Learn About The Freedom You Have In Christ with Pastor Samuel Rodriguez

I am honored and blessed to be with you today my love of course to Pastor Rick and Kay my name is Samuel Rodriguez I am the husband of Eva Rodriguez and the father of Nathan Yvonne and Lauren I happened to pass her a wonderful church in Sacramento California it's a multi-ethnic christ-centered Bible based church called new season in addition by the grace of God I oversee the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference the Hispanic evangelical Association which is for his namesake in his glory the nation's largest Hispanic faith organization forty thousand one hundred and eighteen member churches for the glory of Jesus Christ and in that vein I'm often asked what is a Hispanic born-again Christian how do you best define your community well the answer lies in better than a simple recipe a Hispanic born-again believer is what you get when you take Billy Graham dr. Martin Luther King jr. put them in a blender and put salsa sauce on top that's my story and I'm sticking to it well in a very accelerated manner only because I've had I kid you not to vent a grande well to been take camera modules as far and so it's going to be a bit on the fast side here Fox CNN MSNBC Univision New York Times The Wall Street Journal Huffington Post's all exists within the confines of their respective worldviews to provide one major deliverable news we have access to news in an unprecedented manner from 24-hour television networks to a plethora of digital web base sites and portals we stand saturated if not metaphorically strangled by the amount of news we receive today now unfortunately especially in the past few days and weeks not only does the volume or the quantity but the very nature of the news serve no other effect than to exacerbate the very notion of hopelessness fear and despair truth be told we stand surrounded and inundated by bad horrific my numbing news yet today the the conduit of God's Word I have come to share with you without any sort of rhetorical hyperbole even though it'll be in a very accelerated manner but as a recipient the best and greatest news you have ever heard so hold on to your caramel macchiatos because today you will hear the greatest news of all let me give you a bit of the good news the great news it comes from God's Word John chapter one the 29th verse the Gospel of John two thousand years ago the next day John the Baptist saw Jesus coming toward him and said behold the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world later on John the Apostle in the island of Patmos inspired by the Spirit of God writes the following and they have defeated him by the blood of the Lamb and by their testimony and they did not love their lives so much they were afraid to die they were overcomers revelation 12:11 let me share with you the best news you have ever heard the Lambs agenda of freedom the great news of freedom Jesus is the Lamb of God and he came to emancipate us with the great news of freedom the prophet Isaiah actually spoke about the arrival of the Messiah and the delivery of this great news in a book that bears his name I say a 58 6-2 lose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke to set the oppressed free and break every yoke you see we live in a world where people find themselves bound bound by sin pornography sexual immorality addiction alcoholism dismay anxiety fear confusion the past failure defeat and some beyond me an unexplainable addiction to coffee and caramel macchiato la sangre de cristo Olympia dole avocado now why is there so much bondage the enemy of ourselves really understands that the most powerful person on the planet the most powerful person on the planet is not the one with riches guns armies or fame the most powerful human on the planet is a person set free by the blood of the Lamb Jesus Christ because at the end of the day free people can do what others cannot it was a free man who approached Pharaoh in Egypt and said let my people go it was a free man who stepped into the promised land and declared us for me in my house we shall serve the Lord it was a free man who stared down a giant called Goliath and said you come against me of a sword a spear in a javelin but I come against you in the name of the Lord God Almighty it was free young people who refused to bow and subsequently exhibited freedom even in the midst of a fiery furnace it was a free man who prayed down fire from heaven and then had the audacity to say get ready here comes the rain in more recent history it was freemen who declared we hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights and among these are life liberty and the pursuit of happiness it was a free man who confronted the evil of slavery and then declared with malice towards none and charity towards all it was a free young man who had a dream that one day we would live in a nation where we would be judged not by the color of our skin but rather by the content of our character but the greatest expression of freedom came 2,000 years ago