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Freedom Celebration 2015 - Living Free in a Broken World
1 Timothy 1-2
Skip Heitzig

1 Timothy 1 (NKJV™)
1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the commandment of God our Savior and the Lord Jesus Christ, our hope,
2 To Timothy, a true son in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord.
3 As I urged you when I went into Macedonia--remain in Ephesus that you may charge some that they teach no other doctrine,
4 nor give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which cause disputes rather than godly edification which is in faith.
5 Now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith,
6 from which some, having strayed, have turned aside to idle talk,
7 desiring to be teachers of the law, understanding neither what they say nor the things which they affirm.
8 But we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully,
9 knowing this: that the law is not made for a righteous person, but for the lawless and insubordinate, for the ungodly and for sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers,
10 for fornicators, for sodomites, for kidnappers, for liars, for perjurers, and if there is any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine,
11 according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God which was committed to my trust.
12 And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry,
13 although I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man; but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief.
14 And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant, with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus.
15 This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.
16 However, for this reason I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show all longsuffering, as a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life.
17 Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.
18 This charge I commit to you, son Timothy, according to the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you may wage the good warfare,
19 having faith and a good conscience, which some having rejected, concerning the faith have suffered shipwreck,
20 of whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I delivered to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme.
1 Timothy 2 (NKJV™)
1 Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men,
2 for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence.
3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior,
4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
5 For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus,
6 who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time,
7 for which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle--I am speaking the truth in Christ and not lying--a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.
8 I desire therefore that the men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting;
9 in like manner also, that the women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with propriety and moderation, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly clothing,
10 but, which is proper for women professing godliness, with good works.
11 Let a woman learn in silence with all submission.
12 And I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, but to be in silence.
13 For Adam was formed first, then Eve.
14 And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression.
15 Nevertheless she will be saved in childbearing if they continue in faith, love, and holiness, with self-control.

New King James Version®, Copyright © 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Independence Day Messages

It seems that the more freedom people gain, the less they understand and appreciate true freedom. In this special Independence Day message, Skip Heitzig gives us three points from 1 Timothy 1-2 about how to impact the world around us as we live in true freedom, which comes only from Jesus Christ.

As believers in Jesus Christ, we have the greatest freedom in the world: "If the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed" (John 8:36). Be encouraged to embrace and live out that freedom in these special Independence Day messages.

Detailed Notes

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  1. Introduction
    1. We exercise a level of freedom and liberty unlike anywhere else on earth
    2. People have become confused about what true liberty is
      1. The more freedom we have, the less freedom we enjoy
      2. The more freedom we have, we become more enslaved
        1. Sexual freedom
        2. Experimental freedom
        3. Relational freedom
      3. We have incredible freedom, yet we're experiencing incredible bondage
      4. The more you do as you please, the less you will be pleased with what you do
    3. Freedom comes from being a slave to Jesus Christ
      1. True freedom comes through Jesus Christ alone
      2. John 8:36
      3. "In God we trust": the founding truth of this country
    4. "I sought for the key to the greatness and genius of America in her harbors; in her fertile fields and boundless forests; in her rich mines and vast world commerce; in her public school system and institutions of learning. I sought for it in her democratic Congress and in her matchless Constitution. Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits flame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because America is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great" —Alexis de Tocqueville
    5. 1 Timothy: Paul wrote to the next generation
    6. Three building blocks to enjoying and living in freedom
  2. Face your past
    1. Paul was a radicalized rabbi
      1. 1 Timothy 1:12-15
      2. Paul got saved from being religious and gave Jesus Christ lordship of his life
    2. Everybody has a past
      1. You have a story to tell of your spiritual journey
      2. One central fact common to all testimonies: we once were lost, but now we're found
    3. Sharing your testimony is one of the most powerful things you can do in promoting liberty
      1. It reminds you of where you came from; Isaiah 51:1
      2. You reveal to others that what happened to you can happen to them
      3. Rehearse it to yourself and tell it to others
  3. Fight for truth
    1. 1 Timothy 1:18-19
    2. This sounds so foreign in a postmodern culture
      1. Postmodern thinking: absolutely certain that nothing is absolutely certain
      2. The noblest virtue today is tolerance
    3. In every generation, there's a battle for the truth
      1. 2 Corinthians 4:4
      2. If ISIS members are willing to die for a lie, aren't we willing to live for the truth?
    4. Part of living for the truth is fighting for the truth
      1. Jude 1:3
      2. Every believer has a solemn duty to resist attacks on the truth
      3. Let your voice be known
  4. Pray for people
    1. 1 Timothy 2:1-4
    2. Pray for leaders, citizens, country, neighbors, government
    3. Watch your tone
    4. Matthew 5:44
    5. Persecution is the world's response to truth; John 15:20
    6. Our response: love people and pray for people
      1. "Prayer is the forerunner of mercy" —Charles Spurgeon
      2. It's hard to hate people you mention on your prayer list
    7. Because unbelievers are blind, they can't see at all; God must open their eyes
  5. Closing
    1. Talk to yourself and others about yourself: face your past
    2. Talk to men about God: fight for truth
    3. Talk to God about men: pray for people
    4. There's only one Man who died for the freedom of us as humans: Jesus

