The Grace of Freedom to Worship – The High Cost of Freedom
Pastor Tan Thai · May 29, 2021
This sermon explores the profound meaning of freedom from historical, political, and spiritual perspectives, emphasizing that all freedom comes at a high cost. It particularly stresses that freedom to worship is a precious grace from God and should not be taken for granted or abused.
The sermon opens with the context of Memorial Day in the United States, connecting it to the painful historical experience of Vietnamese people who endured thousands of years of struggle for freedom. The pastor recalls the refugee exodus and boat journeys of Vietnamese people after 1975, citing President Franklin Roosevelt's speech on the four freedoms, including freedom of religion. The sermon emphasizes that freedom to worship is not a given anywhere in the world today, as millions of believers continue to face persecution and martyrdom in many countries, including Christians in Iraq and Syria.
The theological foundation of the sermon is laid in Genesis, where God gave Adam and Eve the freedom to choose in the Garden of Eden. However, humanity used that freedom to disobey, resulting in the fall and the spread of sin throughout the world. Through the story of Cain and Abel, the sermon identifies two basic principles of worship: worship means offering what one has to God, and worship cannot be conducted according to one's own preferences. God's deliverance of Israel from Egypt was specifically so that they would worship Him (Exodus 5:1), and He commanded them not to worship in the manner of surrounding nations.
The sermon presents the two paths God sets before every person: the way of life and the way of death, as recorded in Deuteronomy 30:15-19. Lot and Abraham are used as contrasting examples: Lot chose the way of the world and lost everything, while Abraham chose to follow God and became the father of faith. The devil always tempts people to worship him rather than God, as he even tempted Jesus Christ in the wilderness (Matthew 4:8-9).
The application section, grounded in Galatians 5:1 and Romans 12:1-2, calls believers to stand firm in the freedom Christ has given them, not returning to slavery to sin. True worship is defined as presenting oneself as a living and holy sacrifice, not conforming to this world but being transformed by the renewing of the mind. The sermon concludes with a call to spiritual maturity: the mature believer uses freedom to serve God and others, while the immature believer uses freedom only for themselves. The church is also reminded not to create binding rules and regulations that restrict fellow believers in Christ.