City Life Church San Diego
Welcome to the City Life Church Podcast, where faith meets action in the heart of Mt. Hope. We are a diverse family of God, united by Jesus, led by Scripture, and empowered by the Holy Spirit, we are committed to caring for both the spiritual and tangible needs of the lost and hurting. Through inspiring messages and practical lessons, we seek to equip and encourage you to live out God’s calling in everyday life. Join us as we grow in faith, serve our community, and share the hope of the Gospel with the world.
City Life Church San Diego
Romans 6:15-7:6 No Longer Slaves
Pastor Dale explores the paradoxical nature of true freedom through a thought-provoking examination of Romans 6:15-7:6, revealing that everyone serves only one master—either sin leading to death or Christ leading to life.
• Everyone worships something and everyone serves only one master
• If we choose sin as our master, we submit to death
• Sin promises freedom but delivers enslavement and destruction
• Whatever we plant (sow) will inevitably grow and produce results (fruit)
• The wages of sin is death—physical, spiritual, relational, and emotional
• Rule-following and legalism cannot save us
• Through Christ's death, we've been freed from our former master (sin)
• Following Jesus means surrendering certain freedoms but gaining true life
• We don't serve God to earn His love—we serve because He first loved us
• True freedom is found not in independence from God but in dependence on Him
If you're looking to get more involved or find ways to serve others, please let us know. We can help you get more plugged into the church and experience the freedom that comes from following Jesus.
Man glad to be with you guys today. I'm Pastor Dale, one of the four pastors with City Life Church, and I know some of you come today bearing burdens. I know some of you come today with illness, illness that the doctors don't know how to fix. I know some of you come today with sorrow and some of you come today with celebration, and we just wanna be here together in the middle of all that. We all bring something to the table, whether it be struggle or joy, but we bring it to the table, we gather together and we find joy even in our sorrow. So let us be blessed by opening our Bibles to Romans 6.15 through 7.6. So we'll open at 6.15 and then we'll go from there Romans 6.15. We have really nice study Bibles over on the side that if you don't have a good study Bible, we would love to give you one. Put your name on it. We believe that this is actually the word of God. Whenever you're wondering what God has to say, we believe that the Bible is God speaking directly to us. So if you need one for yourselves, put your name on it and we would love to give that to you. We have them in English, spanish and Haitian Creole. Tenemos biblias bilingües disponibles a costada de salón. Bon jeu venu nous. J'aime bien Creole a sien.
Speaker 1:If you remember our message a few weeks ago some of you weren't here, so I'll just give you a quick reminder. The preceding verse that goes before Romans 6, by the way, do you have any of your Bibles today? Does anyone have their Bible today? Can I see them? I know you've got to get on your phones, you're fine, but I just love seeing physical Bibles. This makes me happy. I don't know why. Basically, what you heard was you are no longer under the law, but you are under grace, and so the thing is is that whenever you're giving a good speech, they always say but you have to respond to the next response people have. So if someone has a problem with what you say, you need to respond to that in your message. So Paul already knows what people are going to say oh, so we're no longer under the law, so we can just let go and do whatever we want, right, we should just get crazy. And he responds to that, and that's what we're going to be at Romans 6, 15. Are you with me? Let's go. What then? Should we sin because we are not under the law, but under grace? Absolutely not. I have an ant crawling on. Okay, there we go. Sorry, there's an ant crawling over what I was reading, sorry, starting over Romans 6.15. What then? Should we sin because we are not under the law, but under grace? Absolutely not.
Speaker 1:Don't you know that if you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of that one. You obey Either of sin, leading to death, or of obedience, leading to righteousness. But thank God that, although you used to be slaves of sin, you obeyed from the heart that pattern of teaching to which you were handed over and, having been set free from sin, you became enslaved to righteousness. I'm using a human analogy because of the weakness of your flesh and, having been set free from sin, you became enslaved to righteousness. I'm using a human analogy because of the weakness of your flesh, for just as you offered the parts of yourselves as slaves to impurity and to greater and greater lawlessness, so now offer them as slaves to righteousness, which results in sanctification. For when you were slaves of sin, you were free with regards to righteousness. So what fruit was produced then from the things you are now ashamed of? The outcome of those things is death. Guys, I know this is a long text, but I promise we're going to break this down. But now, since you have been set free from sin and have been enslaved to God, you have your fruit, which results in sanctification, and the outcome is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus, our Lord.
