Called To Be Free

What if we’ve been defining freedom too small?

Through Galatians 5:13–15, we explore what true freedom in Christ looks like—not self-indulgence, but freedom with purpose. We unpack how love, holiness, responsibility, and serving others are at the heart of Christian liberty.

Using the SERVE framework, we challenge the consumer mindset and explore practical ways to serve in the local church.

True freedom isn’t just doing what you want—it’s having the freedom to live for God and others.

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Hope Unlimited Church is an independent, Spirit-filled church with multiple campuses in India, serving young professionals and families from all parts of India in a modern, dynamic metropolitan church setting.
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Transcript

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Independence And Spiritual Freedom

SPEAKER_00 0:10

Well, what a joy for us to be in the house of the law today. Amen. We are so blessed every Sunday we could come together to worship Jesus and spend time with one another today. Well, Independence Day weekend. Happy Independence Day, 80 years. What an amazing journey it has been for us, so God. So our hearts are filled with gratitude for the freedom we enjoy as a nation. A freedom won through sacrifice, courage, determination, perseverance. I mean, we celebrate this liberty that allows us to live, work, and worship freely, which is of course becoming a little bit challenging in a present scenario, but we believe that was granted to us. So even as we think about the freedom of our nation, as followers of Christ, as believers, our true freedom is not only about political independence, but our true freedom also comes through spiritual liberation. And that's what we celebrate also every Sunday when we come, every day in our life. We celebrate the freedom that Jesus brings into our life. The freedom.

Galatians 5 And The Call

SPEAKER_00 1:23

So I want to take you to a portion today from Galatians chapter 5, verse 13 to 15. Galatians chapter 5, reading from verse 13 to 15. Where Paul talks about freedom. And it says something like this: says, You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh. Rather serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command. Love your neighbor as yourself. The message Bible, I want to read it in the message Bible also a little bit under just understand a little bit better. It says, it is absolutely clear that God has called you to be a free life. Just make sure that you don't use this freedom as an excuse to do whatever you want to do and destroy your freedom. Rather, use your freedom to serve one another in love. That's how freedom grows. For everything we know about God's word is summed up in a single sentence. Love others as you love yourself. That's an act of true freedom. If you bite and ravage each other, watch out, in no time at all, you will be annihilating each other. And where will your precious freedom be then? As we reflect on what it truly means to be free, we understand Paul's exhortation today. As we are nation, as we celebrate independence, let's also celebrate the divine freedom that enables us to serve others. Now, right away we see in this passage that Paul is encouraging his people that he says, You are free. He says, Your call to be free, your call for soaring freedom. At the start of this chapter, Paul says, It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. And verse 13, once again he says, You, my brothers, are called to be free. Can I encourage you today? That's what God wants us to be free. God called us to be free. Paul's letter to the Galatians addresses the essence of Christian freedom. He emphasizes that the freedom in Christ is not a license, okay, to indulge in sinful behavior, but a call to live a life that honors God and serve others. That's what Paul is talking about here. You are free, you've been called to be free, but don't use your freedom for self-indulgence, but use your freedom to honor God and help others. This freedom gives us the power to serve God and serve people. Now, talking about freedom, you know, the Bible clearly says that we were all caught up in sin, we were all born with sin, but through the work of Jesus Christ, we have been set free. We've been slaves to sin. We've been slaves to sin, and Jesus, through his work, made us free. But Paul also encourages

Freed From Sin To Holiness

SPEAKER_00 4:40

us to look at something interesting in his letters. In Romans chapter 6, verse 22, Paul says something like this. He says, But now you are free from the power of sin, but you have become free. Thought we were free. But it says, You've been free from sin. You were slaves to sin earlier, but you are not free from sin. But that does exempt you to be free as you want to live. But it says you gotta become a slave again. Slave to God. In a couple of verse 19 actually says, slave to righteousness. Righteousness. Paul contrasts the past enslavement to sin with our new status as slaves to God. So even though we say we are free, we are not free. Right? We are not free. Yes, we were slaves to sin, but right now we are slaves to God. We are right now, we are committing to God to right to live a life of righteousness. The freedoms from sin's power is not just a release of bondage, but an invitation into a life of holiness. The life of holiness. The transformation that leads our actions to align with God's ways, align with God's ideas in our life, which will lead us to eternal life. Think about the story of a prisoner who is set free after years of confinement. Now, for him, the true freedom isn't just walking outside the prison doors, but about living a new life, living a different kind of life, a life that had no meaning past, but a life that can have full meaning once he comes out of that. A life. That's what Jesus calls us to live. Timothy Keller is an interesting statement. He said, Christian freedom is not being free to do what we want, but being free to do what we ought. What we ought. When we accept our Christ, we are liberated from the shackles of sin. Now, this new freedom compels us to live in a manner that honors God. It is not a freedom to indulge in sinful desires, but a freedom that leads us to live a life marked with holiness and righteousness. But so often we find ourselves tempted to misuse our freedom. Right? Misuse our freedom. And Paul wants against misusing the freedom. He says, We are not just free to be, we are just not free so that we can indulge again. Okay? Not free to satisfy the sinful nature. And this misuse can lead to self-centered living. And the Bible calls us to a higher kind of living, not a self-centered living. But it calls us to a spirit-led Christian life. So freedom comes with responsibility. Freedom comes with responsibility, an obligation to live righteously. First Peter chapter 2, verse 16. It says like this, for you are free, yet you are God's slaves. So don't use your freedom as an excuse to do evil. Peter tells believers to understand the balance of Christian freedom. We are indeed free, but this freedom is not a license to do evil or sin, it's a call to serve God. Liberty should lead us to righteousness, not self-indulgence. Freedom in Christ means free from the power of sins, power of sin, but choosing to live under God's authority.

