INTRO:
This week I was moved as many of you were by the protesters in Hong Kong. Here’s a group of people trying to exercise freedom in order to get some type of representative government instead of an oppressive tyrannical government.
As I watched video and pictures from the news, I saw something that caught my eye – it was big red banner with black handwritten wording on it and it was strung across a bridge or a walk way.
Written on the banner were these words; “Do you hear the people sing”.
At first I thought that was odd…
-no one was singing, or at least I had not heard anyone singing.
But the banner really was not about singing it was trying to connect the plight of the people in present day Hong King to the struggle and fight of the people during the French Revolution. Do you remember that conflict? When the common people of that day were trying to throw off the yoke of their oppressors and gain their freedom.
But to be honest the banner was not so much about the French Revolution “per see.” The banner was actually quoting a part of a song in the musical Les Miserable which is about the French Revolution. In the musical this song serves as the rallying cry for the people.
Do you hear the people sing? - Singing a song of angry men.
(angry because there is no representation, no freedom, no food, only oppression)
It is the music of a people who will not be slaves again!
When the beating of your heart, -Echoes the beating of the drums.
There is a life about to start.- When tomorrow comes!
Will you give all you can give,
So your banner may advance. (The banner for freedom)
(will you do your part so freedom can exist?)
So what is the connection between the protestors in Hong Kong and a musical score about the French Revolution and a sermon at River Bend?
FREEDOM!
There is something within people that makes us yearn for freedom.
The desire for freedom will help you persevere and endure and live through all kinds of wrongs and evils and sufferings as long as there is just a glimpse of freedom. – somewhere, out there on the horizon.
The hope of freedom will sustain you through the horrors of war.
The hope of freedom will up hold you in the face of injustice.
The hope of freedom will strengthen you when the actions of humanity have betrayed you.
Just the thought of freedom will encourage you.
It will stir up in you the strength to overcome any difficulties.
The cognizance of freedom lies deep within the spirit of each and every person.
But…How did it get there?
Now before I go much further let me clarify, I’m not talking about political freedom or the freedom from anything.
I’m talking about that “Spirit of Freedom” which God has implanted into the soul of every individual who has ever lived or is alive or will ever be alive.
God puts the “Spirit of Freedom” deep within each person’s soul.
-its within everybody
Freedom is not given by men or governments or won thru wars or earned by elections.
Freedom is first given by God.
But the sad reality is…
Freedom is often stolen, cheapened, diminished and even controlled by men and the institutions men create.
The #1 thing I want you to hear today is that freedom begins with God. We see it throughout the Bible we even see it in the first story.
In the beginning God created:
-light – air – water - the planet – fish – animals – birds – plants – people
Next God established a relationship with man and woman – Adam and Eve.
-to share His presence - to talk - to spend time
-to walk in the garden - to worship
READ Genesis 1:27-28
Genesis 2:15-17
Adam and Eve used their freedom and chose not to follow God’s word; they ate the fruit from the tree in the middle of the Garden.
What happens next is important but probably not for why you think.…
-consequences are coming but that is not what this sermon is about today.
READ Genesis 3:8-13
It is easy to read this passage and then jump into the consequences of sin but that’s not what I want you to see here.
-What I want to point out to you is relationship.
-You see familiarity, closeness and communication.
-You see action based on past experiences.
-it seems like meeting in the garden was something that happened often.
-this was not the first time God walked in the Garden spending time with
Adam and Eve.
When God created, He gave Adam and Eve the freedom to choose.
-follow Me and trust Me and I will provide for you.
-eat of everything I have made for you and there will be blessing and life.
-BUT,
-don’t trust Me, turn from Me, reject My word and eat of the fruit of the tree
in the middle of the garden there will be consequences, separation and death.
So even from the very beginning God gave mankind freedom.
-freedom to follow - freedom to worship
-freedom to serve - freedom to reject
Freedom is a marvelous thing, but freedom always cuts both ways.
You are free to choose God and all that is God’s…
Or, you are free to reject God and all that is God’s.
The choice is yours.
Remember when you choose God there is blessing and comfort and His presence.
But when you use your freedom to reject God, there is judgment, loneness and separation.
How much freedom has God given to man? Absolute freedom.