Speaker 1:Since I am speaking to those who know the law, brothers and sisters, don't you know that the law rules over someone as long as he lives? For example, a married woman is legally bound to her husband while he lives, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law regarding the husband. So then, if she married to another man while her husband is living, she will be called an adulteress, but if her husband dies, she is free from that law. Then, if she is married to another man, she is not an adulteress. Therefore, my brothers and sisters, you also were put to death in relation to the law, through the body of Christ, that you may belong to another. You belong to him who was raised from the dead in order that we may bear fruit for God, for when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions aroused through the law were working in us to bear fruit for death. But now we have been released from the law, since we have died to what held us, so that we may serve in the newness of the spirit and not in the old letter of the law.
Speaker 1:Friends, will you pray with me? Father, we thank you for another morning where we can gather in freedom. Freedom from the many things that used to bind and enslave us. That was once all we knew. And then, in your kindness, you gave us your Son, who gave us a better way, who made us a better way. And then you gave us your Holy Spirit to gave us a better way, who made us a better way. And then you gave us your Holy Spirit to actually help us follow that better way. Please help us not to run back into that kind of wicked slavery that wants to destroy us. Help us not to seek the very thing that hates us, that wants to kill us. We understand that you bring true freedom. Help us this morning to truly understand that freedom and embrace it with joy. Please teach us from your word. May the words of my mouth and the thoughts of our hearts be pleasing to you. We pray this. All in Jesus' name, and all God's people say amen. Okay.
Speaker 1:So sometimes in our neighborhood I will meet lots of different people, and I'm sure that you've met some of these folks too. If you go to the suburbs, people are really good at hiding this, but sometimes when you come to the hood, people are just more real. Those of you are more honest with where they're at. So have you ever been around someone in addiction that denies they're in addiction? Right Like they. Just they, just they either don't believe it or they're unwilling to accept it.
Speaker 1:You can hear things like this I can quit whenever I want. Have you heard that before? Or how about I'm just a social drinker? I've heard that one. You must really love people. Because you drink a lot, you might need to move to Antarctica. Or I just gamble on the side for fun. Okay, okay, cool, but you lost your house already, so maybe it's a little more than that. Or I'm not a workaholic, I just want to provide for my family. And then the response is usually have you met your family?
Speaker 1:Everyone worships something. Everyone worships something. Everyone serves only one master. Some know it, some don't, but that doesn't change it from being true. Friends.
Speaker 1:Sin promises freedom, but instead it drags you down to hell. Freedom to follow Jesus, though, is life, and it's a true path to joy. The question for you today is who will you serve? And I'm going to give you three points on freedom today. Okay, and my first point is this If we choose sin as our master, we submit to death. If we choose sin as our master, we submit to death.
Speaker 1:Verse 21,. I'm going to paraphrase for you. Okay, I'm going to say the fruit of sin was death in your life. Now, actually, I should go back when we talk about fruit in the Bible. Remember, when we're talking about fruit, the idea is when you plant an orange tree, you get an orange, right Like the only fruit that's going to come off that orange. Unless you do that weird splicing stuff nowadays, you're going to get an orange. In the same way, if you plant a banana tree, you'll get bananas. You'll get mangoes if you plant a mango.
