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Sermon Series:
Following Jesus
Earthly Cross
His Name Is
Apostles Creed
Dealing with Feelings
Jonah
Get Real
Promised Land Living

Grace Church
257 Kendall Street
Burlington, WI 53105

(262) 763-3021

Email:
Pastor Scott Carson

Secretary Patti Hall

PASTOR'S PENS 2005

Grace Church of Burlington July 3, 2005 “No man in this world attains to freedom from any slavery except by entrance into some higher servitude. There is no such thing as an entirely free man conceivable.”  Phillips Brooks       If there ever was a misunderstood concept today, it’s freedom. What is freedom? Is freedom being able to come and go as you please, do or don’t do as you please, say anything you want? No, and no one has that freedom. There is no such thing as absolute freedom.       If we go back to Genesis and the Creation account, we find that God created Adam and Eve and gave them dominion over all of creation. They could go where they wanted, do what they wanted. They could build a tree-house, play Monopoly, pet the animals, or get on the Internet and check out the most recent issue of creation magazine, edited and published by the world’s true and living God. They could even sit down and picnic on any of the fruits and vegetables from their worldwide garden. You know the story...they could do anything BUT God told them not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. They were free to do anything but one thing, and they did it anyway. As a consequence of their choice, sin and death entered into the human race. Adam and Eve were freer than any human beings have ever been. Freedom in its most basic form is that same choice that they had. Every morning Adam and Eve woke up they had the freedom to choose to obey or disobey God.         Freedom is not of this world. Freedom as this world knows it is self-centered,  self-exalting, self-righteous, and self-destructive. There is no such thing as absolute freedom this side of Heaven.       Each of us will serve one master. Not two, but one. Jesus said you cannot serve two masters at once. Freedom then in its most basic form is that choice. Freedom in its fullest form, that we’re ever going to know this side of the grave, is the result of making the right choice.        There are only two masters: Jesus or Satan. Jesus is not just our Savior, He is also Lord. This is what He was talking about when He promised, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Mt. 11:28-30). While Jesus is a gracious, loving Master – He is still Master. He has saved us to serve Him (Ephesians 2:10). Salvation has a yoke. It is only in a relationship with Him that we know freedom – freedom from the penalty, power and ultimately, presence of sin.       This freedom for the believer though demands sensitivity. This is such a major concern that the Apostle Paul addresses it twice, once in Romans 14 and again in 1 Corinthians 8. You see, some believers enjoying their freedom in Christ forget that they are to be free responsibly. If my freedom causes a younger or weaker brother to stumble in their spiritual walk, then I need to limit my liberty. There is no better example of this at Grace than the issue of alcohol. Alcoholism is a major problem in Wisconsin. Our state has five times more taverns than even Minnesota. We have many believers at Grace who were saved out of alcoholism. Though Scripture does not prohibit partaking of alcoholic beverages, if a believer’s freedom causes another to stumble then we must limit our liberty. The same principle holds true to many other areas. The point is that my liberty must sometimes be sacrificed to protect a weaker brother or sister.      But let me point out something even more important...the majority of the people around us are still enslaved. Peter writes, “They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity--for a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him” (2 Peter 2:19). The Cross is an enslaved world’s Emancipation Proclamation. Those who have not yet come to Christ are enslaved by a cruel master, Satan himself.     Some of you may not know that the Underground Railroad used to come through our community. This was a wonderful plan to help slaves be free prior to the Civil War. Slavery is a horrible thing and even today in parts of the world it still exists. But spiritual slavery is taking place all around us...and we have the keys to freedom. It’s the Gospel. It’s God’s plan of salvation.        So this weekend as you celebrate your American freedom, make sure that you  are also sharing Christ’s Emancipation Proclamation! That’s why God has left us here! It’s our mission. So are you sharing it? Are you seeking to build redemptive relationships? When was the last time that you shared your faith? Our world, for all of its talk of freedom, is enslaved. We have the keys to their chains...let freedom ring from our lips and our lives!!