  at Fostering Faith, we are here to help you foster
• 0:09
  your faith. I don't know if you have ever been
• 0:13
  ready for something like this, but we're gonna
• 0:15
  dive into a topic that I think that we all can
• 0:17
  understand and being the 4th of July weekend,
• 0:19
  if I'm being honest, most of us are still tripping
• 0:22
  over. That's freedom not freedom. Like I don't
• 0:27
  have a boss I can eat ice cream for breakfast
• 0:29
  even though let's be real that sounds For some
• 0:33
  people amazing but real deep Christian given
• 0:37
  freedom the kind of freedom that is not tied
• 0:40
  to circumstances or emotions or how well life
• 0:43
  is going but rooted in the finished work of Christ
• 0:48
  the cross. So let's talk about this. Let's get
• 0:51
  fired up. Let's shake off our chains, every lie,
• 0:54
  every ounce of guilt and walk out in this episode
• 0:57
  and breathe lighter because we know that we are
• 1:00
  set free. You're gonna want to send this to a
• 1:03
  friend, your mom, your cousin, or those that
• 1:06
  you know that are still carrying last year's
• 1:10
  mess into this year. And so let's talk about
• 1:13
  it. What is freedom? We think freedom is like
• 1:17
  no rules, right? We're grown. Nobody's going
• 1:19
  to tell me what to do, but I can say this lovingly.
• 1:23
  That's not freedom. That's rebellion. Freedom
• 1:26
  isn't the absence of boundaries, but it's being
• 1:29
  fully who God has created you to be without holding
• 1:32
  anything back. Think about it in John 8, 36.
• 1:35
  So if the son sets you free, you will be free
• 1:40
  indeed. It doesn't say if you set yourself free,
• 1:46
  it doesn't say if you hustle hard enough, it
• 1:50
  says if the sun, S -O -N, sets you free. Here's
• 1:55
  a picture for you. Imagine a fish saying, I want
• 1:59
  freedom and I'm jumping around the water because
• 2:02
  no one can tell me where I can swim. And he flops
• 2:05
  onto the sand. Guess what? The fish is going
• 2:08
  to shrivel up. Why? Because freedom isn't doing
• 2:13
  whatever we want. It's living in the space where
• 2:17
  we thrive. For the fish, that's water. And for
• 2:20
  us, that's Christ. And we were in small group
• 2:24
  the other day and I was talking about just how
• 2:29
  what it means to be, does it feel restrictive
• 2:31
  or does it feel freeing to live in Christ? And
• 2:35
  I think that we can think of it in both ways
• 2:39
  because there's certain situations and certain
• 2:41
  ways that we know that we're not supposed to
• 2:43
  respond and so we feel restricted. But the freedom
• 2:46
  of the boundaries that he put in place, the guardrails
• 2:48
  that he put up, that we know where we are to
• 2:52
  go and where we're not to go and I find freedom
• 2:54
  in structure. I love it. And you know what's
• 2:59
  wild? Sometimes we don't even realize that we're
• 3:02
  in chains. Some of us are chained to sin. And
• 3:05
  so Roman 6, 16, a couple of weeks ago just blew
• 3:09
  my mind. Don't you know that whenever you were,
• 3:14
  that you offer yourself to someone as an obedient
• 3:17
  slave, you are slaves of what you obey. And so
• 3:22
  some of us are chained to people's opinions.
• 3:25
  Galatians 1, 10 says, I am now trying to win
• 3:29
  the approval of human beings or God. And some
• 3:32
  of us are chained to our past, things that we've
• 3:35
  done, things that we've said. Psalm 10312, as
• 3:40
  far as the East is from the West, as far as he
• 3:42
  has removed our transgressions from me. But there's
• 3:46
  a problem. We get so used to carrying chains
• 3:51
  that they often feel normal. Remember, Israel
• 3:55
  in Exodus 14, God literally rescues them from
• 3:58
  being slavery. And what do they do? I'm going
• 4:01
  to go back to Egypt. It was better there. Was
• 4:06
  it better there? Girl, we were laying bricks
• 4:09
  without straw. Just because slavery feels familiar
• 4:14
  doesn't mean that it's freedom. Freedom isn't
• 4:20
  free. Someone prayed for that and someone is
• 4:24
  Jesus. So Galatians 1 .5 says, it is for the
• 4:27
  freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm
• 4:30
  and then do not let ourselves be burdened against
• 4:33
  by the yoke of slavery. Did you catch that? Paul's
• 4:38
  not saying stand firm if you feel like it. He's
• 4:41
  saying, don't you dare go back to your chains.
