G Notes

The good things in life require work. And it's no different when it comes to enjoying spiritual freedom. The good news is that spiritual freedom is a free gift. Jesus did the hard work. He endured the cross in order to win our freedom; and now anyone who repents of their sin, who commits to Jesus, and who believes that He was raised from the dead is granted spiritual freedom. That's the moment of conversion. At that moment, sin is no longer master over that person. By grace through faith, the new follower of Jesus is freed from sin and from it's eternal consequences. Jesus makes us free, but we do have to live out that freedom. We do have a role to play if we want to enjoy the freedom that Christ has secured for us. This is where the spiritual disciplines come into play. Today, I'm summarizing the fourth spiritual discipline that we covered in a recent sermon series entitled Freedom . I hope these summaries are helpful, but I do recommend listening or re-listening t

Here's installment number three in this current blog series. What I am doing is providing a basic summary of the sermon series which we concluded a few weeks ago. The series was entitled Freedom. Many of us struggle to live a life of spiritual freedom, and one of the main reasons that is often the case is because we neglect to practice the spiritual disciplines (i.e. worship, prayer, giving, Bible study, serving, and Christian community). Practicing these disciplines doesn't make us free. Faith in Jesus is what makes us free. It's trusting in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus that makes us free. However, it's through the disciplines that we enjoy the freedom that Christ won for us. I recommend taking the time to listen (or re-listen) to the messages in the series. To do so simply click here: FREEDOM . What I am doing in my blog is simply summarizing some of the key points we made in regard to the six spiritual disciplines that we discussed during the se

Last week I began a six week blog series in which I am summarizing the six spiritual disciplines we recently covered in a sermon series entitled Freedom . If you did not read last week's blog post, I recommend starting there. I also suggest listening to the sermons. The summaries I am posting are simply...summaries. Listening to the specific messages, whether for the first time or as a reminder, should help you to better understand and apply the spiritual disciplines into your daily life. To listen to our sermons, click here: Freedom . The second spiritual discipline we discussed in our sermon series was prayer. What is prayer? I personally find prayer to be a mystery. A child can do it yet adults stumble over it. It's simple yet profound. It's the easiest thing in the world to do yet the hardest thing to do. It's very practical yet very theological. Anyone can do it yet many don't. Prayer is a mystery. So what is prayer? I'm not sure that's the right qu

This past Sunday we concluded a 12 week sermon series entitled Freedom . The premise of the series is that too often too many of us don't experience spiritual freedom. That's usually due to one of two resons. First, it may be never having repented of sin, placing wholehearted trust in the person and work of Jesus Christ, and succumbing to His Lordship. Freedom begins with embracing the gospel. There is no spiritual freedom apart from Jesus. Second, it may be due to neglecting the spiritual disciplines in daily living. Spiritual disciplines include: worship, prayer, giving (stewardship), Bible study, serving, and Christian community. That's not an exhaustive list; but simply the six disciplines we covered in our sermon series. Spiritual disciplines are gifts from God. They are God-given tools given to us by which to stand firm in our freedom (Galatians 5:1). Practicing the spiritual disciplines don't make us free. Jesus makes us free. We are freed from sin, from its