Main Thought
God wants us to be free. He can set us free from our past, harmful habits and mindsets, sin, spiritual bondage, and more. This freedom is marked by power. Christ commissioned His followers with authority to overcome. He gives us new desires to honor Him. He transforms us over time. God also gives us a purpose in our freedom. We can participate in His mission to set others free. People gain freedom when we engage them (with an invitation, our testimonies, the gospel, etc.), and they respond to the Good News with faith. Then, people grow in freedom when they’re established with basic, biblical doctrines; in the habits of reading the Word and prayer; and, in Christian community. The Lord wants us to become freed people who free people.
Main Passages
As we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners much gain by fortune-telling. 17 She followed Paul and us, crying out, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation.” 18 And this she kept doing for many days. Paul, having become greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And it came out that very hour.
- Acts 16:16-18
27 When the jailer woke and saw that the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. 28 But Paul cried with a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.”
- Acts 16:27–28
29 And the jailer called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas. 30 Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 31 And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” 32 And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. 33 And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds; and he was baptized at once, he and all his family.
- Acts 16:29-33
Discussion Questions
What does “freedom in Christ” (Galatians 5:1; John 8:36; etc.) mean to you personally? How might this Christian freedom differ from the world’s idea of freedom?
What might be one step God is inviting you to take toward experiencing greater freedom this week?
How can we use our freedom in Christ to serve people who don’t know God, like Paul and Silas did?