Figures referenced: Alexis de Tocqueville, Charles Spurgeon

Cross references: Isaiah 51:1; Matthew 5:44; John 8:36; 15:20; 2 Corinthians 4:4; 1 Timothy 1-2; Jude 1:3


Transcript

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Welcome to Calvary, Albuquerque.

We pursue the God who is passionately pursuing a lost world. We do this with one another through worship, by the word, to the world.

Well, 239 years ago today, people met in Philadelphia, the Second Continental Congress, to talk about and vote that we would have independence from the United Kingdom from England. And then, of course, the Declaration of Independence was adopted into law and it was signed. And on the 4th of July ever since, we have celebrated this nation's independence.

Independence from what? Independence from oppression and tyranny, forming a government of the people, by the people, and for the people. And a great, great nation it is. A nation where we exercise a level of freedom and liberty, honestly, unlike anywhere else on the earth.

Relatively a young nation, but incredible prosperity and incredible freedom. And yet, I fear that more and more people have become confused about the meaning of what liberty is. What is true liberty? In fact, it would seem that the more freedom we have, the less freedom we really enjoy.

It seems that the more freedom we have, we become more enslaved to things. For example, back in the '60s and the '70s, there was a cultural cry first sexual freedom, a big push for it. And we got it. We also got lots of unwed pregnancies, unwanted pregnancies, and lots of abortions ever since as part of the fallout.

Then people wanted experimental freedom and we experimented, sorry to say, self included, with all sorts of substances to alter our consciousness and the way we think. And that has cost the United States of America $40 billion a year as a burden on this country.

We've wanted relational freedom. And out of that relational freedom came lots of babies without many people to raise them, without a mommy and a daddy raising them together.

So it seems that we have an incredible freedom, and yet we're experiencing incredible bondage. And that is because the more you do as you please, the less you will be pleased with what you do.

You see, the ironic thing about freedom is it comes from being a slave to Jesus Christ. If you want real freedom, you will become a servant, a slave of the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be controlled by an alien will, his will through your life.

That's how freedom works. And that's why we feel we ought to celebrate the 4th of July at a church. We like doing it every year because we believe true freedom comes through Jesus Christ alone. It was Jesus who said, if the son sets you free, then you will be free indeed. If the son sets you free, the Son of God, then you will be free indeed.

On your money, your coins, and your bills, you have a little statement that reads, "In God We Trust." I don't know if that's true or not of you personally. I don't think it's true anymore nationally. But that was once the bedrock and founding truth of this country. In God we trust. And if we want to experience real liberty like it says on the bills and on the coins, we will trust in God.

