WEBVTT 00:00:00.520 --> 00:00:07.320 Well, howdy We live in a world that loves freedom 00:00:07.320 --> 00:00:15.320 if I were to say freedom What movie is it? Thank 00:00:15.320 --> 00:00:17.559 you. Thank you. Someone cut the Braveheart reference. 00:00:17.640 --> 00:00:22.420 Absolutely it is Inherent in our psyche in who 00:00:22.420 --> 00:00:26.140 we are what we think every new thing is promising 00:00:26.140 --> 00:00:30.850 somehow to set us Free, free from inconvenience, 00:00:31.269 --> 00:00:36.750 free from waiting, free from limits. Now, I want 00:00:36.750 --> 00:00:39.829 you to pause and I want you to think about your 00:00:39.829 --> 00:00:43.090 phone for a second, which I'm sure that many 00:00:43.090 --> 00:00:47.049 of you currently have in your hand. When smartphones 00:00:47.049 --> 00:00:51.049 first came out, they were promising us freedom. 00:00:51.990 --> 00:00:55.950 Freedom to work anywhere, freedom to talk to 00:00:55.950 --> 00:01:00.740 anyone, anywhere, anytime, and access to anything, 00:01:00.939 --> 00:01:08.340 and it felt amazing at first. But now, you can't 00:01:08.340 --> 00:01:12.299 leave home without it. If you realize that you 00:01:12.299 --> 00:01:16.340 have left the room without it, and all of a sudden 00:01:16.340 --> 00:01:18.780 something feels weird. It's like you're patting 00:01:18.780 --> 00:01:20.900 your pockets, and you're like, there's something 00:01:20.900 --> 00:01:23.000 that should be in this left -hand pocket, and 00:01:23.000 --> 00:01:26.519 it's not there. Part of me is missing. It's this 00:01:26.519 --> 00:01:29.500 weird feeling. If you must place it for five 00:01:29.500 --> 00:01:31.180 minutes, did you know where my phone is? Do you 00:01:31.180 --> 00:01:32.659 know where my phone is? Call my phone. Can you 00:01:32.659 --> 00:01:35.120 find my phone? Check the computer. Where's the 00:01:35.120 --> 00:01:39.319 little tag? And worst of all, it buzzes in your 00:01:39.319 --> 00:01:42.719 pocket, and you have to check it. and there's 00:01:42.719 --> 00:01:47.420 no notification. It's a phantom vibration, okay? 00:01:47.560 --> 00:01:50.799 Your brain is so trained to expect that little 00:01:50.799 --> 00:01:53.599 jolt that sometimes it just makes one up in your 00:01:53.599 --> 00:01:57.099 head. Although I swear, I know whenever it's 00:01:57.099 --> 00:01:59.480 buzzing. I swear I've got this little innate 00:01:59.480 --> 00:02:03.599 sense. Here's the irony. The thing that promised 00:02:03.599 --> 00:02:08.919 to set us free has actually made us slaves. Slaves 00:02:08.919 --> 00:02:12.400 to little notifications that come up. slaves 00:02:12.400 --> 00:02:15.879 to comparing ourselves to all the people on our 00:02:15.879 --> 00:02:19.460 social media platforms, slaves to the constant 00:02:19.460 --> 00:02:24.819 need to respond because somebody sent a message 00:02:24.819 --> 00:02:27.879 right then and there. And that's exactly the 00:02:27.879 --> 00:02:30.360 kind of slavery that Jesus is talking about. 00:02:31.199 --> 00:02:35.719 Not physical chains, but invisible ones. The 00:02:35.719 --> 00:02:39.219 habits, the voices, the expectations that run 00:02:39.219 --> 00:02:41.939 our lives while we tell ourselves that we're 00:02:41.939 --> 00:02:45.419 the ones who are in control. We say, I'm free, 00:02:45.520 --> 00:02:48.000 but we can't even set the phone down long enough 00:02:48.000 --> 00:02:52.120 to look someone in the eye. If the apostles had 00:02:52.120 --> 00:02:55.080 smartphones, Peter would have been scrolling 00:02:55.080 --> 00:02:57.340 whenever Jesus is walking on the water, and we 00:02:57.340 --> 00:03:00.020 know how that turned out already. Could you imagine, 00:03:00.060 --> 00:03:02.960 hey guys, I'm out on the water with my buddy 00:03:02.960 --> 00:03:07.280 Jesus. Say, hey Jesus. Oh, wait. Oh, sorry. He's 00:03:07.280 --> 00:03:09.460 out on the water. Oh, let's go. Let's go see 00:03:09.460 --> 00:03:11.159 what's going on. Let's go see. Check it out. 00:03:11.419 --> 00:03:15.719 Oh, I'm singing. I mean, could you just imagine? 