Today's "sermon" is an annual meeting address to the church in
which the Church (at Wollaston)

Romans 8:21
     " ... the freedom of the glory of the children of God."

Romans 12:5
      " ...  we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and
individually members one of another. "

                  THE SPIRIT-FILLED COMMUNITY
INTRODUCTION:

      Last Sunday's message would have been a good and logical place
to end this series on "defining sanctification" from Romans 8-- "Being
filled with the Spirit." But on this Annual Meeting Sunday I wanted to
pursue the truth that being sanctified is not just an individual
matter.

     Frankly, there is not a major emphasis on social holiness in this
one chapter. But this great chapter is not isolated, and we do not
need to leave the epistle to find clear statements about the community
of Christian faith (Romans 12:5) In this very chapter (8:21) we have
this one marvelous phrase: "the freedom of the glory of the children
of God."  This phrase suggests a good deal about sanctification as it
is lived in community. It speaks of the freedom of the Spirit in
community.

I. FREEDOM IN THE SPIRIT

     A. One important end result of salvation will be freedom, as
contrasted here with the slavery of corruption.  When evil is finally
exposed for the falseness and hollowness and cruelty which it is, then
all creation will be set free from corruption.  This freedom is what
God's children experience.

     B.  Freedom does have an element of the negative: FREEDOM FROM

1. Usually when "freedom" is discussed in our society, tainted as it
is by the worship of the individual, we think of "freedom" as mostly
freedom FROM-- "...so that I can do anything I want to do!"

2.  This ['freedom FROM' idea] even carries over into Christian
setting, until "freedom" or "liberty" means (a.)  genuine-ness, the
ability to express delight in God; and (b.) the absence of bondage:
sin does not control me any longer. [Both of which are GOOD.]

      But we often carry this further and say (c.)  NOBODY has the
right to tell me what to do! I am free! Even GOD can only SUGGEST to
me! I'LL decide!

3.  This sort of freedom [tainted with the worship of the individual]
does not exist - for ultimately it means freedom from responsibility,
and freedom from binding relationships, and freedom from choice and
from the results of choice.  And there simply is no such freedom in or
out of God's kingdom! We all face the consequences of our
relationships and our choices! (Galatians 6:7)

     C. Freedom is more than 'not being bound;' it is FREEDOM TO:
Freedom is ever something more than the NEGATIVE, what we DON'T HAVE
TO DO any more; freedom is THE ABILITY TO DO WHAT WE ARE CREATED TO
DO!

1.  To be free from the hindrances to holiness means that we  now
have freedom to belong to God without reservation;
     freedom to become more and more like Jesus as a life's goal;
     freedom to be filled with the Spirit and bear His fruit.

2. This positive side of freedom means we can find God's will and
pursue it. We have freedom to "be all that you can be!" the only way
we can be "all" is in this freedom

[But freedom is not merely an individual matter, believe it or
not. Our text opens the idea of "the relationships of freedom:"]

II.  THE RELATIONSHIPS OF FREEDOM: "THE GLORIOUS FREEDOM OF THE
     CHILDREN OF GOD"

     A. Sanctification is always social.  Freedom is linked to a
relationship with God, but it is also clearly linked with God's
children.  We are each of us "one among many brethren and sisters" (v
29) Christ is "the first-born among many brethren."

     Romans 12:5 says it even more succinctly: " ... we, who are many,
are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. "

1.  Every child of God has a place in the Body and relates to the
entire community of faith

2. Every child of God is a servant to other individual's needs.

      B. The closing chapters of Romans are pure practical social
sanctification.  When Paul gets through with the necessary and deep
and profound foundational statements about God and sin and grace and
salvation, he proceeds without apology into the practical application
of all the deep things he has written.  Perhaps the "Therefore" at the
beginning of Chapter Twelve is the demarcation.

     "Present your bodies as living sacrifices-- and get with the
program!"

[But let me make a particularly sharp application on this Annual
Meeting Sunday:]

III. WOLLASTON: THE CHALLENGE TO BE A SPIRIT-FILLED COMMUNITY

     A. Our unique position as a church:

     When E.N.C. moved here from Rhode Island in 1918 the community
simply gathered for worship each Sunday-- and when summer came they
dispersed and went their several ways.  It was not until 1922, nearly
4 years after the college was here in Wollaston that the Wollaston
Church of the Nazarene was officially organized. As a church we are
definitely the "child of the college."

      But in 1949-50 a new concept took shape. The college had sold
the church this corner of the campus (for $1) and the relatively small
congregation built what was then a mammoth basement structure here--
and set out to have its own facility and to reach out into the
community in a new way.

       To a certain degree we have accomplished, or are accomplishing,
this visionary goal.  We have three distinct and vital streams that,
combining, compose the church as it is today: a community, non-college
church; a permanent college-related constituency; a transient college
population.  Each of these are themselves complex tributaries, and
each is indispensable to the character of our fellowship.

     B. Our challenges:

1.  DIVERSITY: Our strength is also our greatest challenge.  "Profound
diversity." One of the most gratifying things that has happened to me
in a long time was receiving (of all things) a request for transfer
out, from Peg Paugh. But in that letter Peg took the time to tell me
what she felt about the Wollaston experience, and share her own vision
for a community of diversity. (Listen, also, for the note of positive
FREEDOM in her letter:]
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