Glynlea Grace United Methodist Chruch

Scripture

John 8:31-36

Jesus then said to the Jews who had believed in him, "If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free." 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'?" Jesus answered them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, every one who commits sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not continue in the house for ever; the son continues for ever. So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.

  Summary and Purpose

Summary: We are all held captive by sin. Every one of us is enslaved by some type of hurt, habit or hang-up. This prevents us from being the righteous people God created us to be. God’s salvation, however, frees us from these hurts, habits and hang-ups. Through faith in Christ, we are freed from our sins and freed to be the people God created us to be. We do not have to live under the oppressive rule of our hurts, habits and hang-ups.

There is a vast array of hurts, habits and hang-ups that can enslave us. A few examples include drugs, alcohol, sex, pornography, money, power, vanity, popularity, insecurity, past hurts, bitterness, hate and revenge. The list of what can enslave us is infinite. No matter what hurt, habit or hang-up enslaves you, Jesus Christ can free you!!

We can never free ourselves. We simply don’t have the power. We must learn to surrender to Jesus and trust in Him.    

Purpose: To help people trust Jesus to free them from their hurts, habits and hang-ups.

The Sermon

I. Introduction: There is almost nothing more humiliating than to wear shackles

     1. At the moment you put on shackles…

• You are almost totally defenseless
• You no longer make your own decisions
• Someone else has control over your life.

• They wobbled up to the judge with a look of fear and dejection.
• They knew, at that moment, they had no freedom.

     4. When shackles are put on, there is no doubt that freedom is gone.

     5. Here’s the reality: We all have shackles.

• Our shackles consist of the hurts, habits and hang-ups that enslave us and prevent us from being the people God created us to be.
• Our shackles come in many forms: drugs, alcohol, sex, pornography, money, power, vanity, fear, popularity, insecurity, past hurts, bitterness, hate and revenge.
• We all have our shackles.

II. Some of our shackles

     1. Hurt: Some past hurt that we can’t get over.  

• Loss of a loved one, abuse, betrayal etc…
• We live in the past rather than looking forward to what God has in store for us in the future.
• This past hurt dictates our attitudes actions.
• The past hurt defines who we are.
• It becomes a shackle that prevents us from living the fulfilled life God has in mind for us

     2. Habit: Some destructive behavior we repeat over and over (It’s called sin)

• Drugs, alcohol and sex are the ones we immediately think of
• Lying, stealing, over eating, gossiping can be just as destructive
• We find our lives revolving around this habit.
• The habit becomes a shackle that prevents us from being the person God created us to be.

• Anger, bitterness, racism, jealousy, timidity, self-loathing, laziness etc…
• We react to situations with our hang-ups and do the wrong thing.
• Our hang-ups control us and become shackles that prevent us from becoming more like Jesus.

III. Our shackles, however, can be broken

     1. We can’t break them on our own.

     2. It’s the Jesus inside of us that can break them.

• If you continue in Jesus’ word, He will set you free from your shackles
• In other words, surrender to Jesus and he will set you free from your hurts, habits and hang-ups.

• Jesus did this for my first wife, Jackie. After losing her infant daughter, she sat alone in our apartment while I was in the field (I was in the Army at the time.)
• She had sleeping pills in one hand and wine in the other hand. She contemplated ending her pain right then and there. She spoke to God and said, “God, I was told you could heal this pain. So, I’ll give you the chance to heal me before I end it.”
• Overtime, God healed her of the pain of losing her daughter. A few years later she became a pre-school teacher. (After losing her daughter, she swore she would never have anything to do with children.)

     5. Jesus changes our habits so we can become the people God created us to be

• Jesus changed some of my habits.
• As a young adult, I use to party and get drunk.
• Then, on October 23, 1997 I had my bachelor party and became quite inebriated. . The next morning I decided that if I was to follow God, I needed to stop drinking.
• From that moment on, God changed my habit of partying and getting drunk.

      6. Jesus takes away our hang-ups so we can become more like Him

• John Henry Newton, writer of Amazing Grace was a Captain of a slave ship when he gave his life to Jesus (May 10, 1748)
• After his conversion, John Newton continued to participate in the slave trade for six years.
• John Newton continued to support the slave trade.
• Slavery was John Newton’s hang-up.
• In 1788 God convicted John Newton about his involvement in the slave trade. John Newton became a staunch abolitionist and published “Thoughts upon the slave trade”.
• Jesus took away John Newton’s hang-up.

IV. Conclusion

     1. Do you want to remain in shackles?

     2. Do you want to continue to be enslaved by your hurts, habits and hang-ups?