when hanging on a tree by his sacrifice Christ a free man freedom incarnate personified what he declared in John 8:36 for he who the Sun sets free is free indeed eternal freedom freedom of the Spirit freedom to go beyond existence into living does not come from the institutions or the writings of man our freedom comes from he who wrote the law with one finger and grace with both hands our freedom comes from John 8 the - and you will know the truth and the truth will set you free jesus said I am the way the truth and the life no one can come to the Father except through me John 14:6 so what's the great news the great news is that today through Jesus Christ you can be free from a life of sin revelation 1:6 free from the torment of fear 2nd Timothy 1:7 free from the sentence of eternal condemnation Romans chapter 8 verse 1 what's the great news that when you accept his freedom your life will never be the same for we are baptized with Christ and Romans crucified with Christ in Galatians seated with Christ in Ephesians strengthened by Christ and Philippians hidden in Christ in Colossians and reigning with Jesus Christ in the book of Revelation behold the lamb of God it is the great news of the Cross Jesus is the Lamb of God and he came to engage us empower us with the great news of the Cross salvation and eternal life galatians 3:13 for hung on a tree he became a curse for us John 3:16 for this is how God loved the world that He gave His only only his one and only son so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life and no other symbol incorporates passion and promise like the cross a simple symbol depicting two pieces of wood one vertical and the other horizontal successfully branded the eternal hope of glory to all mankind Madison Avenue and multi-million dollar campaigns have not been able to reproduce the loyalty commitment and even to a great degree multi-generational allegiance to a message conveyed via the humble conduit of a brand not written on the wood but incarnated in the spirit of what it represents grace and eternal life that Universal Christian symbol voice if ur ously and with unbridled persuasion not only conveys a message of what is to come but truly of what life really is life is both vertical and life is horizontal vertically we stand connected to God his kingdom eternal life spiritual truths divine principles and glory but horizontally to our left and to our right we exist surrounded and revealed through community relationships family culture and society simply stated the cross is both vertical and it is horizontal it is both Redemption and relationship holiness and humility covenant and community Kingdom and society righteousness and justice salvation and transformation ethos and pathos john 3:16 and mappy 25 orthodoxy and orthopraxy Billy Graham and dr. Martin Luther King jr. faith and action sanctification and Service the imago Dei and the habits of Christ missions and the marketplace the New Jerusalem and Orange County California and Jesus came to reconcile truth with love conviction with compassion love for God and love for one another and the great news for you today lies in the fact that what Jesus did on the cross serves as the antidote to identity moratorium what does that mean it means that Christ came to truly define us are you defined by your past are you defined by your circumstances are you defined by what people say about you are you defined by Facebook or Instagram or Twitter today's complacency is tomorrow's captivity you are what you tolerate there is a better definition the great news is that what took place on the cross it's real simple Christ defines you and when you embrace that when you accept that then you understand the following that you are not defined by what surrounds you you are defined by God's Spirit inside of you you are not defined by your circumstance you are defined by his covenant you're not defined by the hell you may be going through you're defined by the heaven you're going to you're not defined by your failures you're defined by his forgiveness and for all the religious folks in the house you're not defined by what you do for God you're defined by what God already did for you that's the reality of the gospel of Jesus Christ that's the reality you're defined by the father you're defined by the Sun you're defined by the holy spirit you're defined by Galatians 2:20 my own self has been crucified with Christ it is no longer I who live but Christ lives in me so I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me when you know who he is then you discover who you are and right now we do live in dark times in challenging times and it really behooves us the moment we embrace the reality of the message of Christ the Lamb of God the freedom and the cross that is both vertical and horizontal then we discover who we are and that were part of a greater collective who are we and right now there isn't there isn't a question of identity of clarity are we just another institution in society are we another religious faith narrative competing in the