00:03:16.699 --> 00:03:21.139 And so much of what we see ends up being so relevant 00:03:21.139 --> 00:03:24.719 to us today. I still haven't figured out all 00:03:24.719 --> 00:03:28.500 the peace sign things yet. It's a modern parable 00:03:28.500 --> 00:03:32.169 of the same truth. When we serve the wrong master, 00:03:32.189 --> 00:03:34.990 even one that looks good, we end up losing the 00:03:34.990 --> 00:03:38.409 very freedom that we were chasing. That's what 00:03:38.409 --> 00:03:41.310 Jesus means when he says everyone who sins is 00:03:41.310 --> 00:03:45.969 a slave to sin. We don't even notice the chains 00:03:45.969 --> 00:03:48.849 because they're comfortable. They're familiar. 00:03:49.550 --> 00:03:52.110 Maybe even they feel kind of convenient. We're 00:03:52.110 --> 00:03:55.250 used to them. Until we realize that they keep 00:03:55.250 --> 00:03:57.590 us from the life that we were meant to have. 00:03:58.439 --> 00:04:01.819 We live in a world that loves freedom, or at 00:04:01.819 --> 00:04:05.300 least the idea of it. You can tell because every 00:04:05.300 --> 00:04:07.879 commercial promises to set you free, free from 00:04:07.879 --> 00:04:10.319 wrinkles, free from cable, free from the three 00:04:10.319 --> 00:04:12.439 -year phone contract you swore you'd never sign 00:04:12.439 --> 00:04:15.580 again. But have you noticed how the things that 00:04:15.580 --> 00:04:18.579 promise to set us free are the very things that 00:04:18.579 --> 00:04:24.939 end up owning our time, attention, energy? When 00:04:24.939 --> 00:04:28.100 Jesus says in John 8, if the Son sets you free, 00:04:28.139 --> 00:04:31.199 you will be free indeed. He's talking about something 00:04:31.199 --> 00:04:34.879 deeper. The kind of freedom we don't even know 00:04:34.879 --> 00:04:37.839 that we need. Because the truth is most of us 00:04:37.839 --> 00:04:39.959 don't believe we're captives in the first place. 00:04:40.740 --> 00:04:43.579 When Jesus told the crowd, you will know the 00:04:43.579 --> 00:04:45.420 truth and the truth will set you free. What did 00:04:45.420 --> 00:04:50.560 they say? We've never been slaves to anyone getting 00:04:50.560 --> 00:04:53.459 past the fact that they were slaves in Egypt. 00:04:53.870 --> 00:04:56.850 Isn't that truly the human condition in a nutshell? 00:04:57.689 --> 00:05:00.370 We don't want to believe that we're the ones 00:05:00.370 --> 00:05:03.649 who need saving, and we will even block out what's 00:05:03.649 --> 00:05:07.250 inconvenient to hold on to that idea. The Jewish 00:05:07.250 --> 00:05:09.850 people were chosen by God to be a light to the 00:05:09.850 --> 00:05:12.310 nations, but over time they started to treat 00:05:12.310 --> 00:05:16.930 that privilege as a guarantee rather than a responsibility. 00:05:17.930 --> 00:05:20.230 They thought because we're Abraham's children, 00:05:21.149 --> 00:05:25.290 we're already right with God. But Jesus was showing 00:05:25.290 --> 00:05:28.509 them that being God's people doesn't mean being 00:05:28.509 --> 00:05:32.089 free from sin. It means being called to trust 00:05:32.089 --> 00:05:38.110 God for freedom. See, their identity became a 00:05:38.110 --> 00:05:42.470 source of pride rather than humility. They relied 00:05:42.470 --> 00:05:45.550 on who they were outwardly instead of what God 00:05:45.550 --> 00:05:48.529 was doing inside of them. They were faithful 00:05:48.529 --> 00:05:51.250 to the law on the outside, but their focus on 00:05:51.250 --> 00:05:54.220 rules and traditions gave them a false sense 00:05:54.220 --> 00:05:57.399 of freedom from the world around them. See, they 00:05:57.399 --> 00:06:01.040 felt free because they didn't bow to Roman idols. 