-kind of scary isn’t it
Freedom to choose life Freedom to choose death
Freedom to work Freedom to not work
Freedom to learn Freedom to be unlearned
Freedom to move about Freedom to stay put
Freedom to create Freedom to be satisfied with what exist
Freedom to have others in your life Freedom to have no one in your life.
Freedom to choose Him Freedom to reject Him
So why is this so important? Because your freedom…..
-to choose God - to serve God - to worship God
-to live for God, at home, at work, or wherever you are …
-is under attack in our world today.
The world wants to retain the right to reject God. They want the freedom God has given them to choose not to follow Him and at the same time keep you from following God.
The world wants to control your freedom to choose God and if you do choose to follow God then the world wants you to follow Him on their terms.
The world wants to mandate how and when you can live out your faith. In other words…the world who rejects God wants tell you how to live for Him.
They want to tell you what Godly actions are acceptable or allowed and which ones are not.
The world says….
It’s OK if you worship God but keep Him to yourself.
Don’t live out your faith in the market place.
Don’t bring God to work.
Don’t pray in public – in schools, at restaurants, in a cemetery
Don’t tell others about Jesus.
Don’t build a business upon the precepts of the Bible or your faith.
-in other words keep God out of your business life.
Don’t show your religious images…
-crosses, the Bible, 10 Commandments, praying hands, or wear a tee-shirt
Don’t live a moral life because it may convict others.
Don’t let your faith keep us from doing the things we want.
Don’t let your faith keep us from hiding the consequences of our sin.
This battle is being waged in the media, thru governments, businesses and school boards across our nation.
The only time a governing body has the responsibility to limit religious freedom is when coercion, theft and other crimes are occurring or when physical harm or abuse may happen.
And even then the governing body must tread carefully.
Why is Religious Liberty and the fight for Religious Liberty so important?
1. It is your first God given freedom. Your first freedom
2. When anyone’s Religious Liberty is threatened then everyone’s
Religious Liberty becomes suspect.
-we must protect everyone’s Religious Freedom
3. The loss of Religious Liberty ushers in the total secularization of a society.
4. When Religious Liberty is gone or even threatened then God becomes an
outlaw. (you may have to put on two screens)
ILL:
-Do you remember when 6 million Jews were exterminated for their faith?
-Do you know that Christians have been killed, displaced starved or sold into slavery across the world this year?
-Are you aware that other religious groups have suffered at the hands of gangs or government sponsored death squads? – Genocide based on faith.
-Have you heard the stories how children, women and men have been stolen from their homes and sold as slaves because they have a different faith?
This is happening right now, all across the world and even right here in our country. Your religious freedom is under attack.
What can you do?
1. Pray.
2. Learn about Religious Freedom.
3. Recognize when Religious Freedom is under attack.
4. Live your faith boldly! -At home, at church but especially in the market place
5. Bring up your children to be vibrant believers.
6. Get involved.
7. Let your voice be heard.
Resources and organization involved in Religious Liberty.
Liberty Institute
2001 West Plano Parkway, Suite 1600, Plano, Texas 75075
Phone: 972.941.4444 Email: info@libertyinstitute.org
Concerned Women for America
1015 Fifteenth St. N.W., Suite 1100Washington, D.C. 20005
(202) 488-7000 http:www.cwfa.org
Religious Liberty Clinic - Stanford Law School
Crown Quadrangle, 559 Nathan Abbott Way, Stanford, CA. 94305-8610
650-723-2465
Alliance Defending Freedom, 15100 N. 90th Street, Scottsdale, AZ 85260
800-835-5233 Alliancedefendingfreedom.org
Family Research Council, 801 G Street NW, Washington, D.C. 20001
800 -225-4008 www.frc.org
Liberty Counsel, P.O. Box 540774, Orlando, FL 32853
800-671-1776 www.libertycounsel.org
Conclusion: John 15:18-21, & 23
If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated Me first. 19 If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. 20 Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted Me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed My teaching, they will obey yours also. 21 They will treat you this way because of My name, for they do not know the one who sent Me…. 23 Whoever hates Me hates My Father as well.
Live for Jesus with all you have with all you are for there is no cause greater.
