Freedom isn’t Free

I start with a quote from Will Rogers:

When I die, I want to die like my grandfather who died peacefully in his sleep. I don’t want to die screaming like all the passengers in his car.

Independence Day always reminds me that our Freedom was purchased by the sacrifices of those who’ve gone before us. The Declaration of Independence was adopted on July 4, 1776. Most of the delegates to the Second Continental Congress signed the document on August 2, 1776. By putting their names on this paper, these men risked losing everything if the British won the American Revolution.

History has been made by people who are willing to DO something that could potentially cost them everything.

God has always used  people who are ready and willing to rise up and do something great in the kingdom. People who are willing to take a stand against the darkness of this world and proclaim the gospel of Jesus.

The bible talks about people who once believed, but then fall away. People who are lukewarm in their faith.

People who choose to sit on the sidelines while others do the work of the kingdom. Christians must be warned that the enemy is using time to cultivate doubt and atrophy in the hearts of those who are not active in their relationship with Christ and with other believers.

I like what Jesus said in John 10:24-28

John 10:24–28 CEV

24 and the people gathered all around him. They said, “How long are you going to keep us guessing? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly!” 25 Jesus answered: I have told you, and you refused to believe me. The things I do by my Father’s authority show who I am. 26 But since you are not my sheep, you don’t believe me. 27 My sheep know my voice, and I know them. They follow me, 28 and I give them eternal life, so that they will never be lost. No one can snatch them out of my hand.

When you are a follower of Christ you must listen to His voice. You must have a relationship with Him. As believers we must be very careful of what we put into our brains…

I was talking to my daughter Katie about being in middle school and all the influences that are trying to bombard her. She was telling me things that almost made me melt in my seat because I didn’t think she had been exposed to such immorality at age 11.

I had to carefully explain to her that she was set apart by God to live a life different from the world, that she didn’t have to listen to the things her friends do, or do the things her friends do…please don’t do the things they do...

As adults we are no different. This world is trying to catch our ears and hearts and turn us away from the voice of Christ.

Be careful. Don’t be deceived. Christ is calling us to a higher purpose. You have value in the kingdom of God.

Listening to the voice of Christ is truly the only way we can be sure that we are not going to fall away when trouble hits.

I love what Jesus told them in John 10. He said that if we listen to His voice and follow Him that we will have eternal life and that NO ONE can snatch us from His hand. Isn’t that amazing? When you are committed to Christ then NOTHING can take you away from Him.

Oh, yes, you can still walk away, but if you are in fellowship with Jesus I can assure you that you won’t walk away, you will fall deeper in love with the one who loved you enough to lay down His own life for your past failures and all your sin.

Since the beginning of this year we have been talking about Resurgence on Sunday mornings.

This is a year of resurgence here in this church. We are going to rise up and take our place in the community to be the light God has called us to be. Not that we haven’t in the past, but I want us to push to a new level. Start a new chapter in the history of this body of believers.

The definition of resurgence is: an increase or revival after a period of little activity, popularity, or occurrence.

You see we must increase and have a revival in our lives. In our relationship with God. Now is the time, we are the people, and God is moving to do something new.

I was reading an article about the church. 20% - That’s the number of people that go to church on a regular basis in the US. They say by 2050 only 11% will be coming to church regularly. When I read that it really upset me. That’s the opposite of revival.

How do we reach people? Fancy lights? Smoke in the sanctuary? Newer Building?

No - I think it’s more personal than that - In that same article it said that when they surveyed people without kids under the age of 30 why they attended church I was surprised by the answer.

You know what it was? It was because they had RELATIONSHIPS in the church. When I got to that point in my reading I was thinking if that’s all it takes then the church should be growing! Not shrinking!

So what is happening? I think WE as the church aren’t building enough relationships. Who are you discipling on a daily basis? Remember Jesus told us to go and make disciples, right?

Well, we need to resurge. We need revival. We need to have an Exodus moment for things in our life that are stopping us from doing everything we can in and for the kingdom of God.

We must get ready. Our hearts and heads need to be in the right place.