00:06:01.139 --> 00:06:04.540 They felt free because they didn't eat Gentile 00:06:04.540 --> 00:06:09.680 food or break the Sabbath. But inside, they were 00:06:09.680 --> 00:06:13.040 still enslaved. They were still judgmental of 00:06:13.040 --> 00:06:16.639 others, comparing themselves, afraid of being 00:06:16.639 --> 00:06:20.079 unclean and constantly needing to prove themselves 00:06:20.079 --> 00:06:24.139 worthy. Their national and spiritual pride made 00:06:24.139 --> 00:06:28.699 it almost impossible to see their need for grace. 00:06:28.759 --> 00:06:31.740 They would look at the Gentiles and they think 00:06:31.740 --> 00:06:36.019 they're the sinners. We're the righteous. And 00:06:36.019 --> 00:06:38.779 that made repentance hard because repentance 00:06:38.779 --> 00:06:41.480 means that you have to admit I need saving too. 00:06:42.620 --> 00:06:45.560 So when Jesus came offering freedom they resisted. 00:06:45.740 --> 00:06:47.879 We don't need that. They didn't think they needed 00:06:47.879 --> 00:06:51.959 saving. Only, vindication for their actions and 00:06:51.959 --> 00:06:54.300 attitudes. Their ego was telling them, we're 00:06:54.300 --> 00:06:58.379 already just fine. No wonder they were offended 00:06:58.379 --> 00:07:02.600 when Jesus told them, you're slaves. But I came 00:07:02.600 --> 00:07:06.660 to make you truly free. Jesus saw through it 00:07:06.660 --> 00:07:09.540 all. He wasn't saying that following the law 00:07:09.540 --> 00:07:12.079 was wrong. He was revealing that keeping the 00:07:12.079 --> 00:07:15.639 law without knowing we need God is just another 00:07:15.639 --> 00:07:18.850 form of bondage. Believing that we're only free 00:07:18.850 --> 00:07:21.449 because we look different from everyone around 00:07:21.449 --> 00:07:24.889 us See they wanted to appear righteous more than 00:07:24.889 --> 00:07:30.850 they wanted to be righteous They kept the externals 00:07:30.850 --> 00:07:34.029 they tithe the money they they sacrificed they 00:07:34.029 --> 00:07:37.250 had their purity rituals But they ignored the 00:07:37.250 --> 00:07:41.250 inner corruption that Jesus was exposing So when 00:07:41.250 --> 00:07:44.959 he said the truth will set you free He wasn't 00:07:44.959 --> 00:07:47.579 talking about some abstract idea. He meant if 00:07:47.579 --> 00:07:51.819 you'll face the truth about your sin, then you 00:07:51.819 --> 00:07:57.459 can truly be free of it in Me. Jesus wasn't trying 00:07:57.459 --> 00:08:01.100 to shame them. He was trying to free them. He 00:08:01.100 --> 00:08:03.160 said if the sun sets you free, you will be free 00:08:03.160 --> 00:08:05.839 indeed. Because true freedom, it's not found 00:08:05.839 --> 00:08:09.540 in your background or your religious practices 00:08:09.540 --> 00:08:13.579 or your self -discipline. It's found in belonging 00:08:13.579 --> 00:08:17.300 to Christ. Freedom is not the absence of authority, 00:08:17.360 --> 00:08:20.939 it's belonging to the right master. But facing 00:08:20.939 --> 00:08:24.920 the truth, it requires humility. And pride can 00:08:24.920 --> 00:08:31.920 make humility unbearable. Today, many people 00:08:31.920 --> 00:08:33.940 believe they're free because they can do whatever 00:08:33.940 --> 00:08:36.759 they want. Scroll when they want, post what they 00:08:36.759 --> 00:08:40.179 want, buy what they want, but in reality, our 00:08:40.179 --> 00:08:43.919 habits? the desires inside of us, our approval 00:08:43.919 --> 00:08:48.519 seeking, and our screens. All those things actually 00:08:48.519 --> 00:08:54.379 own us. See, we're not actually free. We're addicted 00:08:54.379 --> 00:08:58.980 to distractions. And being distracted from reality 00:08:58.980 --> 00:09:02.179 in exchange for getting the self -confidence 00:09:02.179 --> 00:09:06.279 that people want. That's what Jesus is confronting. 