| Good Morning Everyone, Our theme for this month: “You have been set free” Our Bible verse for today: “Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible.” 1 Corinthians 9:19 (NIV) Our thought for today: “Help others find freedom too” As we near the end of our study on the theme of “You have been set free”, I think it’s important to remind ourselves of the two primary reasons Jesus has set us free. First, He set us free from the penalty of our sins so that we can spend eternity in heaven. And second, once we received that salvation and experienced that freedom, He then left us here on earth in order to help others find that freedom too. As we have learned, we are now to be on-mission with Him in this world blessing others and leading them to faith in Him. The Apostle Paul understood that. From the moment He was saved on the road to Damascus, the focus of his life was to help others find the freedom from sin that he himself had received. That’s what he was describing in 1 Corinthians 9:19-23. In the rest of the passage, he went on to describe all of the sacrifices he was willing to make in order to reach people with the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Not only did Paul live that way himself, he taught the rest of us to do so as well. In Galatians 5:13 he wrote, “You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature, rather, serve one another in love.” Likewise, in Philippians 2:4 we read, “Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.” The Apostle Peter taught this as well. In 1 Peter 4:10 he wrote, “Each one of us should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.” And all of this of course, is based upon the example that Jesus Himself set for us. “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.” Mark 10:45. And, “I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.” John 13:15. Jesus even went on to say that as far as He is concerned, the greatest and most faithful followers are those who are the best servants: “The greatest among you will be your servant.” Matthew 23:11. The teaching is clear – we have been set free from our sins, now we are to help others discover that same freedom. The best way to do that is to serve them in the name of Jesus, then tell them the Good News of the Gospel. Nothing we do will be of more benefit to our society and to our nation than for Christians to be on-mission with Jesus in the communities where we live. God Bless, Pastor Jim |
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