Freedom in Christ

"To whom the Son sets free, is free indeed." What a proclamation by Jesus. The most amazing thing is that it was not mere talk. As a matter of fact, if Jesus sets anybody free, it is a completely enjoyable and eternal freedom. But how do we find this freedom? How do we experience this freedom? How do we sustain this freedom in Christ, if we at all get it? I shall be looking at all these questions and I shall address them as I do this Sunday sermon entitled "Freedom in Christ". Let the freedom ring to those that abide in him. Free at last, in Jesus I am free.

SAVE THE FAMILY

Save the Family

A. God’s Perfect Plan for the Family (The Creation)

The Beautiful story of Creation narrates how God literally set us up with beauty and amazement. Firstly he made the heavens and the earth (the universe). He took six days for creation as described in the Genesis account of creation and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. (Imagine the beauty of that). And God said let there be light because he knew somebody would need it. But he didn’t stop there and continued on to say let there be sky so that man could fly. Then God knew that there would be farmers and so separated the waters from the land. But he didn’t get rid of the waters since he knew that currents would build up to sustain man in the Land. It was all good. Despite how good this was, there was more yet to come. Then he made the vegetation, the plants, the trees, …all good. He didn’t stop there, he then made the sun because he knew that the plants would need something for photosynthesis and at the same time knew that man would have sometime to rest especially in the night so he separated the day from the night. He didn’t stop there…he knew that we would need more proteins so he made the sea animals. He then made all the animals, of every kind. And it was all good.

B. God’s Perfect Plan for the Family (the First Family)
Then for the first time God said Let us make. Man in our own image in our likeness. And let them have dominion over all the earth and everything in it. “so God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” He then commanded them to be fruitful. He gave them dominion over everything on earth.

C. God Ordained the First Family (Marriage) Gen 2:24
He performed the first marriage between a man and a woman
(For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh) Gen 2:24. “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it.” He made Adam for Eve and Eve for Adam.
Marriage was instituted by God himself for the purpose of preventing the promiscuous intercourse of the sexes, for promoting domestic felicity, and for securing the maintenance and education of children.
“Let every one of you in particular, so love his wife even as himself, and let the wife see that she reverence her husband” Eph 5. Wife Called: Desire of the Eyes Ezekiel 24:16; Helpmate Gen 2:18; Gen 2:20; Fruitful Vine Psalm 128:3

“The charter of marriage is Gen 2:24, reproduced by our Lord with greater distinctness in Mat 19:4-5; "He which made them at the beginning made them male and female, and said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain, shall be one flesh." The Septuagint, and Samaritan Pentateuch reads "twain" or "two" in Gen 2:24; compare as to this joining in one flesh of husband and wife, the archetype of which is the eternally designed union of Christ and the church, Eph 5:31; Mar 10:5-9; 1 Co6:16; 1Co 7:2. In marriage husband and wife combine to form one perfect human being; the one is the complement of the other. So Christ makes the church a necessary adjunct to Himself. He is the Archetype from whom, as the pattern, the church is formed (Rom 6:5). He is her Head, as the husband is of the wife (1Co 11:3; 1Co 15:45). Death severs bridegroom and bride, but cannot separate Christ and His bride (Mat 19:6; John 10:28-29; John 13:1; Rom 8:35-39)” Esword.net.

