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What is the American Dream? [Response from the crowd?]

If you have a Bible I encourage you to open to , and as you turn there I want to ask.

Can you think of anyone who embodies the American Dream?

What is the American Dream? [Response from the crowd?]

All of those are great answers and I wouldn’t ever bring anyone down for pursuing good and virtuous things. But I want to ask that we all take a step back and take a look at what it is that our culture tells us on a daily basis.

Can you think of anyone who embodies the American Dream?

All of those are great answers and I wouldn’t ever bring anyone down for pursuing good and virtuous things. But I want to ask that we all take a step back and take a look at what it is that our culture tells us on a daily basis.

Based on what you said, the American Dream is a pursuit of freedom, autonomy (meaning I get to decide what’s right for me, that’s what that means), and by and large we live in a culture that tells us you are responsible for yourself so pick yourself up by your bootstraps.

Again, I do not want to speak harshly about something good, like freedom, but many of you have heard me say that sin isn’t just doing or thinking bad things, it can even be making good things, ultimate things.

Based on what you said, the American Dream is a pursuit of freedom, autonomy (meaning I get to decide what’s right for me, that’s what that means), and by and large we live in a culture that tells us you are responsible for yourself so pick yourself up by your bootstraps.

Again, I do not want to speak harshly about something good, like freedom, but many of you have heard me say that sin isn’t just doing or thinking bad things, it can even be making good things, ultimate things.

For example, making good grades is a good thing, right? We receive praise when we do well in school. It tends to lead to good things. But you might know someone who throws themselves into a panicked frenzy come exam time and they become this sleep-deprived, malnourished monster. Some of you may be that monster, I don’t know. When we make things like grades far too important in our lives we become slaves to them. Now you can sub out grades with sports, relationships, or whatever the case may be, but again we live in a culture that tells us, you can do anything that you set your mind to, so go out there and get it done.

So when someone comes along and tells us how we should live, that there is one truth out there, that being that there is life found in Jesus and Jesus alone, (Right? We read about that a couple of weeks ago out of when Jesus said that, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me) that fundamentally brushes up against our notions of desire, self-promotion, it brushes up against our notion of autonomy and our own personal freedom, that we have to submit to someone else.

But my question is… are restrictions all that bad?

So when someone comes along and tells us how we should live, that there is one truth out there, that being that there is life found in Jesus and Jesus alone, (Right? We read about that a couple of weeks ago out of when Jesus said that, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me) that fundamentally brushes up against our notions of desire, self-promotion, it brushes up against our notion of autonomy and our own personal freedom, that we have to submit to someone else.

But my question is… are restrictions all that bad?

We continue on in our apologetics study where at our last meeting we asked, why would a good God allow suffering, and we came away knowing that suffering is a reality, yes, but as that says, "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every way as we are, yet without sin.”

And this week we ask another question that I am sure that some of you have run across, “Isn’t Christianity just a straitjacket? Isn’t it just a bunch or rules telling you what you can and cannot do? It’s too stringent and harsh.

We continue on in our apologetics study where at our last meeting we asked, why would a good God allow suffering, and we came away knowing that suffering is a reality, yes, but as that says, "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every way as we are, yet without sin.”

And this week we ask another question that I am sure that some of you have run across, “Isn’t Christianity just a straitjacket? Isn’t it just a bunch or rules telling you what you can and cannot do? It’s too stringent and harsh.

But once again I ask, are restrictions, especially those handed down by God, really bad? Let’s open up to the Gospel of John and read of a really incredible exchange between Jesus and this down and out woman.

2 At dawn he went to the temple again, and all the people were coming to him. He sat downg and began to teach them.

But once again I ask, are restrictions, especially those handed down by God, really bad? Let’s open up to the Gospel of John and read of a really incredible exchange between Jesus and this down and out woman.

3 Then the scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery, making her stand in the center. 4 “Teacher,” they said to him, “this woman was caught in the act of committing adultery. 5 In the law Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?” 6 They asked this to trap him, in order that they might have evidence to accuse him.

2 At dawn he went to the temple again, and all the people were coming to him. He sat downg and began to teach them.

3 Then the scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery, making her stand in the center. 4 “Teacher,” they said to him, “this woman was caught in the act of committing adultery. 5 In the law Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?” 6 They asked this to trap him, in order that they might have evidence to accuse him.

Jesus stooped down and started writing on the ground with his finger. 7 When they persisted in questioning him, he stood up and said to them, “The one without sin among you should be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 Then he stooped down again and continued writing on the ground. 9 When they heard this, they left one by one, starting with the older men. Only he was left, with the woman in the center. 10 When Jesus stood up, he said to her,

“Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”

11 “No one, Lord,” she answered.

“Neither do I condemn you,” said Jesus. “Go, and from now on do not sin anymore.” - Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2017), .

A lot of people will run to this text and point out the amazing showing of forgiveness and redemption in this passage and that is absolutely right, but tonight I want us to key in on this final command that Jesus gave to the woman. “Go, and from now on do not sin anymore.” This is weighty. This is hard. Just the mere thought of hearing those words come from the mouth of Jesus cuts me deep and I hope that it does you as well.

