READ | SERMON NOTES
Summary | There are 3 key struggles that all humanity has to deal with. Romans 8 addresses these issues so that we may find liberty and healing.
1. The Struggle of Emptiness: Despite our wealth and achievements, there remains an emptiness within us. We may have grown up in a Christian home and attend church regularly, but we may only be Christians in theory and may not have experienced God’s presence for a long time. If we are to be free of emptiness, we need to move from a theory-based religion to a Spirit-led encounter with the living and supernatural God! Often, it is only when there difficult events in our lives that we are brought to our knees before the Lord! We need to pause from busyness long enough to hear the still small voice of God and sense His presence.
2. The Struggle of Powerlessness: There are so many things which we cannot control externally and internally. We may struggle with bad habits, addictions and destructive behaviour that we feel hopeless and helplessness. This is what St Paul calls ‘The Law of Sin and Death’. Despite our best efforts we consistently fail to overcome them. However, we read in Rom 8:1-2 that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because the law of the Spirit of life sets us free from the law of sin and death. There is hope that today we can experience victory in Christ Jesus as we walk in the power and presence of the Holy Spirit. There are 5 ways to walk according to the Spirit. We need to be conscious of His constant presence, be in communication with the Spirit always, adopt a posture of reliance for everything, be sensitive to His prompting/leading and be willing to courageously step out in faith to obediently follow.
3. The Struggle of Fear: Everything we do in life is motivated by faith/hope/love or by fear. We subconsciously live our lives as a reaction to these past traumas and fears. Rom 8:15 tells us that the only way to break our bondage to fear is the spirit of adoption, the knowledge that we have become sons and daughters of God. We can come to the Father and He will always receive us and speak words of affirmation over us. We have a loving Father in Heaven who wants to set us free from the spirit of bondage as we come before Him and earnestly seek His face.
Will you enter the Spirit-led life today?
(Sermon notes by Frances Lim)
PONDER | REFLECTION QUESTIONS
1. Is your Christianity one only of theory? When was the last time you experienced God’s presence in your life?
2. What struggles do you face in your life that you feel powerless to overcome? How have you experienced the presence and the power of the Spirit to overcome these struggles?
3. What fears are we living our lives as a reaction to? How does Paul say that knowing that we are children of God helps our struggle with fear?
4. What steps can you take today to live the Spirit-led life?