Speaker 1:So when God is talking about fruit in the Bible a lot, it says that the fruit of sin, of sinfulness, is going to be wickedness and death, but the fruit of life is going to be good. So we're going to talk a lot about fruit today. Just think of it as the outcome of what you have done. So the fruit of sin verse 21, was death in your life. But now you are set free from the involuntary slavery of sin and death and now you are a voluntary bondservant of God. Now you show your faith in your holy actions that you could never do without God's power. This shows you belong to God for eternal life. See, sin brought death, but the gift of God is life forever in Jesus. That's my paraphrase. Now, see, we don't have to follow the laws of God to be saved is what we've learned. But we do have to follow the laws of God to find freedom, to find freedom from the oppression of sin, the oppression of sin in our lives that wants to take us out.
Speaker 1:Now, I don't know if the idea of slavery in the Bible makes you feel a little bit icky. Honestly, having learned so much about chattel slavery in the United States, every time slavery comes up in the Bible I just does anyone else do that? Like, maybe it's just me, but I'm like I don't want to talk about slavery. I just don't. I don't want to even mention the idea of slavery being good. I actually read a book where this woman said that she would rather live in Britain than serve under the nicest, kindest slave owner in the United States. This battle's from the 1800s, obviously, but the thing is that slavery makes me feel icky.
Speaker 1:But there's a different type of slavery in the Bible that God is talking about. It's this doulos, it's this idea of a bondservant. It's someone who would go to God and say I want to belong to you. Someone who would go to a master and say I want to belong to you. Someone who would go to a master and say I want to belong to you. It's not the same type of slavery that you hear of in the United States, but it's good to understand why Paul would use this analogy.
Speaker 1:Here's why, most likely from what we've read, two-thirds of the people in Rome were thought to be enslaved people. So this would kind of be a big deal, right, like this is actually speaking to where they're at. Some were captives of war. Some were debtors hey, I owe you a lot of money, can I just work it off? Some chose slavery as a way to have food, shelter and clothing, and it was still not as bad as chattel slavery that we know in the United States. So it's good to know that, hey, I got no food, I got no place to stay. Our pet's heads are far off. I need somebody to help me get something so I can be provided for. So can I give my life to you, so you'll just provide for me?
Speaker 1:But, as Jesus points out, you can only have one master if you aren't a slave. And in this world it is the same way. Sin and death tell us what to do and we can follow our sinful appetites, and we can follow them all the way to the grave. Or we can look our sins directly in the eye and we can say I don't belong to you anymore, you don't have power over me anymore. I belong to a different master. I belong to Jesus Now.
Speaker 1:Tim Keller. He says when we realize the purpose of the death of Christ as we think of it in gratitude, we find a new incentive to be holy. It is not fear and self-confidence, but gratitude and love. See, slaves to sin is one choice, or servants of God is your other. You have to pick one. You cannot be both and you cannot be neither. Rebecca Manley Pippard. She says whoever controls us is our Lord. The person who seeks power is controlled by power. The person who seeks acceptance is controlled by acceptance. Keller also adds if you are a slave to approval, you will constantly experience self-pity, envy, hurt feelings and inadequacy. So the wages of sin is death. So what are wages? We know what wages means. Right Like it's payment, right Like I work and I receive this. The fruit of sin is death. The wages of sin is death.
Speaker 1:Now, when you are going for a job, what kind of things do you look for in your job? When it's a good job, you would say salary, you would say. Does it make me feel like they care that I'm there? Am I doing something maybe that I'm good at? Do they have vacation? Do they have a retirement plan? Do they have sick leave? Do they have dental and health insurance? Are they flexible with my schedule? Those are the things you look for in a job. Those are the wages of a good job. Someone in our church just got a new job and we were talking through their negotiations and he gave them a list of what he wanted and they came back to him with a counteroffer that said yes, that's a good job, that's a good start to a job, I think. But what if, instead, the counteroffer was okay, I know you want it down. But how about death? How about we work you until you die? How about this work will kill you? How about this work will destroy your relationships, your marriage, your family? It will kill your soul. That is the wages of sin.