marketplace of ideas are we a feel-good apparatus for the spiritually impaired are we an antiquated conduit for a set of irrelevant values no longer applicable in the world of Facebook iPads Twitter Instagram or YouTube who are we when you accept and embrace this greatest news of all then you can respond with clarity conviction and courage the following we are the light of the world we are a city on a hill we are people of the word we are salt and light we are disciples witnesses and Christ followers we are evangelists pastors and teachers we are children of the cross fruit of the empty tomb and product of the Upper Room we are the redeemed of the Lord we are the Sheep of his pasture we are forgiven we are free and we are favored we are called and chosen we are worshipers we are world changers and history makers here's the great news we are not Google we are not Microsoft we are not Ford and we're not even Starbucks we are the Church of Jesus Christ and the gates of hell shall not prevail against us and by the way with great due deference to the beautiful tapestry and mosaic of diversity but we are not first and foremost black white yellow or brown Hispanic charismatic or automatic we are above all born again blood washed children of the Living God we share truth with love and truth must never be sacrificed on the altar of expediency we are recipients of the greatest news of all we are his children called by his name born for this hour not to fail or merely perpetually survive but to have a life and life abundantly behold the lamb it is the great news of overcoming Jesus is the Lamb of God and he came to equip us with great news the power to overcome and they have defeated him by the blood of the Lamb and by their testimony and they did not love their lives so much they were afraid to die revelation 12:11 there are two types of people here today those that have overcome adversity a storm or a difficult chapter in life and those that one day will we've all been through something so let me ask you respectfully if you've been through something significant at least one thing in your life not I'm not a migraine headache or a code latté but you've been through something something mucho Grande in your life mucho Grande have you've been through at least one big storm or challenge that you had to overcome raise one hand if you've been through a couple raise both hands if you've been through so many you lost count raise both hands and a foot if you bit through so many if I google your name the National Hurricane Weather Center shows up well here's the great news Jesus Christ a lamb of God equips us with the power to overcome when you accept Jesus and receive him in your life you immediately join immediately joined you become a bonafide card-carrying member of the no weapon formed against me greater is He that is in me if God be for us who can be against us the battle is mine says the Lord overcomer club because we learn in life that sometimes we have to go through to get to Joseph's biblical examples would be Joseph went through the pit to get to the palace the Israelites went through the desert to get to the promised land the Hebrew boys went through the fire to get to the king's court Jesus went through Gethsemane to get to the cross so you and I can be here today here's the good news the gospel the great news with God in Christ you will overcome and how can I be so certain it's just a matter of biblical due diligence did Joseph stay in the pit did the Israelites stay in the desert did the Hebrew boys stay in the furnace did Jesus stay in the tomb and at all that's the great news we overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony so you may ask if I accept Jesus if I become a Christ follower well I live a life free from adversity or problems it's not look like a business egotistical salvation what does that mean sir you spoke a different language I'm not going to translate what I actually said here here's the great news Romans 8:37 in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us what's the great news no matter what comes your way what you live when you when you live in Christ and Christ lives in you you overcome really yes your biblical for for every single bit of darkness there will be light and when light stands next to darkness light always wins for every Pharaoh there must be a Moses for every Goliath there must be a David for every nabuchadnezzar there must be a Daniel for every Jezebel there must be an Elijah for every Herod there must be a Jesus and for every Devil that rises up against you there is a mightier god that rises up for you that's the reality of the gospel and the purpose of God is greater than the brokenness of man I am a native of the Keystone State Pennsylvania I'm from Pennsylvania and I actually this will explain a lot I was raised in a small town too small a kid you not the small town of Bethlehem Pennsylvania hence the Messianic complex so I'm from Bethlehem Pennsylvania and my parents are not preachers or ministers I grew up with a natural affinity for mathematics