Sermonette: Aug 5, 2019

Freedom. Yep, that word sure sounds good, doesn't it? Of course, freedom can mean different things to different people. Here we are, in the last of the summer months, the children are still out of school and free from classes and homework, but not for long. For the most part, family vacations are over and parents will have also lost their freedom from the daily grind of work. However, we're not free from our responsibilities to our children or spouses, and others in our care. We are free to go wherever we wish, in our free time but if we are driving, we are required to follow the rules of the road. We are free to order ice cream or other summer delights on a hot day at a restaurant, but we must pay for it. Throughout the history of the world, it seems we've always had the word freedom in our vocabulary. But, there has always been a caveat associated with the word freedom.

God told Adam that he was free to eat whatever he wanted, but he was to stay away from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. God had Moses lead the Israelites out of bondage in Egypt, to freedom. But, they were not free to ignore all that God had done for them. Even living in the promised land, under the law, the people, although free from Egypt, were anything but free. There were laws mandating everything from what they could and couldn't eat to how to sacrifice the different species of animals to atone for various sins or in celebration of particular festivals.

Earlier this season, when we celebrated Memorial Day, we honored those brave men and women who gave their lives so those remaining home would be free from those who wished to force their ideologies on the world. We celebrated the Fourth of July, a day in which the Declaration of Independence was signed, establishing our freedom from England. We enjoy a freedom with Christ. He willfully died on a cross so that we may be free from sin and death. We cannot ever be free from sin on our own; we can never live up to God's commandments on our own. But thankfully, we have the Holy Spirit that can lead us to know that Jesus Christ is indeed our savior and redeemer and that God's grace, is a gift to us.

It is an absolutely free gift. We cannot buy it or earn it. Christ's death indeed has set us free but again, there is a caveat. Certainly, we are free to worship him or not. We are free to follow his commandments or not, but if we choose to use our freedom to go our own way and ignore him, we will lose the freedom he died to give us. So as we enjoy the freedoms that the summer brings, whether it be a trip somewhere far away or just a lazy weekend at a local lake, remember that it is through the power and promise of Christ's resurrection, that we are free. So set apart some of your free time for what's left of the summer for worship. Blessings to you all.