Freedom With Responsibility And Limits

SPEAKER_00 8:30

Think about a teenager who gets his driver's license. Or is it the first time he wants to ride a motorbike? Yes, he has the freedom to ride the bike, but with the freedom to drive comes the responsibility to obey traffic laws and regulations so that he can have a safe drive. Man, if he goes on to say, I have freedom and he writes as however he wants, he's gonna end up in the hospital or might lose his life. Freedom. Yes, as we talk about freedom, freedom also means responsibility. Freedom also has boundaries. Right? That helps us to live a righteous kind of life. And Peter reminds that our freedom in Christ comes with responsibility. It's a trust, it's not an X excuse to follow our sinful desires. It's found in submission to God. Submission to God. And Paul goes on to say, he says, You've been set free so that you should not indulge. But he goes on to say an interesting thing.

Love That Proves Discipleship

SPEAKER_00 9:38

He says, You are free to serve one another in love. That's the purpose of freedom. The purpose of freedom is so that we can serve one another, serve God, follow God, but also serve one another. Paul directs the Galatians to use their freedom not for self-indulgence, but that freedom needs to be expressed in serving one another in love. Outworking of your faith, demonstrating the love of Christ through actions. And that reflects the heart of the gospel. That reflects what Jesus says. John chapter 13, verse 34, Jesus says, So now I am giving you a new commandment. Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples. Jesus commands his disciples to love one another just as he loved them. This love is sacrificial, unconditional, and a true mark of discipleship. Jesus sets a high command, a higher standard for us with his command to love one another just as he loved you. I'm sure each one of us have experienced the love of Jesus in ways and means that you have never could have experienced it. And Jesus says, just love somebody else the same way that you received the love of Jesus. How often we struggle with this. Right? Sometimes we cannot love our family members. Sometimes we cannot love our neighbors. But Jesus says, Hey, just as you have received my love. Just as you receive the unconditional. He says, give out the same. Love one another. And he says, serve one another with love. Serve. Our freedom is expressed through serving. So what does it involve to serve? What does it involve to be serving? You know, serving means to live out our freedom in practical ways. In practical ways. Another pastor term.