I'm a math geek I'm a math nerd I love math math is the language of God it really is and so I'm a Trekkie um which and that means for those of that I'm a Star Trek fan I'm a Trekkie and and just because I'm a man committed to orthodoxy I don't get does old the whole new Star Trek it's not my thing god bless Christopher Pyne and the entire team but I'm an old William Shatner Leonard Nimoy a Trekkie the real Trek and so I grew up I'm an evangelical Trekkie and and I grew up Google that and I am and and I grew up in Pennsylvania but I doubt it my parents would force obligate me to go to church but I doubted everything I really did I was the quintessential agnostic you know math guy everything was very analytical and and I saw Elmer Gantry and I saw snake oil salesmen and everything and I doubted everything really and my dad instilled in me a very strong Calvinistic work ethic he worked in Bethlehem he worked for a company called Mack trucks peplum was known for Bethlehem Steel in the Lehigh Valley was known for Mack trucks peplum steel and might just this UAW blue-collar hard-working man instilled in me that work ethic and and my dad my dad is the quintessential dad right eat very stoic like this is my dad happy this is my dad sad so that's my dad and he was a Vulcan my dad if you're not a Trekkie said What did he say I worry about it sit sit so that's my dad so my dad a very introverted very Neil not emotional except there was this thing that he would do so dropping me off at school this is my dad did he drop dropping me off it's going my dad son before you leave there's one thing I want to do okay and he takes his sanity places it on my shoulder and says Heavenly Father cover him with the blood of Jesus which means save him protect him from all evil fulfill your purpose in his life in Jesus name Amen okay there's one word for that in my worldview back then which is just one word awkward my birthday comes along my dad gives me a gift here's my gift high school here's my gift my dad gives me my dad a 1978 Camaro z/28 Eagle GT tires metallic blue tinted windows hydraulic shocks I put so much armor all in that car I could go from the passenger side to the driver side and keep on going all the way down it's the 1980s I grew up in the 80s and I'm sorry for that cuz I was envious of those that grew up like in the early 70s not the late 70s that's disco that's bad but the early seventies you know the great Jim Croce and Don McLean great songwriters in pop Bob Dole and others three dogs night Jeremiah had a bullfrog really so there's so many things the 60s you don't remember but so in the 1980s the 1980s was my decade and it was weird cuz the quintessential apex our method the the quintessential example of songwriting was Culture Club comma comma comma comma comma chameleon uh-huh that was it and the great classic I tumble for you yeah so I grew up kids there was a television program in the 80s Don Johnson Miami Vice I kid you not you could ask my parents I really believe that was Don Johnson I grew my hair out and I of course we don't we repudiate bullying and all that harassment all that but I was bullied because I wore a light blue pastel suit to Liberty High School in Bethlehem Pennsylvania with no socks and white shoes I wonder why people picked on me I had no idea I addition it was random why would they pick on me and I thought I was Don Johnson and and in so here it is I have my car I have my light blue suit I'm ready to go out the door my brand new car I'm about to step out I'm open the door the keys are dangling it all of a sudden you hear this Samuel si Senor get a decir conmigo bother chamois oh and I go hey Dad debt by the way again I mean you're the greatest father for you to give me and trust me and I could imagine just the insurance on this thing I mean you are a you are true do you know what this you're not gonna let me drive this are you so you can drive it all you want after school but as long as I can't I want to drop you off well isn't that special dropping me on 748 in the morning before you leave can I do one more thing ye heavenly father cover him with the blood of Jesus protect him from all evil fulfill your purpose in his life in Jesus name Amen my dad prayed for me and I'm at Penn State still downing skeptical not drinking the kool-aid all of a sudden Penn State University Computer Engineering Here I am and I have my what John Stuart would call the moment of Zen it hit me that that brilliant Ivy league-educated trained professor quantum physics at physics class he comes along and he reveals a mathematical equation that is germane to the probability of randomness in the universe he basically explains how it requires more faith to believe that we are here randomly and he's not talking about God or Christ just a fact of mathematical language of God I kid you not and he explains mathematically how it is almost towards infinity it's exponential the the idea that we can be here by chance how the universe can exist the way it exists of all dynamics and at that moment it hit me this God thing