River Church NOLA
Sunday, January 19th I have Decided to be truely free
  • Love Came Down
  • In The Secret
  • Evidence
  • Make Room
  • Intro
    We are in week 2 going into week 3 of 21 Days of Prayer and fasting
    We are in the new year, a little more than half way through the first month of the New Year. People used to make resolutions.
    funny resolutions
    I will remember to write 2025 instead of 2024 by end of Jan instead of Feb. 
    I resolve to be more punctual... tomorrow. 
    I will exercise more by running late for work every day.
    I will learn how to fold a fitted sheet... or admit that it’s impossible.
    I’ll be more organized by putting everything in ONE place – junk drawer
    I resolve to embrace my mistakes – they make me unique and I am really good at being unique
    Series - I have decided because at new years people try to make decisions to make the new year better. However, God and and will give you a Near Year’s Day or a fresh start every day. But we seem to be tied into the calendar thing although it’s without much success.
    Research shows that 80% of NY resolutions are broken by Valentines Day. So we are are not that good at resolutions because God didn’t want us to experience a resolutions,

    God wants you and I to experience a revolution.

    Resolutions are external, revolutions are internal. Someone said we don’t want changed lives, we just want changed circumstances.
    I want to be skinner, but I don’t want to stop eating.
    If you are the person who is here and you are frustrated that you can’t make the changes to make your life better … you are in the right place. I believe that while we live in a physical world, our problems are spiritual in nature.
    We are spiritual beings. You are not a physical person having some spiritual experiences. You are actually, a spiritual person having physical experiences.
    You are more like God than you realize so more of our solutions are going to be spiritual and not physical. We can’t make progress without making decisions. So we want to help each other make some decisions. God has so much more for each of you than you realize.
    LW we learned that there is more to being a Christian than we realize. There is more to it than saying… I am saved. Jesus called us to become followers.
    Today we want to look at another decision point.
    I have decided that it’s time to be free indeed.
    We want to be Really free and we want you to be really free… to break free from that lingering sin or habit that you just can’t seem to break free from. It’s that thing that you go…
    “I know it’s not good for me, but I can’t get rid of it and it’s beginning to take control of my life.”
    You know that if it wasn’t in your life, that your life would be better. Maybe you have even gotten to the place where you don’t really think that it’s going to go anywhere… that it can go away.
    Listen to me. That’s a lie from the pit of hell. You can be free…
    Kathy and I go to bed early Saturday nights so that we can get up early and be prepared for today…
    I have gone to the church many times in the middle of the night for a false alarm… After a few of those, I just cleared it and went back to bed. The first time I just cleared it and went back to bed. I should have gone because I wasn’t able to go back to sleep. I was thinking about what might not be here when I got here… The fals alarm was a lie.
    Some of you are in the bed of life and you are miserable because of a lie. You can be free.
    John 8:31–36 NLT
    31 Jesus said to the people who believed in him, “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. 32 And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” 33 “But we are descendants of Abraham,” they said. “We have never been slaves to anyone. What do you mean, ‘You will be set free’?” 34 Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave of sin. 35 A slave is not a permanent member of the family, but a son is part of the family forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free.
    John 8:31–36 “Jesus said to the people who believed in him, “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings.
    Real Christians are people who hold to His teaching. IOW, we do what he says to do.
    32 And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
    Jesus is not talking about personal truth or freedoms. He is the truth and when He says you shall know the truth ad the truth shall make you free, He is saying that if you know Him, you will be free.
    Knowing the truth means accepting it, obeying it, and regarding it above earthly opinions. We become free when we accept Him, and obey Him above all else.
    33 “But we are descendants of Abraham,” they said. “We have never been slaves to anyone. What do you mean, ‘You will be set free’?”
    They are in denial.
    This is where many of us are… we think we got it. We go, I’ve got this, but we don’t.
    34 Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave of sin.
    He is talking about that thing that you struggle with … that you can’t get rid of… that when you do it, you go… not again… It’s sin that keeps us from becoming the person God wants us to be.
    35 A slave is not a permanent member of the family, but a son is part of the family forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free.”
    He is saying that you can’t receive all God has for you because you are stuck in the past. But freedom is in the Son and when he sets you free, you are truly free. If sin is restraining you, mastering you, or enslaving you, Jesus can break that it’s power over you.
    Let’s talk about this struggle with sin… that habit… that pattern…
    This is a decision that we can make…

