Romans 8: Our Champion (1- Free to Follow Him)

It is so good to see you today.

Happy summer at Real Life Church.

I know summer doesn't technically start until later in the month, but nobody told the weather.

So happy summer to you.

I hope that you are having a good kickoff to your summer and, if you have your Bibles, want to open up with me.

We are going to be beginning a brand new series today in the book of Romans, romans chapter eight, and we're calling it the champion and we're so excited about this.

And at the end of the service, we're actually going to receive communion with one another, and so I'm going to prepare your hearts for that.

And I want to tell you about two things.

While you're finding the book of Romans, let me go ahead and tell you.

It's in the New Testament.

Go to the right and you'll find it eventually.

Right, you'll find it.

But if it's your first time joining us, please, before you leave, I'd love for you to fill out our Connect card.

You can drop it off by the Welcome Center.

We have a free gift for you and we would like to give you a free Bible today so that next time you come, you can open up your Bibles with us.

And also, if you didn't already know, this RLC is putting on a men-only fishing tournament next weekend, and so I am so excited it's for men only, because if it was for everybody, lisa Glisson would go ahead and get the trophy.

Okay, I have been told she is the best fisher person out of all of us, but she's not allowed.

Therefore, we all might win.

So if you want to know more about that, make sure you stop by the welcome center and say sign me up.

I want to win the tournament and we're going to have a lot of fun.

And I'll go ahead and tell you I lot of fun.

And I'll go ahead and tell you I'm probably going to come in last place.

Okay, cause I can.

I can eat them.

I'm not good at catching them.

So if you have your Bibles and you're ready to go, uh, as we get ready to jump into this new series, I just want to kind of kind of bring everybody into the room so we kind of understand why a series on Romans, chapter eight, is so important.

So I want to say something that I would, I think maybe we would all agree with.

So, if you're ready, kind of like agree with me.

That is this.

There's a lot of bad news in the world.

Does anybody agree with that?

Say amen.

I'm sure I could come up with some word or phrase that would trigger just about everybody in here.

Okay, tariffs, the Trump-Musk divorce going on right now, the big beautiful bill, russian-ukraine, the Diddy trial and Alabama football Okay, some of that somewhere disappoints just about everybody.

Mine's over in this general direction right here, right, so we can all admit that there's like a lot of bad news going on in the world right now.

Then you have things that is not necessarily bad news, but you're not really sure what to do with it.

It's not necessarily bad.

You can't quite call it good.

Let me give you an example.

One example of that is today is my daughter Ellie's 18th birthday, and when I count to three, I want you to make her feel real embarrassed and I want you to say happy birthday real loud.

One, two, three, I don't know what to do with that.

Okay, she's 18.

So like yay, but she's 18.

So it's like I'm super old, you know, and I don't know what to do with any of that, but happy birthday, so that's.

So.

You got bad news.

You got I don't know what to do with news, but then what everybody needs to hear.

I want you to look at your neighbor and say he's talking about you.

Go ahead and tell him there's good news.

So there's bad news?

Yes, there's.

I'm not sure what to do with news.

I want to give you some good news, because that's what this series is all about.

Can I give you some good news?

Here's some good news, and that is tacos exist, that's.

He didn't have to do it, but he did.

All right, that's good news.

Okay, here's another one.

If you're over 35, all the crazy stuff you did was before the internet.

Amen.

Okay, we don't ever have to know.

Okay, and praise the Lord for that.

Okay, cause I was an idiot.

Okay, anyway, laughter burns calories.

Praise the Lord.

Okay, some of us could just laugh and just know that the Lord is in it because it's burning.

How about this one?

There's a national holiday for almost anything.

Therefore, your day's coming.

Whatever you love you love Legos, you love cinnamon rolls, whatever it is you love you get a special day once a year.

It's on the way.

Can I give you another one?

The Lord is good.

Coffee exists.

That's gonna be the main drink in heaven, if you didn't already know that, the Lord made it and it's gonna be just fine.

And here's the thing your dog thinks you're a superhero.

I didn't say anything about cats, okay, but your dog thinks you're a superhero.

And here's one more You're allowed to restart your diet every single Monday.

Yes, that's good news.

So here's the thing.

There's bad news there's I don't know what to do with this kind of news and there's really good news and, as a Christ follower, we have got the best news ever, and that is this, if you're taking notes, the best news is Jesus has won our freedom.

The best news is Jesus has won our freedom.

Somebody say amen, that's the best news ever.

And that's what Romans 8 is all about is about the best news ever.

And what Romans 8 is all about is that, yes, there's bad things going on in the world, but that's not all that's happening in the world.

There's actually some great things that's going on in the kingdom of God, and Romans 8 is all about celebrating that.

