Today we are going to focus on a scripture that has really impacted my heart lately but before I share it with you I want to talk to you about why I believe this particular scripture has made such an impact on me. I believe it is because it describes the kind of life I want to have and I would be willing to bet it’s the kind of life that you want to have too. But while it describes the kind of life I want to have, I can tell you I don’t always feel this way. The life I’m talking about is a life that is described as bold and free. Today we are going to talk about what a life like that can look like, and I also want you to see where a life like that can be found. But first we need to get back to the shocking news that I have my moments where I don’t always feel so big and bad and bold and free. Now, I know you may find it hard to believe that Pastor Sam could have any chinks in the armor but I have my moments where I don’t feel so bold and free (which Ken will tell you are really interesting to be around in their own right!) That can frustrate me but there are just times when I don’t feel like the victorious child of God that I know God created me to be! What is funny is I am great at helping you see how bold and free you should be but I have my moments where I just don’t feel all that victorious in my own life. This past week was a great example of that…we had a lot going on around my home and I told you last week I have four children so there really aren’t too many dull moments there, and as they have gotten older it seems like there are more and more details to hold together for each of them. You add their emotions and things they go through at school and in life and it can impact me too, because they matter so much to me. Here at MRC it’s just busier than usual right now, and here’s the thing…that is a good thing! I love my life, my family, and my job! They are all amazing blessings to me but it can also be little over whelming for me from time to time…I know hard to believe right? Me, the great Sam Hepner not feeling all that amazing sometimes…and to think he is a Pastor! (I think I just typed sarcasm!) It was even more ironic that the week I wanted to talk to you about living a bold and free life…I just didn’t feel so bold and free!
It was an interesting week for me…don’t tell anyone but I turned 40 years old this past Friday. Now my birthday is not a big deal to me, and I hesitate to even tell you that it’s my birthday because I’m not real big on celebrating me, again celebrating you is fine, but me…not so much! I will say though, as much as my birthday isn’t a big deal that number 40 did make me think a little bit about where the time has gone. In the last few years my body seems to have new aches and pains every day. I now lose foot races with my children, and I will tell you that simply going out and shooting baskets with my kids or kicking soccer with them often leaves me to wonder the next day why I can’t raise my arms over my head! Now that I think about it, this could at the least maybe explain why I can pull muscles just getting out of bed these days! So I turned 40 this past week, and on top of that my birthday was sandwiched between two Thanksgiving get-togethers with both Mashawn and I’s family. Then add how cold it is, which as much as Ken likes the cold, well I’m that passionately against it and then add all the kid’s stuff that is going on in their lives and by the end of the week I can be a little overwhelmed and I just found myself this week just wanting to go hide for a while from all that life seemed to be throwing at me! I wasn’t feeling so bold and free. Have you ever been there? Just wanting to call a time out on life…it doesn’t work though does it? Life just keeps happening whether I want it to or not! It’s amazing to me how hard it is to live a bold and free life in the world that we live in, this freezing cold, busy, cluttered, emotion filled life that we are living! So it was an ironic time to really feel called to talk to you about being bold and free, in a week that I will tell you I just felt less than victorious…and then I sat down to prepare this message and I read again about living bold and free…and it inspired me all over again.
1 John 3:18 My dear children, let’s not just talk about love; let’s practice real love. 19 This is the only way we’ll know we’re living truly, living in God’s reality. 20 It’s also the way to shut down debilitating self-criticism, even when there is something to it. For God is greater than our worried hearts and knows more about us than we do ourselves. 21 And friends, once that’s taken care of and we’re no longer accusing or condemning ourselves, we’re bold and free before God! 22 We’re able to stretch our hands out and receive what we asked for because we’re doing what he said, doing what pleases him. 23 Again, this is God’s command: to believe in his personally named Son, Jesus Christ. He told us to love each other, in line with the original command. 24 As we keep his commands, we live deeply and surely in him, and he lives in us. And this is how we experience his deep and abiding presence in us: by the Spirit he gave us. MSG
There is so much going on in this scripture that I want to jump in with you today, but for now let’s just focus in on those two words in verse 21 that I just can’t get out of my mind. Those two words are ‘bold’ and ‘free.’ They stood out to me so much that it really has had me thinking. Why do those two words really hit my heart so hard…and I will tell you why that is…it’ because God’s word is literally telling us here that we can live that way. We can live out our Christian lives in a way that would actually be described as bold and free before God which sounds like a lot of fun doesn’t it? Um, yeah! But it sure is hard to feel that way as we push through a life of activities, and bills, and adversity and hurts that our children experience, and then we add our own lives dealing with people issues all around us, we can seem to feel more like a loser than a champion of Christ. We don’t always feel BOLD and FREE…actually I think most of us would say that we feel tired and stuck, not bold and free. But you know what we don’t have to feel this way anymore, because we have help here. We can live bold and free lives…and that is exactly where I want this new series! And you know what, where this type of life is found is absolutely an amazing thing to me, and it may not be where you think that kind of empowered life will come from…so I’m really excited to bring this to you.
