God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another.

-1 Peter 4:10 (NLT)

Serve God well by serving others well:

Invest and invite!

Jesus’ strategy for loving seekers:

“Man…my life is going so great, so easily, so smoothly…that today…I think I’ll take up an addicting habit that will mess me

(and my loved ones) up for years/decades to come?”

No one thinks…

• Who/what has mastered you?

“…for a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him…”

-2 Peter 2:19

Good question:

He whom the son has set free, is free indeed!

-John 8:36

Good news:

“…The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin. I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate. …I want to do what is right, but I can’t. I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway…”

Sound familiar?

“I love God’s law with all my heart. But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death?”

Sound familiar?

“Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin.” -Romans 7:14b-16b, 18b-19, 22-25 (NLT)

Sound familiar?

“... I will not be mastered by anything.”

-I Corinthians 6:12

A resolution:

1) Take them to God.

“Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires...but rather offer yourselves to God...For sin shall not be your master...”

- Romans 6:12 14‑

Taking on the addictions:

Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.

-Matthew 11:28 (NLT)

Jesus wants you to come:

…you are now a slave of Christ. God paid a high price for you, so don’t be enslaved

by the world.

-1 Corinthians 7:22b-23 (NLT)

Under new management:

Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at

heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the

burden I give you is light.

-Matthew 11:29-30 (NLT)

Jesus wants you to find rest:

__ Satan?__ Self?__ Society?__ Stuff?__ Substances?

OR…the SAVIOR?

Question: Who is your master?

2) Take it public.

“…confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed...”

-James 5:16

Taking on the addictions:

• Help you through prayer.

“…The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.”

-James 5:16

You need people who can…

• Help you with accountability.

“If another believer sins, rebuke that person; then if there is repentance, forgive.”

-Luke 17:3 (NLT)

You need people who can…

• Help you when you fall. “Two people are better off than one, for they can help

each other succeed. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble. Likewise, two people lying close together can keep each other warm. But how can one be warm alone? A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken.”

-Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 (NLT)

You need people who can…

3) Take it one day at a time.

"Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don't get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.”

-Matthew 6:34

Taking on the addictions:

I can do everything through (Christ) who gives me strength.

-Philippians 4:13

You can do it… Just…not alone!