But there's a catch to Romans 8, and that is this Romans 8 is all about our life in Christ.

But talking about Romans 8 is kind of like coming in like toward the end of the story.

It's like right before the snap in Avengers Endgame.

That's Romans 8.

Okay, so like you missed 20 movies before that, and so you come in going, yay, but why does that matter?

Right?

And so I want to give you a really quick three-minute rundown of all you missed in Romans 1 through 7, because it talks about why our life in Christ is so important.

So, if you're taking notes, romans is one of the most amazing like systematic understandings of how great Jesus is, because chapter 1 tells us that way back when we walked away from God that's what chapter 1 is all about about how God created everything and in seven days.

He rested on that seventh day and he said everything is good, but at some point we, as in humankind, walked away from God and it went downhill from there.

So Paul begins with saying that's the problem.

But then the amazing thing is chapter two tells us that God gave us the law to show us how far we had fallen.

That's the reason why the law was there is because before that we didn't realize what sin was.

And so God says this is what a holy standard looks like, this is what it looks like to be able to enter into my presence.

And here's where you are, way down here.

Oh well, that's a problem right?

Well, yes, sounds like we need a savior.

And the great news is chapter three and four is all about the fact that Jesus won our salvation, and it is received by faith.

And so that's where Jesus won our salvation.

He helped us understand.

We walked away from God.

Then the law showed us how far away we were, and then Jesus said I'm going to fix it.

And so he came and he won our salvation.

And then that salvation, we can't earn it.

All we can do is then receive it.

But then it gets even better than that.

Chapter five and six tells us that the power of sin is now broken over our life.

Remember, like that, that old song you know, I'm no longer a slave to fear, you know why?

Cause I am a child of some of y'all, as old as I am.

Yeah, absolutely, we are now children of God.

And so, since the power of sin has been broken, we are now children of God.

And then the chapter right before this one, chapter seven, says and now we grow into this new freedom, and that is the idea that the chains have been broken.

And then he teaches us how to live in the light.

And it's once we get to that place.

Then chapter eight is like and this is how good it is to now live in the light of who God is.

And so that's why chapter eight is so important is he's saying there was something really bad that happened, and then God told us how bad it was.

And then he came and did something himself about it.

He set us free.

And then he teaches us how to walk into freedom.

And then chapter eight is this is what freedom looks like.

That's why this chapter is so important, as it tells us about the good news.

And he actually starts in chapter seven when he says this.

He says now somebody say now, now that God did all of that, we have been released from the law, for we died to it and are no longer captive to its power, and now we can serve God not in the old way of obeying the letter of the law, but in the new way of living by or living in the spirit.

And then here's the good news in Romans 8, verse 1.

Romans 8:1

And he says so now one more time.

Say now, so now, right now, there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus, and because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death.

The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature.

So God did what the law could not do he sent his own son in a body like the bodies we sinners have, and in that body, god declared an end to sin's control over us by giving us his son as a sacrifice for our sins.

He did this so that the just requirement of the law would be fully satisfied for us who no longer follow our sinful nature but instead follow the spirit.

Wow, I know that was a lot of words, but the bottom line is there's great news, and the great news is that Jesus has won our freedom and because of that, we can now walk in the newness of life.

And basically what he said, if you're taking notes, is that because we belong to Jesus, we are now free to follow him.

Notice how he said that for those who belong to him, not those who just have heard about him, not those who think he was an interesting guy, but for those who say I follow Jesus, for those who belong to him, we are now free to follow him.

And Romans 8 begins with declaring that you don't even know how good you've got it, that you don't even realize.

That's why I gotta tell you, because there is something amazing that happened.

You didn't even know you were in prison, but you were.

But now, because of Jesus, you have been set free and somebody needs to tell you.

Somebody needs to tell you that, even though we deal with stuff on this earth, it has nothing to do with the position of our soul, because of what Jesus has done.

And the reason why I think we need to pause with all these other things that we do sometimes and just go through the goodness of God and the promises of God is because something maybe you've never heard before and that is everyone you know is struggling with something right now.

I changed it up on you just a little bit, all right, but it still means the same thing.

Look at your neighbor and say he's still talking about you, even though he worded it just a little bit different.

It's like everyone you know is struggling with something the sweetest grandma, you know.

The sweetest grandpa, you know.

The smallest child.

The only people that's not struggling is cats.

They've given in to their evil.

Okay, everything else is struggling.

They're struggling with something right now.

And so the question of the day is in a world full of bad news, is there any good news from God's word?

And that's yes, and so here's my hope for you is that in this series, we're going to say some things over and over again so that, by the time we're done, when somebody comes up and tells you bad news, or someone comes up and tells you do you got any news, you can you have an immediate response that you're going to get so angry with me about because you're going to be like that is dumb, but it's stuck in your head.

