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[656.80 --> 658.16] making you feel stuck.
[658.16 --> 660.98] He's like, you've been rescued from it
[660.98 --> 662.54] through the work of Jesus.
[663.32 --> 665.22] You're actually free.
[666.80 --> 668.80] And now we get Paul's definition of freedom.
[670.72 --> 671.90] Paul's definition of freedom
[671.90 --> 673.14] is abundantly clear.
[673.24 --> 673.78] He says,
[674.24 --> 677.02] serve one another humbly in love.
[677.54 --> 678.88] That's freedom for the Christian.
[679.74 --> 683.08] Serve one another humbly in love.
[684.12 --> 685.84] That sounds a lot like Jesus, doesn't it?
[685.84 --> 687.42] And it's interesting to me,
[687.56 --> 688.76] I also have a hunch
[688.76 --> 691.08] that most of us have some sense
[691.08 --> 692.22] of what that feels like.
[693.46 --> 695.18] Perhaps if you think about your life
[695.18 --> 697.10] or maybe I'll just throw some scenarios out there,
[697.54 --> 699.84] you serve as part of our Wednesday night crew
[699.84 --> 701.24] at the Cloverdale Community Kitchen
[701.24 --> 702.92] and you get to make meals
[702.92 --> 704.46] and sit down with and share meals
[704.46 --> 705.50] with our vulnerable neighbors
[705.50 --> 706.86] who are struggling to find a home
[706.86 --> 709.18] and you feel free doing it.
[709.70 --> 711.16] Or perhaps you've got a family member
[711.16 --> 711.90] going through addiction
[711.90 --> 713.16] and they're staying in your home
[713.16 --> 714.02] and you're helping them out,
[714.10 --> 715.14] you're doing what you need to do,
[715.24 --> 716.06] opening up space,
[716.26 --> 717.28] and you just know that
[717.28 --> 718.64] in this act of caring for them,
[718.98 --> 720.30] it's making you feel free.
[720.94 --> 722.26] Or perhaps you're being generous
[722.26 --> 722.76] with your money
[722.76 --> 723.96] towards a cause that matters
[723.96 --> 724.98] deeply to your family
[724.98 --> 726.20] and you know that that money
[726.20 --> 728.70] is best spent in that
[728.70 --> 729.62] rather than whatever you want
[729.62 --> 730.44] to buy for yourself.
[730.78 --> 731.58] And somehow,
[732.18 --> 733.08] does this resonate with you?
[733.14 --> 734.60] Somehow as you give yourself away,
[734.84 --> 736.18] as you serve in humility,
[736.30 --> 737.60] as you try to love your neighbor,
[737.92 --> 739.18] you become more human.
[739.98 --> 741.94] You become more fully alive.
[742.64 --> 745.46] You become what you were created for,
[746.10 --> 748.72] to serve in humility with love.
[749.92 --> 750.66] Walter Brueggemann,
[751.42 --> 751.88] New Testament,
[752.00 --> 753.20] actually Old Testament theologian,
[753.24 --> 753.90] he puts it this way,
[753.94 --> 754.06] he says,
[754.12 --> 755.52] when you give your life away
[755.52 --> 756.48] in humble service,
[756.98 --> 758.50] you get it back enhanced.
[759.20 --> 759.92] Have you felt that before?
[760.22 --> 761.76] You give your life away
[761.76 --> 762.46] to serve others
[762.46 --> 763.54] and somehow you become
[763.54 --> 765.78] more fully human in the process.
[765.78 --> 768.24] You feel the life of Jesus
[768.24 --> 769.34] in your own life.
[770.88 --> 772.28] But here's the main point now.
[772.40 --> 773.60] I want to underscore this one
[773.60 --> 774.72] because this is what Paul says.
[775.08 --> 776.90] It is not enough just to know
[776.90 --> 778.40] Paul's definition of freedom.
[779.06 --> 780.30] It's not enough to have in your head,
[780.38 --> 781.04] hey Dave, okay,
[781.30 --> 782.80] I now know that to be free
[782.80 --> 783.90] is to serve with humility
[783.90 --> 784.68] and to love others.
[784.94 --> 785.36] There we go,
[785.40 --> 785.96] I'm going to do it.
[786.60 --> 788.08] It's very likely the case
[788.08 --> 789.00] that you just like me
[789.00 --> 790.02] will go home from church,
[790.10 --> 790.96] will have this definition
[790.96 --> 791.56] in our heads,
[791.68 --> 793.02] and we'll probably still be
[793.02 --> 794.48] very tempted to go back
[794.48 --> 795.24] to the old habits
[795.24 --> 796.44] of watching whatever we want,
[796.68 --> 797.68] eating whatever we want,
[797.92 --> 798.68] wasting time
[798.68 --> 799.70] in very unproductive ways
[799.70 --> 800.64] and not actually loving
[800.64 --> 801.64] and serving our neighbors.
[802.78 --> 803.66] What's needed,
[804.32 --> 805.70] according to Galatians 5,
[806.50 --> 807.96] is the power of the Holy Spirit.
[809.14 --> 810.06] What is needed
[810.06 --> 812.26] is something beyond ourselves
[812.26 --> 814.66] to change our sinful nature,
[815.22 --> 816.52] and that is the Holy Spirit.
[817.70 --> 819.04] Now, if you've been reading