What is your favorite fictional depiction of "freedom"?
For Freedom
God's vision of freedom is larger than personal choice or protected liberties. Scripture speaks of freedom not as the absence of limits, but as release - be it from bondage, from fear, or from systems that deform love and distort community. In this Spotlight, let's consider how God’s freedom is a bigger thing because it is always shared, always relational, and always aimed at life together. This is not freedom from one another, but freedom for one another. It is a freedom that rings outward, reshaping people, communities, and the world God loves.
Now that you've answered the Icebreaker, here's another question - this one, about owning freedom. Before you tackle the question, watch this scene from the 1995 film, Braveheart. If you haven't seen it, Braveheart is about a medieval Scottish patriot named William Wallace who led a revolt against the English. This clip picks up as he riles up the army to battle.
With that in mind, here's the question to get this Spotlight started:
To whom does freedom belong?
Most hear that question and immediately think, “Well… to me.”
To the individual. To a person, especially when that person's rights are being threatened.
That instinct isn’t wrong.
Think of that famous line from Braveheart:
“They can never take our freedom!”
It’s powerful because it names something deeply human:
the refusal to be owned, erased, or reduced.
Freedom does matter at the personal level.
But there's a question beneath the question:
Is freedom something I possess…or something I participate in?
Because the moment you treat freedom as something you own, it becomes something you have to guard, defend, and sometimes compete for. My freedom against yours. My rights against yours.
Scripture quietly pushes us in a different direction.
Not away from personal freedom, but through it and into something bigger:
Freedom as a shared reality.
A realm.
Almost a kingdom.
Freedom doesn’t just belong to individuals.
Individuals belong to Freedom.
And in God’s story, freedom is not just something we claim. It’s something God creates, declares, and sustains among a people.
So as we begin this Spotlight, we’re not just asking, “Am I free?”
We’re asking a deeper question:
What does it mean to belong to Freedom itself?
To whom does freedom belong?
Most hear that question and immediately think, “Well… to me.”
To the individual. To a person, especially when that person's rights are being threatened.
That instinct isn’t wrong.
Think of that famous line from Braveheart:
“They can never take our freedom!”
It’s powerful because it names something deeply human:
the refusal to be owned, erased, or reduced.
Freedom does matter at the personal level.
But there's a question beneath the question:
Is freedom something I possess…or something I participate in?
Because the moment you treat freedom as something you own, it becomes something you have to guard, defend, and sometimes compete for. My freedom against yours. My rights against yours.
Scripture quietly pushes us in a different direction.
Not away from personal freedom, but through it and into something bigger:
Freedom as a shared reality.
A realm.
Almost a kingdom.
Freedom doesn’t just belong to individuals.
Individuals belong to Freedom.
And in God’s story, freedom is not just something we claim. It’s something God creates, declares, and sustains among a people.
So as we begin this Spotlight, we’re not just asking, “Am I free?”
We’re asking a deeper question:
What does it mean to belong to Freedom itself?
Hopefully that makes enough sense to get you started. As you continue into the Worship portion of the Spotlight, pray this prayer together:
God of liberty and grace,
We have our desires, our wills,
our wishes, and our longings.
We have our constraints and our limits, too.
You have freedom,
and you offer it to us freely.
Move us to receive it and to settle for nothing less.
Amen.
God of liberty and grace,
We have our desires, our wills,
our wishes, and our longings.
We have our constraints and our limits, too.
You have freedom,
and you offer it to us freely.
Move us to receive it and to settle for nothing less.
Amen.
The freedom that is often talked about in the Bible is a freedom from something. Freedom from guilt, freedom from fears of inadequacy, freedom from the patterns and laws that accuse us. The song "I See the Birds" by Jon Guerra talks about this freedom from as a freedom from worry, drawing on the words of Jesus in Matthew 6:26-27.
Read these words together:
"Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?"
Find some rest and hope in this as you reflect on this song.
Read these words together:
"Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?"
Find some rest and hope in this as you reflect on this song.
Reflecting on Freedom
Choose one person to read, and have the whole group join in on the bolded words.
Galatians 5:1
It is for freedom
that Christ has set us free.
Stand firm, then,
and do not let yourselves be burdened again
by a yoke of slavery.
Let’s begin by settling in.
Place your feet on the floor.
Notice your breath.
We’re going to move slowly through that single verse of Scripture, Galatians 5:1
phrase by phrase, backwards.
After each phrase, there will be time to personally reflect.
“A yoke of slavery.”
A yoke is something placed on the shoulders.