And here's this one, and that is I got 99 problems, but Jesus ain't one.

I know that's bad English, but it's good.

Preaching in Jesus' name.

Okay, it's still good, and that is this.

So what's going to happen this week?

Someone's going to come up and tell you bad news.

They're going to say have you checked out social media?

Have you looked at this over there?

And you're going to go yeah, I got 99 problems, but Jesus ain't one.

So I want you to practice on your neighbor.

Okay, I want you to practice.

I know it's bad English, but it's good, it's fun, and so I want you to look at your neighbor and take a deep breath if you got to.

Okay, if this bothers you, take a deep breath.

But I want you to look at them and say I got 99 problems, but Jesus ain't one.

You got 10 seconds.

Tell them I got 99 problems.

I know, I know there's all kinds of stuff going on.

I know folks be tweeting and deleting tweets all over the place.

I know that all this stuff's going on.

I can't even spell the word tariff.

I know it's got a lot of F's in it.

I got 99 problems, but Jesus ain't one.

And I want to tell you three reasons why we've got the best news ever that because we belong to Jesus, we are now free to follow him.

Here's the first one in this that we celebrate Jesus because he has freed us from death to life.

Like, maybe we didn't know, but we had a death sentence on us, but if you belong to Jesus, you don't have one anymore.

That you've been set free, more than you might even realize.

That if you belong to Jesus, you have passed from death to life.

And that's what the first part of this verse says.

It says this it says so therefore, now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ.

Jesus, and because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death.

Now here's the amazing thing about this is, paul is writing to the legal center of the world at the time.

He's writing to people that live in Rome, and Rome is where, like all of the legal things were done, for the most part, you could appeal and go to Rome, and so it was very understood what the Roman law was, and that was a big deal in Roman culture, and so what he is actually doing is is he is using a legal term that they would have been very familiar with to try to describe what he's talking about and how big a deal it is, and that's that phrase no condemnation.

No condemnation to them meant it declared innocent.

It means you were declared innocent in the strongest possible terms.

So, in other words, that meant somebody was on trial and they were possibly going to receive death.

Like on the meant somebody was on trial and they were, they were possibly going to receive death.

Like on the table was the death penalty, and they didn't know what was going to happen, and then the judge said no condemnation.

That is our way of saying completely innocent, no double jeopardy, you're now free to go forever.

That, that's that's what it would mean to us today.

And he said because of what Christ did, you have now been declared innocent.

Can you imagine how amazing that would feel if you're standing at a trial and all of a sudden somebody says the judge says not guilty.

You ever watch those videos of people and then they just crumple because they didn't know and all of a sudden they were declared innocent.

What about the other way?

What if you were innocent but you were declared innocent?

What about the other way?

What if you were innocent but you were declared guilty?

That's happened many times.

One of them in particular, there was a guy named Will Bridgman, and when he was in 1975, when he was 20 years old, will was wrongfully convicted of murder and he was put on death row.

And here's the thing about Will After 40 years on death row, evidence was discovered that completely cleared his name.

Can you imagine how it would have felt for 40 years to tell people I didn't do it?

You know what they'd say?

Sure Will, you and everybody else in here going back, but I really didn't do it.

Once again, sure Will, just like everybody else going back over there.

But I promise I didn't do it For 40 years.

He said I was innocent and nobody believed him until finally they discovered evidence that all of a sudden they realized well, I guess Will was innocent after all Sorry Will.

And so there was actually a moment where he was able to go stand back before the judge again and was able to hear those words that you have been declared innocent and your record has completely been cleaned.

And it just so happened there was a journalist who was there that day.

This is actually a real picture of the moment when the judge said you are now considered not guilty.

That's what he looked like, can you?

You know what that looks like to me?

Pure joy that finally, after 40 years, somebody believes me.

After 40 years I was innocent and now the rest of you know it.

What an amazing feeling to have been innocent the whole time but receiving a sentence you didn't deserve and now you're completely exonerated.

Well, there was a story in the Bible that actually showed the opposite of that, and we don't even know this poor lady's name.

All we know her as the woman caught in adultery.

The Bible tells a story that in John, chapter eight, jesus is minding his own business.

And while he's minding his own business, these people caught this lady in the act of adultery.

They caught her in the moment and they grab her and they drag her in front of Jesus.

And because they caught her in the act, she probably was half dressed, probably got beat up on the way, and she's standing there in front of them completely ashamed, completely afraid, because, according to their custom, if you were caught in the act of adultery, it was a death sentence.

And so they bring her before Jesus and they say Jesus, according to our law, this lady has sinned in a way that is worthy of death.

Our law says she should be killed.

What do you say?

And you know what they were saying.