Speaker 1:Now some of you are like how did you know about my job? But, for real, who would be willingly able to choose that when they're offered something better that leads to life? I know some of you take on jobs that you hate because you just need to provide. But here there's a better option. There's a better option that leads to life. And yet so many of us are out here talking about this idea that we have freedom to sin. Look at me. You don't tell me what to do and I don't know about you. But when we talk about this idea of like the law is what led us to sin in some ways, like that's kind of confusing. But for me, for me growing up as a kid, I understand that 100%. Because what did my parents say to me? Do not, under any circumstances, touch that. And my brain goes want to touch it, want to touch it, want to touch it, want to touch it, right, like that's what I was like as a kid. That's what you know. Anytime someone would say you can't do that. You can't do that. Now, I'm sure my parents were smart enough to be like you shouldn't do your homework. I'm going to do it. But that's not freedom, and actually you're still enslaved to that idea. It's death.
Speaker 1:Galatians 6, 7 says Don't be deceived. God is not mocked, for whatever a person sows, he will also reap, because the one who sows to his flesh will reap destruction from the flesh. But the one who sows to his flesh will reap destruction from the flesh, but the one who sows to the spirit will reap eternal life from the spirit. Let us not get tired of doing good, for we will reap at the proper time if we don't give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us work for the good of all, especially for those who belong to that household.
Speaker 1:Okay, guys, when you plant something, something grows Always. If you plant poison seeds, something, something grows Always. If you plant poison seeds, you will get poison plants. If you sow pumpkin seeds, you will get pumpkins, unless it's, you know, in my garden. If you sow in sin, you will reap in death. If you sow seeds of holiness, you not only please your good master, you find true joy. See, sin promises freedom, but instead it drags your life down to hell. Freedom to follow Jesus' life, and it's the true path to joy.
Speaker 1:Now, what if pleasing God became our greatest desire? Pleasing God as our master became our greatest desire, what would that look like? Friends, it means when someone mistreats me. Do I consider how to honor my master in that moment? What if honoring God makes you look weak to them? It doesn't matter, because you're trying to honor your master. It's okay, because you have only one master. When you look at your time and your resources, do you consider them yours or do you see Jesus as master of everything? If pleasing God is your greatest desire, maybe God will want you to do something else.
Speaker 1:I have found pleasing my master causes me to want to know more about people. I want to know them, I want to show love to them, and it's not because, like, I can't even describe it, it's not because I want to. It's because, like, he like compels me to want to and he's changing my heart from the inside. I found that I want to know about people's past now and I want to know about their hurts. I want to know about their pains. I want to know what makes people smile now, because following God has changed me. It makes me want to love people. It causes me to make friends with all kinds of people that I wouldn't talk to before. Yesterday we spent time with a friend who calls herself a wicked and an agnostic Catholic.
Speaker 1:I've been surfing lately with the owner of my favorite ice cream shop in North Park just because I just wanted to hang out with him, because he's a cool dude. He's a totally different background and I just enjoy getting to know him. God has put a love in my heart for that person. It's the same way with the Crips. It's the same way with the Market Street Gang. It's the same way with police officers. I want to know them because I love them, because God loves me and it pours out of me. I just don't think I would be able to make friends with so many people who are different than me if I didn't first belong to Jesus. I probably just want to be with people who look like me, talk like me and thought like me. You know why? Because it's usually easier. But I can't do that anymore because I belong to Jesus. Does that make me a slave to having an awesome time making new friends? Yeah, I guess. So I'm a slave to that.
Speaker 1:So if you want to follow Jesus, will you lose freedom? Yeah, the freedom to pursue your own destruction, yeah, the freedom from hurting yourself and others around you who love you, the freedom to reject God because you want to be stubborn man. I don't want to lose that. I don't care about that freedom anymore. In the end, if someone wants to hurt themselves, you have that freedom. Friends, if you want to hurt yourself, you have the freedom too.