is real and then the reality of Christ as Lord and Savior became light in my life and so I didn't come to Jesus in through a conference or a church sermon and that's wonderful and beautiful but it was through math and physics and science and then just Christ and then coming into his word and yeah it's more real than what I ever thought or imagined but it's years later I find myself in the White House George W Bush because of what I do with the organization the group I represent God has given us great favor to be an advisor to a couple of presidents and I'm in the White House and and I'm in the White House and then I'm sitting down with Karl Rove in a meeting with the president and I mean and and then I go and I meet with the Speaker of the House and then I go when I meet with the president with the Senate Majority Leader at that time dr. Bill Frist and I'm there and I'm and by the way they're calling me I never called any of them for a meeting they were calling me from Bethlehem Pennsylvania so I mean I'm in Bill Frist office I remember that moment I sat down and he's looking at me he's going Reverend Rodriguez can I get you something to drink this is before caramel macchiato of course he sure can I have a coke in here when absolutely he went out to get me a coke and I'm seated and I'm alone in his office and I'm going I'm going how in the world did I get here I mean how in the world did I ever get here still small voice nothing boy Sybaris it wasn't thunderous just in my inner man there's still small boy saying because you had a dad who who embraced in essence two great news the great news of freedom through Christ of a cross a spoke vertical horizontal overcoming a dad who prayed for you cover him with the blood of Jesus protect him from all evil fulfill your purpose in his life because I had parents who prayed and believed me through and I eventually had to come to the realization of Jesus Christ as Lord and I found myself living out my purpose I want you to know this this thing about and pray it's virus is genetic I have three kids I'm dropping them off in Sacramento at Capital Christian school before you leave one more thing yeah dad what's that Heavenly Father covered them with the blood of Jesus protect him from all evil fulfill your purpose in their lives in Jesus name Amen I want you to know there's surprisingly I am a granddaddy I was married when I was 5 years old and that's hyperbole I was 7 so it's so recently seven months ago my daughter my 24 year old daughter she she blessed me indeed with Liam and no exaggeration the moment Liam was born my wife calls me up says come up right now we were downstairs we came up to the room you know you're a grandpappy and it's it's a boy and come up come up first thing and it wasn't like it's my great first thing is give me my grandson I walk him to the corner of the room my wife bears witness it isn't my daughter my sudden while they were there walk him to the corner room heavily father cover him with the blood of Jesus protect him from all evil fulfill your purpose in his life I wanted Liam the first thing he heard from me was the great news what's the great news Jesus Christ simply stated his life inspires his death redeems his resurrection empowers his grace is sufficient his freedom completes his joy strengthens his spirit comforts his goodness follows his stripes heal his name delivers in His mercy endures forever behold the lamb of God permit me to pray for you righteous King sovereign holy mighty triumphant victorious God Heavenly Father I come before you today acknowledging and there's only one way only one way for each and every one of us to be saved Jesus is that way I thank you for the convicting power of your Holy Spirit that through your word through your word we come to the reality that Jesus Christ is Lord of all Lord I pray that every single life here or watching right now every single life that has not recognized you has yet to realize or recognize have that moment of clarity that salvation comes through Christ alone Lord I ask you right now for that truth to be made manifest and for every single person struggling every person doubting everyone right now go into very adversarial very hurtful circumstances every single person going through their pit every single person going through please God I ask you to empower them with the reality that through Christ we are overcomers we overcome by the blood of the Lamb Jesus Christ and by the word of our testimony so Lord I pray right now for a new strength for peace I pray for your grace and your mercy help us help us understand that only to the Lamb of God Jesus Christ can we truly be set free in the name that is above all other names we pray in jesus name amen amen you

Channel: Saddleback Church

Views: 45,699

Rating: 4.8084292 out of 5

Keywords: Samuel Rodriguez (Person), Christianity (Religion), Freedom, Jesus, Jesus Christ, God, Saddleback Church, Best News Ever, Cross, Blood of the Lamb, Set Free, Identity

Id: 6BnSXnBaWV0

Length: 31min 21sec (1881 seconds)

Published: Mon Jul 20 2015