Published: Feb. 15, 2015, 10:25 p.m.

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Intro: Welcome to Freedom Church\\u2026 We\\u2019re so glad you\\u2019re here with us!

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We are in the middle of our series called the \\u201cFOUR CUPS\\u201d\\u2026which lays out 4 promises that God made to us\\u2026HIS ultimate plan for each of our lives.

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Here\\u2019s why this matters\\u2026 We are all on a spiritual journey\\u2026looking for answers.\\xa0

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This plan God has for us\\u2026 answers our questions. \\xa0This plan is found symbolically in the yearly Jewish Passover\\u2026 as a reminder of God\\u2019s promises.

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\\u201cI am the\\xa0Lord, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians.\\xa0I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem\\xa0you with an outstretched arm\\xa0and with mighty acts of judgment.\\xa0^7\\xa0I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God\\u2026\\u201d Exodus 6:6-7 (NIV)

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The Four Cups

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1.\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 The Cup of Sanctification\\xa0 - \\u201cI Will Bring You Out.\\u201d (Salvation)

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2.\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 The Cup of Deliverance\\xa0 - \\u201cI Will Free You.\\u201d(Working on issues)

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3.\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 The Cup of Redemption \\u2013 \\u201cI Will Redeem you.\\u201d(Discovering)

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4.\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 The Cup of Praise -\\xa0 \\u201cI Will Take You As My Own People.\\u201d (Fulfilled Living)

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There is a huge disconnect in so may of us\\u2026 We\\u2019re saved\\u2026 BUT WHY?

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\\u201cWhy am I here?\\u201d

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Transition:\\xa0 The answer to that question is found in cup 3\\u2026

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The Cup of Redemption

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\\u2026I will redeem\\xa0you with an outstretched arm\\xa0and with mighty acts of judgment.\\u201d Exodus 6:6 (NIV)

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Redeem:

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1. To buy back or repurchase\\xa0 (Owned by someone else\\u2026 wrong place\\u2026 Jesus)

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2. To change for better or reform (Low goals\\u2026 most people\\u2026 good = no bad)

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3. Repair or restore(A restored car\\u2026 back to its original intent, but now it\\u2019s priceless!!)

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Transition:\\xa0 Ok\\u2026 if this is God\\u2019s plan (which sounds great) why do so few experience it?

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The answer\\u2026 is actually found in the promise.\\xa0

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I\\u2019m going to redeem you, and I\\u2019m going to do it 2 ways.

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\\u2026I will redeem\\xa0you with an outstretched arm\\xa0and with mighty acts of judgment.\\u201d Exodus 6:6 (NIV)

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Why an outstretched arm?\\xa0 Most you are in a place much lower than God sees us.\\xa0

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He lifted me out of the pit of despair, out of the mud and the mire. He set my feet on solid ground and steadied me as I walked along.Psalm 40:2 (NLT)

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Or lets put it this way\\u2026 Most of us don\\u2019t see ourselves the way God sees us.

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\\u201cLow\\u2026 broken\\u2026going to heaven, but have nothing to offer\\u2026 nothing you can work with.\\u201d

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Two things that keep us from experience this promise:

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1.\\xa0 Inferiority

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We don\\u2019t see the greatness that God sees in us\\u2026 (Sinners, wretched, Ready Now)

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True\\u2026 BUT then you met God.\\xa0 He does not want you to maintain that view.\\xa0 HE wants to lift you out.

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\\u2026Your right hand has held me up, your gentleness has made me great. Psalm 18:35 (NKJV)

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Inferiority leads to insecurity, which affects our identity.

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This is why so many of us are driven by what others think\\u2026

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(Growing up\\u2026insecure\\u2026 middle school\\u2026 high school\\u2026 music\\u2026my first message)

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The more I learned to see myself the way God sees me, the more I stopped trying to prove myself and find acceptance through human approval\\u2026 and the more I learned to walk confidently in my identity.

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Too often we see life through the rear view mirror\\u2026 instead of looking straight ahead to what God sees.

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So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.\\xa0^2\\xa0And because you belong to him, the powerof the life-giving Spirit has freed you\\xa0from the power of sin that leads to death. Romans 8:1-2 (NLT)

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So how does God see us?\\xa0

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For we are God\\u2019s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. Ephesians 2:10 (NLT)

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God sees things in you that you don\\u2019t see in yourself\\u2026 and honestly that other people don\\u2019t see as well.\\xa0 (Sibling rivalry)

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Get GOD\\u2019S view of yourself\\u2026 and others. (Honor = God\\u2019s view of people)

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Transition:\\xa0 That\\u2019s part of His redemption plan\\u2026 the other part is the second part of that verse.

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\\u2026I will redeem\\xa0you with an outstretched arm\\xa0and with mighty acts of judgment.\\u201d Exodus 6:6 (NIV)

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Acts of judgment\\u2026 but not against us\\u2026 against our enemy.

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The devil has a DIFFERENT plan for your life.\\xa0 (Do you how?)

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2.\\xa0 DIVERSION

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(The part God didn\\u2019t plan\\u2026 but you lived.)

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The thief\\u2019s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life. John 10:10 (NLT)

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God\\u2019s judgment of the enemy\\u2026 cancels His plan off of your life.

