Breaking Free From Bondage
Breaking Free From Bondage
Freedom is something every person craves, yet many believers find themselves trapped in cycles of spiritual bondage and striving. Paul's powerful message to the Galatians addresses a subtle but dangerous trap: legalism. The Galatians had received the gospel of grace, but false teachers convinced them they needed to follow the law to earn their salvation. This created a spiritual burden - a yoke of slavery - that Jesus never intended them to carry.
Many Christians today fall into this same trap, believing they must be perfect, serve more, or follow more rules to earn God's acceptance. However, we can never earn what Jesus freely gave us through His death and resurrection. When we try to achieve perfection through our own strength, we're actually rejecting the gift of grace. True freedom comes from stopping our striving and surrendering to allow Jesus to work in and through our lives.
Paul's instruction to stand firm requires building our lives on the solid foundation of God's Word rather than the shifting sand of cultural opinions or social media noise. In our digital age, we often consume hours of content while neglecting Scripture, but God's Word is our weapon in spiritual battles. Additionally, living in freedom requires the Holy Spirit's guidance - we cannot manufacture holiness or spiritual fruit through willpower alone. When we surrender control to the Spirit, we're no longer bound by the burdens that once enslaved us, and we become representations of the freedom Christ provides to others.
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Breaking Free from Bondage: Living in the Freedom Christ Provides
Freedom is something we all crave, yet many of us find ourselves trapped in cycles of striving, fear, and spiritual bondage. The apostle Paul wrote to the Galatians with a powerful message that still resonates today: "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by the yoke of slavery" (Galatians 5:1). This truth holds the key to breaking free from whatever is holding us back in our spiritual walk.
What Does It Mean to Be Free in Christ?
When Paul wrote to the Galatians, he wasn't primarily addressing sin or bad habits. He was confronting something more subtle but equally dangerous: legalism. The Galatians had received the gospel of grace, but false teachers had come in telling them they needed to follow the law to earn their salvation.
This created a spiritual burden - a "yoke of slavery" - that Jesus never intended for them to carry. The yoke Paul referenced was the heavy wooden beam that connected two oxen for plowing fields. It represented the crushing weight of trying to earn God's love through perfect obedience to rules and regulations.
The Trap of Trying to Earn God's Love
Many believers today fall into this same trap. We think we need to be perfect, serve more, pray longer, or follow more rules to earn God's acceptance. But Paul asked the Galatians a pointed question: "How foolish can you be? After starting your new lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort?" (Galatians 3:3 NLT).
The truth is, we can never earn what Jesus freely gave us. We are broken, fallen people who will always fall short when we try to achieve perfection through our own strength. Jesus died and took on all our sin and shame specifically to give us freedom from this impossible burden.
How Do We Stop Striving and Start Living Free?
Breaking free from spiritual bondage requires us to stop striving in our own strength. When we try to earn God's love or prove our worth through perfect behavior, we're actually rejecting the gift of grace that Jesus died to provide.
Instead of striving to be perfect, we need to surrender and allow Jesus to work in and through our lives. When we stop trying to be perfect and allow the perfect Savior to do His work in us, we become a reflection of His perfection rather than a showcase of our own efforts.
Why Is God's Word Essential for Standing Firm?
Paul's instruction to "stand firm" isn't just good advice - it's a practical command with a clear method. We stand firm by building our lives on the solid foundation of God's Word.
Jesus illustrated this principle perfectly: "Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents and the flood waters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won't collapse because it is built on bedrock" (Matthew 7:24-25 NLT).
Building on Rock vs. Building on Sand
When we build our lives on the sand of cultural opinions, social media noise, or our own understanding, we open ourselves up to lies and deception. We start believing we're not good enough, that we need to handle everything in our own strength, or that past hurts should define our future.
But when we build on the rock of God's Word, we have truth to combat insecurities, fears, sin, and shame. God knew we would wrestle with these things, so He equipped us with His Word to handle them.
Are You Reading Your Bible as Much as Your Phone?
In our digital age, it's easy to consume hours of content on our phones while neglecting the Word of God. We can watch other people's experiences with God without having our own encounters with Him. But if we want to live in freedom, we need to fill our lives with God's truth, not just everyone else's opinions.
The Bible should be our weapon in spiritual battles. When storms come - and they will come - we need to be armed with God's truth so we can speak it over our situations and remind ourselves of who we are in Christ.