Speaker 1:Now, I know some of you are still struggling. I know some of you are struggling with alcoholism and addiction. I know some of you are still pursuing pornography and sex outside of marriage. You are free to do those things. You're free. But your sin will eventually find you out and it will destroy you. It doesn't care about you. Your sin doesn't care about your welfare. Sin only wants your soul and nothing less. It's a master and it's a ruthless master. Sin promises freedom, but instead it drags you down to suffering in heaven. Freedom to follow Jesus is life and the true path to joy. So sin kills you, yes, but will rules then save your life? Will you just try to be a good person and that's going to save you. No, and that's our second point, if we make rule following our master, we submit to death. If we make rule following our master, we submit to death. Verse 7, excuse me, that's chapter 7, verse 1.
Speaker 1:Since I am speaking to those who know the law, brothers and sisters, don't you know that the law will rule over someone as long as he's alive? For example, a married woman is legally bound over her husband while he's alive, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law regarding the husband. So then, if she is married to another man while her husband is living, she will be called an adulteress, but if her husband dies, she is free from that law. Then, if she is married to another man, she is an adulteress. Let's break it down.
Speaker 1:Remember a few weeks ago we talked about how we have died with Christ and been resurrected with him. Remember that when you, some of you, were baptized by us, we said buried with Christ in baptism, raised to walk in newness of life. We quote that text when we baptize you. That means that all the debts of the dead man have expired, because no one's going to the grave of the dead man and saying give me my money, fool, Right? You remember that. Nobody is saying that I'm killing you and smoking. Nobody would ever say that. Nobody knows my quotes from old movies. Sorry, but you're not going to show up at my grave and ask for money, you're not.
Speaker 1:Now Paul goes in a new direction. Now you were married, but now you died. You died to death. So when I die, my wife will be free to marry someone else. And I want her to remarry Kind of Sort of. Not really, I don't really want her to, but the two of you get the idea right, like she could. I mean, I may have threatened her with like a haunting. You know I'm going to haunt you, but that's not biblical either. So she is free to remarry if I die, if and when. But Jesus said, because Jesus says when we die, we're no longer married. Death is a chasm that separates us from the living, but life in Jesus brings all believers together with Jesus in true joy in our second life, in our next life. So you are free to take on a new spouse now, everyone, except for the first lady. After I die, and metaphorically, if you are delivered from death, you can take on a new spouse. So you are married to death, you are married to sin, and now you can take on a new spouse and guess what?
Speaker 1:Jesus calls himself the bridegroom, and I know dudes are always like, don't like being called the bride. Get with it. We have freedom to join Jesus in a deep relationship. Friends, I am bound to my wife in a deeper, better relationship, and I made a promise to her and I intend to keep it. Now I know for some of you, you've experienced bad things in marriage abuse, neglect and other awful things but I want you to know that there are good marriages too, and these marriages can point us to the more perfect marriage that the church has with Jesus. Now the good thing is we're not going to go outside and do one of those culty like bass weddings or anything like that, but in heaven we all belong to Jesus. Weddings or anything like that, but in heaven we all belong to Jesus. We are his bride. Now I really love my wife In the same way. I'm not bound to her, though, because I have to be. I'm not. I've given my life to her because I wanted to give it to her. I'm stoked to be married to my wife.
Speaker 1:It means, but it means that sometimes I will lose some freedoms. I can't serve whenever I want to, but I usually do because she's gracious. It means that I don't eat whatever I want, but I usually do because we like a lot of the same foods. It's getting a little weird because we eat at the same place on date night every week for the last like eight weeks. Same place for the ice cream. That's why I made friends with the ice cream guy, right. But that's the thing.
Speaker 1:Though. I have to give up that freedom. Being married to her means I can't stay out as late as I want or spend all my money on stupid things. Being married to her means I have to consider my own personal safety because it affects her, but it's still worth it. I lose those freedoms, but it's worth it. Because of her, I probably don't have diabetes. We have a home, because I didn't spend it all on magic beans and baseball cards.
Speaker 1:I had that freedom before her, but I don't get to do everything I want anymore. But I never wake up in the morning and go oh gosh, I have to be married to this beautiful woman who serves others. She takes care of our family and deals with all my crap. I don't like that. No, I'm not a slave to my commitment. I'm overjoyed. I'm overjoyed.
