Before he preached his sermon on Sunday, our pastor said that that morning's message would be a tough one. He repeated that during and after the message too...and he was right.
He gave a powerful reminder on repentance and forgiveness. He talked about Psalm 51, the psalm David wrote after he committed adultery with Bathsheba and killed her husband Uriah.
There were two parts that hit me. The first was verses 16 and 17 - You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise.
So what do you need freedom from? God wants to help.
He gave a powerful reminder on repentance and forgiveness. He talked about Psalm 51, the psalm David wrote after he committed adultery with Bathsheba and killed her husband Uriah.
There were two parts that hit me. The first was verses 16 and 17 - You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise.
After reading these verses the pastor then referenced more verses in Isaiah, all saying that God does not want our sacrifices if our hearts are not right. We can do all the right things, say all the right words, act so nicely, and fool everyone - but not God. All of our greatest efforts - playing on the worship team, serving in Sunday School, helping your neighbour, volunteering at the food bank - it's all great stuff, but if we're not right with God, it's not worth much. God is more concerned about where our hearts are than about what we're doing. In fact, what we're doing should come out of where are hearts are. Doing it the other way around usually means we're trying to earn it.
The other big thing that hit me was the idea of freedom. How much this applies to you may depend on how honest you want to be with yourself - the fact that we get so caught up in sin sometimes that we don't realize how much it has taken over our lives. It becomes part of our daily routine, and we either get used to it or we get more and more depressed because we don't know how to get out of it - or, in a frustrating paradox, both of those happen at once. Either way, it's a horrible state because deep down, we are not truly happy. We're hurting.
But then the pastor showed the video I've linked to below, and brought it home. And he quoted Galatians 5:1, and I truly grasped the meaning of that verse like I've never really understood it in the past - "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free."
Watch the video:
http://www.worshiphousemedia.com/mini-movies/31742/Free
http://www.worshiphousemedia.com/mini-movies/31742/Free
So what do you need freedom from? God wants to help.
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