How Does the Holy Spirit Lead Us to Freedom?
Living in freedom isn't something we can accomplish through willpower alone. We can't force holiness, manufacture peace, or produce spiritual fruit through our own efforts. We need the Holy Spirit to guide our lives.
Paul explained this beautifully: "So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won't be doing what your sinful nature craves... But when you are directed by the Spirit, you are not under obligation to the law" (Galatians 5:16, 18 NLT).
Surrendering Control to the Spirit
When we live in the Spirit, we're not bound by the burdens and laws that once enslaved us. The Holy Spirit directs us, leads us, and helps us work toward the freedom we're called to live in.
Sometimes the Holy Spirit's guidance comes as correction - a loving redirection when we're heading down the wrong path. Sometimes it's encouragement that spurs us on to the next season. Whatever form it takes, we desperately need it.
We don't have to carry our burdens and struggles alone because God has already won the victory. Jesus died to take on everything so we could live free. We don't need to fight unnecessary battles or struggle for control. We need to let the Holy Spirit take the lead.
What Does Freedom Look Like in Daily Life?
Living in freedom means we don't have to be bound by insecurity, fear, or the opinions of others. We don't have to strive for God's love because we already have it. We don't have to carry shame from our past because Jesus took it all.
When we truly understand that "it is for freedom that Christ has set us free," we become representations of that freedom to others. We can weather the storms of life because we're built on the solid rock of God's Word and led by His Spirit.
Life Application
This week, challenge yourself to examine what burdens you might be carrying that Jesus never intended for you to bear. Are you striving to earn God's love through perfect behavior? Are you building your life on the shifting sand of cultural opinions rather than the solid rock of God's Word? Are you trying to control your circumstances instead of surrendering to the Holy Spirit's leading?
Choose one area where you need to experience more freedom and take practical steps this week: spend more time in God's Word than on your phone, surrender a situation you've been trying to control, or stop striving to earn what Jesus freely gave you.
Ask yourself these questions:
What burdens am I carrying that Jesus died to take from me?
Am I building my life on God's Word or on the shifting opinions of culture?
In what areas do I need to surrender control and let the Holy Spirit lead?
How can I live as a representation of the freedom Christ has given me?
Remember: "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free." You don't have to live in bondage to fear, shame, or the impossible burden of earning God's love. Jesus has already set you free - now it's time to live like it.
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A discussion guide for the sermon can be found here.
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Well, good morning.
Good morning. Good morning, church. What a good morning to be here. Hey, I'm going to need that slime recipe for kids church because I feel like we can have some fun with that, guys. And we've got a courtyard so we can just hose it all away.
Brilliant. So this morning I am bringing the word to you from Galatians. Galatians is one of my favorite books and God really has placed a message on my heart this morning that I hope impacts you guys and I pray that impacts you guys. So let's just get stuck into it, shall we? I'm reading from Galatians 5, verse 1.
So it says, it is for freedom that Christ has set you free. Stand firm and do not let yourself be burdened again by the yoke of slavery. You guys are going to hear that a few times this morning, so I expect that's going to be ingrained in your mind's memory verse for next week, guys. Let's do this. I titled my message this morning, breaking free from bondage.
Because who knows, we all need a bit of breakthrough in our lives. Now, for those of you who don't know, I have a beautiful, energetic one year old and I think she thinks she's three. Like, she really gives off that energy. She's got like a three nager kind of vibe. Here she is.
She has a lot of personality and she's had a lot of personality from day one. And you know how they give you all that advice, mums that, you know, you need to swaddle your kids and keep them all wrapped up tight and nice because they love that it reminds them of the womb. It's like so comfy. My child was like, no, what is this? Day one in the hospital, her little arm is like sticking through, being like, how dare you try wrap me up.
And she has done that every single day since prams, no car seats, no even high chairs. This girl has like MacGyvered herself out of all the restraints. She will now stand on top of her high chair with her spoon in hair, like leaning on the back, kind of just flicking it around, being like, yeah, I'm cool, I own this. She has understood from day one the value of her freedom. And we need to grab a hold of that this morning too, Church, because Christ came to set us free.