Almost every year I bring up a name on the 4th of July celebration like this. It was a man who came from Europe to the United States in 1831. His name was Alexis de Tocqueville. A very interesting person because he was dispatched by the French government to check out this new-- listen to what they called it-- experiment in democracy.

You see, they thought we would fail. They thought that liberty, freedom will lead to anarchy. So de Tocqueville came and started looking around the country with the prison systems. And then he looked at the government. He met with the President of the United States. He looked in churches and listened to sermons.

And listen to what he said. He wrote these words, this Frenchman. "I sought for the key to the greatness and genius of America. I sought in her harbors, in her fertile fields, in her boundless forests, in her rich mines and vast world commerce, in her public school system and institutions of learning. I sought for it in her democratic Congress and in her matchless constitution.

But not until I went into the churches of America, and heard her pulpits flame with righteousness, did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because America is good. But when America ceases to be good, then America will cease to be great."

Very interesting, sobering revelation from an outsider looking in. America is great because America is good. He listened to the sermons. He saw the righteousness wave across this country. But when America ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.

There's a passage I've been reading. I read it today. I want to share it with you. It's Paul's letter to a young friend of his, a protege named Timothy. Paul is older when he writes this letter, and he's writing to the next generation.

And every generation has to pass on the truth to the new one. Every generation, be it parents, grandparents, pastors, leaders, pass on what are the most important truths to the next generation.

And so I want to give you just a few of those truths very simply put. You could call them building blocks to enjoying freedom or to living in freedom.

First, face your past. Can you say that with me? Face your past. All of us have a past. Some of you after tonight will have a past. Because you're still living in your life, but I believe in a few minutes I'm going to give you an invitation, and I believe some of you are going to have enough sense to put your trust in God like the coins say, like the bills say. You're going to actually make a commitment for Jesus Christ right here. But we all have a past.

And Paul the Apostle had a past. He was a radicalized rabbi, if you can try to picture that weird thing in your head. A radicalized rabbi, a militant minister. Listen to what he says in chapter 1:1 Timothy.

He goes, "I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has enabled me because he counted me faithful putting me into the ministry. Although, I was formally a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent, or arrogantly angry man. But I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly and in unbelief.

And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant with faith and love, which are in Christ Jesus. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into this world to save sinners of whom I am the chief."

Paul said, I'm the chief sinner. Now remember, Paul was a religious person, but he got converted. Yes, he got saved from being religious, and he gave Jesus Christ lordship of his life.

You know, I've discovered something about religious people. They're the hardest to see converted. Some of you with a religious background and a religious family, you know exactly what I'm talking about.

You see, religious people go through life thinking, well I'm religious. I'm good enough. I do good things. I go to church. I sing songs. I'm an upstanding, upright person in my community. Therefore, because I'm a good, religious person, I am saved.

I grew up in a religious home. I went to church every week. Except then we called it mass every week. And I thought because I went to mass and I had confession and I went through all the rituals that I was on my way to heaven.

But something strange as a young person happened to me. While I was sitting in church, God seemed so old. Now I feel old, but then as a young person, God seemed really old and out of touch, and completely irrelevant to my life and to what was going on in my country.

And so, though I went to church and kept all the rituals, I started experimenting with different substances and different experiences, some demonic, some just plain goofy, and some very dangerous. I got into drugs as a young person.

And to make matters worse, just to show you how bad I was, I was going to church every week and doing my drug deals in the choir loft of the church. Because I figured nobody would suspect that, and they didn't. Except one person did and it was God. He saw the whole thing. And he finally got my attention.

But everybody has a testimony. Everybody has a past. You have a story to tell of your spiritual journey. And though all of us have different facts in our testimony, there is one general, central fact that is in common with all of us who have past. And that is this. We once were lost, but now we're found. We once were blind, but now we see. That's the general true for all of us.

Now, did you know that you, you sharing your testimony, telling your story to someone is one of the most powerful things you could ever do in promoting liberty, promoting freedom. And here's why. Because every time you share your spiritual story with people-- who you were, what you did, how you thought, and then Jesus changed you-- every time you do that, two things happen.