    The Struggle with Freedom

    If you struggle, you are in good company… Look what Paul said…
    Romans 7:15 NLT
    15 I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate.
    Paul wanted to do what was right, but he often didn’t.
    Romans 7:21–24 NLT
    21 I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. 22 I love God’s law with all my heart. 23 But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. 24 Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death?
    Paul loved God, but still struggled with something God wasn’t pleased with. You can be a Follower of Jesus and still struggle.
    It’s a power or a spirit that attaches itself to you… but it’s a lie. You believe someone is in the building when they are not.
    This power makes you a slave to that sin and then we beat ourselves up.
    Take this year and take part in everything we offer this year and get those attachments off of you.

    Decide to be free

    It’s a decision we all have to make. Too often, we want to hide our real selves.
    Proverbs 28:13 NLT
    13 People who conceal their sins will not prosper, but if they confess and turn from them, they will receive mercy.
    There are two places if you want to be truly free that you must confess your sins…
    You must confess your sins to God.
    1 John 1:9 NLT
    9 But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.
    It doesn’t matter what is is… when you come to God, He instantly forgives you. But this is the beginning.
    James says
    You must confess your sins to someone whom you trust.
    James 5:16 NLT
    16 Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.
    We don’t confess to anyone, but we all need someone, or a small group of people we can be open with about our struggles. Here is the way it works…

    We go to God for forgiveness

    Only God can forgive you, and He does… instantly when we ask Him.

    We go to God’s people for healing

    Most people’s plan is that first one. We go to God and ask for forgiveness and he gives it to us. Then we mess up and come back and say, God, I did it again… and He forgives you again. He will keep forgiving you every time you come back to him.
    But he wants you to be free. Just telling God you are sorry doesn’t keep you from doing it again.
    The first one deals with what you did, but the 2nd one keeps you from doing it again.
    People who choose will get free will get into
    Small groups… we don’t have many. I will be doing a Freedom Group soon.
    We want other groups…
    Affinity groups - groups around an interest… love… debt… addictions… grief…freedom…
    If you would like to host or lead a small group, put that on your connection card…

    Real life change happens in relationships

    First in Relationship with God, secondly in relationship with other people. Listen, relationships come with spending time with each other. That’s why PK and I try to get to the front to meet and greet people before you leave. Don’t just rush out and not speak to people… you are cheating yourself and the others when you do that.
    A great time to build relationships is around the table on Wednesdays before church eating together.
    Research show there are 6 or 7 Blue zones - people who live healthy lives into their 100’s. They tried to find out what these folks had in common and one of the things was their faith. One thing was that they went to church every single week.
    Another was that they were all in small groups. They said that your friendships are contagious and whatever habits your friends have… you are going to have. If your friends a healthy, you will become healthier. If your friends are addicted, you will become addicted. It’s important who you hang out with.
    So be intentional about who you hang out with.
    So here is how… I am trying to help you get all you have from God. In YFC we used the Jahari window.

    Why Groups are so important

    1. Open Self / Arena: I know and you know

    It’s the Public you. It’s what you want everyone to know about you. It’s what we allow others to see about is. The problem is that the public view is not always who we really are.
    You are bigger on the outside than you are on the inside. And a lot of folks are working hard to keep up that image and that’s exhausting. And so many of us always say we are exhausted.
    Jesus addressed this…
    Matthew 23:5 NLT
    5 “Everything they do is for show. On their arms they wear extra wide prayer boxes with Scripture verses inside, and they wear robes with extra long tassels.
    The Phalcertory was worn to show people they were religious.
    Matthew 23:27 NLT
    27 “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs—beautiful on the outside but filled on the inside with dead people’s bones and all sorts of impurity.
    If that describes you at all… Choose to change it todya.

