EXCUSES OR FREEDOM

March 5, 2023

Main Scripture: John 8:12, 31-36

Additional Scriptures: Jeremiah 17:9, 1 John 4:18, Pslam 51:6, Matthew 5:8, 16:24, Luke 9:59-62

POINTS:

• Lent: Allows us to reflect and open our hearts to Jesus more and more, clinging to Him and shaping our lives like His.

• Cruciform: We are shaped by the cross into the shape of the cross.

• Excuses: A way in which we lessen the blame that is due to us by deflecting or lying.

• We don’t use the term excuses when talking about our failures, we use the term “reasons”.

• Excuses are walls we hide behind and if we hide behind them long enough they become strongholds.

• Our self-deception begins with the fear of being punished. Labels we’ve believed about ourselves that are hidden deep within our inmost being.

• You can’t say Jesus is Lord and crown your excuses.

• Jesus is the Supernatural Light that exposes our excuses.

• To be set free we must follow Jesus. We must form ourselves around the cross.

• We become free to see ourselves the way God sees us, others the way God sees them, and God as He truly is.

• OYM - Own Yo Mess.

• Repentance: We look in the mirror and say “Lord shine Your light on my excuses”, we own our mess through confession, and we let our excuses go and cling to Christ.