Weekend Highlights

February 02, 2015

Free Indeed Men's Conference

Session 1 - Breaking Free From Religion

Jeff Schwarzentraub

- To know Jesus is alive makes all the difference

- Prodigal Son (Luke 15) is a story about two sons

- Living for yourself = empty life

- You can't keep faking it

- Being near to God is not the same as having a relationship with God

Religious people (older son) ...

... don't go to God by themselves, always through a third party (e.g. through a pastor, small group leader, etc.). I need to make it my own (Philippians 3:12).

... cannot celebrate God's goodness to others. The truth is ... no one deserves it.

... believe love must be earned.

... think they are better than others.

... believe they deserve more.

... believe God has limited resources

My key takeaway: My relationship with God is my own.

Session 2 - The Freedom of Security
Norm Millar

Four amazing facts about your salvation (1 Corinthians 1:21-22)
1. God establishes us in Christ
- 100% God's work. Can't earn it. Can't lose it.
- Who will condemn you on judgment day? Friends? Satan? Yourself/sin? God? None of the above.
2. God anoints us in Christ
- Heb 4:14-15 "in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin"1
- 2 Cor. 5:21 not only did he pay for our sins, but He made us His righteousness
- We are not condemned because He looks at me with the perfect obedience of Jesus
- I am a messed up sinner. If I boast, I will boast in the things that show my weakness.
- In Christ, I'm secured and I have found rest for my soul. In my weakness, I am strong
3. God has put his seal on us
- seal = ownership
- do not let sin rob you of your joy
- stop identifying with our sin struggles and start delighting in being a son of the King
- clarifying "perseverance of the saints": because God has saved you, you will persevere to the end; not that you need to persevere to be saved
4. God gives us his Spirit as a guarantee
- He will see it to completion in spite of me.

Q: Does God the Father love you because of Jesus and what he did for you on the cross?
A: "The death of Christ does not constrain or elicit the love of God but the love of God constrained to the death of Christ as the only adequate provision of this love." John Murray

My key takeaway: Delight in being a son of the King, not identifying with your sin struggles.

Session 3 - God's Calling for You
Robbie Symons

- Psalm 51:1-6 Foundation of confession
- Any great work/revival starts with repentance and confession
- Repentance cultivates the soul of our hearts

1. O God, I need a clean heart
- heart of stone -> heart of flesh
- only God can do the work
- we need to hate sin. we are saved for more than this
- life is too short to let our gifts be ineffective
- sin can clog God's power in our lives (analogy: drain)
- God rushes to the man who is broken and humble

With a clean heart, I will find
... joy
... renewal
... revival

Psalm 32:3-4 "for when I kept silent, my bones wasted away" ... fatigue may not be physiological only, but also because sin is hidden in our hearts

Prayer items: lust, anger, hard heart

My key takeaway: Hidden sin can wear you down from the inside.

Session 4: The Freedom of Resurrection
Ian Hales

John 11

1. Hear the cry of his heart
- strength for the weary
- meeting alone with Jesus is the greatest bomb for your weary soul
- sorrow for the world
- we need a lifelong pursuit of weeping over our sin, brokenness and humility

2. Hear the call of his voice
- Hear I am, send me. Where is God calling me? Will I go as a faithful ambassador?