Freedom Worship Center

06/19/2026

One of the most challenging aspects of following Jesus is that He often asks us to surrender things that are not inherently sinful.

Sometimes it is a habit. A comfort. A dream. A relationship. A possession. A source of security. None of these things may be wrong in themselves, but when we cling to them, depend on them, or seek fulfillment from them instead of God, they become obstacles to deeper fellowship with Him.

The Christian life is one of continual surrender.

Jesus said, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” (Luke 9:23, ESV)

Notice that Jesus did not call us to add Him to our lives while keeping everything else untouched. He called us to deny ourselves. To lay down our own desires, ambitions, and attachments whenever they compete with our devotion to Him.

The enemy would love for us to believe that following Jesus costs nothing. That we can hold tightly to every comfort, every idol, every earthly dependency, and still pursue Christ wholeheartedly. But Scripture paints a very different picture.

Jesus said, “Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” (Matthew 10:39, ESV)

The beautiful paradox of the gospel is that what we surrender to God is never truly lost. As we release our grip on lesser things, we find something infinitely better: deeper communion with Christ Himself.

Romans 12:1 calls us to present our bodies as “a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God.” A sacrifice is laid on the altar without reservation. It is fully yielded.

What is God asking you to place on the altar today?

Perhaps it isn't a sin. Perhaps it is simply something you've begun to trust, love, or depend upon more than Him.

Give it to Him.

Consecrate your flesh. Crucify the desires that compete with your affection for Christ. Let God remove what cannot satisfy so that He can fill you with what truly does.

“Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.” (Psalm 73:25, ESV)

The more we surrender, the more we discover that Jesus is enough.

May we never settle for the gifts when the Giver Himself is inviting us close.

06/18/2026

Just as our physical bodies need nourishment to grow, function, and remain healthy, our spirits need nourishment as well.

Most of us understand that if we skip meals long enough, our bodies will become weak. We wouldn't expect to thrive physically on one meal a week or an occasional snack. Yet many Christians unintentionally treat their spiritual lives this way, wondering why they feel spiritually dry, weary, or stagnant.

Jesus reminds us where true nourishment is found:

*"But he answered, 'It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.'"*
— Matthew 4:4 (ESV)

Physical food sustains our bodies, but God's Word sustains our souls.

When we regularly read Scripture, meditate on it, memorize it, and apply it to our lives, we are feeding our spirits with the very truth of God. His Word strengthens us when we are weak, corrects us when we wander, comforts us when we are hurting, and renews our minds when the world is trying to shape our thinking.

Reading the Bible isn't simply about checking a box on a spiritual to-do list. It's about communing with the Lord and allowing His truth to transform us from the inside out.

Meditation is especially important. It's not merely reading words on a page and moving on. It's slowing down, pondering God's truth, praying through it, and allowing it to sink deep into our hearts.

Just as a plant flourishes when it receives consistent sunlight and water, our spiritual lives flourish when we consistently abide in God's Word.

So today, take a moment to consider:

How well am I feeding my spirit?

Am I consuming more of God's truth than the noise of the world?

Am I making space to meditate on His Word, not just read it?

May we be people who hunger for Scripture, delight in God's truth, and find our daily nourishment in the living and abiding Word of God.

06/17/2026

Are you planted in Christ!

06/17/2026

06/16/2026

When Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment was, He answered:

“‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’”
Matthew 22:37-39 (ESV)

These two commands are deeply connected. One of the ways we demonstrate our love for God is by loving the people He has made in His image.

As we read the Gospels, we see this lived out perfectly in the life of Jesus. He went to the lepers no one wanted to touch. He spoke with the Samaritan woman others avoided. He ate with tax collectors and sinners. He welcomed children, showed compassion to the broken, and extended grace to those whom society had cast aside.

Jesus didn't merely tolerate people; He loved them. He saw their dignity as image-bearers of God and met them with truth, compassion, and mercy.

