Men's Retreat 2022 - Freedom

It is for Freedom

Intro

The state of the world is one of captivity

There is no path to freedom apart from Christ

Christ’ path is the way of the cross

Cult of Self-Worship

II. The Cult of Self

a. In their recent book Good Faith: Being a Christian When Society Thinks You’re Irrelevant and Extreme, David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons document that 84 percent of Americans believe that “enjoying yourself is the highest goal of life.”

Further, 86 percent believe that to enjoy yourself you must “pursue the things you desire most.”

And 91 percent affirm this statement: “To find yourself, look within yourself.”

In our day, the Westminster Catechism answer has been inverted: “the chief end of man is to glorify and enjoy himself forever.”

b. 6 commandments of the cult of self

i. Your mind is the source and standard of truth, so no matter what, trust yourself. #theanswersarewithin

1. 6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. John 14:6

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ii. Your emotions are authoritative, so never question (or let anyone else question) your feelings. #followyourheart

1. 9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? 10 “I the LORD search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.” Jeremiah 17:9-10

2. Follow your heart? Really?

iii. You are sovereign, so flex your omnipotence and bend the universe around your dreams and desires. #liveyourtruth

1. 3 “You shall have no other gods before me. Exodus 20:3

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iv. You are supreme, so always act according to your chief end, to glorify and enjoy yourself forever. #yolo

1. 27 And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, 28 so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him. Hebrews 9:27-28

2. Live for eternity

v. You are the summum bonum—the standard of goodness—so don’t let anyone oppress you with the antiquated notion of being a sinner who needs grace. #neverchange.

1. 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, Romans 3:23-24

2. Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand

3. You can’t tell someone who is depressed and anxious and insecure to never change, that’s depressing

vi. You are the Creator, so use that limitless creative power to craft your identity and purpose. #authenticity.

1. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. Ephesians 2:8-10

2. Stop striving to be “authentic” and seek to be who you are in Christ

3. There is so much comfort in the fact that it is who He has made you that matters

c. Antidote: “Let all that you do declare that I am not the glowing center of the universe”