• 4:45
  Here's the thing. Sometimes freedom requires
• 4:48
  discipline and that doesn't sound sexy or exciting
• 4:51
  or whatever, but it's true. Think of it if you're
• 4:57
  like you're working out and you can't just say
• 4:59
  I'm free from being out of shape and never move
• 5:05
  your body or eat vegetables or protein or whatever.
• 5:08
  You've got to practice freedom and flex those
• 5:10
  muscles every day. When you're practicing freedom
• 5:13
  you're letting go of old habits. You are setting
• 5:17
  boundaries of old habits and so they don't creep
• 5:19
  back in. And so living free every day. Okay,
• 5:23
  so let's take some practical reasons. Like you're
• 5:25
  like, okay, so I want to be free, but how do
• 5:27
  I stay free? So we had two, one, know the truth.
• 5:33
  John 8 32. Then you will know the truth and the
• 5:38
  truth will set you free. You've got to stay in
• 5:40
  your word. You've got to fall in love with scripture.
• 5:45
  And that way you know every lie the enemy whispers.
• 5:50
  because if you didn't know the devil knows scripture
• 5:54
  and if he has the audacity to go after christ
• 5:57
  with scripture he'll come after you with the
• 6:01
  same thing and he'll twist it and he'll make
• 6:04
  a little change here and a little change there
• 6:06
  and if you don't know what scripture says you'll
• 6:10
  think it's true but it's not to confess and release
• 6:15
  stop dragging around the guilt Take it to Jesus
• 6:19
  and leave it there. Don't pick it back up He
• 6:21
  said my burden and my yoke is light. Give it
• 6:24
  to me. You're not you're not meant to carry that
• 6:26
  around Three guard your heart if you're scrolling
• 6:30
  on Instagram makes you jealous and discontent
• 6:34
  set a boundary If that friendship keeps pulling
• 6:37
  you into sin Love them, but don't let them drag
• 6:41
  you down Your community is so important Do a
• 6:47
  friend check Do I really need them in the season
• 6:50
  of my life? What are they really doing for me?
• 6:53
  Are we going in the same direction? Four, walk
• 6:57
  with purpose. Freedom isn't passive. Wake up
• 7:01
  in the morning and ask God, how can I live for
• 7:04
  you free today? It's like being released from
• 7:08
  prison, but still sleeping in your cell because
• 7:11
  you don't know where the door's unlocked. Friend,
• 7:15
  the door is wide open. and step out. And so freedom
• 7:21
  isn't a feeling, it's a fact. Jesus didn't lie
• 7:25
  so that you could kind of live free. He died
• 7:28
  so you could walk boldly, confidently, and joyfully
• 7:32
  as the daughter and son of the Most High King.
• 7:38
  So stop apologizing for being free. Stop wanting
• 7:41
  and waiting for someone to give you the permission
• 7:44
  to live in victory. Christ has already given
• 7:47
  it to you. And so we would love to pray for you
• 7:51
  this week as we hope that this message has encouraged
• 7:53
  you. We hope that this message has allowed you
• 7:59
  to feel loved and that you are really set free.
• 8:06
  And we know this is a shorter episode, but we
• 8:07
  know that people are going to be busy over the
• 8:10
  holiday season and weekend. So we just wanted
• 8:13
  to give you a little snack and remind you. that
• 8:16
  you are free. And we wanted to give honor to
• 8:18
  those that have fought for our country to say
• 8:20
  thank you so much for giving and allowing us
• 8:23
  to live in a country that's free. So thank you
• 8:25
  for the fact that we live in the United States
• 8:28
  and that we are free. And so I would love to
• 8:31
  pray for you. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you
• 8:33
  so much for them. Thank you so much for our listeners.
• 8:36
  Thank you for our freedom. Thank you that you've
• 8:37
  purchased us through Jesus Christ. Help us stand
• 8:41
  firm and not return to our old chains. Remind
• 8:44
  us every day that we are no longer slaves to
• 8:46
  sin, that we are your children. Teach us to live
• 8:49
  free so that we can teach others and draw them
• 8:52
  into the light. Thank you for everything that
• 8:54
  you do. In Jesus name I pray. Amen. And so share
• 8:58
  this episode with somebody that is living in
• 9:00
  chains and remind them that Christ didn't set
• 9:05
  you free to live small. He set you free to live
• 9:09
  fully. So go live it out. Have an amazing week
• 9:13
  and we love you guys.