What they were hoping he was going to do is say well, yeah, that's what the law says, but what the Bible said?

Jesus looked at them and he said all right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone, which means, if I want to, I'm the only one that can do it, because Jesus was the only innocent one.

But instead he got down and he started riding in the sand and we have no idea what they wrote.

I wonder.

Maybe he wrote down some of the mistresses of some of the guys around there going.

Well, sally, you know, and Martha and this kind of stuff oh, that's me, I'm out of here, you know.

And so the Bible said that, slowly, martha and this kind of stuff, they go.

Oh, that's me, I'm out of here.

And so the Bible said this slowly, they all just kind of left until finally there was nobody but Jesus and this young lady.

And he said this Jesus stood up again and said to the woman where are your accusers?

Didn't even one of them condemn you?

No, lord.

And then Jesus said to her neither do I Go and sin no more.

In other words, what you did was wrong, but I forgive you.

Now go, be free.

And here's the thing what an amazing example of these two people.

You've got one person who is innocent the whole time, but everybody thought he was guilty, and you got a lady who was guilty and she deserved what she was going to get.

And here's the problem is that for many of us, we look at these two different people, we think we're will, we think that we wouldn't really do anything that bad, we didn't do anything worthy of death, we're fine, but for some reason there's this penalty of death on us, but can I tell you we're not, will we're her.

We did do the thing.

We did deserve death, and you know what mercy is?

Mercy is getting.

What you don't deserve and that's what Jesus did for all of us is that he looked at us and he said yes, you are worthy of condemnation, but that's why they call me the savior, and I'm gonna save you from all of that.

And so, even though you have earned that, I am gonna take your place so that you can be.

Even though you have earned that, I am going to take your place so that you can be free and you can pass from death to life.

And the good news is we were guilty, but Jesus won our freedom and he set us free.

Can I tell you, there's bad things going on in the world, but if you're a Christ follower, you've already received the best news ever, and that is you've passed from death to life.

That one day when all of this is over with, you've already received the best news ever, and that is, you've passed from death to life.

That one day when all of this is over with, you still get to look forward to an eternity in heaven with Jesus.

And I'm going to tell you that if, no matter what happens this week, no matter what anyone has to say, you can say, yeah, I got 99 problems, but Jesus ain't one.

I want you to do it.

I want you to testify and look at somebody and say, man, I got 99 problems, but Jesus ain't one.

I want you to do it.

I want you to testify and look at somebody and say, man, I got 99 problems, but Jesus ain't one.

Go ahead and tell them.

Look at them, we do.

There's all these bad things, but that's not all that's going on.

And here's the thing that hurts our hearts if we're not careful as Christians, is we go well, yeah, but no, but that actually we have passed from death to life and that Jesus has won our freedom and that, because we belong to him, we actually have the honor and privilege of now we can follow after him because we have passed from death to life.

Here's the second one, and that is this that he has freed us from the control of sin to freedom in Christ.

That not only have we passed from death to life, but now we have passed from the control of sin to freedom in Christ.

That not only have we passed from death to life, but now we have passed from the control of sin, sin's grip on us, that we didn't even know that we were in prison, but now we are free in Christ.

You know, he said first that we have, now we have no longer any condemnation because of what God has done and because Jesus has set us free from the law of sin and death.

And then he continues and he says this the law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature.

So God did what the law could not do.

He sent his own son in the body, and a body like the bodies we sinners have and in that body God declared an end to sin's control over us by giving us his son as a sacrifice for our sins.

So in other words, he is saying that he came down in a body like ours this wonderful, amazing idea of what's called the hypostatic union, where he became fully human but at the same time he was still fully God.

So, as fully human, that meant that he had all the same things that we do he had cravings, he got tired, he got hungry, he had temptations Only the Bible says, yet without sin.

And it was only because he was sinless that he actually lived up to the law, that he was able to then be that sacrifice for all of us.

And so what Paul is doing is he's not saying that the law was bad.

He was just saying that it wasn't finished yet, like, let me give you an example.

The law was not bad, it was limited.

It was there to show us how far we were from God.

So it's like this the law was like a COVID or flu test.

When you take one of those things, it's never intended to heal you, is it?

Even though, as far up as they stick that cotton swab, it ought to do something good.

Okay, can I tell you, the worst part about getting the flu is the test to find out if you had the flu.

I'm pretty sure they touched my brain a few times when they did that and it's horrible.

But here's the thing it's not supposed to heal you.

All it's supposed to do is to tell you if you have it or not.

And that's what the law was.

The law was not there to heal people.

It was to show them how far they had gotten from God.

That's why Jesus fulfilled the law, because Jesus was the cure that the law was the way to tell you if you were sick, jesus was the one who brought healing.

