As we get closer to July 4 and start thinking about our Independence Day celebrations, I start thinking about what it means to be free. I ?m thankful to live in a country that offers us so many freedoms in how we live our lives. But I ?m more thankful for the ultimate freedom we have in Christ to worship and serve God in what seems to be an endless number of ways. The strange thing about our Christian freedom is that we ?re actually making ourselves slaves to God. Paul had a good grasp of this: ?Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible ? (1 Corinthians 9:19).
Paul continues through the chapter listing the different ways he makes himself a slave to different people. In verse 22 he sums it up this way: ?I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. ? Obviously we ?re not supposed to practice sinful behaviors in order to win people who do the same. What Paul is saying is that he uses every means that he can to win people to Jesus. And in this age, the means that we use are more diverse than ever. As we bridge the gap between people in this diverse culture and God, we must use our creativity.
An example of this creativity is how we can use the Internet. We have just added the domain name 5milechurch.org to our web presence. So, now you can send people to www.memorialchurchofchrist.org or www.5milechurch.org to see our new website. We ?re in the process of upgrading and updating the site, but it will include a new level of interaction between us and the people checking us out on the web. Soon we will be using the web to publish our events calendar, podcast our sermons, and provide online registration for events. Watch for changes in email addresses by the end of summer.