“Neither do I condemn you,” said Jesus. “Go, and from now on do not sin anymore.” - Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2017), .

A lot of people will run to this text and point out the amazing showing of forgiveness and redemption in this passage and that is absolutely right, but tonight I want us to key in on this final command that Jesus gave to the woman. “Go, and from now on do not sin anymore.” This is weighty. This is hard. Just the mere thought of hearing those words come from the mouth of Jesus cuts me deep and I hope that it does you as well.

The reality is that Jesus takes sin seriously. Such is the case here with this tale of the adulterous woman,

Just as a side note, notice that the pharisees were in no way concerned with the man and yet the law would have stipulated that both the man and the woman would have received a death sentence. All the more revealing that the pharisees, those who would have known the most about the law, didn’t really have a concern for justice, righteousness, and definitely not compassion.

"But go and sin no more,” that was the command for this lady. Why? Because it should be obvious here that this lady was not leading a life that was drawing her closer to holiness, she was living outside of the bounds that God had set up for his people, and Jesus, upon restoring her livelihood was bidding her to turn away from destruction, turn away from you killing yourself.

So guys when we talk about sin in our lives it should be dealt with seriously. When we speak about what God’s word says about holiness we should talk about it seriously. God has handed down a sense of morality, virtuosity, and holiness not so that we can imprison our selves with worry, but so that through these structures, God might lead us to a life that flourishes in him.

"But go and sin no more,” that was the command for this lady. Why? Because it should be obvious here that this lady was not leading a life that was drawing her closer to holiness, she was living outside of the bounds that God had set up for his people, and Jesus, upon restoring her livelihood was bidding her to turn away from destruction, turn away from you killing yourself.

So guys when we talk about sin in our lives it should be dealt with seriously. When we speak about what God’s word says about holiness we should talk about it seriously. God has handed down a sense of morality, virtuosity, and holiness not so that we can imprison our selves with worry, but so that through these structures, God might lead us to a life that flourishes in him.

That is why when we talk about biblical sexuality, that God made man distinctly male and women distinctly female and that things like sex are given to us as good gifts, but only as he has handed them down to us.

says that for this reason a man will leave his father and mother and bonds with his wife and they will become one flesh.

That is why when we talk about biblical sexuality, that God made man distinctly male and women distinctly female and that things like sex are given to us as good gifts, but only as he has handed them down to us.

God has given us a gift and he has given us the parameters for how it is to serve our good. Not through having sex with your boyfriend or girlfriend be it in high school, college, not even in adulthood or pornography or in any other way that is outside of the context of marriage…

says that for this reason a man will leave his father and mother and bonds with his wife and they will become one flesh.

God has given us a gift and he has given us the parameters for how it is to serve our good. Not through having sex with your boyfriend or girlfriend be it in high school, college, not even in adulthood or pornography or in any other way that is outside of the context of marriage…

...but only as you enter into this relationship called marriage that is meant to reflect God’s relationship with his people.

Is this restrictive? Yes. Is it bad? No.

...but only as you enter into this relationship called marriage that is meant to reflect God’s relationship with his people.

We live in a day and age that tells us that you can’t tell me what my truth is, I get to decide that for myself. And yet it is one of the most unloving things to stand idly by and watch a dear loved one run headlong into sin.

Is this restrictive? Yes. Is it bad? No.

If you saw a friend or family member doing something that is blatantly causing them harm, drugs, drinking, having sex with their boyfriend or girlfriend, I hope that we would be moved with compassion to go to that brother and sister and plead with them, "STOP!” Can’t you see what you are doing to yourself?

We live in a day and age that tells us that you can’t tell me what my truth is, I get to decide that for myself. And yet it is one of the most unloving things to stand idly by and watch a dear loved one run headlong into sin.

You were meant for so much more. Paul speaks of true freedom in when he says, "17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 We all, with unveiled faces, are looking as in a mirror at the glory of the Lord and are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory; this is from the Lord who is the Spirit." - Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2017), .

If you saw a friend or family member doing something that is blatantly causing them harm, drugs, drinking, having sex with their boyfriend or girlfriend, I hope that we would be moved with compassion to go to that brother and sister and plead with them, "STOP!” Can’t you see what you are doing to yourself?

Freedom isn’t about doing away with any sort of restrictions but it is about finding the right ones that allow us all to strive towards the life that we were made for.

You were meant for so much more. Paul speaks of true freedom in when he says, "17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 We all, with unveiled faces, are looking as in a mirror at the glory of the Lord and are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory; this is from the Lord who is the Spirit." - Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2017), .

Freedom isn’t about doing away with any sort of restrictions but it is about finding the right ones that allow us all to strive towards the life that we were made for.