And that's what he was saying.

The law was limited because it was a test and then, when you had, when you found out that you had sin, then the sacrifices would then cover your sin, but it wouldn't wash them away.

That's what Jesus came to do, and now, because of Jesus, we are no longer under the control of sin, but now we can live in freedom in Christ and put it this way.

But now we can live in freedom in Christ and put it this way that now we don't serve God in order to get his love and freedom.

We serve God because we have received his love and freedom.

It's because we have received his grace that now we walk in freedom.

You're not trying to earn the love of God.

You've already got it.

You don't have to prove yourself to God.

God knows you on your best day and here's the thing he knows us on our worst day and he loves you anyway.

That's the amazing thing about the grace of God.

That's the best news ever is you don't have to prove anything to God.

He already likes you and he wants freedom for you.

That's the amazing thing about the grace of God is to realize who he says we are and what he's done for us.

It reminds me of us reading God's word together and if you want to join us, you can text RLCBIBLE to 94000 or you can scan that QR code and we're going through the Bible chapter by chapter.

And I heard some of you say you love the book of Daniel.

It's absolutely awesome, the book of Daniel.

He's amazing and it finishes up and then we're going to read a New Testament book and then we're going back to Hosea and I'm going to go and tell you kind of, the theme of Hosea that we're going to begin I believe it's on Tuesday is God's reckless love.

We could have called it the social media drama of the Old Testament.

Okay, it is the soap opera.

It's the days of our lives of the Old Testament.

There's some drama going on in the book of Hosea.

Some of y'all don't even know If you haven't read it yet.

Just wait for it, because it's on its way, okay, and it opens up with immediately being offensive.

So like trigger warning, right, like immediately.

There are people offended by the book of Hosea and here's the reason why the first verse of Hosea says this when the Lord first began speaking to Israel through Hosea, he said to him go and marry a prostitute.

I'm sorry, go marry somebody with OnlyFans account.

Go marry somebody who is a prostitute.

No, thank you, but no, I need you to do that.

Why in the world would God want Hosea to go marry a prostitute?

Because this will illustrate how Israel has acted like a prostitute by turning against the Lord and worshiping other gods.

So Hosea married somebody named Gomer.

If you're old, that's hilarious.

If you're young, no problem, all right, but married somebody.

And here's the thing about it that you don't always get in.

The context is most people during the time, most ladies who were involved in prostitution, were not there because they wanted to be there.

Most of them were prisoners of war or they were forced there because their family had died suddenly or they had been conscripted there because, basically, bad family members could have sold them there.

Either way, most of the time they didn't want to be there.

Bad family members could have sold them there.

Either way.

Most of the time they didn't want to be there.

And God tells Hosea go marry a prostitute, go marry Gomer.

And when we read that we're like that's terrible.

That's horrible.

That's so unfair.

It is so unfair If you're thinking from the point of view of Hosea, if you're thinking from the point of view of Gomer.

It's a miracle, because she most likely doesn't want to be there anyway.

So she got set free.

She's no longer a slave to the temple, shrines and the different things she has to do.

She now can be in a place that will protect her, a place of wholeness.

She has a family.

And here's the thing we are not Hosea, we're Gomer.

And so we get offended by the very thing that God does for us, that he says, even though that we do all of those things, I still want you.

So if we're offended by the unfairness it's all the unfairness that God experiences and he says I want you anyway.

And this is what he says to us.

He says so.

Then, therefore, no longer live as the Gentiles or as the people who don't know me do, for they are hopelessly confused, their minds are full of darkness and they wander far from the life God gives us, because they have closed their minds and hardened their hearts against him.

But that isn't what you have learned about Christ.

Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him.

Throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception, and instead let the spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes, put on your new nature, created to be like God, truly righteous and holy.

So, in other words, he has set you free.

So now go, be free, go walk in freedom, to which some people would go.

Well, yeah, but I still kind of struggle with things.

But can I tell you the very fact that you say that is amazing, because here's the truth, that you may struggle with sin, but that's just it.

You're struggling, you are no longer a slave.

Can I tell you what the enemy wants to do?

Is he wants to tell you, because you're not perfect and because you still struggle with sin, then God doesn't love you.

But the very fact that you're struggling, the very fact that you're not just a victim to any sin that wants to come by means, god is doing something in your life.

Don't think about where you're supposed to be, think about how far you've already come, and only because of Jesus, that, yes, you may not be where you want to be, but thank goodness you're not where you used to be, and it's all because of Jesus.

And the great news is is that we were hopeless slaves to sin, but Jesus has given us freedom, that we have freedom.

And here's the thing we're as free as we want to be.

We can walk out of anything through Jesus and because we belong to him.