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You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins.\\xa0^14\\xa0He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross.\\xa0^15\\xa0In this way, he disarmedthe spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross. Colossians 2:13-15 (NLT)

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The enemy has no claim, debt, or authority on your life\\u2026 and God is just waiting for us to realize it!

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But\\u2026his plan of diversion is not just the bad things we\\u2019ve done or that have been done to us.

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Success can be a diversion\\u2026 we try to realign our identity and purpose by what WE can accomplish.\\xa0

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Regardless of how\\u2026 the enemy is trying to divert us from living out our full purpose.\\xa0

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We wanted very much to come to you, and I, Paul, tried again and again, but Satan prevented us. 1 Thessalonians 2:18 (NLT)

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Prevent = to stop progress

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He can\\u2019t physically touch you\\u2026 but He can touch your path.\\xa0 (Broken world)

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And we know that God causes everything to work together\\xa0for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. Romans 8:28 (NLT)

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(Map analogy\\u2026 ANY path you have taken\\u2026 there IS a road!)

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God\\u2019s gifts and God\\u2019s call are under full warranty\\u2014never canceled, never rescinded. Romans 11:29 (MSG)

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Which means\\u2026 God has NEVER changed His mind about you.\\xa0 He never will.

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He can always\\u2026 redeem you.\\xa0 How?

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How do we drink from the Cup of Redemption?

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Spiritual Gifts\\xa0 \\u2026Simply put God has put something on the inside of you to do.\\xa0

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We have different gifts,\\xa0according to the grace given to each of us\\u2026 Romans 12:6(NIV)

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Grace = Charis (Divine enablement)

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Grace gift\\u2026 something you are good and enjoy doing. (public speaking)

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(Working with Kids\\u2026 or my hands) \\u2026Music, helping the poor, leading others\\u2026GOD DID THAT!

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Follow the way of love\\xa0and eagerly desire\\xa0spiritual gifts\\u2026 1 Corinthians 14:1 (NIV)

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Go after it!! (Studies show that 87% of the body of Christ doesn\\u2019t know what their gift is)

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We want to help you discover it\\u2026 because when you do life gets fun.\\xa0

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(My favorite part of ministry)

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\\xa0\\u201cThis weeks issue\\u201d --- TO --- Making such a difference and having so much fun\\u2026

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God has better\\u2026 He wants you to make a difference\\u2026live with purpose\\u2026 to know why you are on this planet.

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SO How do we?

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1.\\xa0 Discover your gift

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Your design reveals your destiny.

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God had something for you to do, before he created you. (Not the other way around\\u2026)

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You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body\\xa0and knit me together in my mother\\u2019s womb.^14\\xa0Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous\\u2014how well I know it. Psalm 139:13-14 (NLT)

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You are COMPLEX!\\xa0 (what you like, laugh at, do well, think about\\u2026)

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HOW you were made\\u2026 points to WHAT you are suppose to do.\\xa0

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The key to it all\\u2026 is God.\\xa0 Schooling, success, ambition can\\u2019t do it.

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It\\u2019s in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, he had his eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, part of the overall purpose he is working out in everything and everyone. Ephesians 1:11-12 (MSG)

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For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible... everything\\xa0got started in him and finds its purpose in him. Colossians 1:16(MSG)

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2.\\xa0 Develop your Gift

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It\\u2019s never perfect when you discover it\\u2026

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Our job as a church\\u2026 is to help you discover it.\\xa0 Growth Track

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But to each one of us\\xa0grace\\xa0has been given\\xa0as Christ apportioned it.

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^11\\xa0So Christ himself gave\\xa0the apostles,\\xa0the prophets,\\xa0the evangelists,\\xa0the pastors and teachers,\\xa0^12\\xa0to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ\\xa0may be built up\\u2026 Ephesians 4:7,11-12(NIV)

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3. Use Your Gift

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This is when life gets fun\\u2026 this is when you can lay your head down at night and be satisfied\\u2026 yea you have problems\\u2026 but life is fulfilling because what I do is bigger than my problems!

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This is how you live\\u2026(Honor all who are using their gifts).

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God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another.1 Peter 4:10 (NLT)

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Your real purpose is to serve God by serving others.

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Our ultimate expression of worship is to love people on His behalf.\\xa0

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For God is not unjust. He will not forget how hard you have worked for him and how you have shown your love to him by caring for other believers,\\xa0as you still do. Hebrews 6:10 (NLT)

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Big Idea:

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Challenge:

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(Pray \\u2013 Salvation / Discovery)

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Communion

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When the time came, Jesus and the apostles sat down together at the table.^[a]\\xa0^15\\xa0Jesus said,\\xa0\\u201cI have been very eager to eat this Passover meal with you before my suffering begins.\\xa0^16\\xa0For I tell you now that I won\\u2019t eat this meal again until its meaning is fulfilled in the Kingdom of God.\\u201d

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^17\\xa0Then he took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. Then he said,\\xa0\\u201cTake this and share it among yourselves.\\xa0^18\\xa0For I will not drink wine again until the Kingdom of God has come.\\u201d

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^19\\xa0He took some bread and gave thanks to God for it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying,\\xa0\\u201cThis is my body, which is given for you. Do this to remember me.\\u201d

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^20\\xa0After supper he took another cup of wine and said,\\xa0\\u201cThis cup is the new covenant between God and his people\\u2014an agreement confirmed with my blood, which is poured out as a sacrifice for you. Luke 22:14-20 (NLT)

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