Number one, you are reminding yourself of what you used to be like and where you came from. And the prophet Isaiah said, "Look to the rock from which you were dug and the hole, the pit from which you were taken." It's good to remind yourself of who you were and what you used to be like.

And number two, you're revealing to others that what happened to you can happen to them. You were changed. They can be changed. So face your past. Rehearse it to yourself. Tell it to others. It's one of the most freeing things in the world.

Second, not just face your past, fight for truth. I want you to say that out loud. Fight for truth. Half of you aren't saying it. Again, fight for truth. There you go. Face the past. Fight for truth.

Listen to Paul's words. "This charge I commit to you, my son Timothy, according to the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you may wage the good warfare, or fight the good fight, having faith and a good conscience, which some having rejected concerning the faith have suffered ship wreck."

He says, Timothy, wage a good warfare. Fight for the truth. Now, I realize something as I say that to this crowd. Those words, fight for truth, sound so foreign in a postmodern culture. If you are postmodern in your thinking, you believe nothing can be known absolutely, then I just sounded like I'm from Mars.

Because one thing about postmodern thinking is they are absolutely certain that nothing is absolutely certain. Nothing is certain. You can't know anything for sure. Thus the noblest virtue today is tolerance.

To be tolerant of every single person's belief an ideal because they're all the same, they're all equal. And the worst statement you can make in this postmodern culture is to say this sentence. I know the truth. You will rebuffed if you tell people, I know the truth.

Even in contemporary Christianity there's a hesitancy for some who claim to be Christians to say, I know the truth. They're hesitant to say the gospel is even true. In every single generation since this was written 2000 years ago, there's a battle for the truth.

Why is that? Why do we always have to, in every generation, fight for what is true, stand up for the truth? Here's why. Paul tells us the reason. He spills the beans. Paul the Apostle said, "The god of this world--" that is Satan--

"The god of this world has blinded the minds of those who do not believe." So people who are blind need to be shown and told how to find absolute truth because many of them are so blind they can't even know it's there. That's where you come in. Fight for the truth.

Over in the Middle East, there's an interesting group there is has arisen the last couple years. I bet you know them by name now very well. ISIS, or the Islamic State. They call themselves martyrs while they butcher hordes of people. If they were here tonight, they'd kill every one of us, every one of us. They are butchering people by the tens of thousands.

They call themselves martyrs for their faith, but they're simply suicidal murderers. An interesting thing about them is that they are willing to kill people for a lie. They're willing to die themselves for a lie.

Here's my question to you. If they're willing to die for a lie, aren't we even willing to live for the truth, and stand up for the truth, and proclaim the truth, and say, I'm coming out of the closet as a Christian? And I'm going to tell everyone I know, this is the truth. You can go to heaven. Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life.

Part of living for the truth is fighting for the truth. I don't mean taking out guns and shooting people, or hitting people. Here's a Bible. Whack. No, no, no, no. But the Bible says this, contend earnestly or put up a good fight. Contend earnestly for the faith once for all delivered to the saints.

Just as we had military and fire and police who are fighting evil on our streets and overseas, every single believer has a solemn duty to resist attacks on the truth. Let your voice be known. Let your voice be known. Face your past. Fight for truth. Face your past. Fight for truth. You said it once. Try it again. Face your past. Fight for truth. One more time. Face your past. Fight for truth.

I'll give you a third, and we'll close. Pray for people. Pray for people. Face your past. Fight for truth. Pray for people. Ah, this is very important because he didn't say, fight people. No, he said, pray for people. Fight for truth, but pray for people.

He continues in chapter 2 these words, "Therefor I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings, and all who are in authority that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior who desires--" listen to what God desires.

You want to know what God wants? Here it is. "God desires all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth." That's what he wants. If you're not saved, that's what God wants out of your life. He wants all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the true.