And sometimes we need to be reminded of that truth. Sometimes we need to actually take hold of that truth for ourselves because it is so easy to get bound up in things, bound up in our sin, bound up in Our bad habits, our fears, our insecurities, people's opinions of us, worries about the future or our future jobs, if we're being good parents or not, that all can just come at us. But we are called to be a people that are free. And we can live like that because of what Jesus has done for us. So we're going to dive into that a bit this morning if that's all good.
So my first point this morning is to stop striving. If we want to break free from bondage, we need to stop striving. Here it comes again. Galatians 5. 1.
I told you you guys would know this. It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by the yoke of slavery. Now we can immediately jump to this idea of a burden being the sin that we carry, or those habits or actions that we can't seem to shake. But that's actually not what Paul was talking about here.
And I'm going to give you a little bit of context. We have the Galatians, awesome people. Paul's been there, he's told them about Jesus, he's told them that they've he died to set them free. And they're living in this, you know, awesome freedom. And then in come this other group and they start talking to the Galatians and saying, hey, you need to start doing all these things.
You need to start abiding by all these rules of the law in order to be saved by God, in order to earn your forgiveness. And Paul writes Galatians in response to be like, guys, not true. You can't earn a salvation that's been given to you freely. You can't earn something that Jesus died to give you. He wanted to break them free from the bondages they were starting to put back on themselves.
And it's something called legalism. That was the law, the yoke of slavery. And what the law does, it causes us to focus on our own abilities to be obedient to laws and rules. It focuses on how we act them out. But who knows that we have freedom because of Jesus, that we don't have to be bound by laws, we don't have to be bound by being a perfect person that enacts these laws perfectly because Jesus took that and he broke that and he gave us grace.
It's so powerful when we get a hold of that. Now the yolk, it's actually not eggs. When I was a kid in kids church, I used to think they'd talk about eggs, because yolk is in the Bible a little bit. So I was like, man, the Bible loves eggs.
It took me a while to figure out it's not eggs. In fact, it is this giant kind of wooden beam that will connect two oxen together. And what they would do is they would use that to plow the field. Fields. This was heavy burden upon their shoulders.
And what Paul was talking about here is that when the Galatians stepped back under the law, when they started trying to strive to earn the forgiveness that Jesus had given them, they were placing a bondage back on their shoulders. They were placing themselves back under the burden of the yoke of slavery. And they were trying to drag it along, trying to do it in their own human ability and their own human strength. Paul said this in Galatians 3:3, a little bit earlier on. I love this guy.
If you're ever lost for a book to read, read something of Paul's. He has a great sassy attitude, and he's very honest. He gets straight to the point. So he says this to the Galatians in chapter three, verse three. How foolish can you be after starting your new lives in the Spirit?
Why now are you trying to become perfect by your own human effort? We are never going to be able to be perfect by our own human effort. It's just the fact, unfortunately, we are broken, fallen, sinful people. And the more we strive to try and achieve perfection, the more we try and strive to earn God's love, the more we try and strive to earn salvation, the more we are going to fall short because we cannot do it in our own human strength. Jesus died and took on all of our sin and all of our shame in order to give us freedom.
And we can never earn it. We are never going to be able to deserve it. And it's not going to ever be achieved by our own human abilities. I grew up in church. I basically grew up here, actually.
And it took me a really, really long time to get this concept into my heart. I thought I had to be perfect and appear perfect in order to be accepted by God. So I would strive every single Sunday, I'd be here early and I'd serve, and I'd smile and be like, look how perfect of a Christian I am. I was still struggling. I was still wrestling.
I thought I had to earn God's love. And the more I strived and the more I tried to earn it, the more I fell short. Because church, we are going to fall short every single time that we try and strive to earn A love that was given to us freely. It is for freedom that we have been saved, set free. Christ did that.
To have this be a declaration over our lives that we are a people that are free. We are not bound by striving. We're not bound by how great or how perfect we are. We are a reflection of our perfect Savior. That's the awesome thing.
When we step into this surrender and not having to strive, we become a reflection of Jesus because we allow him to work in and through our lives. Because we are not trying to be perfect. We allow the perfect Savior to do his work in us. You want to be free from bondage church, you need to stop striving.
Point two is that we need to stand firm. Now I think you guys have heard me say this enough, so I'm going to hand this over to you. So are you guys ready? It is for freedom.
There we go.
Beautiful. I love it. You sound like the kids in kids church the first time we asked them to read scriptures. Normally takes a few to really bring the life back into is for freedom that Christ has set us free. So stand firm.
