FREEDOM – UNDER GOD
Today is the 4th of July, Independence Day! Celebrate our Freedom as Americans.
Picnics, fireworks, Red, White, and Blue…FREEDOM!
We were made in the image of God and for God – made to thrive in freedom.
Pledge of Allegiance…One nation, Under God, Indivisible, with Liberty & Justice for ALL!
1) Pledge of Allegiance…ONE NATION
NOT ONLY AMERICANS…
– WE ARE REPRESENTATIVES OF HEAVEN
9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. I Peter 2:9
-WE MUST ALWAYS REPRESENT CHRIST
12 Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us. I Peter 2:12
2) Pledge of Allegiance…UNDER GOD
HOW DO WE LIVE UNDER GOD
IN AN ANTI-GOD CULTURE?
6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. I Peter 5:6
Under God – means we don’t run from culture, but rather influence it!
3) Pledge of Allegiance…INDIVISIBLE
20 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one… 23 so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. John 17:20-21, 23
12 Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. 14 Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many. I Corinthians 12:12-14
Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 10 Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. Romans 12:9-10
4) Pledge of Allegiance…LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL
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HOW DO WE LIVE FOR JESUS IN THE CURRENT CULTURE?
- LIVE IN GRACE AND TRUTH.
14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.John 1:14
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– ONLY TRUTH- LEADS TO RULES AND REBELLION.
– ONLY GRACE – LEADS TO DOING WHATEVER YOU WANT
The Church needs to be a…
Safe place for people to belong before they believe.
Safe place for people to belong before they behave.
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Truth isn’t restrictive and suppressive…
Truth is freeing and life-giving!
“Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:32
HOW DO WE LIVE FOR JESUS IN THE CURRENT CULTURE?
– SPEAK UP RESPECTFULLY
9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. I Peter 2:9
-KNOW WHEN TO STAY QUIET
44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, Matthew 5:44
-LET YOUR ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDLY
12 Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us. I Peter 2:12
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. John 3:16-17
