Sermon Notes (11/10)

Speaker: Pastor Sam from CCH

Title: Captivated

Main passage: Romans 6:-15-23

Slaves to Righteousness

 ¹⁵What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! ¹⁶Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? ¹⁷But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. ¹⁸You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.

 ¹⁹I put this in human terms because you are weak in your natural selves. Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness. ²⁰When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. ²¹What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! ²²But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. ²³For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in^[b] Christ Jesus our Lord.

- Captivation:

-         many people define it as finding fascination or interest

-         actual definition = to be enslaved; captured

- We cannot be free from everything; we are either slaves to sin or slaves to God

- Adam and Eve had tremendous freedom under the dominion of God

-         however, they got fixated on what He doesn¡¯t want us to do (thus, sin entered the world)

- Slavery in Christ is the most freedom we can experience

- Those who are not in Christ are slaves to everything else

Systematic theology:

             God > People > Things of the world

- However, when we try to have dominion over God, we flip it around and everything else is above us

- We can restore God to the rightful place by being captivated by God alone

-         we can choose to be captivated or we can choose not to be [?]

-         we are still enslaved to our old selves

n        we have the power, through the Holy Spirit, to choose the right path

n        we choose on a practical day-to-day basis

u      Jeremiah 29 – God tells Israel that He has plans for them while they are struggling

Sermon Notes – Pastor Ray Chang

-         Greatest fears

o       Everyone has had or still has fears and doubts that hinder us from moving forward.

o       This is also true with regards to our spiritual life as Christians. 

o       Yet we are called by God to be people of courage. 

§         To be people who have the ability to face danger without being paralyzed by it

-         God gives us supernatural courage

o       In spite of our fears, He gives us the courage to do things we can’t imagine

-         How do we become courageous?

o       Learn to take difficult path of obedience

o       Be obedient to God

§         Faith increases in response to obedience

§         Faith diminishes in response to rejection of God

o       Depend on God in prayer

§         God speaks to us to give us courage in times of struggle

§         Jesus prayed and interceded on behalf of His disciples who were tossed by the waves on the lake and He prays and continues to intercede on our behalf today.

o       Recognize that God is behind us

§         God sees us struggling and understands how difficult it is for us

·        But God is always there to give us courage and comfort in times of suffering and doubt.

-         When we feel most like giving up, is when we need to persevere – to see God work in our lives

o       A courageous person becomes dangerous

o       Pray that we become dangerous people for God

-         Mark 6:51 – “…Take courage!  It is I. Do not be afraid.”