We exist to lead people into a new life of FREEDOM in Jesus.
To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said,\xa0\u201cIf you hold to my teaching,\xa0you are really my disciples.\xa0Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.\u201d John 8:31-36 (NIV)\xa0
They answered him, \u201cWe are Abraham\u2019s descendants\xa0and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?\u201d John 8:31-36 (NIV)
Jesus replied,\xa0\u201cVery truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.\xa0Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever.\xa0John 8:31-36 (NIV)
So if the Son sets you free,\xa0you will be free indeed. John 8:31-36 (NIV)
So also, when we were underage, we were in slavery\xa0under the elemental spiritual forces\xa0of the world.\xa0Galatians 4:3-9 (NIV)
But when the set time had fully come,\xa0God sent his Son,\xa0born of a woman,\xa0born under the law,\xa0to redeem\xa0those under the law, that we might receive adoption\xa0to sonship.\xa0Galatians 4:3-9 (NIV)\xa0
Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son\xa0into our hearts,\xa0the Spirit who calls out,\xa0\u201cAbba,\xa0Father.\u201d\xa0Galatians 4:3-9 (NIV)\xa0
So you are no longer a slave, but God\u2019s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir. Galatians 4:3-9 (NIV)
Formerly, when you did not know God,\xa0you were slaves\xa0to those who by nature are not gods.\xa0Galatians 4:3-9 (NIV)\xa0
But now that you know God\u2014or rather are known by God\u2014how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable forces? Do you wish to be enslaved\xa0by them all over again? Galatians 4:3-9 (NIV)
What does a life of Freedom look like?
...I pray that you, being rooted\xa0and established in love,\xa0may have power, together with all the Lord\u2019s holy people,\xa0to grasp how wide and long and high and deep\xa0is the love of Christ,\xa0and to know this love that surpasses knowledge\u2014that you may be filled\xa0to the measure of all the fullness of God. Ephesians 3:17-21 (NIV)
Now to him who is able\xa0to do immeasurably more than all we ask\xa0or imagine, according to his power\xa0that is at work within us\u2026\xa0Ephesians 3:17-21 (NIV)
The \u201cimmeasurably more\u201d that God wants to do in our lives, will always begin by us allowing His love to change us from the inside out.
If God is for us, who can ever be against us? Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won\u2019t he also give us everything else?\xa0Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one\u2014for God himself has given us right standing with himself.\xa0Romans 8:32-39 (NLT)
Who then will condemn us? No one\u2014for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God\u2019s right hand, pleading for us. Romans 8:32-39 (NLT)
Can anything ever separate us from Christ\u2019s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? ...No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. Romans 8:32-39 (NLT)\xa0
And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God\u2019s love. Romans 8:32-39 (NLT)
Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,\xa0neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow\u2014not even the powers of hell can separate us from God\u2019s love.\xa0No power in the sky above or in the earth below\u2014indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:32-39 (NLT)
The key to DISCOVERING freedom is accepting His love; the key to LIVING in Freedom is to let KEEP accepting it.
For the grace\xa0of God has appeared\xa0that offers salvation to all people.\xa0Titus 2:11-14 (NIV)
Grace = undeserved favor
It teaches us to say \u201cNo\u201d to ungodliness and worldly passions,\xa0and to live self-controlled,\xa0upright and godly lives\xa0in this present age,\xa0while we wait for the blessed hope\u2014the appearing\xa0of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ,\xa0who gave himself for us\xa0to redeem us from all wickedness\xa0and to purify for himself a people that are his very own,\xa0eager to do what is good. Titus 2:11-14 (NIV)
For it is by grace\xa0you have been saved,\xa0through faith\u2014and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God\u2014\xa0not by works,\xa0so that no one can boast. Ephesians 2:8-9 (NIV)
We will never outgrow our need for the Grace of God.
For we do not have a high priest\xa0who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are\u2014yet he did not sin.\xa0Hebrews 4:15-16 (NIV)
Let us then approach\xa0God\u2019s throne of grace with confidence,\xa0so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. Hebrews 4:15-16 (NIV)
So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won\u2019t be doing what your sinful nature craves.\xa0The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions\u2026\xa0Galatians 5:16-25 (NLT)
When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures,\xa0idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God. Galatians 5:16-25 (NLT)
But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,\xa0gentleness, and self-control. Galatians 5:16-25 (NLT)
Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there.\xa0 Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit\u2019s leading in every part of our lives. Galatians 5:16-25 (NLT)
But whenever someone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.\xa0For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.\xa02 Corinthians 3:16-18 (NLT)
So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord\u2014who is the Spirit\u2014makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image. 2 Corinthians 3:16-18 (NLT)