Holy Boundaries Preview

People place boundaries to keep us safe, like a guard rail at a cliff or a glass wall at the lion's exhibit. Sometimes, we see walls and fences as challenging to find a way over or around them. Sometimes, this challenging spirit can be healthy in life, but other times, it can lead us to captivity. Jesus died and rose again so that we would be set free of sin, shame, and death. It's up to us to ensure we resist our human nature and challenge the boundaries God places to keep us safe. Will you be wise or foolish?

This is a loving God and a loving others series. We'll better understand how God loves us through boundaries and how we can better love others by living into boundaries according to God's example.

The book of Proverbs describes both a wise and a foolish person. If we want to be wise, we must not continue the behaviors of the foolish. We'll look at these scriptures and others to see how we can live like the wise.

God intended us to live in community with others. We see this in Genesis when he says it's not good for humanity to be alone. John Wesley said there is no religion except social religion. I could quote scriptures and wise people who emphasize the need for relationships in our lives, or we could remember how we suffered during COVID when we were isolated.

The intention is for relationships to make us better, stronger, and the best versions of ourselves, but not all people do that. So, how do we continue to grow into the persons we need to be and help others succeed when not all relationships help us similarly? That's the hope of this series. We're not talking about cutting people out of our lives but remembering that we don't carry other people's burdens upon our shoulders. Join me as we learn how to give burdens to God, grow to be our best selves, and invite others upon that journey with Holy Boundaries.

If you'd like to go beyond the sermon in your spiritual growth, here are some ways:

• Follow along with the Sermon Notes during worship to increase what you hear from God
• Join with others after worship to process the info, using the Group Discussion Guide
• Books to Read: 
  • Foolproofing Your Life by Jan Silvious
  • Boundaries by Henry Cloud and John Townsend
• Follow us on Facebook and Twitter for daily devotions