1 Title: Breaking the yoke of oppression

2. 2What is oppression?
 the state of being subject to unjust treatment, prolonged cruel or control.
 mental pressure or distress.
3 Illustrations of Oppression. get picttures of yoke, and cows with yoke
https://lifehopeandtruth.com/bible/law-and-grace/galatians-5/ Yoke
https://www.ignatianspirituality.com/josephs-yokes/ cow

4
https://www.bonsaitreegardener.net/care/how-to/cuttings (bonsai)
Please put the bonsai balete tree opporsite agains a giant Balete tree in one slide. To see
the difference between the two.

5. (Get a picture of a weary soldier)

Change your mindset according to the spiritual truth

Romans 12:1

 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your
mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing
and perfect will.

8. Spiritual truth

1. Know that the Lord has already set you free from the oppression

Luke 4:18-19
“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
     because he has anointed me
     to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
     and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
19      to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”[a]

2. Know that you have everything in the Lord. You don’t lack anything and
everything is within reach!
Gen 3: 1-6

The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the LORD God had made. One day
he asked the woman, “Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees
in the garden?”

2 “Of course we may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,” the woman replied. 3 “It’s
only the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden that we are not allowed to eat.
God said, ‘You must not eat it or even touch it; if you do, you will die.’”

4 “You won’t die!” the serpent replied to the woman. 5  “God knows that your eyes will
be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil.”

6 The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked
delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her

Everyone has heard about your obedience, so I rejoice because of you; but I want you to
be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil. Romans 6:19
For the LORD God  is a sun and shield; The LORD will give grace and glory; No
good  thing  will He withhold From those who walk uprightly.

Ps 84:11 NKJ
2 Peter 1:3 By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly
life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself
by means of his marvelous glory and excellence.

Ephesians 1:3
All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every
spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ.

3. Know that you are not powerless but empowered.

Matthew 16:18-19
18 And I tell you,  you are Peter, and on this rock[a] I will build my church, and the
gates of  hell[b] shall not prevail against it.  19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of
heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you
loose on earth shall be loosed[c] in heaven.”

4.
Esther 3:1
 Some time later King Xerxes promoted Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite over all
the other nobles, making him the most powerful official in the empire. 2 All the king’s
officials would bow down before Haman to show him respect whenever he passed by, for
so the king had commanded. But Mordecai refused to bow down or show him respect.

5 When Haman saw that Mordecai would not bow down or show him respect, he was
filled with rage. 6 He had learned of Mordecai’s nationality, so he decided it was not
enough to lay hands on Mordecai alone. Instead, he looked for a way to destroy all the
Jews throughout the entire empire of Xerxes.

8 Then Haman approached King Xerxes and said, “There is a certain race of people
scattered through all the provinces of your empire who keep themselves separate from
everyone else. Their laws are different from those of any other people, and they refuse to
obey the laws of the king. So it is not in the king’s interest to let them live. 9 If it please
the king, issue a decree that they be destroyed, and I will give 10,000 large sacks[c] of
silver to the government administrators to be deposited in the royal treasury.”

10 The king agreed, confirming his decision by removing his signet ring from his finger
and giving it to Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews.

4:1 When Mordecai learned about all that had been done, he tore his clothes, put on
burlap and ashes, and went out into the city, crying with a loud and bitter wail

3  And as news of the king’s decree reached all the provinces, there was great mourning
among the Jews. They fasted, wept, and wailed, and many people lay in burlap and ashes.

 “All the king’s officials and even the people in the provinces know that anyone who
appears before the king in his inner court without being invited is doomed to die unless
the king holds out his gold scepter. And the king has not called for me to come to him for
thirty days
Esther 8
3 Queen Esther replied, “If I have found favor with the king, and if it pleases the king to
grant my request, I ask that my life and the lives of my people will be spared. 4 For my
people and I have been sold to those who would kill, slaughter, and annihilate us. If we
had merely been sold as slaves, I could remain quiet, for that would be too trivial a matter
to warrant disturbing the king.”

5 Esther said, “If it please the king, and if I have found favor with him, and if he thinks it
is right, and if I am pleasing to him, let there be a decree that reverses the orders of
Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, who ordered that Jews throughout all the king’s
provinces should be destroyed. 

Esther 8:11m
The king’s decree gave the Jews in every city authority to unite to defend their lives. They
were allowed to kill, slaughter, and annihilate anyone of any nationality or province who
might attack them or their children and wives, and to take the property of their enemies. 

16 The Jews were filled with joy and gladness and were honored everywhere. 17 In every
province and city, wherever the king’s decree arrived, the Jews rejoiced and had a great
celebration and declared a public festival and holiday. And many of the people of the
land became Jews themselves, for they feared what the Jews might do to them.

James 4:7 Resist the devil

Deut 31:6 "Be strong. Take courage. Don't be intimidated. Don't give them a second
thought because God, your God, is striding ahead of you. He's right there with you. He
won't let you down; he won't leave you."

Philippians 1:28 Don’t be intimidated in any way by your enemies.

Proverbs 24:16
The godly may trip seven times, but they will get up again.
Psalm 34:19 .
Many are the affliction of the righteous, but the Lord delivers them out of them all.

4. Believed and applied what you’ve learned.

Mark 4:35-41 As evening came, Jesus said to his disciples,  “Let’s cross to the other side
of the lake.” 36 So they took Jesus in the boat and started out, leaving the crowds behind
(although other boats followed). 37  But soon a fierce storm came up. High waves were
breaking into the boat, and it began to fill with water.

38 Jesus was sleeping at the back of the boat with his head on a cushion. The disciples
woke him up, shouting, “Teacher, don’t you care that we’re going to drown?”

39 When Jesus woke up, he rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Silence! Be
still!” Suddenly the wind stopped, and there was a great calm. 40 Then he asked
them,  “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?”

41 The disciples were absolutely terrified. “Who is this man?” they asked each other.
“Even the wind and waves obey him!”

5. You are an overcomer!

Galatians 5:1 NIV 5 It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do
not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.

I John 5:4,5
For every child of God defeats this evil world, and we achieve this victory through our
faith.And who can win this battle against the world? Only those who believe that Jesus is
the Son of God.