So don't let the enemy ever lie to you and tell you that there's nothing good going on in your life.

I think sometimes we forget how good God is and that the very freedom we walk in is a gift that God has given us.

And that's my hope over the course of this series is to remind us about the great news that God has already done in our lives, and that is that the best news is that Jesus has already won our freedom and that because of Jesus and because we belong to him, now we can follow him from death to life, from the control of sin to now freedom in Christ.

And it's a journey that we're on.

It's a journey that we walk on, but the great news is we get to take the journey, we get to have that journey and we're on.

It's a journey that we walk on, but the great news is we get to take the journey, we get to have that journey and we get to struggle with sin instead of being slaves to sin.

And so, like I said before, the truth of it is, no matter what bad news comes your way this week, I got 99 problems, but Jesus ain't one.

So, one more time I want you to testify to your neighbor, but here's the thing no, no, no, no, no.

Here's the thing.

I see some of you Okay, can we just time out for a moment?

I see some of you and you go.

I got 99 problems, but Jesus ain't one.

Nobody believes that.

Okay, no one believes that.

And so you got to say it like you actually mean it.

Come on, I got 99 problems.

Some of y'all meant that one, all right, and I think some of y'all meant that one at the person you were talking to just then.

Yes, I know, I started something.

I didn't mean to start something.

Let's move on.

Jesus has won our freedom with death to life, from the control of sin to freedom in Christ.

Here's one more, and that is from brokenness to a journey toward wholeness.

From brokenness to a journey.

Make sure we I know I put the word wholeness, but, if you want to take extra notes a journey toward wholeness.

It took us a lifetime to get into the knots that we're in, and it's going to take us time sometimes for God to untie them, because it's not just about untying our knots, but it's about being a testimony along the way of his faithfulness.

And if God can do it in me, then God can do it in somebody else, and so it's a journey toward wholeness.

And so the scripture says there is therefore now no more condemnation, no more death penalty on our life, because Jesus came and took our place and washed away all of our sin.

And then he says he did this so that the just requirement of the law would be fully satisfied.

For us who no longer follow our sinful nature but instead follow the spirit, we trade one master for another.

The difference is, before Jesus, continual brokenness, with Jesus walking toward wholeness.

The master of sin breaks you.

Jesus, our master, wants you free, he wants us whole.

And that's why he says now, because of what he did, you can follow the spirit.

And he says it like this of what he did, you can follow the spirit.

And he says it like this later, in Galatians, paul says so I say let the Holy Spirit guide your lives.

Why Then you won't be doing what your sinful nature craves, because the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit.

The by-product of our relationship with him is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.

Do you know what I've noticed in my life and maybe you would say this is true for yours as well that before I knew Jesus, I still wanted all of those things.

The problem was, I did all the wrong things to try to find them?

Do you know why people want to be social media successes, why they want to go viral on TikTok and YouTube, why they want the nice house, why they want all the money, why they want all their prestige?

It's because somewhere, when you get all the way down to the bottom of it, what they are all looking for is love.

They're looking for joy, they're looking for peace in their heart, they're looking for kindness, they're looking for goodness.

They're thinking if I can just get all the way to the top, maybe finally I will be loved, I will be accepted, I'll be secure, I'll be significant.

And the unfortunate thing is is that when we live according to our sinful nature, if we don't walk and follow Jesus, all of those things we may have for a moment, but it always ends in more and more brokenness.

How many stories have we heard of people who made it all the way to the top and then, when we hear their story, it was miserable because they didn't find what they were looking for.

They became billionaires but they didn't find what they were looking for, and they would have given all of their money just to feel fully loved for a moment.

But the great thing is, is the thing that things that our heart searches for is the very thing that God wants to give us?

It's the very thing that when we follow after our sinful nature, it ends in brokenness.

When we follow after the spirit, it ends in everything we already wanted.

It ends with joy, peace, goodness, to know what it is to feel fully accepted and know that in God's presence you have nothing to prove and nobody to impress that you are completely loved.

All your sin, all your past, god sees it and he loves you anyway.

You can't buy that, but you can receive it if you follow Jesus.

And here's the amazing thing is that on the journey toward wholeness, I don't want to speak for you, but I'll speak for me.

I haven't always followed very well.

Sometimes Jesus goes this way and I take a left-hand turn because of maybe a brokenness or maybe a sin in my life or something like that.

I kind of go this way or kind of go that way and maybe you're even listening to this message and you're saying that sounds good for you, pastor, but I haven't always taken that journey.

I've kind of gone this way before I followed after those things.

Can I tell you, all of us, everyone has a private battle that nobody else knows about.

But the reality is, is the goodness of Jesus is that he never gives up on us and the good news is he's won our freedom and he's always willing to come back and get us, just like in the book of Hosea.

