Weekly theme November 3 through 9

Breaking our Bonds

 “I am the vine; you are the branches.  If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.  If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up and thrown into the fire and burned.  If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given to you.  This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.”

-John 15:5-8

Here is a truth: Jesus does not want you to live your life in bondage.  Jesus wants you to be set free.  When we think about the things that keep us from living the way Christ has called us to live most of those things fall into the category of sin or are the results of sin.  So, if we are to be set free from the things that hold us captive then we need a way to deal with sin and the results of sin.  The things that hold us in bondage may not be our sin or the results of our sin. Our bondage may be related to someone else’s sin.

Here is another truth: Jesus came into this world with the singular mission of dealing with humanity’s sin problem and restoring our relationship with God.  To put it another way Jesus came into the world to set us free from sin as well as the results of sin that restrict us and hold us in captivity. Jesus has called us to bear fruit by being His disciples. Over the next two weeks we are going to look at some attributes of being a disciple that will help us break free from our bonds and answer God’s call in our lives.