Glynlea Grace United Methodist Chruch

Scripture

John 8:31-38

Jesus then said to the Jews who had believed in him, "If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples, ³² and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free." ³³ They answered him, "We are descendants of Abraham, and have never been in bondage to any one. How is it that you say, `You will be made free'?" ³⁴ Jesus answered them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, every one who commits sin is a slave to sin. ³⁵ The slave does not continue in the house for ever; the son continues for ever. ³⁶ So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed. ³⁷ I know that you are descendants of Abraham; yet you seek to kill me, because my word finds no place in you. ³⁸ I speak of what I have seen with my Father, and you do what you have heard from your father."

Summary and Function

Summary: We all have been slaves to sin. We all can recall times when we allowed anger, jealousies, bitterness, greed, selfishness, fear etc... dictate what we think, say and do.  This is being a slave to sin. Decisions are almost always bad when we allow these sinful desires to rule our hearts.

The good news is that Jesus promises to set us free from these sinful attitudes. He said, “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” If you want righteousness and goodness to rule your heart rather than sin, then repent and trust Jesus as Savior and Lord. In this way, you will become the person God created you to be and fulfill your God given purpose.

Purpose: To encourage people to seek Jesus to be freed of their sinful desires.

The Sermon

I. Introduction: My angry youth

1. As an elementary and middle school student, I was easily angered

2. My brother (who is 1 year older than me.) knew what buttons to push

• One time, he got me riled up in the front yard. I chased him into the house. He sat next to our mom. I proceeded to yell at him in front of our mom and got in trouble.
• Another time he kept me awake. I got mad and chased him down the street in my underwear. As I walked down the street yelling for my brother to face me ‘like a man’ house lights kept coming on.

II. Good news: Jesus frees us from sin

2. To understand this verse we must understand 2 things

• There are different forms of freedoms
• Jesus is talking about the highest and most important form of freedom

3. Different forms of freedom

• Economic freedom: Freedom from exploitation and free to own property and make personal financial decisions
• Political freedom: Freedom from tyranny and free to vote, protest and voice an opinion

• Freedom from the guilt and power of sin (John 33-38)
• Freedom to love God, self and others and become the person God created you to be (Galatians 5:22-25)

5. Here’s how it works

• Jesus, as God in the flesh, pays the penalty for our sins
• On third day, Jesus rose from the dead, conquering sin death and evil on our behalf.
• We receive God’s forgiveness. (This was made possible because Jesus paid the penalty for our sins)
• Our relationship with God is restored. The Holy Spirit eneters our hearts.
• The Holy Spirit works to change our hearts so we are no longer ruled by the sinful nature.

1. I recently discovered that anger could still enslave me.

3. With Jesus as my savior and Lord, anger will not control me.