You know, I was telling you that Hosea, chapter one, that God tells Hosea hey, go, marry Gomer the prostitute, right?

Well, something happens between chapter one and chapter three.

Chapter three says this it says then the Lord said to me go and love your wife again, even though she commits adultery with another lover.

This will illustrate that the Lord still loves Israel, even though the people have turned to other gods and love to worship them.

So we don't know exactly what happened, but at some point, because of any number of reasons the Bible doesn't say any number of brokenness.

Gomer had a home with Hosea.

The Bible said they had at least three children together, but something was pulling back at her.

We don't know, but for whatever reason she left the security of her relationship with Hosea and she went back into that old lifestyle.

But you know what I love when God is talking to Hosea.

He tells Hosea, he says go love your wife.

Remember, at first he called her a prostitute.

Go marry a prostitute.

That's not her identity anymore.

She may be doing something wrong, but that's no longer who she is.

She is your wife.

Go get her.

And what that would have meant was is in the time when they wanted to buy and trade in some of those cultures they would buy and trade human beings and he would have had to go buy her.

Can you imagine how demeaning, degrading, embarrassing it would be to have to go pay money to buy your wife out of slavery again?

And Jesus, god, tells Hosea go do it.

Why?

Because that's your wife and go love her again.

And he said when you do it, you're going to illustrate to everybody.

That's what I do for my people, even when they walk away from me.

I go buy them back over again, I go, get them over and over and over.

You know the Bible says, though the righteous may fall seven times, they get back up again.

God is not as interested how many times you fall as in how many times you get back up again, because he's always willing to bring you back home again.

It's the greatest news in the world, and so God's promise is this and that is.

Despite all these things, all the bad news, these things, all the bad news, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.

The best news is our champion loves you, and I know we live in a world that if you're not careful, if you don't define who you are and who you are in Christ, we live in a world that will define you for you.

They'll tell you you should be mad about this and you should be glad about that over there, and this should make you upset, and that should happen over there, and all that kind of stuff, and that's why we go through God's word.

The way we do is.

It's a way for us, every way to course correct back again, to remember no, this is who God says that I am.

This is what God says about me and what he says about this world, and you know what God says about you.

He says he loves you, that you've never been more loved than you are right now, that you don't have to prove your love for him, but we get to walk in it.

We get to experience his goodness every day.

But we get to walk in it.

We get to experience his goodness every day.

And that there's bad news all around us.

But the good news is that our champion has won our freedom.

And what does that mean?

Over the course of this series we're gonna learn about what he has won for all of us, and today we're talking about that because we belong to him.

Now we can walk in freedom Because there's no longer the death penalty over us.

We pass from death to life, that no longer are we living under the slavery of sin, but now we can live in freedom in Christ.

And no matter what brokenness you may have, god's plan for you is wholeness.

His plan for you is to experience as you grow in him.

That's what fruit is.

Fruit has to grow.

And as you grow in him, you grow in love, joy, peace, goodness, kindness, faithfulness, patience, self-control.

That's God's plan for your life.

So that's why I want to say man, I got 99 problems, but Jesus ain't one.

Because of him, we are free.

And I don't know, maybe, why you need to hear that today.

I don't know if maybe it's because you've been looking at the things that's going on in our world and it's been getting you discouraged.

Can I tell you it's okay to be disappointed, but never be discouraged, because our king is still on the throne.

Maybe there's things going on in your personal life, maybe with relationship issues, family issues, job issues, health issues I don't know what it is and it's okay to get disappointed.

It's not okay to be discouraged because the king is still on the throne.

And what of the next several weeks?

What I want to do is I want us just to remember the goodness of God and remember that he has already won our freedom.

So, no matter what bad news you've got, the best news is Jesus has won our freedom.

In just a moment, the band's gonna lead us in a song of worship and give us an opportunity to receive communion together and I don't know exactly how you need to respond to this message today and we're gonna take some next steps in just a moment and receive communion with one another.

But I want to tell you I really want, over the next several weeks, for us to really have a moment where we can take some time and just worship the Lord together.

And so when we receive communion, we're going to do it as a church family, but first, before we do that, I want us to pray together right now.

God, thank you so much for today.

Thank you, god, for being with us and being for us in every way.

God, I'm thankful that you see us in this place.

God, I'm thankful for the opportunity to just remind all of us that we are more free than we realize if we have you and that, because we belong to you, god, you are with us and you are for us.

God, I'm thankful for the opportunity to worship you with my brothers and my sisters.

I'm thankful, god, that you are greater than any negative, any bad, any difficult thing that we face.

And, god, for some of us, the battle gets so so hot, so big, the problem seems so large that we can lose perspective and we can forget how good you are.