Following Christ means more than admiring His example. It means imitating it. It means looking beyond labels, social status, political affiliations, backgrounds, and appearances to see people as God sees them. It means choosing kindness over contempt, compassion over indifference, and love over convenience.

May we be a people who love God wholeheartedly and, as a result, love our neighbors faithfully. For when we love others well, we reflect the heart of the One who first loved us.

“Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” — 1 John 4:11 (ESV)

Love for God is often most visible in how we treat the people around us. ❤️

06/15/2026

One of the most helpful things a Christian can do when studying the Bible is learn the general timeline of Scripture.

Imagine picking up a novel and reading random chapters without knowing what happened before or after. You might understand the individual chapter, but you'd miss much of its meaning because you wouldn't know where it fits in the larger story.

The same is true with the Bible.

When we know the broad timeline of Scripture, we gain context. We begin to understand where we are in God's redemptive story, what has already happened, what promises have been made, and what God is accomplishing in that particular moment of history.

When reading the Psalms, it helps to know what was happening in David's life when they were written. When reading the prophets, it helps to know whether Israel was prospering, rebelling, divided, or in exile. When reading the Gospels, it helps to understand the centuries of anticipation leading up to the arrival of the Messiah.

The Bible isn't a collection of disconnected stories. It's one unified story unfolding through real people, real places, and real history.

Here is a simple example, though many others could be made:

➡️ Creation
➡️ Fall
➡️ Patriarchs
➡️ Exodus
➡️ Conquest
➡️ Judges
➡️ United Kingdom
➡️ Divided Kingdom
➡️ Exile
➡️ Return
➡️ Silence and Waiting
➡️ Christ
➡️ The Church
➡️ New Creation

As we learn where each book fits within that timeline, the Scriptures come alive in new ways. We start to see connections between events, covenants, prophecies, and promises. Most importantly, we begin to see that every part of the story is moving toward and flowing from Jesus Christ.

The goal isn't merely to know dates and events. The goal is to understand the story God is telling.

And the more we understand the story, the more clearly we see the Author and His plan to redeem a people for Himself through Christ.

The Bible is not sixty-six separate books with sixty-six separate messages.

It is one story.

And every page helps us understand the Savior a little better.

06/14/2026

Sunday 6/14/26 AM

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06/13/2026

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law."
— Galatians 5:22-23 (ESV)

One practice that has been incredibly helpful in my walk with Christ is regularly evaluating my thoughts, actions, attitudes, and motivations through the lens of the Fruit of the Spirit.

Is what I'm producing in my life rooted in love? Does it reflect peace? Patience? Kindness? Self-control? Or am I operating from my flesh, my pride, my fears, or my own desires?

As believers, we should regularly invite the Holy Spirit to search our hearts and reveal areas that need attention. Sometimes He highlights w**ds that have begun to take root. Sometimes He exposes branches that need pruning. Sometimes He reveals that the soil of our hearts has become compacted, dry, or neglected and needs tending before healthy fruit can grow.

Our spiritual lives are a lot like a garden.

A gardener doesn't w**d once and assume the work is finished forever. They don't water once and expect the plants to thrive indefinitely. They don't prune once and never return to inspect the health of the plant again.

Gardens require ongoing care.

Likewise, spiritual growth requires continual surrender, repentance, cultivation, and dependence upon the Holy Spirit.

Just because everything seemed in order last week doesn't mean there aren't areas that need tending today. Growth is not a one-time event. It is a lifelong process of becoming more like Christ.

So today, take a few moments to ask the Lord:

"Is there anything in my life that is unfruitful?"

"What needs to be pruned?"

"Where have w**ds begun to grow?"

"How can I better cultivate the soil of my heart?"

The good news is that the Great Gardener is faithful. As we abide in Christ and yield to the Spirit, He produces fruit in us that brings glory to God and blessing to those around us.

May our lives be gardens that bear much fruit for His Kingdom.

Feel free to save this post and revisit it often as a personal heart check.