Speaker 1:Psalm 23 says he makes me lie down in green pastures. He forces me to lie down in green pastures. Why? Because he's a good, kind and loving master who loves you. He's a good shepherd who loves you. This is not a rule. Following this is responding to a good, kind, loving master. His freedom to follow Jesus is life and a true path to joy. Following Jesus is not a chore. It's not lack of freedom.
Speaker 1:I like a lot of music. Okay, I even like metal. I don't know if you guys know this, but it's really funny to listen to certain metal bands when I was growing up, because metal bands were ridiculous about hell. Like, oh, hell is so cool, it's going to be awesome, do what I want you know. And like no guy is going to tell me what to do, you know. And it's like, trust me, friends, you don't ever want to be in a place where God's presence cannot be felt. You don't want that. You don't want to celebrate that, you don't want to sing about it. It's not cool, oh my gosh cool. To like a devil, like I sound, I feel old, I'm like aging in front of you, but, friends. Being outside of God's presence, where you cannot feel it, is hell. You think fire and brimstone sound bad. It's nothing compared to feeling like God's left you. It's nothing compared to that.
Speaker 1:So lots of people like to talk about the freedom they have without Jesus. But it's not freedom and it's not as good as like. Someone like Cardi B might pretend it is People who are enslaved to drink, gambling, sex, other things, but even when they are pretending that they are doing well, you can tell they're not right. When someone is in addiction like that, when someone has to do something like that, they talk to you about how great things are, you can tell it's not great, it's not going great. They pretend, but it's not going great.
Speaker 1:Now I'm going to talk to you for a second about this show that I do not endorse, even though I've watched it since I was seven years old. It's called the Simpsons and there's this guy. His name is Kurt Van Halden, his wife divorced him and he starts acting like divorce was the best thing ever, like this is where I get my freedom. He acted like he had freedom right and he acts like he has this freedom because he's trying to show off all his freedoms, so he brings his sort of friend, homer, over to his new place to show off what single life is like when he has all this freedom Show off all the freedoms he has now that he's divorced. And so I have a clip. I think I have a clip that I'm going to show you and we'll see if it works Kirk showing off his new freedoms that he found in singleness. It's going to be sideways. It's going to be sideways. Single life is great, homer, I can do whatever I His new freedoms that he found in singleness. It's gonna be sideways. It's gonna be sideways.
Speaker 1:Today I drank a beer in the bathroom. Yeah, another great thing you get your own bed. I sleep in a racing car, do you? Yeah, my way, oh, yeah, hey there, kirk. Oh boy, what's going on? Patio party? No, possum drawn in the pool. You have any garbage bags? Ah, just throwing over the fence. Let Arby's worry about it. That's Jerry. He's a major player down at the sewing store. Well, thanks for introducing me. Oh, don't worry, homer, you know me and I'm a superstar at the Cracker Factory, all right, so that is a guy who is struggling and he is showing off his freedom to everyone around him. Look at the freedom I have now that I'm no longer bound to a wife. Kirk was free from being married. He could do whatever he wanted. Now he could sleep in a race car if he wanted to. He had the freedom to follow his heart's desire.
Speaker 1:But sometimes, when we're following our heart's desire and we feel free in sin and to do whatever we want, it's not as good as we would like to think, because sin promises freedom, but instead it drags you down to hell. Freedom to follow Jesus, though, is life and a true path to joy. Now, what if the things we think are freedom are really enslavement and the things of God, which feel like chores sometimes, are really life? Reading our Bible, christian community, prayer, serving others? What if those things lead to true joy and true feelings of freedom? What if those are gifts to us from God and not burdens of slavery to God? He makes me lie down in green pastures. We are spoken for now. We can't just do whatever we want now, because we belong to Jesus and we know the better way, and that's our third point Following Jesus leads to a life of joy. Following Jesus leads to a life of joy. Romans 7, verse 4. Therefore, my brothers and sisters, you also were put to death in relation to the law, through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another. You belong to him who was raised from the dead in order that we may bear fruit for God. See, this is freedom, this is true freedom.