00:09:07.600 --> 00:09:09.879 See, the Jews' pride in being chosen, it kept 00:09:09.879 --> 00:09:14.460 them enslaved. to sin. Just like our pride in 00:09:14.460 --> 00:09:18.559 being independent can keep us enslaved to ourselves 00:09:18.559 --> 00:09:22.259 and our own emotions and struggles. See, Paul 00:09:22.259 --> 00:09:24.980 was getting at the same thing in his letter to 00:09:24.980 --> 00:09:27.000 the Romans, all have sinned and fall short of 00:09:27.000 --> 00:09:30.220 the glory of God. You cannot be set free if you 00:09:30.220 --> 00:09:34.720 don't believe you're captive. As long as you 00:09:34.720 --> 00:09:38.269 are not willing to acknowledge the things that 00:09:38.269 --> 00:09:41.190 keep holding you captive, you cannot be free 00:09:41.190 --> 00:09:44.929 of them. It's not just the first century pride, 00:09:45.090 --> 00:09:48.809 it's us. We say, I'm not perfect, but I'm not 00:09:48.809 --> 00:09:51.909 a bad person. We say, I make mistakes, but I'm 00:09:51.909 --> 00:09:55.590 not a sinner. It's exactly the trap that Jesus 00:09:55.590 --> 00:10:01.909 and Paul are warning us about. But what if we 00:10:01.909 --> 00:10:05.820 finally face our brokenness? but we don't realize 00:10:05.820 --> 00:10:10.120 the free grace of God. See, that's exactly where 00:10:10.120 --> 00:10:13.799 Martin Luther found himself. He knew something 00:10:13.799 --> 00:10:18.120 was wrong inside of him, but he couldn't fix 00:10:18.120 --> 00:10:22.700 it. He had some form of obsessive tendencies, 00:10:23.179 --> 00:10:27.230 but he was praying constantly. fasting regularly, 00:10:27.470 --> 00:10:30.389 and he would confess every single thing as if 00:10:30.389 --> 00:10:33.149 making sure he got them all would somehow please 00:10:33.149 --> 00:10:36.330 God. But it was so much that his confessor finally 00:10:36.330 --> 00:10:39.049 told him, Martin, stop coming in here unless 00:10:39.049 --> 00:10:43.549 you actually commit a sin worth confessing. Wouldn't 00:10:43.549 --> 00:10:47.429 that be a nice problem to have? Luther's problem 00:10:47.429 --> 00:10:50.409 wasn't that he didn't take God seriously. His 00:10:50.409 --> 00:10:52.230 problem was that he didn't yet understand how 00:10:52.230 --> 00:10:55.919 seriously God took grace. He thought the gospel 00:10:55.919 --> 00:10:59.200 was about God demanding more and more. Through 00:10:59.200 --> 00:11:01.600 the religious teachers he'd been taught to follow 00:11:01.600 --> 00:11:05.080 without question until he realized that righteousness, 00:11:06.360 --> 00:11:08.059 it's not something that we earn, it's something 00:11:08.059 --> 00:11:12.279 we receive. When Luther read Romans 3, we hold 00:11:12.279 --> 00:11:14.759 that a person is justified by faith apart from 00:11:14.759 --> 00:11:17.580 works of the law. He said it felt like the gates 00:11:17.580 --> 00:11:22.399 of paradise were opened. He discovered the freedom 00:11:22.399 --> 00:11:25.929 that Jesus was talking about. Not freedom from 00:11:25.929 --> 00:11:30.970 effort, but freedom from fear. It's not freedom 00:11:30.970 --> 00:11:36.289 to be right, but freedom to be loved. See, when 00:11:36.289 --> 00:11:39.250 Luther is nailing his 95 Theses to the church 00:11:39.250 --> 00:11:42.429 door in Wittenberg, he wasn't trying to start 00:11:42.429 --> 00:11:45.730 a revolution. It was more like posting on the 00:11:45.730 --> 00:11:48.850 community bulletin board. It was like the Facebook 00:11:48.850 --> 00:11:54.600 wall of 1517, even with ads. He didn't mean to 00:11:54.600 --> 00:11:59.639 go viral, but that's what happened. He was the 00:11:59.639 --> 00:12:03.200 first person ever to break the internet, or the 00:12:03.200 --> 00:12:06.600 printing press, if you will. But here's the part 00:12:06.600 --> 00:12:10.720 we often miss. The strongest backlash didn't 00:12:10.720 --> 00:12:14.899 come from the outsiders. The backlash came from 00:12:14.899 --> 00:12:17.940 within. It was from the very people who claimed 00:12:17.940 --> 00:12:21.730 to stand for the same faith. It wasn't the atheists 00:12:21.730 --> 00:12:24.169 or the pagans who called the free grace of the 00:12:24.169 --> 00:12:28.289 gospel dangerous. It was other believers. Other 00:12:28.289 --> 00:12:30.529 church leaders who were the most offended by 00:12:30.529 --> 00:12:33.750 his insistence on returning to grace and scripture. 