The Cost of Following Jesus "Freedom"- Sun, July 3, 2022

The Cost of Following Jesus "Freedom"- Sun, July 3, 2022

Jul 03, 2022

Preacher: Pastor Mike Sager

Series: The Cost of Following Jesus

Category: Worship Services

Notes:

This is the third and final week in our series “The cost of following Jesus.” This week’s focus is freedom. How can freedom be a cost? Isn’t freedom an award in following Jesus? In this week’s text, Jesus steps off the boat and is immediately confronted by a man possessed by demons. Not one demon but a whole legion of demons. This term legion is a military term used to indicate an army of 6,000 soldiers. The Romans would send in a legion to quench a rebellion. Jesus is not welcomed by the mob of fans, but by a legion of demons who know who he is and what he has come to do. We are told this man possessed by demons has been forced out of the community to live among the dead and to be inflicted with bodily harm. He is powerless to deal with the demons who torment him. It is there, among the tombs and signs of death and hopelessness, that Jesus defeats the powers of evil and releases the man from bondage so that he might be free to live once again in community.  

This man was not able to free himself from the bondage he was experiencing; it was only through the power of God that he was set free. The cost of freedom is in the realization that the true freedom of God does not come from self-will or sacrifice, but through trusting God’s power and not our own.

 

Dig deeper:

Reflect on a time when you experienced freedom in Christ when you allowed God’s power to free you.  How might you share that insight with someone else who is in a similar state of bondage?

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