Be Free

You are listening to a message from Thrive Community Church, a church located in Southwest Florida. For more info, visit us at thrive-fl.org. We're in this series called Be. I think there's a couple of quotes today. I didn't write these things. These are quotes that are so good, it's worth kind of sitting down and reading them again during the week and just letting them kind of marinate, you know, just kind of sit there on you for a while to learn. So, be free. Paul says in Galatians chapter 5, For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm therefore and do not submit again to yoke of slavery. We're going to be really exploring that verse today, along with a bit more in Galatians chapter 5. But when you hear somebody say, be free, what comes across to you? You know, it's one thing if you're like in the middle of Estero Community Park and somebody comes up to you and says, be free. You'd look at them like, what's going on? Are you in the right mental state? Why? I am free. There's nothing constraining me. I'm just hanging out at the park. That's one thing. Another would be if you are struggling with an addiction in life and someone tells you, be free. You almost feel like that's a command rather than a freeing statement at all. It's like, I've got to free myself. I've got to figure out how to do this. And when you tell me to be free, you're acting... And you can almost feel the burden of that on an individual facing that because, oh my goodness, what happens if I fail again? Because I often have relapses and now you're telling me I have to be free and I don't feel free at all. But it's another. If you happen to be in a prison and a prison guard opens the door and says, be free, all charges are dropped. Now that's freedom, right? And that's kind of, I think, a little of what Paul is getting at today in our text. So we're going to be reading from Galatians chapter 5, the first 15 verses. For freedom, Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. Look, I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law. You are severed from Christ. You who would be justified by the law, you have fallen away from grace. For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly await for the hope of righteousness. For in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything but only faith working through love. You were writing well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? This persuasion is not from him who calls you. A little leaven leavens the whole lump. I have confidence in the Lord that you will take no other view, and the one who is troubling you will bear the penalty, whoever he is. But if I, brother, still preach circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case, the offense of the cross has been removed. I wish those who uncivil you would emasculate themselves. For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another. So for anyone who might be here for the first Sunday, welcome. It's great to have you here. It's great to see you. I'm going to catch you up a little on the series. We started this new year, the month of January and twenty twenty three with this series called B, because too often I think we have these ideas of New Year's resolutions and what we create is a to do list. Any of you have a to do list? And I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, a honey do list. Honey, would you do? So that's a list somebody else gives you. Hopefully your honey. But what if we created a to be list? What if we created a to be list? Because I think the scriptures will tell you again and again, Jesus himself speaks to this. It's who you are matters more than what you do. In fact, who you are then spills out into what you do. OK, it matters more about who you are becoming and however. So this year it might be not what you do, but who you are while you are doing it. Are you someone who is patient and kind while you are working? Are you someone who is explain exhibiting the character of God? So God's intent actually from the beginning was about who we were made to be. He created us, as Genesis says, in God's image, in the image of God. And people have debated what is the image of God? The image of God is that we would reflect God, that we would image him, that we would be his mirror, his glory onto the rest of creation to have dominion, to use this creation for God's glory, to benefit the creation, to be to this creation as God, that we would be within his creation, his glory, his image, his bearers. But we decided, no, we got a better idea, right? I want to do it my way. So ...