The SERVE Framework For Ministry

SPEAKER_00 12:20

Use serve as an acronym. And I want to bring that out today. Serve as an acronym, so so help us understand what it means to serve. S stands for sacrifice. Right? If you want to serve effectively, we need to have an attitude of sacrifice. Because sacrificing means your time, your energy, your resources. Because that's exactly what Jesus did for us. Jesus gave himself as a sacrifice so that we can have freedom. Right? We are experiencing freedom because Jesus became a sacrifice. So I want to challenge each one of us today. As you get ready to serve, as you get ready to obey the call of God, are you ready to sacrifice? Sacrifice your egos. Sometimes we gotta let our egos go. So many times our egos come in the way. Let our egos go. Right? Sacrifice to have this place. To have this place. Some of us just walked in at 10 a.m. but much before that, there are people working right from early in the morning. We enjoy the comfort of the chairs. Somebody set up the chairs. Somebody sacrificed so that you and I can enjoy coming to every Sunday service every Sunday, enjoying it. Sacrifice, it involves sacrifice. E stands for empowered by the Spirit. Now, if you want to serve effectively, you gotta be full of the Spirit of God, empowered by the Holy Spirit, God, because we do not serve on our own. We do not serve on our own. We need the help of the Holy Spirit in our lives. In Acts chapter 6, we see a story in the church over there. Okay, there was a food program feeding the widows. Right? And there were complaints. As every time, every time food always brings also complaints, along with complaints that we have the the widows have not being served well. Certain section of the widows were not serving well, served well. And they said, Okay, the apostle said, appoint men. This is what they said in um Acts 6, therefore, brothers, speak out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint for this duty. The only way we can serve, my friends, is when you are full of the spirit, empowered by the Holy Spirit. Yes, we think we can have the talents and abilities, but unless we are empowered by the Spirit, we will not be able to do empowered by the Spirit. No, even as we read this passage, Galatians starts with responsibility. You've been set free. So say stand firm. Galatians 5:1 says, stand firm and don't again submit yourself to a yoke of slavery. Do not be burdened again by yoke of slavery. There is a responsibility. Today we are enjoying freedom, but there are so many people who don't have this freedom that you and I are having to come into the presence of God to worship Him. People don't have the freedom. There are so many people who don't know Jesus, they don't experience the freedom that you and I have right now in our lives today. So many people out there have no freedom in their lives. They're still struggling under burden, still struggling under shame, social stigma. Come on. So many people are still in bondage. So many people are still to be reached. Still to be reached. Research says there are about 17,000 people groups in the world who still have to be reached. So many unreached people are there. But we also find so many unengaged people. Unengaged people. We stands for volunteering. If you want to serve effectively, we have to serve with God's vision and purpose in mind. Every church runs with a vision. Hope Unlimited Church runs with a vision. And for us to fulfill the vision, it's just not enough. As pastors, as team over here, we need hands. We need helping hands. You know, 1 Corinthians chapter 12, verse 28. It says like this, you are Christ's body, that's who you are. You must never forget this. Only as you accept your part of that body, does your part mean anything? You are familiar with some of some of the parts that God has formed in his church, which is his body. Apostles, prophets, teachers, miracle workers, healers, helpers, organizers, those who pray in tongues. But it's obvious by now, isn't it? That Christ's church is a complete body and not a gigantic unidimensional part. It's not all apostle, not all prophet, not all miracle worker, not all healer, not all prayer in tongues, not all interpreter of tongues. And yet some of you keep competing for so-called important parts. But then I won't I want to lay out a far better way for you. And Paul goes on to write one of the greatest chapters on love. Everybody wants to be the leader, but everybody wants to call the shots. Everyone probably looks for a full pit ministry, but God doesn't want everybody in that place. He has appointed certain people to be in that place. But he also says they are just not the body of Christ. Everybody, every believer is the body of Christ. In the body of Christ, we need arms, legs, fingers, toes, nose, eyes, ears. All the various organs and muscles, not just a bunch of heads. How odd it would be, it was just a bunch of head. Consumer mentality. That they go to the shopping mall. You better deliver me the goods, be nice and user-friendly, or I'll simply take my business somewhere else. That's how some of us approach church. The concept of servanthood, the concept of faithfulness, sacrifice has to be part of the church. So the desperate need for churches across is people who lend their hands to see that the kingdom of God is established. You express your freedom by serving. By serving. Jesus did not come to be served, but he said, I come to serve. So what makes us better than Him? We gotta learn to serve. Sacrifice, empowered by the Spirit, responsibility, volunteering, and the final one is encouraging others. That's how we serve. We encourage others. Right? So many people, every time we come, discouragement, depression. We need some people who will encourage others. Sometimes we want to have all the limelight, but God calls us to be a team. I found this uh interesting. Team stands for together, everyone achieves more. Together, everyone achieves more. Serving is never a solo activity. One person serving is a blessing, but when the church serves together, it is a revolution. It will be a revolution, it will be a movement. Now that's why the early church grew because they were a movement, because everybody served, irrespective of who they were. And we believe God has a great plan and purpose for Hope Unlimited Church. And it's not gonna happen just with the pastors, it's gonna happen with every one of us who will say, Yes, I will express my freedom to serve one another in love. Leave alone our biases. My favorite person, my favorite worship leader, my favorite preacher. Let's kill all of them. Let's encourage one another. Encouraging words to one another. The message Bible says. So speak encouraging words to one another. Build up hope. So you'll all be together in this. No one left out, no one left behind. That's what serving or expressing of freedom means. As I said, but serving does not come easy to us. Because we build we live in a consumeristic culture.