Speaker 1:To continue the analogy with my marriage why do I clean the house? Because I think it's nasty? No, I don't care, I'm nasty. Is it because I like cleaning? No, no. Is it because I care what you guys think? Not, really, not that much. Do I clean my house to get my wife to marry me though? Nope, I'm already married. So why am I willing to help clean up the house? It's because I love my wife and she deserves it. That's not slavery. It's not, by the way. A lot of times I don't clean up as I should. I'm just going to be real Like. I'm not the pastor who's like oh yeah, I do this all the time. Best husband ever. No, I get it wrong a lot.
Speaker 1:But do we serve God so he will love us? No, he already loves us. Do we serve God so that he will save us? No, he's already saved us, and so we serve God because he saved us. We serve God because he loved us. We serve God because he understands what's best for us and he knows how we can thrive. 1 John 4.19 says we love because he first loved us. There was a debt that we could never pay. But Jesus loved us even when we still belonged to the enemy and even when we were still in a negative banking, even when we belonged to the kingdom of darkness. It says Jesus sacrificed himself to us and brought us into his kingdom, brought us into his family, and that's the beauty of the gospel.
Speaker 1:Friend, it doesn't matter where you are in your life, it doesn't matter what you've done. God loves you so much more than anything you've done. God loves you so much that he's so much more loving that he's more powerful too than everything you've ever done. So if you think you've done too many bad things for God, guess what. He still accepts you and loves you because he sent his son Jesus to die for you. If you think that you're good on your own, guess what. You still need that sacrifice. Friends, it doesn't matter where you've been or what you've done. God offers himself to you today in love.
Speaker 1:When Jesus died on the cross, he bridged the gap between us and God. He saved us. He offered salvation to us and we have to respond to that salvation. When he rose again on the third day, he showed that he was bigger than sin and debt. He was bigger than the huge debt that you guys racked up, the huge debt that I racked up, like God, I don't know, I've done a lot of bad debt, it doesn't matter, I've taken care of it, I paid the bill, and so it's good for us to continue to consider that God has saved us and God loved us and God paid the bill. See, sin promises freedom, but instead it drags you down to hell. But freedom to follow Jesus is life and it is a true path to joy.
Speaker 1:Now, congolese pastor Dr David Casale says when we serve God, what he gives us cannot be called wages, for it is far more than we could ever possibly earn through our service. It is a gift of grace. We are given what we do not deserve, and that is eternal life. It is important to ask ourselves who are we serving? Who are we living for? You don't belong to Jesus, friend, and you've allowed sin to boss you around. Please get credited. Give your life to Jesus. You can trust him with your life, and for those of you who belong to Jesus, perhaps today is the day you commit to serving and following him in a more profound, bigger way, where you say God, I realize I don't have to do anything to earn your love, but I want to do something to follow you. Maybe today is the day you commit to serving him more. If you're looking to get more involved, let us know. We can help you get more plugged into the church or help you find ways to serve others, but not to earn anything with your good master, master only because he's already earned it.
Speaker 1:City Life Church.
Speaker 1:I guess sin promises freedom, but instead it drags you down to hell.
Speaker 1:Freedom to follow Jesus is the life and the true path to joy which you're praying for.
Speaker 1:Father, we thank you that we didn't have to earn it because we can. We thank you that in your goodness, you saw us worth saving. We are grateful for you. We are blessed by you. We have hope because of you. We have hope because of you, father. We ask that in this moment, in the silence of our heart, we would bring you our sins and confess them to you.
Speaker 1:Father, we know we fall short, but it's crazy that you don't look at us that way. It's crazy that when you look at us, you see the righteousness of your son, jesus, that as far as the east is from the west, so our sin is from your side. Oh, good news. What good news, lord. We ask that you would bless us to be a blessing to others, that we would be good servants of you, that we would live according to your desires for our life, because we trust that your way is better than ours. Lord, we ask that you would be blessed today by the way that we respond to your grace. We love you and we pray this all in Jesus' name.