I pray, god, that over the next several weeks that you will remind us, you'll open our eyes to see that you are for us, that you have a plan and you're moving in our lives and you are doing more than we can realize.

In Jesus' name, we pray amen, amen.

Would you stand with me all over the house this morning?

We're gonna receive communion together, and so if you are on the right-hand side of your row, you are the designated communion line leader.

There's a bucket beside you.

We'd love for you to get that bucket.

I can start passing it down and while you're doing that, I want to make sure and get your attention.

Keep doing that.

But if you're in here and you don't know Jesus, I know this is kind of a different moment for you, and there's one act of worship that is greater than communion, and that's giving your life to Jesus.

And so while we are receiving communion together, if you don't know Jesus, can I tell you today could be your spiritual birthday and it's time to come home to Jesus.

And while we're receiving communion together, I would love for you to step out of your seat, take your connect card, because on the back of it is the plan of salvation, and can I tell you, the greatest decision you'll make is to serve Jesus.

And what we would love to do is we'd love to talk to you about what salvation is.

I'd love for you to pray the prayer of salvation, and then we want to receive your very first communion together with us and you at the prayer table, and so if you don't know Jesus, this is your opportunity to do that.

I see you're passing that around.

Can we just sing this chorus together a couple times?

Let's prepare our hearts and our minds to worship the Lord for communion.

Come on, let's sing this together.

Worthy is your name, jesus, you deserve the praise.

Worthy is your name.

Worthy is your name, jesus, you deserve the praise.

Worthy is your name.

Worthy is your name Jesus?

You deserve the praise Worthy is your name.

Worthy is your name worthy is your name jesus you deserve the praise.

Come on one more time.

Come on one more time come on, let's worship the lord together, come on worthy is your name, jesus.

You deserve the praise.

Worthy is your name.

Worthy is your name Jesus, you deserve the praise Worthy is your name.

Jesus, worthy is your name.

Communion is an opportunity for us to remember the most important thing, and that is that Jesus died and rose again.

For all of us, it's one of the greatest acts of worship.

The Bible says that Jesus, on the night he was going to be betrayed, had one final dinner with his disciples and when the time came, he took the bread and he blessed it.

If you'd like to open up the bread, the Bible said he blessed it and after he lifted it up and he had done that, he passed it around to them and he said when you eat this, I want you to remember me, for this is a symbol of my body which will be broken for you.

When we receive communion, we don't receive it out of bitterness, out of anger, but it's an opportunity to unify as the body of Christ.

And so we come from all different places, we have all different kinds of backgrounds, but we serve one Jesus.

From all different places, we have all different kinds of backgrounds, but we serve one Jesus, and he died and rose again for all of us.

So can we lift that up before the Lord Jesus?

Thank you so much for dying on the cross for us.

Thank you that you came to this earth.

You lived a sinless life that we couldn't.

You died on our cross, lord.

We experienced no condemnation because of your condemnation.

You on the cross for us.

But thank you, jesus.

You rose again three days later and, god, no matter where we come from, no matter what our background, your blood still flows for all of us and your body was broken for all of us, and we celebrate that today.

In Jesus name, we pray amen, amen, amen, you may receive the bread.

Thank you, jesus.

Thank you, jesus.

And if you want to pull back the second tab and reveal the juice, the Bible said that after Jesus had done the passing of the bread, he took a cup and he lifted it before the disciples and he blessed it, and then he passed it around and he said I want you to drink this.

He said it is a symbol of my blood which is shed for you.

When you drink this, as often as you do this, think of me and can I tell you it's one of the reasons why we receive communion is it gives us an opportunity to remember that the best news is Jesus has won our freedom and he did it by dying on the cross for us, by shedding his blood for us, and the Bible says that it is by his blood that we are healed.

One of the things I love about God the most is he doesn't just save us, but then he turns around and he starts healing us of every broken place in our life.

What an amazing Savior we have.

Let's lift it up and let's pray together right now, god.

Thank you so much, lord, for your body and for your blood, your blood that was shed for all of us.

Your word says it is by your stripes that we are healed, and I'm so thankful that in your presence is fullness of joy.

Thank you, jesus, for taking our place.

Thank you, god, that we have one Savior and his name is Jesus, and we are so thankful that you are our champion today.

Thank you, god, that in you we have new life.

We celebrate you today In Jesus' name.

We pray Amen, amen.

You may receive the juice in Jesus' name, amen.

If you feel comfortable, would you raise your hands?

Let's just worship the Lord together.

Praise the Lord, jesus.

Come on, sing it with us this morning.

You deserve the praise.

Worthy is your name.

Yes, jesus, worthy is your name.

Jesus name.

Jesus, you deserve the praise.

Worthy is your name, worthy is your name.