Today we open up a brand new series, where we are going to be looking at the question that should be in the front of your minds as we celebrate the Christmas Holiday. No, that isn’t How Santa got down the chimney, or whether or not you have to be nice to your in-laws on Christmas or when in the world is it ok to stop buying presents for all your nieces and nephews. I know it’s hard to remember with all the things we have going on but at the very center of this holiday we are heading into is the birth of Jesus, the Savior of the Universe who came to the Earth and lived as flesh and blood, and shed that blood so that you and I can have eternal life. So the question that this entire series is really going to explore is this…Why did Jesus come? Over the next few weeks Ken and I will be sitting in that particular question. It seems like a fitting series since the holidays are supposed to be centering on God’s incredible gift to the world, that gift being His son Jesus. So that is the question we will look at for this entire series! You may be thinking good grief how can they talk for weeks about something that they bring up each and every Sunday. Sam you just told us last week that Jesus explained why he came in John 10:10…
John 10:10 I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. NIV
Ha! I told you that I can work that into about every talk I ever do with you guys! Jesus did come to give us life to the full…and we spent a lot of time last week really focusing on the idea that life actually comes from us staying in relationship with Him. Remember Jesus himself is that source of life. We really sat in John 15 last week. Jesus told us that he is the vine and we are the branches which means that Jesus is the source of life.
Vs 5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.
So we know that Jesus came to save the world. We know he came to give us life and life to the full. We know that he is our source of life, and our job is to stay in relationship with Him so you may think what else is there to look at, and I will just tell you that we could spend 52 weeks a year talking about Jesus and all He does for us…don’t tell anybody but that is actually what we do! Paul says this…
Ephesians 2:18 Through him [Jesus] we both have access to the Father by one Spirit. NIV
This is huge. We have total and complete access to God because of Jesus. That is something that we need to let sink in for a little bit here. Because of Jesus coming to this Earth, humbling himself as a human, and laying down his life for us, there is nothing between you and God…nothing. Jesus has opened the door to you having a full relationship with your Heavenly Father. This is a very empowering thought. This should radically change everything. So Jesus came to this Earth to give us full access to God. What does that mean to you today? Well I will tell you what that should mean…it should mean that we can stand tall as the people God created us to be! This is my heart for this talk today…because Jesus came to this Earth, because we now have life and have it to the full, because he knocked down every barrier between us and God…we should live bold and free lives. Doesn’t that sound awesome? To live Bold and Free sounds so good, but for a lot of us it seems so far away from the lives we are actually living…but you know what? It doesn’t have to be that way. So today I want to break down this scripture and then look at what a bold and free life can actually look like.
1 John 3:18 My dear children, let’s not just talk about love; let’s practice real love. 19 This is the only way we’ll know we’re living truly, living in God’s reality. 20 It’s also the way to shut down debilitating self-criticism, even when there is something to it. For God is greater than our worried hearts and knows more about us than we do ourselves. 21 And friends, once that’s taken care of and we’re no longer accusing or condemning ourselves, we’re bold and free before God! 22 We’re able to stretch our hands out and receive what we asked for because we’re doing what he said, doing what pleases him. 23 Again, this is God’s command: to believe in his personally named Son, Jesus Christ. He told us to love each other, in line with the original command. 24 As we keep his commands, we live deeply and surely in him, and he lives in us. And this is how we experience his deep and abiding presence in us: by the Spirit he gave us. MSG
Oh man, I love this chunk of scripture, so let’s start here, we are challenged to do something right off the bat in verse 18…
18 My dear children, let’s not just talk about love; let’s practice real love.
What an incredible start here, we are told to not just talk about love but to practice real love. Basically we need do more than just talk about love, we need to live it out. This is such an integral part of being a true disciple of Jesus, to not just talk about it but to live it. It has always amazed me how many people want people to know they are a Christian because they are quick to tell people about it, but then their actions just simply don’t line up with their words. It doesn’t matter what you say, it matters what you do. Now this is not me saying you need to be perfect! We are human beings and none of us are perfect but this is me saying that there are so many people out there who have been hurt on job sites and in the community because they have spent some time with someone who told them as they met that they were a Christian but then spent the rest of the time with that person proving to them why they would never want to be one of those! We must not just talk about love but we must practice real love…and what happens when we do? Well this is where things really get good.