It's right there. And how do we stand firm?
Yes, exactly. We read God's Word because in His Word is the truth that will establish a firm foundation for everything in our lives. You want to stand firm? Get into the word of God. You want to be free from your burdens?
Get into the Word of God. Because in here is everything you need to combat your insecurities, your fears, your sin, your shame. It's here because God knew that we would wrestle with it. So he has equipped us with His Word so we can handle it. Jesus put it like this in Matthew, verse seven, chapter seven.
Sorry. Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise. Like a person who builds their house on solid rock. Though the rain comes and the torrents and the flood waters rise and the winds beat against that house, it will not collapse because it is built on bedrock. But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn't obey it is foolish.
Like a person who builds their house on sand. When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against their house, it will collapse in a mighty crash. Where are you building your life? If you want to be free from bondages, if you want to walk in the freedom that you've been called to live in, you cannot build your house on sand. It needs to be on solid rock, on the word of God.
And that needs to be infiltrated and filling your life in every single part that it can. Because when we build our lives on the sand. We open ourselves up to the lies of the enemy. We open ourselves up to the noise of culture. And who knows, it can be easy to listen to the noise of culture.
It's loud. We're bombarded with it every day. But it should never be louder than the voice of God in your life. Because when we are on the sand, we can believe that lie that we're not good enough. When we're on the sand, we can believe that that hurt and that anger needs to stay with us.
When we're building on the sand, we can believe that we need to do things in our own abilities. We start to lean on our own strengths. We're going, I can be a parent on my own or I can make it on my own. I can solve my financial difficulties on my own. I can solve these problems with my friends on my own.
But we can't. The sand is only going to lead our lives to collapse and sink back into bondage. Now, who has their phones on them? Just lift it up. Just lift up your phone if you have it handy.
We look at these so much, right? Who knows that these can control what speaks into our lives and into our worlds? We have constant noise at our fingertips, right in the palm of our hand and it is very easy to look on our phones for hours and hours. Who's fallen into that doom scrolling trap? Yeah, I've done that quite a few times, unfortunately, but it's so easy to do.
And little bit by little bit we're being filled with all these things and we're not being filled with the word of God. Do you read your Bible as much as you look at your phone? Are you actually in the word of God as much as you are listening to everyone else's opinions and everyone else's thoughts? Are you watching other people's experiences of God on the phone and not having one for yourself? I have fallen into that same trap where I will scroll and I will look and I will listen and I'll see all these people having these awesome radical encounters with God.
I'm like, how awesome, God, you're doing great things. I'll put my phone down, I'll walk away and I won't come to this. I won't read my Bible that day or I might not read my Bible that week.
We need to be filling our lives with this, not just experiencing other people's experiences. We need to go get some of our own church if we want to be a church that is on fire. Living in the freedom that God has intended get into the Word of God.
It is a powerful book. Church this is mine. I would lift it up, but the front row would get covered in things.
This has served me for years and years. So many seasons of my life I have weathered with this giant book. It wasn't this giant when I got it, but God taught me over the years that I need to go to battle in this book, that if I want to stand firm on His Word, I need to pick up my Bible. So through here are scriptures and thoughts and prayers. I have highlighted and circled and underlined words.
I have written different revelations for different seasons of my life because God has taught me I need to go back to this. If I want to stand, if I don't want to get trapped back up in the lies, if I don't want to allow myself to start being influenced by what other people are saying around me or what the world is telling me I should be or how I should act, I need to get into the Word of God. This is where we fight our battles. Church do you know your Word? Because like it said in Matthew, when we build our lives on the rock, we are able to weather the storms that life will throw at us because there will be storms.
That's guaranteed. But if we are armed with the Word of God, if we are standing firm in this, then we have something to battle with. We have something to speak over our situation. We have a truth that we can remind ourselves of so we don't get back in bondage, so we don't fall for the traps again. This is your key to freedom.
Get in the Word. Church It's a powerful book.
And the third way that we can be free from bondage is to step into the Spirit. That is how we live in freedom when we allow our lives to be guided by the Holy Spirit. Because we can't do our walk on willpower alone. I know we'd like to sometimes, but we can't. We can't force any kind of holiness.