It’s designed to direct, to harness, to make effort productive - but it is also heavy.
As you hear this phrase, notice what comes to mind.
What feels like it sits on your shoulders right now?
What expectations, fears, obligations, or identities feel less like guidance and more like weight?
Don’t analyze it. Just name it quietly, if anything comes.
(pause)
“...do not let yourselves be burdened again…”
This phrase assumes something important:
You were free once.
You know freedom.
But the burden comes back.
Notice the gentleness here.
Not accusation. Not shame.
Just recognition.
Where have burdens returned that you thought you’d already laid down?
Where have old patterns, old pressures, old fears crept back in?
(pause)
“Stand firm, then…”
Standing firm is not bracing or clenching.
It’s doesn't mean force.
It’s about steadiness.
As you hear this phrase, ask yourself:
What helps me stay grounded when things feel unstable?
Where do I already experience a quiet steadiness, however small?
And what does this steadiness have in common with freedom?
(pause)
"...that Christ has set us free.”
Notice what this does not say.
It does not say Christ set you free so you would get it right.
Or so you would manage things better.
Or so you would never struggle again.
It says freedom is both the gift and the goal.
Christ does not free you in order to control you.
That wouldn't be freedom.
Christ frees you in order to form you.
Sit with that for a moment.
You are not being trained for tighter obedience.
You are being drawn into deeper freedom.
(pause)
“It is for freedom…”
Freedom here is not escape.
Not indulgence.
Not doing whatever we want.
This freedom is relational.
Freedom to live without proving.
Freedom to love without fear.
Freedom to belong without performing.
What kind of freedom do you actually long for right now?
Not the impressive kind—the honest kind.
(pause)
Repeat the whole thing:
It is for freedom
that Christ has set us free.
Stand firm, then,
and do not let yourselves be burdened again
by a yoke of slavery.
There is nothing you need to add to that.
Nothing you need to earn.
Just freedom. Given, held, and sustained by Christ.
We pray:
God of freedom,
we come to you not to claim what is ours,
but to receive what you give.
You are the one who declares freedom before we understand it,
who names us free before we know how to live that way,
who sets us loose not because we are strong,
but because Christ is faithful.
You tell us that it is for freedom that Christ has set us free—
not for productivity,
not for moral achievement,
not even for usefulness—
but for freedom itself.
And yet, we confess how quickly we trade it away.
We confess how easily freedom becomes another burden,
something we must defend, prove, or deserve.
How often we carry old yokes
of fear,
of self-justification,
of needing to be right,
of needing to matter.
We ask you now to loosen what still binds us.
Not by force,
but by truth.
Not by pressure,
but by grace.
Spirit of the living God,
teach us what it means to stand firm,
not rigid,
not anxious,
but rooted.
Lead us into a freedom that is not indulgence,
but relationship.
Not isolation,
but belonging.
Not domination,
but love.
Free us from the idea that freedom belongs only to individuals,
and awaken us to the deeper truth
that freedom is something you are forming among a people.
Form us into people who can live freely with one another
without fear,
without control,
without the need to justify ourselves.
As we move forward in this series,
give us courage to let freedom ring
not as a slogan,
not as a possession,
but as a testimony
to what you are doing among us.
We place ourselves in your hands,
trusting that where your Spirit is,
there is freedom.
We pray this in the name of Jesus Christ,
who sets us free
for freedom.
Amen.
Galatians 5:1
It is for freedom
that Christ has set us free.
Stand firm, then,
and do not let yourselves be burdened again
by a yoke of slavery.
Let’s begin by settling in.
Place your feet on the floor.
Notice your breath.
We’re going to move slowly through that single verse of Scripture, Galatians 5:1
phrase by phrase, backwards.
After each phrase, there will be time to personally reflect.
“A yoke of slavery.”
A yoke is something placed on the shoulders.
It’s designed to direct, to harness, to make effort productive - but it is also heavy.
As you hear this phrase, notice what comes to mind.
What feels like it sits on your shoulders right now?
What expectations, fears, obligations, or identities feel less like guidance and more like weight?
Don’t analyze it. Just name it quietly, if anything comes.
(pause)
“...do not let yourselves be burdened again…”
This phrase assumes something important:
You were free once.
You know freedom.
But the burden comes back.
Notice the gentleness here.
Not accusation. Not shame.
Just recognition.
Where have burdens returned that you thought you’d already laid down?
Where have old patterns, old pressures, old fears crept back in?
(pause)
“Stand firm, then…”
Standing firm is not bracing or clenching.