But he tells Timothy, pray, pray for leaders, pray for citizens, pray for your country, pray for your neighbors, pray for your government. Jeremiah did. Daniel did. Paul told us to do it. Pray for the citizens, pray for your neighbors, pray for your nation, pray for your government.

Right now, Christians are getting into the crosshairs and the crossfire over this whole debate that has been raging on gay marriage. And once this has been settled legally, now the whole thing of churches and how they deal with it are going right in the crosshairs. Fight for truth, but pray for people who are blinded to the truth.

Again, like I mentioned this last weekend, we have to watch our tone. Jesus said, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, and say all manner of evil falsely for my namesake. Sometimes late at night I have a little fun going on my Facebook and seeing all the people that are mad at me for things that I have said in the last few days, and the irrational statements that are made.

I mean you would have to be totally blinded to be able to make those statements. So in one sense, they're very humorous to me. In the other sense, they're very sad to me because I understand the blindness that is behind it.

Persecution is the world's response to truth. Remember that. Persecution is the world's response to truth. Jesus said, if they persecuted me, they will persecute you. So what do we do? We pray for them. We love them. That's our response to them. No more hate speech. Yes, fight for truth. Stand up and let your voice be known. But love the people and pray for people.

Charles Spurgeon said, "Prayer is the forerunner of mercy." I've discovered something. It's hard to hate for people you mention on your prayer list. Try it. People you're having a tough time with, write their name down and pray for them every day. After a couple weeks, you won't have the same feelings for them anymore. It's hard to hate people that you pray for. And it gives us the right attitude as we pray.

You see, when I'm witnessing to someone, when I'm telling my story, my God story, my testimony, my spiritual journey, and I'm hoping that their blind eyes will be open, I have to make a realization. Because they're blind, they can't see at all. It's impossible for them to get it unless the Lord opens the heart.

It's like if you were blind and you came to a firework display. And I said to you, look at that, that was awesome. That would be pretty cruel, wouldn't it? I'd be taunting you because you lack a very important facility or faculty that you are unable to exercise. You can't see it. You can't appreciate it.

Or if I took you to a symphony and you were deaf. And then I wrote you a note afterwards that said, that sounded so wonderful. Again, that could be cruel. You lack the ability to appreciate it. And God must open the ears, and God must open the eyes.

And it's my prayer that some of you have gathered just for a nice picnic on the lawn and to watch free fireworks in a few moments will do something greater than that and come into the kind of freedom that the Bible promises that everyone who has placed their trust in Christ is experiencing it.

So let me sum it all up. Talk to yourself and others about yourself. That is, tell your spiritual story so that you can remember it, and so they can be revealed. They can have it revealed to them that they can change too. Tell your story.

Second, talk to men about God. Talk to men about God. Fight for the truth. And then third, talk to God about men. Pray for people. Face your past. Fight for truth. Pray for people.

I opened up by talking to you about Alexis de Tocqueville, that Frenchman who came and looked at this experiment called the United States. Do you know that he originally came to see Americans' prison system? He visited jails all around the country.

And then after he visited jails, he was just amazed at America's freedom based upon their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. He saw that these people believe in righteousness, and they love the truth. And the preachers are preaching the gospel in these pulpits. It moved him.

Jesus said, whoever the son sets free will be free indeed. And that was the most dramatic thing I discovered the afternoon in July many years ago when I said yes to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. I stepped out of the shadows, out of my sin, out of all my experimentation, all of my religious baggage. And I said yes to the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. I asked him to wash away my sin and make me brand new. And really that's the one we're celebrating here.

Men and women in the military and the police, they die for the freedoms for us as Americans. But there's only one man who died for the freedom of us as humans, and that's Jesus. All men, all women can be cured, can be forgiven. And that's Jesus. He can do that. And he can do it for you.

Father, thank you for this evening. Thank you for the breeze. We pray that that's all that it is. We pray father for just an excellent rest of the evening. But right now I pray for those men and women who have gathered here who don't know Jesus. They've got a background. They've got a past.