I think sometimes we allow our past failures, our previous hurts, and our current troubles stop us dead in our tracks. I know that there are all kinds of things that have gone on and are going on in your lives. We all have lived in this crazy world.

Most of us have insecurities, inner battles that no one else sees, and sometimes we even can find it hard to understand how God can love or allow someone like us to be a part of His glorious plans.

I have to say that now can be your day of deliverance. That today can be YOUR Exodus moment. God wants to perform a miracle in your life, thoughts, habits, and relationships if you will let Him.

First you must realize that...

The Lord will Restore you

The bible refers to Jesus as a good shepherd. One of the best known scriptures in the Word of God says it this way, Psalm 23:1-3

The Lord is my shepherd;

I shall not want.

2 He makes me to lie down in [b]green pastures;

He leads me beside the [c]still waters.

3 He restores my soul;

He leads me in the paths of righteousness

For His name’s sake

When you surrender your life to Christ we are connected with a loving and caring shepherd. Which means that His will take care of you.

The past hurts, pains, struggles you have felt can be laid on His shoulders. He is beckoning you to lie down in green pastures. To allow Him to restore those broken parts in your life. To breathe life into your very soul.

So many people come to church, say a prayer at the end of the service and hope that will fix all their problems. This is really not how it works.

What should happen is that you hear the Word preached or taught and then you may dedicate yourself at the end of the service or even have an experience in prayer at the service, but the real ministry happens when you get home.

It’s called your quiet time with the Lord. Time you spend opening your bible and sitting in quiet prayer listening to the Holy Spirit speak to you and restore those portions of your life that seem so broken.

My father in law always tells the story of a time when he really understood who the Holy Spirit is in his life. He had been a believer since he was a teenager, went to church on a regular basis, served on the worship team, and as an adult he was on the financial board of his church. But he never really understood the intimate relationship that God wanted to have with him until on a business trip he decided to open the Bible and ask God to speak to him.

His heart wanted something deeper from the Lord. He told me that he started to read and pray and meditate on the word. As he did he said it was like the words on the page came to life, and he was able to understand and apply those words to his life.

He was never the same after that business trip because he understood that the Lord wanted to have a deep relationship with him that could only happen if he had that special, quality, private time alone with the Lord. Even to this day he will send me pictures of his journal and what the Lord spoke to him that day. I absolutely love it!

The Lord will restore your soul as you spend time with Him on a daily basis. Never neglect your private time with Him. We as believers must grow deeper in our relationship with the Lord.

I remind you that there is an enemy who would love for you to only have a superficial understanding of who you are in Christ. He would love for you to allow your past to dictate your future.

NOT THIS CHURCH. We are going to remember what Paul told us to do in Ephesians 6:11-13

11 Wear the full armor of God. Wear God’s armor so that you can fight against the devil’s clever tricks. 12 Our fight is not against people on earth. We are fighting against the rulers and authorities and the powers of this world’s darkness. We are fighting against the spiritual powers of evil in the heavenly places. 13 That is why you need to get God’s full armor. Then on the day of evil, you will be able to stand strong. And when you have finished the whole fight, you will still be standing.

We must allow the Lord to restore those things that stop us from being what we should be in the kingdom of God. We must be able to stand strong in our faith and in our knowledge of who we are in Christ Jesus.

When I read Ephesians 3:20 I can’t help but wonder about the potential we all have in Christ.

20 Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,

God’s power working in and through believers is unlimited and far beyond our comprehension.

This power in us is the Holy Spirit, who is constantly at work in our lives, seeking to produce the fruit of a Christlike character, rebuking us because of sin, guiding us in prayer, inspiring us in worship, directing us in service. The more we are yielded to Him, the greater will be His effectiveness in conforming us to Christ.

When we understand that we are who Paul is talking to in this particular verse you might understand that the burden is lifted off our shoulders. That God can do - That GOD is able to do exceeding abundantly above what we ask of think.

That is restoration.

Jesus will restore you and He will…

He will Deliver you.

Last time I was here I preached a sermon about the children of Israel being delivered from the hands of pharaoh in egypt.

