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Tuesday 22nd
Week OT
The Institute
September 1, 2015
DELIVERANCE, FREEDOM
& NEW LIFE +++++++++++++
Ø
Hardly a day goes by that some passage in R Scripture
doesn’t speak of r salvation by
Christ or his works of power in those he touched
Ø
The preparation in the Hebrew Scriptures for the
work of the Lord was 1st & foremost the liberation of Jews fr slavery
& their new life in Promised Land
Ø
We present R faith in all its + attraction when
we see it in similar terms—as deliverance, freedom, & new life
FREEDOM ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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Gospel presents this repeatedly in vivid stories
of J’s freeing those suffering fr disease & power of evil
Ø
To present the following of Christ as a matter
of laws and regulations …
Ø
Or of fear and a punishing God waiting to pounce
on sinners, doesn’t do our discipleship justice
Ø
In a letter to a friend about to become a
Catholic, Flannery O’Connor wrote that she should not enter the Church unless
she felt it would be an enlargement of his freedom. Interesting!
DANGER OF CONFINEMENT
+++++++++++++++++++++
Ø
The legalism and narrowness of which Jesus
accused the Pharisees so often persists as a danger in Christianity …
Ø
But there are many reasons for seeing the following
of Christ as liberation
Ø
Putting emphasis on love frees us from smallness
of mind & heart & from substituting conventional customs, rules, &
regs 4 Christian generosity
Ø
This is certainly the spirit of Pope Francis
CONCLUSION
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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My observations of the testimonies at
Commissioning Services is that as our life in Christ grows in depth, it frees
us from fear
Ø
United 2 Christ & each other not only at
this table by at each sitting of a dining room table, each gathering of a small
group, large group or 12-step group helps us realize that freedom
Ø
We pray to be freed from the limitations of a
merely this-worldly perspective wherever it comes from
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