Disciplines and constraints, then, liberate us only when they fit with the reality of our nature and capacities. A fish, because it absorbs oxygen from water rather than air, is only free if it is restricted and limited to water. If we put it out on the grass, its freedom to move and even live is not enhanced, but destroyed. The fish dies if we do not honor the reality of its nature. In many areas of life, freedom is not so much the absence of restrictions as finding the right ones, the liberating restrictions. - Keller, Timothy. The Reason for God (p. 46). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

What is the environment that liberates us if we confine ourselves to it, like water liberates the fish? Love. Love is the most liberating freedom-loss of all. - Keller, Timothy. The Reason for God (p. 47). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

Think about it. Think about that time you saw him or you saw her and if it so happened to fall out this way, you began dating…

What is the environment that liberates us if we confine ourselves to it, like water liberates the fish? Love. Love is the most liberating freedom-loss of all. - Keller, Timothy. The Reason for God (p. 47). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

You started texting each other obsessively. If you left him/her on read it was the worst atrocity you possibly could have committed. Guys, if you get a girlfriend, you’re automatically broke… that’s just the way it goes. Fine candlelit dinners to the Chick-fil-a and tickets to the latest Rom-Com in theaters it adds up.

Think about it. Think about that time you saw him or you saw her and if it so happened to fall out this way, you began dating…

You started texting each other obsessively. If you left him/her on read it was the worst atrocity you possibly could have committed. Guys, if you get a girlfriend, you’re automatically broke… that’s just the way it goes. Fine candlelit dinners to the Chick-fil-a and tickets to the latest Rom-Com in theaters it adds up.

You lay your head down at night and your sending those last text messages,

“No, you go to bed first,”

You lay your head down at night and your sending those last text messages,

“No, you go to bed first,”

“No, you go to bed first,"

A loving relationship, be it romantic or a friendship always comes at a cost. You have to give up chunks of your individuality to be with someone. To say, “hey, we’re gonna date but I’m not even really gonna try to live up to your expectations.” You’re gonna set a world record for shortest relationship.

And yet, even though we give up mass amounts of “personal freedom” to enter into these relationships or friendships, never has the pursuit of such relationships been seen as a bad thing, right?

We are wired for it, guys. Being a friend, boyfriend, girlfriend, husband, wife, whatever it might be, it means sacrifice. And that brushes up against our own personal freedom.

And yet, even though we give up mass amounts of “personal freedom” to enter into these relationships or friendships, never has the pursuit of such relationships been seen as a bad thing, right?

Sure you could try to live a life relishing in your own personal freedom. Lock your heart away so that no one could touch it… but this is what C.S. Lewis says of that:

We are wired for it, guys. Being a friend, boyfriend, girlfriend, husband, wife, whatever it might be, it means sacrifice. And that brushes up against our own personal freedom.

Sure you could try to live a life relishing in your own personal freedom. Lock your heart away so that no one could touch it… but this is what C.S. Lewis says of that:

Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket—safe, dark, motionless, airless—it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. The alternative to tragedy, or at least to the risk of tragedy, is damnation. - Keller, Timothy. The Reason for God (p. 48). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

Instead, lets look to the life of Jesus. Here's someone who owed us nothing, he was the one who knew no sin and yet became sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God. Love came at a cost and God looked at you and He looked at me and he came to this earth and died on the cross that we deserved so that we might know what true eternal love really is.

Instead, let's look to the life of Jesus. Here's someone who owed us nothing, he was the one who knew no sin and yet became sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God. Love came at a cost and God looked at you and He looked at me and he came to this earth and died on the cross that we deserved so that we might know what true eternal love really is.

The love of Christ constrains. Once you realize how Jesus changed for you and gave himself for you, you aren’t afraid of giving up your freedom and therefore finding your freedom in him. - Keller, Timothy. The Reason for God (p. 50). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

"17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.”

Your soul may be in a dry and weary land and that truth is an oasis that quenches your deepest thirst. You may be dealing with sin in your life and you feel imprisoned by it. But here again that where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

There was a guy named St. Augustine and he said, “My soul is restless, until it finds its rest in you.” If that is you tonight I pray that you would lay down, and submit. I know that idea in our culture conveys weakness but the truth of the matter is that so many of you are shouldering burdens that you are not meant to bear. Pain, weakness, heartache, those are not your’s any longer. We sing it all the time, you are no longer a slave to fear, you are a child of God.

Go ahead and bow your heads. If that is you tonight, if you feel like a slave to fear, if you feel like a prisoner to sin and you cannot escape I want you to look up at me right now. We are here to serve you, not because we want to be a grand and famous youth ministry, but because your leaders in this room every single day remember what it was like to feel hopeless. I am going to ask one thing of you. We are going to sing one more song and if you are in need of someone to talk to, go to the back, find a leader and start by asking, can you please pray for me… I guarantee you that you will not be met with judgement or ridicule but you will find someone who loves you and would love to lift you up to God the Father because of what Jesus has done for them.

Father,

I commend to you the souls in this room and pray that just as you dealt with this woman in , you tell us that you do not condemn us, but you plead with us to draw in closer to you, to turn away from sin and turn towards true freedom found only in you.

Father there is so much heartache in this room and we know beyond a shadow of a doubt through your word that you are constantly making broken things beautiful. You are in the business of redemption. Our hearts are restless father, until the find their rest in you. Give us peace, Lord. Give us freedom.

Its in your Son’s name we pray,

… Amen