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Sermon Details
- Pastor Name: Jonathan Cornell
- Date & Time: July 5, 2015 | 10:00am
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SERMON SERIES:
Deep Breath
This weekend, our nation is celebrating its freedom and independence. But for many right now, life doesn’t feel very free. In the last month alone, we were confronted with questions of monumental significance. Questions like what does it mean to worship freely, express oneself and one’s heritage freely, what does it mean to be in relationship and love others freely? But isn’t it ironic that while we are living in a time of unprecedented opportunities, many of us don’t really feel very free?
Freedom and license are not the same thing, and it can be a very difficult thing to admit when we’re wrong, when we’re trapped, when we’re addicted. Freedom brings with it a host of choices, and we hope that if we make the right choices along the way that the destination will be happiness. Only the problem with choosing our course for freedom is that when we are free but still not happy, you only have yourself to blame.
When we were little, we were told what to do by our parents and teachers. We thought they didn’t understand us, and that if we could just get free, things would be okay. Then we grew up and left home, only now the burden of maturity is having to take responsibility for how our lives turn out. Now that we’re free to do what we want, where we want, when we want, and with whom we want, who can we blame for our problems but ourselves?
This weekend, our nation is throwing a huge party reminding you that you are free. And now that freedom is even more widely offered. So, the pursuit of happiness is yours. Do you feel free? Are you still struggling to get the happiness and the life you want? If you are, then maybe the battle isn’t really out there so much as it’s in here.
The letter of First Peter tells us that there is a battle being waged against the soul. It’s a battle for independence. Because you can have the greatest life, filled with all the money and power and leisure you can cram in there, but unless your soul is free, you will still desire more.
On the flip side, however, once you have found freedom in your soul, it doesn’t matter how many opportunities are taken away, how much health you lose, how many commitments you have, you will always be free.
Download the entire transcript here: 1 Peter 2 The Fresh Air of Freedom