00:12:35.549 --> 00:12:37.629 They thought he was tearing down the faith when 00:12:37.629 --> 00:12:39.669 in reality he was trying to bring people back 00:12:39.669 --> 00:12:44.870 to its foundation. And that tension. Speaking 00:12:44.870 --> 00:12:47.690 truth. that your own community doesn't want to 00:12:47.690 --> 00:12:51.809 hear. That's what led to the Diet of Orms. That's 00:12:51.809 --> 00:12:54.570 where Luther stood before emperors, bishops, 00:12:54.850 --> 00:13:00.149 scholars, and refused to change his mind. What 00:13:00.149 --> 00:13:04.529 began as a simple post to the church wall became 00:13:04.529 --> 00:13:06.690 a moment for the whole world to hear the gospel 00:13:06.690 --> 00:13:10.929 again. That we're saved by grace alone, through 00:13:10.929 --> 00:13:15.289 faith alone, in Christ alone. Because once you 00:13:15.289 --> 00:13:18.830 know that grace is for you, you can finally stop 00:13:18.830 --> 00:13:22.710 pretending that you don't need it. You can stop 00:13:22.710 --> 00:13:26.470 defending your image and start living in freedom 00:13:26.470 --> 00:13:29.649 because you don't have to be afraid of others 00:13:29.649 --> 00:13:32.610 discovering you're just as sinful as they are. 00:13:33.409 --> 00:13:36.210 You can stop pretending you're someone that you 00:13:36.210 --> 00:13:38.929 aren't and finally be loved and respected for 00:13:38.929 --> 00:13:44.049 who you are. Warts and all. And friends, we're 00:13:44.049 --> 00:13:47.429 not that different today. The church still likes 00:13:47.429 --> 00:13:50.710 to think it's the hero in the story, that we're 00:13:50.710 --> 00:13:53.190 the ones setting people free, fixing the world 00:13:53.190 --> 00:13:56.470 and saving the culture. We imagine that if we 00:13:56.470 --> 00:13:59.710 just got everything right, the perfect theology, 00:13:59.909 --> 00:14:03.029 the perfect platform, the perfect social posture, 00:14:03.950 --> 00:14:07.809 then everything would finally be set right. That's 00:14:07.809 --> 00:14:11.679 not the gospel, y 'all. We don't set people free 00:14:11.679 --> 00:14:14.419 by proving we're right. We set people free by 00:14:14.419 --> 00:14:18.059 confessing we're wrong, and that we've needed 00:14:18.059 --> 00:14:22.379 forgiveness too. Because of grace, if it's not 00:14:22.379 --> 00:14:25.960 for sinners, then it isn't for anybody. Power 00:14:25.960 --> 00:14:28.659 comes not by flaunting our sinfulness, but by 00:14:28.659 --> 00:14:31.960 humbly admitting it to be true, and that it does 00:14:31.960 --> 00:14:36.360 not take away our worthiness in God's eyes. Researcher 00:14:36.360 --> 00:14:39.820 Brene Brown? became famous not by projecting 00:14:39.820 --> 00:14:44.440 strength, but by admitting weakness. When critics 00:14:44.440 --> 00:14:48.600 mocked Tay -Tay, Taylor Swift, for dating too 00:14:48.600 --> 00:14:50.840 much and writing breakup songs, she started writing 00:14:50.840 --> 00:14:53.120 more of them and even poked fun at the criticism 00:14:53.120 --> 00:14:57.039 by saying, I'll just write a song about it. And 00:14:57.039 --> 00:14:59.179 by naming the narrative, she took control of 00:14:59.179 --> 00:15:03.419 it. And for all of you rap battle fans in the 00:15:03.419 --> 00:15:07.100 crowd, Eminem won the battle by dissing himself 00:15:07.100 --> 00:15:10.320 before his opponent could, and in doing so, he 00:15:10.320 --> 00:15:14.879 took away the enemy's power by owning his flaws. 