Bellbrook United Methodist Church – Our Vision is to know God and to serve others.

Sunday Worship (April 19)
Quite often, we hear testimonies from innocent people who are wrongfully accused of crimes. Many of them spend half of their lives incarcerated, and I have listened to their stories and have been amazed by their reactions. They speak of the horrors of being mistreated while in jail, and how they have been changed by their experiences. Day after day, they live with the weight of injustice, longing for the moment when the truth will finally come to light. Then one day, it does. Their case is reopened, and the evidence is reviewed, and the truth sets them free.

As they step outside, I’d imagine they breathe in fresh air, and everything must feel different to them. Indeed, the world hasn’t changed, but they have. The heavy weight of wrongful conviction that they have carried over the years is finally gone, and their lives will never be the same.

Many state that, instead of holding on to anger and resentment, they choose a different path. They share their stories to help others who feel trapped, working to bring hope and justice to people still waiting to experience their own moment of freedom. Indeed, these amazing people realize something profound. They recognize that they weren’t just set free for themselves. They were released for a purpose.

We find the same concept in John 20: 19-23 when Jesus finds the disciples hiding behind locked doors. Jesus appears to them, offers them peace, and fills them with the Holy Spirit. In that moment, the disciples are not only reassured but also released. Released from fear, released from hiding, and released from the weight of their past failures into a calling to speak forgiveness and to live as witnesses of resurrection.

Come to worship this Sunday to learn more about the power of being released and how we, too, are called to live lives of freedom and commissioned by God to live with purpose.

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