Sons and Daughters of the King

QUOTES FOR REFLECTION

“The dogma of…skepticism about truth-claims—a routine feature of humanities instruction these days…is part of the atmosphere of our times. One does not need college to inculcate it; one needs college to disabuse young people from it.”

~Prof. Wilfred M. McClay, contemporary historian

“If the truth is what sets us free, then why not walk in it at all times? With wisdom and love, of course, but also with the reality that truth is where freedom begins.”

~Jackie Hill Perry, writer and hip-hop artist

“Most modern freedom is at root fear. It is not so much that we are too bold to endure rules; it is rather that we are too timid to endure responsibilities.”

“Do not free a camel of the burden of his hump; you may be freeing him from being a camel.”

~G.K. Chesterton (1874-1936), English writer and literary critic

“True freedom is to be one’s true self, but my true self is made for loving, and loving is self-giving. So in order to be myself, I have to deny myself and give myself. In order, then, to be free, I have to give up my freedom. In order, then, to live, I have to die to my self-centeredness. In order to find myself, I’ve got to lose it.”

~John Stott (1921-2011), English Anglican priest and theologian 

“Free will is not the liberty to do whatever one likes, but the power of doing whatever one sees ought to be done, even in the very face of otherwise overwhelming impulse. There lies freedom, indeed.”

~George MacDonald (1824-1905), Scottish minister and writer

“And isn’t that what freedom is supposed to be? The ability to not do as I please, but the power to do what is pleasing.”

~Jackie Hill Perry, writer and hip-hop artist

“The lost enjoy forever the horrible freedom they have demanded.”

~C.S. Lewis (1898-1963), literary scholar at Oxford and Cambridge

“To see the Law by Christ fulfilled, and hear his pardoning voice,

changes a slave into a child, and duty into a choice.”

~William Cowper (1731-1800), English poet

SERMON PASSAGE

Galatians 3:23-4:7 (ESV)

Galatians 3

23 Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. 24 So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. 25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, 26 for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. 27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.

Galatians 4

1 I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave, though he is the owner of everything, 2 but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father. 3 In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world. 4 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. 6 And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” 7 So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.