Some of them may feel like they're addicted to something. Some of them are addicted to something. Some of them feel isolated and alone and not even worthy to be with church people. But they're here nonetheless.

Some are deceived. Some have walked in this ideology that says if I'm a good person or I do nice things or I go to church and I've been baptized and confirmed, I'm going to go to heaven. Strip any of that security away from them so that they place themselves in the hands of Jesus alone.

Lord, I pray you will save people. That's what you desire to do more than anything else. You desire that all men will be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. It is knowable. It is possible to know absolute truth and to yet love people who don't understand it completely. Would you change more lives tonight? In Jesus' name, Amen.

I'm going to ask you to stand up for just a moment just to make it a little bit easier encourage people who want to come. But no matter where you are, and we have people all the way back to the building itself, all the way filling this park, and all the way to the building in the courtyard.

If you don't yet know Jesus Christ, if he hasn't washed away your sins, if you're not absolutely sure that if you were to die tonight you would go to heaven, you can be sure. You could have the assurance of forgiveness, the knowledge of everlasting life.

I'm going to ask you during this song to get up from where you're standing, make it to the east side of this crowd. There's a little walk way. We have people who will show you the way. Just say, excuse me, and walk to the east side and stand right up here.

I'm going to lead you in a prayer as soon as you come to receive Christ. We're going to give you that opportunity. As we sing, you come. We're your friends. You have an opportunity perhaps like never before or never again.

God brought you here for a reason. And this is the reason, that you might give your life to Jesus and find forgiveness. So as we sing this song, you get up and come.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

Come on this way. Right over here. That's it.

Come on up.

We're going to give you time to make your way this way. We want to give this as much time as needed. Hey, if you're way in the back, or you're way on the side, and you're thinking, I'm just sort of hiding in the crowd. I'm gonna get by this altar call. I've done before. That's fine.

The trouble is, you're going to go home and feel just as miserable as you do every night. You're going to have the same hopeless feeling that you live with every day. Jesus came to fix that. He came to heal the broken hearted. He can heal your broken heart.

You have to let him. You have to decide to make it personal. You get up and come. Jesus came from heaven to earth. You can come from the back of that crowd or the side of that crowd, and make your way here. Yeah, come on. Come on.

If you're all the way over in the amphitheater, you can make your way as well. We're going to give you time to do that. It might seem like a long walk. It's worth every step. Doesn't matter if you're young or old, rich or poor, male or female, you come.

God loves you. Jesus has a plan for your life. Discover that plan. Discover what it's like to be set free. God bless you, guys. Just make your way this way. They're still coming. Let's move all this way. We're gonna make room for more folks. God bless you guys. Just come right over here. Thank you for doing that.

Just another minute, but you come. Some of you have questions. You go, yeah, but I've got so many unanswered questions about Christianity and about Jesus. That's fine. We can talk about questions after.

But right now get your heart right with God. Then let's talk through the issues and the questions, but you come. Find the lover of your soul. Find peace like you've never known before. God bless you guys. Welcome.

Awesome. Come on, you guys. You're doing great.

You hear the words to this song, come as you are. You don't have to clean up your act. You don't have to do anything good. You don't have to do anything but come and make it personal. And decide tonight is the night things are gonna be different.

Tonight is the night I'm gonna turn from my sin and turn to Christ. Only you can decide that. The Bible said Jesus is knocking at the door of your heart. You have to open it up. Are you willing? Then come, come quickly. Awesome. All right.

I know that way back there you can't see. But you've got to know that the whole front of this platform is packed full of people all the way to over here. God loves every single one of you.

OK, let's get down to business. You ready? I'm going to say a prayer. I'm going to pray out loud. I'm going to ask you who have come forward to pray this prayer out loud after me. Say these words from your heart. This is you talking to God. You ready?

Let's pray. Say this. Lord, I give you my life. I know I'm a sinner. Please forgive me. I believe in Jesus. I believe he died on a cross. I believe he rose from the dead. I believe he shed his blood for my sin. And I believe he did it for me personally. I turn from my sin. I turn to Jesus as my Savior. I want to live for him as my Lord. In Jesus' name, Amen.