We can't manufacture peace, and we can't produce spiritual fruit on our effort alone. If we want to have a life that reflects God, that lives in the freedom and the truth of what Jesus has done for us, we need to allow ourselves to be led by the Spirit. He's the ultimate guide for your life. Paul says this later on in Galatians 5, 16, 18. So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives.
Then you won't be doing what your sinful nature craves. The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is opposite to what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us the desires that are opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other other. So you're not free to carry out your good intentions.
Here is what I want to focus on this morning. Church. But when you are directed by the Spirit, you are not under obligation to the law of Moses. The law of Moses was that yoke that Paul talked about earlier, the yoke of slavery. The law.
When we live in the Spirit, we're not bound to the burdens. When we live in the Spirit, we do not have to carry those loads on our shoulders. We are able to live free because the Holy Spirit at work in our lives is directing us, leading us and helping us work to freedom to live that life of freedom that we're called to live.
Many years ago, and it's really sad that I have to say, many years ago, I like to think that I'm not a nice crisp 25, but I've been 25 for a long time.
But in my early 20s, I decided to go on this big soul searching journey and find Jesus. And I went to this program called ywam. It's a missions training thing. And you learn about God, you go out on missions. I was like, this is great.
You know, God, look at me go. And the first rule that they say is, you are here for God, not for boys or girls, vice versa. Do not flirt, do not create any relationships. You need to be focused. I was like, yeah, I wasn't focused.
And I thought I met the guy. Sorry. Yeah, sorry, Dylan.
So we do this course and, you know, there's a bit of back and forth. And so I decide, you know, they had a different program afterwards. They're like, you know, go to further training. I was like, this is great. I love Queensland.
It's warm. There's a cute guy there. I've basically written out futures for us. God, you're welcome. I just need the tick, you know, the little sign on the passport and off you go.
And instead I got the Holy Spirit kick. So you are not going to go? Cat, I'm sorry, but this is not what I have for you. I had the Holy Spirit stir in my life a big fat no. And I would love to say that I was a great Christian and I listened to God and I was like, yes, that's awesome.
But week in and week out, I kept going to God like, eh, look at this great idea that I have. And God was like, no, you know, come back tomorrow. But God, look at my side of the story. And he was like, no, I'm not looking at your side of the story. I understand it.
Thank you for your opinion, thank you for your thoughts, but they're not mine. And so I had this Holy Spirit stirring in my life and I'm very thankful that after a long, hard three month fight, I said no. I broke off the relationship, didn't get the plane ticket and I surrendered to what God had for me here because I allowed the Holy Spirit to stir in me. I allowed the Holy Spirit to come in and guide me. And sometimes that guidance is a correction.
Sometimes it's a little bit of a kick, a loving kick. Sometimes it is an encouragement that spurs us on to the next season. But whatever it looks like, oh, we desperately need it. Church, I am so thankful that the Holy Spirit intervened because now I have a beautiful daughter, an awesome husband.
Thank you, Dylan, for your input here. I have an awesome church and I'm humbled by what God has done in my life and what the Holy Spirit continues to stir up in my life because I'm learning to listen and I'm learning to let the Holy Spirit guide. There was a reason that we need to let the Holy Spirit take the lead. Because we don't know. We like to think we do sometimes.
Church. We like to think we can deal with our burdens and our sin and our shame on our own sometimes. We like to think that we know all the answers. We know what we'd like our life to look like. But the thing is, we don't.
We only get a small glimpse. We don't have to carry the burdens and the struggles because God has already won the victory. He sent Jesus to die, to take on everything in order for us to live free so that we don't have to carry the burdens, so we don't have to fight unnecessary battles. We're going to fight enough, Church. We don't need to be fighting battles or fighting for control.
What we need to do is let the Holy Spirit take lead because then the fruit in your life is going to be freedom. You want to live free, Church. You want to step into that call. You want to step into that purpose that God has declared and given you. You need to surrender up some control.
You need to surrender up some of your ideas. You need to let him start to break down those burdens and break down those barriers. Because we don't have to live in insecurity and we don't have to live in fear. We don't have to live striving for God's love, we don't have to be bound by what other people say to us or about us out there. We get to live in freedom because of what Jesus has done.
We get to live in that freedom, be representations of that freedom to others. There is so much that God has for you, Church. It is for freedom that Christ has set you free. So let's live free.
