Sermon Tone Analysis

*HOW TO EXPERIENCE REAL FREEDOM*

*Feeling Free Again  -  Part 2 of 4*

*Luke 4:18-19 & Galatians 5:1*

*Rick Warren*

 

 

       Luke 4:18-19 /"The Spirit of the Lord has appointed me to preach Good News to the poor; he has sent me to heal the brokenhearted and to announce that captives shall be released and the blind shall see, that the downtrodden shall be freed from their oppressors, and that God is ready to give blessings to all who come to him."/

Jesus' 1st sermon (LB)

 

       Galatians 5:1 /"Freedom is what we have - Christ has set us free!"/ (GN)

 

 

*5 Kinds of Freedom*

* *

*1.

JESUS WANTS TO SET YOU FREE FROM THE ______________________________*

 

/       "For by the death of Christ we are set free, that is, our sins are forgiven.

How great is the grace of God which he gave to us in such large measure!"/

Eph.

1;7-8 (GN)

 

*2.

JESUS WANTS TO SET YOU FREE FROM THE ______________________________*

 

/       "Get rid of all bitterness, rage, and anger ... Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ, God forgave you."/

Eph.

4:31-32

 

*3.

JESUS WANTS TO SET YOU FREE FROM THE ______________________________*

 

/       "We do not aim to please men, but to please God, who knows us through and through."/  1 Thess.

2:4b (Ph)

 

*4.

JESUS WANTS TO SET YOU FREE FROM THE ______________________________*

 

       "/Jesus said... `Everyone who sins is a slave of sin ... But if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.'"/

John 8:34, 36

 

/       "If you are guided by the Spirit, you will be in no danger of yielding to self-indulgence, since self-indulgence is the opposite of the Spirit..."/  Gal.

5:16-17a (JB)

 

*5.

JESUS WANTS TO SET YOU FREE FROM THE _____________________________*

 

/       "Jesus became like us and shared our human nature.

He did this so that through his death he might destroy the Devil who has the power over death, and so set free those who were slaves all their lives because of their fear of death."/

Heb.

2:14-15

 

What is enslaving you?

\\ *HOW TO EXPERIENCE REAL FREEDOM*

*Feeling Free Again  -  Part 2 of 4*

*Luke 4:18-19 & Galatians 5:1*

*Rick Warren*

 

In Luke 4, the very first passage Jesus ever spoke -- it was His first public sermon, -- Jesus spelled out what was going to be the theme of His ministry.

/"The Spirit of the Lord has appointed me to preach good news to the poor.

He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted and to announce that captives shall be released and the blind shall see, that the downtrodden shall be freed from their oppressors and that God is ready to give blessings to all who come to Him."  /Jesus, in His very first sermon, said, “I came to bring good news”.

He said, “I've come to set people free”.

He said, “I am the truth, you will know the truth and the truth will set you free”.

And /"If the Son will set you free, you will be free indeed."/

This was the very first passage I selected when we started Saddleback.

In the very first sermon, I preached on this text saying that this is going to be a church of Good News.

I figured today, since about 1000 of you weren't there at that first service, I could get by with a rerun.

Someday you can go back and say, "I heard the very first sermon at Saddleback."

I want to talk about freedom today.

Jesus said, "I've come to set you free."

Galatians, /"Freedom is what we have.

Christ has set us free."

/ Jesus promises real and lasting freedom.

From what?

This morning, I want to give you three, four, five things that Jesus said, "I've come to set you free from".

*1.

JESUS SAID, I WANT TO SET YOU FREE FROM THE BURDEN OF GUILT.*

There are a lot of people bound up by guilt today.

One of the wisest decisions that the executives on television did was to put reruns of Columbo back on, on Saturday night.

I watch them every Saturday night.

Last night the bad guy was Johnny Cash.

They had him cast as a country-western singer (real innovative idea!).

He murdered somebody.

At the end, Columbo always figures out what happened and Cash got caught.

The closing words of the scene, Johnny Cash says, "I'm glad I finally got caught.

The guilt was killing me."

You cannot live indefinitely with guilt.

But the fact is all of us make mistakes and all of us are guilty.

How do you live with it?

Jesus said, "I want to set you free from it."

Ephesians 1:7-8 /"For by the death of Christ we are set free.

That is, our sins are forgiven.

How great is the grace of God which He gave to us in such large measure."/

Guilt robs you of happiness.

It causes depression.

It can make you sick.

Doctors say that 80% of the people in hospitals today could go home if they could get rid of guilt and bitterness.

The number one killer of college students now is suicide.

The number two killer of high school students is suicide.

Why?

Depression and guilt.

Yet God says, "I want to set you free."

I talk to a lot of people who have been in therapy for years and years.

Some of them just need to be forgiven.

They don't know how to get rid of the past.

"I am a prisoner of my past.

I don't know how to let go of the past.

It haunts me.

I'm afraid somebody's going to find out about it.

I've made mistakes.

How do I get on with my life?"

Jesus says, "I want to set you free from the burden of guilt."

The Bible says when we come to Christ, He takes us and forgives us instantly, He forgives us completely, He forgives us without question.

The Bible says, /"I've taken your sins and put them all behind My back."/

Out of sight.

"I've separated them as far as east from west."

Out of reach.

"I've put them where I remember them no more."

Out of memory.

Once you learn that God can forgive and forget, what God forgets then you can forget.

The Bible says in Psalms, when we confess our sins to Him, He takes them and puts them in the deepest part of the ocean and then He puts up a ‘No Fishing’ sign.

He doesn't want you pulling them back out.

He doesn't want you bringing them back out.

If you come to God and say, "God, I've really made a mess of my life.

I've made mistakes and this is what I've done wrong and please forgive me."

You're forgiven, and God says, "I not only forgive but I wipe the slate clean."