D. Human Dignity and the Sanctity of Life
i. Homosexuality
The Stats
1. Nobody is actually born homosexual
2. The Total number of homosexuals is actually below 3% (CDC Report)
3. Only Massachusetts allow gay marriage, then there is NJ, Connect., NH, and Vermont (civil unions)
4. "Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination." Lev 18:22.
5. “Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders…will inherit the kingdom of God.” 1 Corinthians 6:9
ii. Abortion
1. Since Roe vs. Wade (1973) over 46 million in the United States; 1.3 million every year.
2. I've noticed that everybody that is for abortion has already been born. ~Ronald Reagan, quoted in New York Times
3. I don't care which trimester it is the fact of the matter is, it is a baby at conception.
4. since Jan 1 2001 = 63 858 616 and counting every 24 seconds
= 291 925 176 and counting
Women identifying themselves as Protestants obtain 37.4% of all abortions in the U.S.; Catholic women account for 31.3%, Jewish women account for 1.3%, and women with no religious affiliation obtain 23.7% of all abortions. 18% of all abortions are performed on women who identify themselves as "Born-again/Evangelical".
54 countries allow abortion, which is about 61 percent of the world population. 97 countries, about 39 percent of the population, have abortion laws that make it illegal according to the pro-abortion Center for Reproductive Law and Policy in New York.
5. President Bush’s publicly speaking against abortion is very productive
6. There is victory in Partial Abortion ban but that only accounts for 10% which after 12 weeks.
7. On Wednesday, April 18, 2007, the United States Supreme Court handed down a decision which will ban the gruesome practice of partial-birth abortion.
The law banning the procedure had been passed twice by the Congress but was vetoed both times (April 1996 and October 1997) by President Clinton. In 2003 the Congress passed it for the third time, and it was signed into law by President Bush on November 5 of that year.
It was immediately challenged in the courts. Three U.S. District Courts—one in California, one in New York and one in Nebraska—all declared the law to be unconstitutional. The federal government appealed those rulings, and the issue wound up on this year’s docket at the Supreme Court.
E. Fight for the Family
In 1980, 77 percent of all children under age 18 lived with two parents, falling to 73 percent in 1990 and only 68 percent by 1998, according to the Current Population Survey (CPS). Over the 18-year period, the share of children living with only their mother rose from 18 percent to 23 percent while the share living with only their father grew from less than 2 percent to about 4 percent. In 1998, about 3 percent of children lived with other relatives and about 1 percent lived with people who were not relatives.
Be wary of current dangers faced by families. A major cause of divorce is the abandonment by the head of the family.

F. The Family that Fears God
Family Of saints: Blessed Psalm 128:3; Psalm 128:6
Should be taught God's word Deut 4:9-10
Worship God together 1Co 16:19
Be duly regulated Pro31:27; 1Ti 3:4-5; 1Ti 3:12
Live in unity Gen 45:24; Psalm 133:1
Live in mutual forbearance Gen 50:17-21; Mat 18:21-22
Rejoice together before God Deut 14:26
Deceivers and liars should be removed from Psalm 101:7
Warned against departing from God Deut 29:18
Punishment of irreligious Jeremiah 10:25
Your Family Devotions Are Important
Twelve convincing reasons for having family devotions:
1. It unifies the family and sweetens home life.
2. It cultivates the Christian graces and relieves tension and misunderstanding that sometimes threaten the fellowship of the home.
3. It aids our boys and girls in becoming Christians, and helps them to develop ideals that guide them in vital Christian living.
4. It yields spiritual resources for daily tasks and assists us in cultivating dependence upon God.
5. It strengthens us in the face of adversities and disappointments and enables us to trust Christ implicitly in all of life's circumstances.
6. It makes us conscious during the day of the abiding presence of our Savior and Friend.
7. It bears a Christian witness to the guests in our home.
8. It undergirds the Christian teaching of the Sunday School and the ministry of the church.
9. It affords opportunity for the Christian family to pray for and to sharpen its concern for non-Christian families.
10. It helps us to give a right place to spiritual values and saves us from an undue concern for the temporal things of life.
11. It encourages us to put Christianity into practice in our homes.
12. It honors God and provides an excellent outlet for the expression of our gratitude for the abundance of daily mercies and blessings which come from Him.

Family Matters

The family is a very important institution. Whether we like it or not without the family unit none of us could have been here. It is our responsibility to sustain the family and the family values. The definition of family might have changed over the years but the bottom line is that it is the still the same and what it was with the first family.