I just want to invite you all as we wrap this up, to just come and step into a place of worship this morning. Because I don't know what you're going through, but God does. And he wants to meet you this morning right here, right where you're at. Whatever burdens you might be carrying, whatever sin you might be wrestling with, if you are afraid or if you just need a touch of the Holy Spirit, he is here. The invitation is here this morning.
So I want to invite you all. Let's stand to our feet and we are going to worship God this morning. We are going to lift our hands high. We are going to surrender our problems, surrender our fears, surrender it all and let God do his work in this place, in us this morning.
Have faith in watching. Move. There's nothing that he cannot do. Oh, just sing this out this morning, church.
Oh, come on, guys, let's declare this out. Do you believe that God is the king over your circumstances? Do you believe he is the king? Are you situation? Do you believe that he is the king over your heart, over your lives?
Let's sing this out.
Praise Jesus it is finished, it is done Every battle has been won Praise the one who's overcome oh, just sing that this morning.
Let me hear you.
La.
I. Oh, thank you, God. Thank you, Lord. Thank you that you know us. Thank you that you see us. Thank you that you hear us.
And God, I just want to pray that your spirit would fall all over this place, that we would just get a fresh revelation of who you are in our lives. Lord God, that we don't have to carry things alone. We don't have have to hold these heavy burdens alone, God, but you have come to set us free. Free from everything that we carry. Free from all those things that we don't need to hold onto.
Jesus, we just surrender in this place and allow you to do your work. Allow you to fill us with the Holy Spirit. Allow you to remind us of how much you love us, the grace that you died to give us. Jesus, thank you. Thank you for who you are in this place.
And everyone said, awesome.
Hey, come on, Give Kathleen an awesome hand for what an amazing word. Hey, Well, the church, God's kingdom's in good hands. We've got young people like that rising up, speaking the word. And we've got a bunch of them here all over this place. Young people, our kids, our young adults, our teenagers, and all of us older people as well.
Yeah, it was a great word. And I just want to pray for. I want to pray for all of us, but I want to pray especially for us, for parents. It's a tough. It's a tough gig, isn't it?
They don't train you for it. You just get thrown into it and you go, well, this is what I sort of learned. This is what I shouldn't do. This is what I should try. And you never feel quite adequate for the job.
And the truth is that in our own strength, we will fail. But we've got the Holy Spirit of God. And I don't know about you, I need him. Because when I rely on myself, I get stressed. I don't parent always the right way.
I should have said this. I should have done this, but the Holy Spirit will lead you. And so I want to pray for us as parents. Some of us have got older kids, some of us have got grandparents, and we're saying, God, can you give me guidance for my older children? Can you give me guidance for my toddlers, my baby, my children to be?
I want to pray for all of us. Maybe you say, God, I need your help. I'm a parent. I need your help. We thank you, parents.
Well done. Can I say to you as parents, if you're watching online as well and coming to church regularly, well done for bringing your kids into the house of God. Well done for being an example of that. I know it's tough. I know there's all these other things, things that pull you other directions, but you've made a brilliant choice, and God is with you and he wants to empower you.
You don't come to church because you get brownie points from God. We come because we need him, don't we? And so can we just close our eyes for a moment in this place and you say, maybe you want to lift out your hands to God. If you say, lord, I need your help as a parent, will you give me your wisdom? Holy Spirit, will you lead me?
Will you speak to me? Will you let me know that your grace is for me? I don't have to do this by myself. Maybe you're facing other things. Some of you guys are facing study.
You got VCE exams coming up. You've got other university stuff coming up. You've got issues at school, whatever it is, maybe in our workplace, in our families. Lord, will you direct me? Will you empower me?
I need your leading. It's not by might nor by power, but it's by my spirit, says the Lord. You don't need to be lost in sin. Maybe you've been struggling with a sin and say, lord God, I can't overcome this in my own strength. But Holy Spirit, will you help me?
Give me a revelation of your grace. Empower me. Help me not to be caught in legalism and good works, but to flow in your grace, Lord, all over this place, I pray for God's people, Lord. I especially pray for parents here today. I thank you for them, God.
I thank you. They're choosing you, God. I pray that you would grace them, Lord God. Give them your grace, Lord God, to be parents of wisdom, parents of love, parents who help their children make right decisions. Parents who love their kids when they're struggling, God, when they make mistakes, God, that there's grace and love to flow.