    2. Hidden Self / The Mask: I know but you don’t know.

    We wear a mask… with the mask, I know it but you don’t. We are all wearing them. We each have things we don’t share with others. Healthy people will have at least one or more people with whom they can take their mask off with and be real. Why do you need this…?
    I will always stay as sick as my secrets
    If you say that you have been trying and trying, but maybe it’s time to tell God and God’s people. I love what David said after his sin with Bathsheba.
    Psalm 32:3 NLT
    3 When I refused to confess my sin, my body wasted away, and I groaned all day long.
    Psalm 32:4–5 NLT
    4 Day and night your hand of discipline was heavy on me. My strength evaporated like water in the summer heat. Interlude 5 Finally, I confessed all my sins to you and stopped trying to hide my guilt. I said to myself, “I will confess my rebellion to the Lord.” And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone. Interlude
    David got the load off of himself.
    You may think … you just don’t know what I am battling… the addiction… the mental nutcase I am… and if I tell someone they will think so bad of me. That’s not true. Here is what will happen. CS Lewis said it.
    Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another, ‘What! You too? I thought I was the only one.’”
    That’s what happens when find someone we can be real with. We all need it. Paul had one… his name was Epaphras.
    Colossians 4:12 NLT
    12 Epaphras, a member of your own fellowship and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends you his greetings. He always prays earnestly for you, asking God to make you strong and perfect, fully confident that you are following the whole will of God.
    We all need an Epaphras in our lives. The problem is unspoken prayer requyess.

    3. Blind Self : I don’t know but you know.

    We all have these. It’s the hanger… you know friends don’t let friends have hangers…
    The Blind Self is sort of like a colorblind person or someone with really bad eyes getting dressed in the morning without his glasses. He puts his new sport coat and tie on and he thinks, "Boy, do I look good." He steps outside, and a friend walks up and says, "Excuse me, George, but a green shirt with a purple coat and dark red socks don't go together too well." Our friend can't see his mistakes because he's looking through his own problem, and it affects the way he sees himself. That's the way it is with each of us trying to work out our problems on our own. Introspection is helpful, but often we look through our own hang-ups and are blind to our real needs. Only as we begin to open up to others will we start to find out who we really are
    Proverbs 27:6 NLT
    6 Wounds from a sincere friend are better than many kisses from an enemy.
    We need to trust the wounds from a friend. Too often we gravitate to those who tell us what we want to hear.
    Here is what we need to do…
    Hebrews 3:12–13 NLT
    12 Be careful then, dear brothers and sisters. Make sure that your own hearts are not evil and unbelieving, turning you away from the living God. 13 You must warn each other every day, while it is still “today,” so that none of you will be deceived by sin and hardened against God.
    We need to do this with each other. I love this quote.
    I may not be able to fix your problems, but I promise not to let you deal with them alone.
    If you will let someone into your life, this could be your best year ever.

    4. Unconscious Self / Unknown Potential: I don’t know and you don’t know.

    It’s your potential self. You don’t know it, the other person doesn’t see it either, but God does. It’s unknown to us or others, but it impacts who we are and how we act.
    God’s way of you finding this is by getting close to him and other people
    Proverbs 27:17 NLT
    17 As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend.
    We’re better together.
    Wrap up
    Know God - Ask Jesus to be your Savior today.
    Decide to be Truly Free

      • John 8:31–36NKJV

      • Romans 7:15NKJV

      • Romans 7:21–24NKJV

      • Proverbs 28:13NKJV

      • 1 John 1:9NKJV

      • James 5:16NKJV

      • Matthew 23:5NKJV

      • Matthew 23:27NKJV

      • Psalm 32:3NKJV

      • Psalm 32:4–5NKJV

      • Colossians 4:12NKJV

      • Proverbs 27:6NKJV

      • Hebrews 3:12–13NKJV

      • Proverbs 27:17NKJV

  • I Have Decided To Follow Jesus
River Church NOLA
robert@riverchurchnola.com
504-578-8317
https://riverchurchnola.com
5 members • 18 followers