Bound To Be Free

Series: Making Sense of Christianity

Part 3: Freedom

In a culture that defines freedom as limitless choice, Jesus offers something radically different: a freedom that begins with surrender. This sermon explores the paradox at the heart of the gospel—how being bound to Christ is the only path to becoming truly free.

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Going Deeper: To My Fellow Christians -

Modern culture celebrates freedom as the ability to define ourselves without limits—but beneath that vision lies a growing ache. We are told that autonomy is liberation, yet many are quietly buckling under the weight of being their own master, judge, and savior. This sermon exposes that tension and reframes it through Jesus’ words in John 8: "Everyone who sins is a slave to sin... but if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed." Here, Jesus doesn’t abolish the idea of masterhood—He redefines it. True freedom isn’t the absence of constraint; it’s belonging to the right household, living under the care of the Son, and being transformed from a slave into a child. For Christians, this message becomes a powerful pre-evangelistic tool: it names the burden our secular neighbors carry and offers the paradoxical beauty of the gospel in response. When we speak of freedom, we’re not offering fewer rules—we’re offering a better Lord. One who doesn’t crush the soul with illusion, but liberates it with truth. Use this sermon to engage friends who are disillusioned by the shallow promises of self-determination. Help them see that Christianity doesn’t shut down the freedom conversation—it takes it deeper, to the level of the soul.

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Scripture: John 8.31-38

(Additional Reading: Proverbs 14.12; John 1.9-13; John 17.17; Romans 6.16-23)

Warm-Up:

What’s a time in your life when “freedom” didn’t feel like freedom?

“Freedom of choice without limits has become almost sacred. Absolute freedom from constraints becomes the chief moral good, so that the only sin which is not tolerated is intolerance.”

-Timothy Keller