Help them to be an example, God. Help them, Lord God, to cope with all the pressures of this life. Give them your guidance and wisdom and strength and let them know you're with them, Lord, for all of us, we need the leading of your Holy Spirit. Lord, we choose today to step into the spirit not by our own strength, but by what you did, Lord Jesus Christ and God, we receive that in your precious name today, Holy Spirit.
Come on, why don't we sing this one last time?
Yes, he is today why don't you receive him Receive his grace today for you yes, you have Jesus have faith and watch him move there's nothing that he cannot do.
God is fighting God is fighting for us oh, we declare it today.
Have faith he's with you. He's for you today. Come on. God is fighting for us God is fighting.
Oh, we declare it, Lord.
Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Jesus. Amen. Well, it was a good day in church, wasn't it? You guys are amazing.
Thank you for coming out on the long weekend. Thank you for all our children for joining with us in church. Wasn't it good to have them with us today? We're going to do one last thing because we should before we close. And it's important, so don't leave just yet.
I want to say a prayer because maybe there's something of us that say, you know what? I need to give my life to Jesus. Maybe you're a kid here and you say, I want to give my life to Jesus. Maybe you've been away from God. And I want to say a prayer to help us, guide us in that process.
Because right in a moment, Jesus can change your life. Amen. And so can we bow our heads and close our eyes. Let's say this prayer with me. Let's say it all together.
Dear Jesus, I want to give my life to you. Thank you that you died on the cross for me and you rose again from the dead dead. I believe you're the Son of God and I receive you as my Lord and my Savior. I receive forgiveness of all my sins and I rely on your Holy Spirit. In Jesus name I pray.
Amen. Amen. Come on. Why don't we give God a hand today?
If you said that prayer, buy our bookshop. We've got a table there with Bibles. We want to give you a free Bible. It's not quite as big as this one just yet, but you can go and fill it with a bunch of stuff. And there's help on how to pray, how to have a relationship with God.
We'd love to give you that and help you in your walk with God. So please go and grab that at the end of the service. You guys are amazing. This is an awesome church. I want to say thank you.
If you're visiting with us today day, we've got games out there. There's a sausage sizzle. Go and have a look at the kids area cuz there's games all through there. Go and check it all out. Go and have a great rest of the day and we'll see you next week.
God bless.
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Q1. What does it mean that "Christ has set us free"? Free from what exactly?
Kathleen shared that we can find ourselves bound up in all kinds of things — sin, bad habits, fear, insecurity, other people's opinions, worry about the future, whether we're good enough parents or doing well enough at work or school. These are all forms of bondage. Jesus came to break the power of every one of those things. His death and resurrection mean we no longer have to be defined or controlled by them. Freedom in Jesus isn't just a nice idea — it's the reason he came. As Galatians 5:1 puts it, "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free." That freedom is yours right now, as a new Christian.
Q2. I feel like I have to be really good to stay in God's good books. Is that right?
Not at all — and this was one of the big things Kathleen addressed. She talked about something called legalism: the idea that we have to follow a long list of rules to earn God's love and stay saved. The Galatian church fell into this trap, and Paul wrote to correct them. The truth is, salvation is a gift — you can't earn something that Jesus already paid for. Kathleen was honest that she struggled with this herself for years, trying to appear perfect at church while still wrestling inside. The good news for you in Frankston, Casey, Mornington, Hastings, Rosebud or Grantville is the same as it was for them: God's love is not something you earn. It was freely given. Your job is to receive it.
Q3. What is the "yoke of slavery" that Paul talks about in Galatians 5:1?
A yoke was a heavy wooden beam used to connect two oxen together so they could pull a plough through a field. It was a real, physical burden. Paul uses this image to describe what happens when people try to earn their way to God through rules and effort — it's like strapping that heavy beam back onto their shoulders. Jesus already removed it. When we live as though we have to perform to be accepted, we're picking that weight back up unnecessarily. You don't have to carry it. Jesus took it.
Q4. Kathleen said we need to "stop striving." But doesn't God want us to try hard and do the right thing?
There's an important difference between striving to earn God's love and living out of the love God has already given you. Kathleen wasn't saying we should be lazy or stop caring about how we live. She was saying that when we strive to earn what's already been given to us freely, we will always fall short — because it's not possible to earn grace. Instead, when we stop striving and surrender to Jesus, we actually become a better reflection of him — not because we're trying so hard, but because we're letting him work in and through us.