It’s doesn't mean force.
It’s about steadiness.
As you hear this phrase, ask yourself:
What helps me stay grounded when things feel unstable?
Where do I already experience a quiet steadiness, however small?
And what does this steadiness have in common with freedom?
(pause)
"...that Christ has set us free.”
Notice what this does not say.
It does not say Christ set you free so you would get it right.
Or so you would manage things better.
Or so you would never struggle again.
It says freedom is both the gift and the goal.
Christ does not free you in order to control you.
That wouldn't be freedom.
Christ frees you in order to form you.
Sit with that for a moment.
You are not being trained for tighter obedience.
You are being drawn into deeper freedom.
(pause)
“It is for freedom…”
Freedom here is not escape.
Not indulgence.
Not doing whatever we want.
This freedom is relational.
Freedom to live without proving.
Freedom to love without fear.
Freedom to belong without performing.
What kind of freedom do you actually long for right now?
Not the impressive kind—the honest kind.
(pause)
Repeat the whole thing:
It is for freedom
that Christ has set us free.
Stand firm, then,
and do not let yourselves be burdened again
by a yoke of slavery.
There is nothing you need to add to that.
Nothing you need to earn.
Just freedom. Given, held, and sustained by Christ.
We pray:
God of freedom,
we come to you not to claim what is ours,
but to receive what you give.
You are the one who declares freedom before we understand it,
who names us free before we know how to live that way,
who sets us loose not because we are strong,
but because Christ is faithful.
You tell us that it is for freedom that Christ has set us free—
not for productivity,
not for moral achievement,
not even for usefulness—
but for freedom itself.
And yet, we confess how quickly we trade it away.
We confess how easily freedom becomes another burden,
something we must defend, prove, or deserve.
How often we carry old yokes
of fear,
of self-justification,
of needing to be right,
of needing to matter.
We ask you now to loosen what still binds us.
Not by force,
but by truth.
Not by pressure,
but by grace.
Spirit of the living God,
teach us what it means to stand firm,
not rigid,
not anxious,
but rooted.
Lead us into a freedom that is not indulgence,
but relationship.
Not isolation,
but belonging.
Not domination,
but love.
Free us from the idea that freedom belongs only to individuals,
and awaken us to the deeper truth
that freedom is something you are forming among a people.
Form us into people who can live freely with one another
without fear,
without control,
without the need to justify ourselves.
As we move forward in this series,
give us courage to let freedom ring
not as a slogan,
not as a possession,
but as a testimony
to what you are doing among us.
We place ourselves in your hands,
trusting that where your Spirit is,
there is freedom.
We pray this in the name of Jesus Christ,
who sets us free
for freedom.
Amen.
Galatians 5:-6 | It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. 2 Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. 3 Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. 4 You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. 5 For through the Spirit we eagerly await by faith the righteousness for which we hope. 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.
As Seattle prepares to host six FIFA World Cup 26™ matches in summer 2026, the city faces not only the excitement of welcoming hundreds of thousands of visitors but also the very real risk of increased human trafficking that often accompanies major global events, where traffickers exploit large crowds and transient populations to conceal their crimes.
In response, Businesses Ending Slavery and Trafficking (BEST) - a Seattle-based nonprofit dedicated to educating employers to prevent trafficking and creating safe employment pathways for survivors - is working proactively to raise awareness and equip businesses and frontline staff with the tools to recognize and respond to trafficking indicators.
Through partnerships with the Seattle FIFA World Cup 26 Local Organizing Committee, BEST is offering free training, workshops, and prevention planning resources so that local employers, from hospitality to retail, can help make Seattle not just a world-class host city, but a community prepared to protect vulnerable individuals and prevent exploitation.
Watch the video on the page that the button below will lead you to in order to learn more about BEST.
In response, Businesses Ending Slavery and Trafficking (BEST) - a Seattle-based nonprofit dedicated to educating employers to prevent trafficking and creating safe employment pathways for survivors - is working proactively to raise awareness and equip businesses and frontline staff with the tools to recognize and respond to trafficking indicators.
Through partnerships with the Seattle FIFA World Cup 26 Local Organizing Committee, BEST is offering free training, workshops, and prevention planning resources so that local employers, from hospitality to retail, can help make Seattle not just a world-class host city, but a community prepared to protect vulnerable individuals and prevent exploitation.
Watch the video on the page that the button below will lead you to in order to learn more about BEST.
Pray Together
Close this Spotlight with the song "Be Thou My Vision."
Posted in On Letting Freedom Ring
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