Awakening

THE FREEDOM OF THE SPIRIT

Pastor Hope Flask

June 15, 2025

Main Scripture: Romans 8:1-16

Additional Scriptures: John 11:35, John 21:15

POINTS:

• The reason we are not free is that we don’t believe we are who God says we are.

• Living freely in the Holy Spirit is directly linked to where we tie our identity.

• “Our insecurity isn’t about what we have or don’t have; it’s about where our identity is secured.” - Nona Jones

• “Trauma is anything that changes our view of the world, ourselves, others, or God for the worse.” - Dr. Anita Phillips

• The enemy doesn’t come in because of our trauma; he comes in through our response to trauma.

• The enemy imprisons us when we respond to trauma in our flesh.

• Responses of the flesh: we bury our trauma, or we believe that we are helpless victims.

• Shame: self-hate

• Slave: a person who is the legal property of another and is forced to obey them

• Shame convinces us that we are the property of our trauma.

• Living in the Spirit requires getting honest with the Holy Spirit in prayer and following the nature of our Triune God.

• God’s nature is communal, abiding, and mutually submitted.

• Freedom occurs in community, as witnessed by the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

• “We get hurt in the context of relationship, and we heal in the context of relationship.” - Tracy Smith

• We need people to speak into the warped reality that shame creates.

• We become identifiable by our scars, yet no longer hide in shame.