Q5. How do I "stand firm" as a new Christian when life feels shaky or uncertain?
Kathleen's answer was simple and practical: get into the Word of God. She pointed to Jesus' teaching in Matthew 7 about the wise man who built his house on rock versus the foolish man who built on sand. The storms came for both of them — life doesn't become storm-free when you follow Jesus. But the person whose life is built on God's Word can weather those storms without being swept away. Whether you're navigating pressures at work on the Peninsula, school life in Casey, family stress in Frankston or anything else, the Bible gives you something solid to stand on. Start small — even a few verses a day is a foundation being laid.
Q6. I spend a lot of time on my phone and social media. Is that a problem for my faith?
Kathleen raised this honestly — she admitted to falling into doom-scrolling herself. The issue isn't technology; it's what fills your mind and heart. She asked the question: "Are you watching other people's experiences of God on your phone and not having one for yourself?" Social media can give us the feeling of connection without the substance of it. If you're spending an hour on your phone but not opening your Bible that day, you're filling yourself with a lot of noise and very little of the truth that actually sets you free. It's worth being honest with yourself about the balance.
Q7. Who is the Holy Spirit, and what does it mean to "step into the Spirit"?
The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. When you gave your life to Jesus, the Holy Spirit came to live inside you. Kathleen described the Holy Spirit as "the ultimate guide for your life." Stepping into the Spirit means choosing to let him lead rather than relying on your own strength, willpower or wisdom. Kathleen shared a personal story about a time the Holy Spirit clearly said "no" to a direction she wanted to go — and how grateful she is now that she eventually listened. The Holy Spirit speaks, corrects, encourages, and guides. Learning to listen to him is one of the most important skills you'll develop as a Christian.
Q8. I've made a lot of mistakes in my life. Can I really be free from all of that?
Yes. Completely. This is at the heart of what Kathleen preached. She reminded the church that we are "broken, fallen, sinful people" — every one of us. But Jesus didn't die for people who had it together; he died precisely because none of us do. The freedom he offers isn't for people who've sorted themselves out first. It's for people who come as they are. Galatians 3:3 asks, "After starting your new lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort?" You don't need to clean yourself up before Jesus can work in you — that's his job, not yours.
Q9. What if I keep feeling like I'm failing or not good enough as a Christian?
Kathleen spoke directly to this — she felt exactly the same way for years. She was showing up at church, serving, smiling, and still wrestling on the inside. The feeling of not being good enough is one of the most common lies that keeps Christians in bondage. The truth Galatians declares is that you are not defined by your performance — you are defined by what Jesus has done. Kathleen put it this way: "We are a reflection of our perfect Saviour." Not a reflection of our own perfection, but of his. When you feel like you're falling short, that's the moment to stop and remember: this is exactly why Jesus came. His grace is for you right now, in that moment.
Q10. What are the three practical things Kathleen said we can do to break free from bondage?
Kathleen gave three clear, practical steps:
Stop striving. Let go of the idea that you have to earn God's love or prove yourself to him. Salvation is a gift — receive it, don't try to pay for it.
Stand firm in the Word. Read your Bible regularly. It's the solid rock Jesus talked about. When life's storms come — and they will — you need truth to stand on. Build that foundation now, bit by bit.
Step into the Spirit. You can't live the Christian life on willpower alone. Ask the Holy Spirit to guide you, and practice listening to him. He will lead you into freedom — and sometimes that looks like a correction, sometimes an encouragement, but always toward what's best for you.
Whether you're new to faith in Frankston, Mornington, Casey, Hastings, Rosebud or Grantville, these three things are the foundation of a life that is genuinely free. You're not alone on this journey — your Connect church community is right there with you.
Related Bible Verses
Key Scriptures – "Breaking Free From Bondage"
Galatians 5:1 (NLT)
So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don't get tied up again in slavery to the law.
→ Read Galatians 5:1 on Bible.com
Galatians 3:3 (NLT)
How foolish can you be? After starting your new lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort?
→ Read Galatians 3:3 on Bible.com
Matthew 7:24–27 (NLT)
Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won't collapse because it is built on bedrock. But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn't obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash.
→ Read Matthew 7:24–27 on Bible.com
Galatians 5:16–18 (NLT)
So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won't be doing what your sinful nature craves. The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions. But when you are directed by the Spirit, you are not under obligation to the law of Moses.