Let Them Go! One Story: Four Perspectives Matthew was written for a audience. Mark was written for a audience. Luke was written for a audience. John was written afterward, to show that Jesus is the , the , and the only source of . John 20:30-31 & John 14:6 Betrayed And Arrested John 18:1-14/ John 10:17-18 John’s Main Emphasis: Jesus is the , not the . Let Them Go! Freedom In Christ Is Not A Cliché Jesus gives us freedom from: The of our choices Romans 8:1-3/ Romans 6:23 & Isaiah 64:6/ John 19:30, 1 Timothy 2:5-6, 1 John 2:1-2 The path to Galatians 2:21 & 3:10/ Hebrews 10:1-4/ Matthew 27:50-51/ Matthew 5:20-48 The last 1 Corinthians 15:26, 54-56/ John 11:25/ 1 Thessalonians 4:13-14/ Philippians 1:21 The path of Galatians 6:7/ Proverbs 14:12/ Matthew 7:13-14/ James 1:14/ Romans 7:21-25/ Philippians 2:13/ Romans 12:1-2/ 2 Timothy 3:16-17/ John 16:7-10 The best way to connect with us is the Connection Card in the bulletin. For the Digital Bulletin, visit myncc.info. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Support Our Ministry If you found this message beneficial and you would like to help continue our ministries, we would be grateful for your support. Go to northcoastchurch.com/give ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Life Group Study Questions For the week of October 22, 2023 QUICK REVIEW Looking back at your notes from this week’s teaching, was there anything you heard for the first time or something that caught your attention, challenged, or confused you? MY STORY This weekend’s message was all about the freedom Christ gives us. How would you describe the idea of freedom? What images, thoughts, or feelings come to mind? As Larry showed us, freedom in Christ is not a cliché. Are there any clichés about Jesus or the Gospel that you have heard in your life but found to be true? DIGGING DEEPER Larry pointed out that John’s main emphasis in the story of Jesus’ arrest was to show that Jesus is the victor, not the victim. Later in his life, John sees a vision of Jesus in heaven, which he writes about in the book of Revelation. Read Revelation 1:10-18 and pay attention to the person of Jesus and how He is described. Does anything stand out or surprise you? Revelation 1:10-18 New International Version (NIV) 10 On the Lord’s Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, 11 which said: “Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea.” 12 I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, 13 and among the lampstands was someone like a son of man, dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. 14 The hair on his head was white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. 15 His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. 16 In his right hand he held seven stars, and coming out of his mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance. 17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. 18 I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades. This picture of Jesus is most certainly not that of a victim. In your own prayer or thought life, is there a certain way you tend to picture or imagine Jesus? How is your view of Him similar to or different from John’s description of Him in these verses? Has your view of Jesus changed at all over the years? Explain. Can you think of any ways it could make a difference in our daily faith when we view Jesus as the victor as opposed to another view? Explain. Larry listed four major things Jesus gives us freedom from. Which of the four resonates most with you, that you have experienced freedom from? Scripture not only declares that we are free; it also gives us glimpses into the purpose of that freedom and what we are to do with it—something Larry calls being “changed from the inside out.” How does Romans 6:15-23 speak of us being set free from the slavery of sin, death and condemnation? Romans 6:15-23 New International Version (NIV) 15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? By no means! 16 Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance. 18 You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness. 19 I am using an example from everyday life because of your human limitations. Just as you used to offer yourselves as slaves to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer yourselves as slaves to righteousness leading to holiness. 20 When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. 21 What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! 22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Can you think of any words to describe what it feels like to not be free from something (to be a slave to it)? Have you ever thought you were free from something to later find out you weren’t? If so, explain. While Paul calls us slaves to righteousness, as Larry pointed out, we are free from religion. This is a difficult concept to understand at times. Read Romans 6:15-23 again in The Message version (messagebible.com). Drawing upon these verses and Larry’s message this weekend, what do you think is the difference between being a slave to righteousness and being a slave to religion? Romans 6:15-23 The Message (MSG) 15-18 So, since we’re out from under the old tyranny, does that mean we can live any old way we want? Since we’re free in the freedom of God, can we do anything that comes to mind? Hardly. You know well enough from your own experience that there are some acts of so-called freedom that destroy freedom. Offer yourselves to sin, for instance, and it’s your last free act. But offer yourselves to the ways of God and the freedom never quits. All your lives you’ve let sin tell you what to do. But thank God you’ve started listening to a new master, one whose commands set you free to live openly in his freedom! 19 I’m using this freedom language because it’s easy to picture. You can readily recall, can’t you, how at one time the more you did just what you felt like doing—not caring about others, not caring about God—the worse your life became and the less freedom you had? And how much different is it now as you live in God’s freedom, your lives healed and expansive in holiness? 20-21 As long as you did what you felt like doing, ignoring God, you didn’t have to bother with right thinking or right living, or right anything for that matter. But do you call that a free life? What did you get out of it? Nothing you’re proud of now. Where did it get you? A dead end. 22-23 But now that you’ve found you don’t have to listen to sin tell you what to do, and have discovered the delight of listening to God telling you, what a surprise! A whole, healed, put-together life right now, with more and more of life on the way! Work hard for sin your whole life and your pension is death. But God’s gift is real life, eternal life, delivered by Jesus, our Master. If you met someone struggling to experience freedom in Christ—still bound by condemnation, sin, death, or religion, how would you explain to them the freedom you’ve experienced in Christ? TAKING IT HOME Is there one of the four areas you still struggle to feel freedom in? If so, what do you think is a reminder or verse for you to hold onto? PRAYER REQUESTS NORTH COAST MEN’S CONFERENCE Join us Friday evening, October 27 & Saturday morning, October 28, for the North Coast Men’s Conference held at the Vista Campus! Come enjoy teaching led by pastors Chris Brown and Ricky Jenkins, along with worship, activities and competitions! Register at northcoastchurch.com/mens-conference/.