We long for freedom.  And yet the very places we turn to for freedom  further enslave us.  It’s only when we submit under the Lordship of God  that we can experience true freedom for life.

It’s easy to live life on auto-pilot, not thinking about our next steps.   For those who have come to faith in Jesus, our entire direction in  life shifts.  We are no longer kings of our own lives, but rather  subjects under King Jesus.  And Jesus’ kingship and dominion must  determine our daily direction.

When we come to faith in Jesus Christ it changes the very foundation of  our lives.  We are given a new life in Christ and set free from a life  enslaved to sin.  Paul encourages us to live out of this new life rather  than running back to our sin.

We either overestimate our sinful condition believing we have no hope,  or underestimate our sinful condition believing we have power in  ourselves.  In reality we must realize that we are more sinful than we  can ever imagine and yet God’s grace is so much greater than he can  defeat any darkness that lurks in our lives.

We are constantly bombarded with images of strength and power,  convincing us this is the way forward in life.  Yet Paul tells us that  for the follower of Christ God’s love is the power we need and this  power comes to those who are weak, not those who display great strength.

In this sermon, the hope is to see that in all of life we are called to  live through the power of Christ. Even while we are suffering we may  rejoice because, God has invited us to proclaim the mystery of Christ.  The mystery that now we  have Christ in us! It is through this truth that regardless of where we  are at in life we may display the goodness and grace to those who do  not know Christ.

In this passage, we see that God has a heart for making a people for  himself. Because of sin, this has hindered man's and woman's  relationship with God. But God, in His grace and love, has been up to  something amazing. God has been working  all things out to redeem His people from sin. What Paul will bring out  in our text is that at the center of this redemption is Jesus Christ. We  will look at three truths, that God’s people is the Church (not a  building), God has a purpose for His Church (glorify  Him) and, God has a mission for His Church (to tell all peoples about  Christ).

What is the big deal about Christmas?  Each year we celebrate the  birth of Jesus, God, who became man, and lived among us in order to  rescue us out of our desperate situation.  This year, turn to Jesus  Christ for your one and only rescue.

We are all looking for some kind of restoration.  Often we try to find  it in our circumstances, how we are feeling, what we are going through.   But ultimately restoration comes from Jesus Christ.  That is why we  celebrate Christmas.  Christ has come to bring restoration to his  kingdom.

Often we find ourselves basing life’s key decisions on what we can  foresee or what we think is the best decision.  But God calls us to be a  people who walk by faith and not by sight.  The same is true when we  come to a saving relationship with Jesus Christ.  It is solely based  upon faith in God’s faithfulness to us, and not based upon our striving.