You remember how they were in captivity for 400 years and the Lord sent the most unlikely guy in the world, a murderer named Moses, to speak to the pharaoh which resulted in plagues and finally the pharaoh allowed the children of israel to go free.

Now, listen to me tonight. I don’t care what your past looks like - more importantly GOD does not care what your past looks like. When God delivered you He made you new. You’ll never be perfect, but you ARE fit to be an active part in the kingdom of God.

I have a thing on my phone called Youtube Music. It’s pretty cool because it bluetooths to my car speakers and plays music. Not just any music though, it actually learns what I like and it will play just random songs that it thinks I like. Well, mostly it has old guy music. Like the gaithers, hymns, and stuff that drives Kristen nuts.

As I was driving one day and a song came on called, “Deliverance, this is MY Exodus”. It was more of a gospel song where the lady can hit the highest note on the piano and makes your toes go numb because it sounds so stinking good.

As I listened to the words it really moved me because it was talking about God’s people being delivered from the evil pharaoh who had enslaved the people for all those years.

You see, in our lives we are no different than those people in egypt. We are all being “enslaved” by something.

I know this is true because according to 2 Corinthians 3:18 it says ...are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.

This verse describes progressive sanctification. The more we grow in our knowledge of Christ, the more He is revealed in our lives. It also shows us that we are all dealing with something that we should surrender to Christ.

There could be something holding you back right now that you know you need to surrender tonight.

That something that you’re dealing with which is hindering you from living the life that Jesus promised we can have as believers.

Jesus said in chapter of John 10:10

10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

The problem with a lot of christians is that we still live in the mentality of our old life and we allow the thief to come in and steal, kill, and destroy us NOW. This should never be allowed!

Oh, you may have trouble, in fact you are promised troubles, but in your heart, and mind we have been given the victory over this thief. Jesus has brought to us a new life and we are to have it in full!

We are delivered from darkness and translated into the light. Don’t live in deception and in the past of your life. Look to the future and live in the now...of abundant life that Christ has purchased for you.

After 400 years those Israelites were set free. They were delivered. So are you! You can be restored and delivered through Christ Jesus.

If you don’t hear anything else tonight this is very important and really is the key to being restored and delivered....You must CHOOSE to be restored and delivered!

That’s right, it’s already been done. What you are struggling with now could be laid at the altar. Christ has promised you that victory.

Think again about those Israelites who had been set free... They had been in captivity for so long - for 400 years! It’s all they knew. Their family history was tied up into that land. They had homes and lives. They never knew anything different.

They didn’t know that life could be better. That God had something better from them. In their past all they knew was pain, hurt, abuse, anger, and suffering. Then one day they are told that they are free, but with one catch...they had to walk away from everything they knew.

They had to CHOOSE to be delivered. You and I are no different. Today you are given that same choice. I am asking you to make some decisions. To lay down your old life and all that is associated there and to choose to take a step into deliverance.

It may be hard because it’s all you’ve ever known.

2 Chronicles 7:14 tells us

14 if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

God will restore you, He will deliver you, and today can be the day you say….

This is my Exodus

You are released. Don’t stay in that land of captivity. Say hello to the brand new you. The things that you have struggled with don’t have to stay the same.

It doesn’t matter how others have labeled you

It doesn’t matter if you’ve failed 100 times before

It doesn’t matter what happened in the past

When you give your life and heart to God you can walk out of what has held you captive.

Those who want a life change will declare today that this is the day of change. This can be the day you exit your past disappointments and failures. You can and will be set free if you trust the Lord.

But you have to choose to take that step of faith. You must choose to dedicate your life to Christ. Surrender to His will. You will need to choose to allow resurgence in your own heart and life.

Things need to change.

Romans 10:9-10 says:

9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.

You see, the Lord has already paid it all for you. There’s no more sacrifice to be made. It all comes down to a choice from you. A choice that can change the trajectory of your life.

You can choose to be a lukewarm, pew sitter, or you can choose to live a life free from your insecurities, rise up to the high calling of Christ, and to be a part of the Kingdom our Living God.

None of us will ever regret living a life of service to the King of Kings.

Who wants to be restored, delivered, and is willing to make today your exodus day?