Consumer Culture And Serving Excuses

SPEAKER_00 22:23

Right? That's how our lives are shaped. Our culture has been shaped by that. Right? You want a certain product, you pay a price for that product. Right? You want entertainment, you pay a price for the entertainment. You want to watch a movie, you gotta pay a price to watch a movie. Right? You want to get a service done. Urban, who thought of urban company? Whoever thought of Swigians, Zepto and whatever. Our lives have become a mess right now. So easy, right? But so messy at the same time. It made our life easier, but how much have we missed out on people? We live in a consumeristic culture. We come to that place that if you want something, you just pay. And we click that creeps up into the church also. So if you want ministry to be done, yeah, you hire a pastor. Pay him. That's his job. You want a youth ministry? Okay, pay, look for a youth pastor, pay him, he'll do the job. But that was never supposed to be. The body of Christ has every other part involved in this. And that's what I want to talk today. Freedom is expressed when everybody fulfills their roles and responsibilities. Someone encouraged today. You and I have a call to express our freedom to serve one another in love. But so many people find reasons not to serve. Let me help you with some of the reasons today. Says, I'm too young or too old to serve. Some of God's greatest servants have been young. Yeah. God has used many young people through the Bible, through the centuries, to be bring movements of God. Timothy was one young man, the Bible talks about. Right? Some of you might say, Ah man, I'm so old. What can I do? Look at Caleb at the age of 80. He said, I have still have the strength of a 40-year person. So you're not too young or too old to serve. You serve till the day you die. Come on. Someone say, I'm too busy. Tell God that when you stand before Him one day. God, I've been so busy I couldn't do anything for you, Lord. I have too many needs of my own. Self-focused. No matter what difficulties you have, no matter what deadlines you have to go, when you begin to focus your gaze on other people, you begin to realize that your problems aren't as big as you think they are. Always remember there is someone else who is going through a worse situation than you. So don't say that I have too many needs of my own. You start serving. Sorry, you start serving, I'll tell you what. God's gonna come through. God's gonna help you. God's gonna help you. Another excuse that people give, I don't think I'm needed. There's so already so many people. I don't think I it may appear as though you are not needed, but can I tell you? But you are wanted. Can you look at this place? They don't need it, but we want you. We want you. We don't want to be stuck in this place. We want to expand. Man, look at us, we already have an overflow here. We want to expand out the outside. And we need people until we unless we start now, we're not gonna move there. Can't go there. Right? Another extra, don't we know where to serve? I'll help you today. If you say, I don't know where to serve, I'll help you today. Look around. God did not build his church to be operated by a tiny handful of staff people while everyone else watches. The interesting thing about church is that one of the statistics says that uh 30% people do the work of 70% people. 30% people of prayer lifting the burdens of 70% others. That's the sad statistic of a church. Sometimes we always will, someone else will do it. But today it has to change. We learn to express our freedom by serving. And hope unlimited church, we have all opportunities. All opportunities.

Where To Serve And Why It Matters

SPEAKER_00 27:38

Let me highlight some of the opportunities for you today. Where should I start? The moment you walk into this building, think about what it feels like to walk into a packed room like this, not find able to find a seat. And you're already running late. That is where our ushering team comes. They greet you with a smile and say, Hey, I got a seat for you. And they point you out to the seat. They turn a crowded, intimidating room into a welcoming home by guiding people. They don't just point to empty chairs or or hand out things. They can lower the anxiety in the room because of that. They're sending a message before the first note of music is even played. We are expecting you, we love you, and there's a place safe just for you. Thank God for the ushering team, today. Imagine when you come to church and there are no ushers, and you walk the hall and there is complete darkness. At least you have lights in the room, but if their lights were not there, you would stumble in the darkness, trying to find a place. That's when our production team comes into place. They set the ambience for comfortable lighting. Not only they set the ambience for comfortable lighting, imagine if there is no sound. That's why we have a production team. We'll bring the mic on for us. They make sure the gospel message is heard, heard clearly without any distraction. Imagine the ushers are there, lights are there, and the sound is set, but there is no one to play music. Think about the people who come to church with weight, heaviness, baggage, stressful work week, anxieties, tension in the families, grief. That's when worship team steps up, uses the gift of music to break down walls, quite distracted minds. The communion team prepares and serves the sacred emblems of Christ's sacrifice, guiding us to the foot of the cross. To receive grace, fresh grace every time. Think about if someone who has never stepped foot inside a church decides whether or not to visit. Long before they walk through these doors, they look us up online. They scroll through our social media pages looking for a glimpse of who we are. That's where the media team steps in. They capture raw, beautiful stories of God's grace, the news, the stories that we hear. They don't just snap pictures or edit clips, they are chronicles of God's grace in our community. How about the hope you see kids' volunteers? Immense responsibility and privilege. They have to shape the next generation. How about our youth volunteers? I have to rush now, I have to have the youth volunteers. Think about a time when you were a teenager. You had a battlefield of mind. And you had someone to guide you along. The youth team, generation unlimited, the youth unlimited. We need people there. How about the hospitality team? The moment the service ends. They serve tea, biscuits, snacks. Making sure that you have fellowship. Right? Fellowship. I know the cafe team is not here at the moment, but it will soon come. Right? Outreach team. Come on. So many opportunities. And when you serve, it creates a huge impact. You become an instrument of God's blessing. And not only you become an instrument of God's blessing, you also become, you also make sure that God's name is glorified. And it has an impact on people who serve and also people who are being served. I want to look here at the screen and watch this story. It comes from Hoper Limited Church.