You all better get excited about this. Come on, all the way back. Congratulations. There's a lot of you.

What binds us together is devotion to worshiping our Heavenly Father, dedication to studying his word, and determination to proclaim our eternal hope in Jesus Christ.

For more teachings from Calvary, Albuquerque and Skip Heitzig, visit calvaryabq.org.

Additional Messages in this Series

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Date Title   Watch Listen Notes Share Save Buy
7/4/1999
completed
resume  
Are You Really Free?
John 8
Skip Heitzig
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Are You Really Free? - John 8 from our study Independence Day Messages with Skip Heitzig from Calvary Albuquerque.
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7/4/2004
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Freedom Celebration 2004 - Are You Really Free?
John 8:31-51
Skip Heitzig
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Freedom Celebration 2004 - Are You Really Free? - John 8:31-51 from our study Independence Day Messages with Skip Heitzig from Calvary Albuquerque.
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7/4/2007
completed
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Special Baptism Service
Skip Heitzig
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7/5/2009
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Freedom Celebration 2009
Skip Heitzig
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Freedom Celebration 2009 from our study Independence Day Messages with Skip Heitzig from Calvary Albuquerque.
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7/3/2010
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Free to be a Slave
Romans 6:14-23
Skip Heitzig
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God’s Word declares, "Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom" (2 Corinthians 3:17). As we gather to celebrate not only the freedoms of our nation, but our freedom in Christ, we’ll consider what we have been set free from, and what we have been set free for. We’ll address an issue that is often overlooked as we ponder the question: whom do you serve?
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7/3/2011
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Freedom Celebration 2011
John 8:31-35
Skip Heitzig
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All of us are born into bondage—we are slaves to sin. But there is hope! Jesus can turn a slave into a son! As we consider our text from John 8, we'll be challenged to grow up and to grow deep in our relationship with Christ.
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7/4/2012
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Freedom Celebration 2012
Skip Heitzig
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On Independence Day, we gather to thank God for and celebrate our country's freedom—but what good is civil liberty without freedom in Christ? Jesus promised freedom to His followers—freedom from spiritual ignorance, freedom from sin, and freedom from death. These give cause for a deeper, more meaningful, celebration.
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7/3/2013
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Freedom Celebration 2013
Galatians 5:1
Skip Heitzig
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Before accepting Christ into our lives we are slaves to sin who cannot experience true liberty. Even now, as we take freedom for granted in our nation, we may actually be in bondage to the many lies of the world. In Paul's letter to the Galatians, we see a warning about legalism and an encouragement to truly be free in Christ.
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7/2/2014
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Freedom Celebration 2014
John 8:31-36
Skip Heitzig
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Jesus addressed the religious people of His day about true freedom, but they didn't understand what He was talking about. They thought they were free—even claiming that the nation of Israel had never been in bondage—but they were deeply misguided. In this study, we look at what Jesus had to say about where real freedom comes from—not sin or self, but from the Son alone.
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7/2/2016
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Freedom Celebration 2016
Skip Heitzig
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Mankind is addicted to working for a salvation we cannot attain on our own. In this Independence Day message, we learn that even though sin promises to fulfill our need for freedom, true freedom comes from the Son of God.
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6/30/2017
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Freedom Celebration 2017 - Friday
Skip Heitzig
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Though we are blessed with freedom in the United States, many people are not truly free. Nicodemus was a man who appeared to have it all together. Little did he know that the void in his life could only be filled by a relationship with Jesus. In this message, we learn what it means to be born again.
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7/1/2017
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Freedom Celebration 2017 - Saturday
Skip Heitzig
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Death is a subject most people avoid talking about--it's uncomfortable. But the fact is that every single person will eventually die. In this message, we learn that we don't have to be afraid of death if we are willing to come before Jesus in repentance for our sins.
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There are 12 additional messages in this series.
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