00:15:15.779 --> 00:15:19.000 The greatest sin is not from those who admit 00:15:19.000 --> 00:15:21.580 their flaws, but from those who continue to avoid 00:15:21.580 --> 00:15:25.340 taking ownership and then continue to do exactly 00:15:25.340 --> 00:15:29.360 the same things. But the church still doubles 00:15:29.360 --> 00:15:33.259 down on its mistakes today. Could you imagine 00:15:33.769 --> 00:15:38.730 A church withholding grace because it doesn't 00:15:38.730 --> 00:15:43.269 fit what they want to see. Could you imagine 00:15:43.269 --> 00:15:47.049 a church withholding baptism because they didn't 00:15:47.049 --> 00:15:51.210 do it their usual way? I was called into a hospital 00:15:51.210 --> 00:15:55.590 yesterday for a teenage girl who has such advanced 00:15:55.590 --> 00:15:59.590 brain cancer that she's barely conscious. She 00:15:59.590 --> 00:16:02.970 has wanted to be baptized for some time, But 00:16:02.970 --> 00:16:05.590 because her church couldn't fully immerse her 00:16:05.590 --> 00:16:09.990 in a tub, they wouldn't do it. But since baptism 00:16:09.990 --> 00:16:13.529 is any washing with water, her mother allowed 00:16:13.529 --> 00:16:16.669 me into the room, and I freely dripped the waters 00:16:16.669 --> 00:16:19.529 of baptism upon her head, in the name of the 00:16:19.529 --> 00:16:21.590 Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 00:16:22.409 --> 00:16:26.610 not worried about how conscious she was or wasn't. 00:16:26.809 --> 00:16:29.549 Because the only freedom to truly matter is the 00:16:29.549 --> 00:16:32.860 freedom to bring the Gospel. to someone because 00:16:32.860 --> 00:16:37.360 they need it most. We might not buy indulgences 00:16:37.360 --> 00:16:40.279 anymore, thinking we can buy our forgiveness 00:16:40.279 --> 00:16:44.059 with money, but so often we come up with our 00:16:44.059 --> 00:16:48.279 own versions of how to make ourselves feel justified 00:16:48.279 --> 00:16:52.700 in God's eyes. We completely miss how God's grace 00:16:52.700 --> 00:16:56.120 is something we need and that God freely gives 00:16:56.120 --> 00:17:00.440 without our best efforts. See, the Reformation 00:17:00.440 --> 00:17:03.240 began when someone dared to say, no more self 00:17:03.240 --> 00:17:07.319 -justification, only grace by God's justification. 00:17:09.099 --> 00:17:11.200 Someone once said the Reformation began when 00:17:11.200 --> 00:17:14.380 Luther realized that the word repent didn't mean 00:17:14.380 --> 00:17:19.119 do penance, but to turn around. And honestly, 00:17:19.279 --> 00:17:22.160 that's good news for people like me. Because 00:17:22.160 --> 00:17:24.559 sometimes I need to turn around three, four times 00:17:24.559 --> 00:17:29.569 a day, three, four times an hour. Three four 00:17:29.569 --> 00:17:33.390 times even while I'm up here sometimes Sometimes 00:17:33.390 --> 00:17:35.529 I get dizzy doing it because I need to do it 00:17:35.529 --> 00:17:38.990 a lot But every time that we're willing to turn 00:17:38.990 --> 00:17:43.829 around We find that Christ is already there not 00:17:43.829 --> 00:17:46.049 with a list of what we owe or how to convince 00:17:46.049 --> 00:17:49.890 him to accept us but with open arms and a finished 00:17:49.890 --> 00:17:54.289 cross So may this Reformation Sunday not just 00:17:54.289 --> 00:17:57.369 be a history lesson, but a reminder that the 00:17:57.369 --> 00:18:00.490 freedom of The Gospel is finished in Christ, 00:18:00.890 --> 00:18:03.309 and everything thereafter is freely given in 00:18:03.309 --> 00:18:07.569 return. Grace is free for the sinner who knows 00:18:07.569 --> 00:18:10.869 they need saving. It's for the church that admits 00:18:10.869 --> 00:18:14.009 it's still learning. And it's for every one of 00:18:14.009 --> 00:18:16.910 us who still needs to be reformed in the image 00:18:16.910 --> 00:18:21.349 of Christ by grace alone, through faith alone, 00:18:22.630 --> 00:18:25.910 in Christ alone. Thanks be to God.