19 This is the only way we’ll know we’re living truly, living in God’s reality. 20 It’s also the way to shut down debilitating self-criticism, even when there is something to it. For God is greater than our worried hearts and knows more about us than we do ourselves. 21 And friends, once that’s taken care of and we’re no longer accusing or condemning ourselves, we’re bold and free before God!
This love is the way we know we are living in God’s reality. Love is what proves our relationship with God! And check out that next line, it’s also the way to shut down all our self-criticism because God is greater than our worried hearts and knows us inside and out. How awesome is that? All of our worry, all of our doubt, all of our guilt is taken away as we walk with God…he is greater than our worried hearts! And because of that we can live bold and free before God! All of this happens through Jesus. So we can stand in who God created us to be, we can have peace in our heart and stand as the people God created us to be, and it happens through God’s son Jesus. Let’s keep going…
22 We’re able to stretch our hands out and receive what we asked for because we’re doing what he said, doing what pleases him. 23 Again, this is God’s command: to believe in his personally named Son, Jesus Christ. He told us to love each other, in line with the original command. 24 As we keep his commands, we live deeply and surely in him, and he lives in us. And this is how we experience his deep and abiding presence in us: by the Spirit he gave us. MSG
So there is a huge push here on us to love…in that real love we see our relationship with God and we know we are being true to Him. Because of this love we live bold and free…do you see it? As we enter into a personal relationship with Jesus our hearts our filled with His love and that love then comes out of us…which if you think about it, is exactly what Jesus was talking about back in John 15 remember…really all John has done here is echoed Jesus’ words! Listen to this…
John 15:5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. 8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. 9 “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10 If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. NIV
Look at the similarities, Jesus says as you remain in Him you will bear much fruit…without Him you can do nothing. What is being produced from the vine is love! We are to live out a life of real love, that is the fruit we produce as we are connected to the vine…now check this out. When we live this kind of life Jesus says that God will give you whatever you wish, just as John would later say we can stretch out our hands to receive whatever we asked for because we are doing what pleases God! Do you think having the God of the Universe providing all that we ask for would allow you to live with a little bit of confidence? Now that confidence isn’t in who you are but in who He is and all He is doing for you! Again I get to live bold and free as I follow God’s command…to believe in Jesus and to love God and love others as we are told to do! WOW!
Are you tracking with this? Your ability to live bold and free ties to the love that is placed in you and through you and that love ties directly to your relationship with Jesus. Have you ever thought this way? Have you ever seen someone who seems to live free of the worlds ways? With the kind of joy or faith or courage that you wish you had? Do you now see why that person can do that? It’s because they are consumed with a love for God that is coming out of them through their actions. So this ability to love with a pure Godly love is changing us from the inside out and it allows us to live bold and free. So what I see here is that Jesus came to this world giving me full access to God which empowers me to live a life that I could never see as possible without Him living and active in me. A transforming love that over powers me and allows me to live with freedom and a boldness that would never be there in my own strength or when left to my own devices. So as I live bold and free I see the fruit coming out of me…that fruit is God’s real love.
So there’s something about people living bold and free isn’t there? They just stand out!
I am bold and free to “look” different! It takes a certain boldness to stand for what you believe in doesn’t it? Let’s face it we live in a world today that really pushes in on us in every way. It’s a world that wants everyone to think as everyone thinks, believe as everyone else believes and to live as everyone else lives. I have spent a lot of time talking to you lately about how hard the world pushes in on us, trying it’s best to take away our God given identity and push us to be just like everyone else. Ironic isn’t it? God creating us unique and individually then the world trying to make us all look exactly the same. I will tell you something, as the love of Christ consumes your heart you will not feel the pressure to conform like you did before because God’s opinion all of a sudden matters much, much more than peoples.
1 John 2:15 Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For everything in the world-the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does-comes not from the Father but from the world. 17 The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever. NIV
There’s that love thing again and here we see a warning to love God and not the ways of the world. Now here is the challenge, we do want to fit in, most people we like to be liked! So this is tough and the world really pushes in on us hard! This is why we must stay connected to the vine producing the fruit of love. Because without Jesus’ help we can’t fend off the constant push from our culture to try and fit in…because again when you live life God’s way you will literally look crazy to the world around you. Through Jesus we can live a bold and free life where all our validation and security is found in God and not in the world’s ways. This is so huge and I will tell you without remaining in Him I don’t think this is possible. As we live bold and free consumed by God’s love we can obey His commands, we pursue holiness, and we can stand up against the world’s ways…not caring that we look different but bold and free to stand as God’s children. This is what love, true love that comes from Jesus does it allows us to live in a way that just looks completely different to those who don’t know Him.
