Glorious Freedom

(Note: I got the idea for this sermon from one of my dad’s (Larry E. Brincefield) old sermons. I don’t know if he had an original source for this material or if it was all original. If you recognize this material, let me know and I will give proper credit.)

July 6, 2003 Sunday Morning

Title: Glorious Freedom

Text: Romans 1:28-2:1

Introduction

Freedom is a powerful word.

It can mean many different things to many different people.

To someone in an actual prison or jail;

freedom simply means to be released from imprisonment.

To someone who is in bondage to fear;

freedom means to be released from fear.

To people who are oppressed by their government or a political tyrant;

freedom means a release from an oppressive government.

That’s the freedom that we celebrated in our country on Friday...our Independence Day.

Other people look back through their history and they think of freedom in other terms...for example:

the abolition of slavery...

the right to vote...

And there are even those who hold the extreme view...

and think that freedom means that we are free to do whatever we want...

there should be no restrictive laws...

there should be no restrictions on our personal freedoms...

while most of us realize that total and complete political freedom...

would simply be a nation of chaos and anarchy.

Freedom is different, depending on where you live...

Here in the United States, we have no idea what it is like:

to not be able to choose what occupation that we want.

to worship when and where we want...

or even which God we will worship...

Many people around the world don’t have these simple freedoms...

while here in America; we take them for granted.

We are truly the most free people on this planet...

and yet, in the midst of this freedom...

there are many; many people who aren’t really free at all.

Read Text: Romans 1:28-2:1

Body

1. Here in America, we talk a great deal about our freedom...

we have a huge celebration on the 4th of July...

and yet, when you start to think about it...

many people are in bondage to something.

We are in bondage to...

Gambling:

people are addicted to horse racing...

dog racing...while we were on vacation, we went to visit one of the cities that we used to live in...

and there, on the south side of the city...as you first enter it from the Interstate Highway...

one of the first things you notice is a huge dog racing track.

people are addicted to the lottery...

I know a man here in Florida who happens to be a millionaire...

and yet he plays the lottery to the tune of hundreds of dollars a week!!

you would think a millionaire would be satisfied with his wealth...

but evidently it is not enough...because he still plays the lottery faithfully...

hoping to strike it rich.

I used to work in Kentucky...

one day I saw a woman who looked to be quite poor.

She was in front of me at the check out.

When she saw that she didn’t have enough money to buy some lottery tickets...

she had the clerk put back a gallon of milk; so she could afford a couple of lottery tickets...

Now I didn’t know her; but in my mind; she was making a decision between the needs of her family...

and her desire to accumulate riches without working for it.

People are addicted to pornography.

sexual sin is a HUGE business...

to the tune of billions of dollars/year!

Many men get HOOKED on it...

and many women get ENSLAVED by it.

For men and boys, it starts out by looking at the swimsuit issue of Sports Illustrated.

Now, I have to be honest, I like Sports Illustrated.

When I told my wife that I subscribed to it...

she asked me about that swimsuit issue.

I told her that I would give it to her first...

and she could take out anything objectionable...

When I got the magazine back...

there was nothing left!!!

I thought there might have been a few pages of sports coverage...

but I guess not!

From the swimsuit magazines to Playboy...

and then on to harder and harder things...

here in our own county...

you can find prostitution...

strip clubs...

pornography in print...

pornography on video...

pornography on television...

you can find men looking for relations with other men...

and women looking for relations with other women....

No, that’s not freedom....that’s bondage.

People are in bondage to habits...

some are as simple as nailbiting...

and on to overeating...

or being a work-aholic...

or smoking...

or drugs...

Millions of people are trapped in a criminal lifestyle in order to finance their addictions.

People are in bondage to peer pressure...

you mainly think of teenagers when you talk about peer pressure...