Do you see it? When we love as Jesus loved and that love begins to come out of us we live differently. It’s a different type of love and I will tell you how you will know when you have it, it’s when you are able to put others ahead of yourself and serve them as Jesus served you…
1 John 3:16 This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. 17 If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? NIV
As I said when we are living bold and free we are ok with looking different, and I’m not sure there is a greater way to look different to the world than to have enough love in your heart as to lay down your life as Jesus did. This kind of love which is in Jesus is available to us. It is not merely human love at its best…it is the kind of love that can only be found in God. Do you remember Jesus’ prayer the night before his crucifixion? Jesus finished it by explaining that we can absolutely have this kind of love!
John 17:25 “O righteous Father, the world doesn’t know you, but I do; and these disciples know you sent me. 26 And I have revealed you to them and will keep on revealing you. I will do this so that your love for me may be in them and I in them.” NLT
Jesus literally expects this kind of love to be in his disciples and do you see just how huge the love of God in us is? It literally allows us to live bold and free. It allows us to serve others and to act as true followers of Jesus…and do you see what else it does? That genuine love in us, flowing out of us allows people who don’t know God to see God in this world! That is so big! God is found where love is found! When this love consumes you it changes everything. It gives you the ability to live bold and free. I’m not sure how many of you are on The City but last week I put a story of a man named Sundar Singh on there…and I really can’t get this man out of my head since I read it. This is a man who lived bold and free in a way that is hard for us in the US to understand. This is out of the book Prayer by Dennis Kinlaw
How does this love make our lives different? First of all agape love enables us to live a surrendered life. It gives us a liberty that most of our world does not know. If we are to be intercessors with God, we must settle in our own lives that we are not governed by our own wills but by his will. For God’s will to be supreme, Scripture says that our will must be crucified. The way of the cross is the Christian way of life. It is surprising what can be done in human relationships if we bow to others because we have first bowed to Christ.
Early in my life, I read a biography of an Indian man whose name was Sundar Singh. His family was of the Sikh religion, so they were hostile to Christian missionaries and Bible distributors who came to their community. Sundar took part in burning the Bibles of one coporteur who came through the village.
He was hungry for God, though, and he kept seeking God. He wanted to be a Hindu priest, but he did not find peace in his devout Hindu studies. In his disillusionment, he decided one night to lie down across a railroad track near his home to end his life. That night, Christ appeared to him in a dramatic way (much like He appeared to Saul on the road to Damascus) and identified himself as the One in the Bibles that Sundar had helped to burn. So Sundar began to follow Christ. His family tried to poison him, and he became an outcast. He attached himself to a group of like-minded Christians and committed himself to minister in the villages of northern India where no Christian had ever gone.
When he entered one village and began to preach Christ, the local leaders said, “If you continue to preach, we will kill you.” They put him in a prison cell, stripped him, and then poured a basket full of leeches over his naked body. The leeches fastened themselves to his flesh and began to suck the blood from his body. His tormenters stood around, laughing saying “Now you will curse your God and die!”
As they watched him writhe in pain, they noticed that he suddenly relaxed. He looked up and began to lovingly tell them about Jesus. They sensed the passionate love of his heart for them. Realizing their efforts were futile, they pulled the leeches from his body and let him live.
Then they asked Sundar Singh “How could you talk to us like that?”
“Well,” he said, “when the pain got so intense that I did not think I could bear it, Jesus walked right down the prison corridor and stepped into my heart. His love filled me so that I forgot everything but his love for you and his love for me.” God’s agape love, poured into our hearts, frees us to love those who are different from us, reject us, and even persecute us. Prayer – by Dennis Kinlaw
How does that story hit you today? Sundar Singh lived his life bold and free. Why? Because Jesus came to this world and gave Him life and life to the full, as Sundar connected to Him the love of Jesus flowed out of him and people far from God saw it, and needed to know more about it.
Can I just say that when I read that story and think about the week that I had I realize something very important…yeah, I turned 40 years old and everything is a little sore and my belt is a little tighter than I would like but I like my problems. My problems of I wish I had a car with heat in it, or that my bed is a little uncomfortable, or that my children have so many activities going on that I can’t get them to everything are a little different than some of the real problems of this world today. Sundar had nothing yet he had everything…because Sundar is so connected to Jesus that he lives bold and free from the world because he is consumed with God’s love. In a culture that did everything to shut him up, Sundar lived for Jesus and revealed God to others who need to know Him…and it was through the love that he showed others.
So as we start this series on why Jesus came I want you thinking about your life more importantly than looking at your life, look at what is coming out of your life! Your ability to live bold and free ties to the love that is found in you and more importantly than that is the love that is coming out of you and that love ties directly to your relationship with Jesus. So this year as we celebrate Christmas maybe we see the true gift we were given in Christ…we now live bold and free through the love that is exploding out of us and into this world. So what I’m saying is that you actually can be bold and free before God. Can you imagine living that way? Well you can and it’s because Jesus came to this world.