Firm Foundation with Bryan Hudson

“Labors of Love”

1 John 3:18–19,“My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. And by this we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him.”

The Apostle John teaches us that genuine love is more than a feeling and more than words.

The God kind of love is always active. It is always a labor of love.

A labor of love is not motivated by convenience, recognition, or personal reward. It is always rooted in concern for another person. Sometimes a labor of love is joyful and uplifting. At other times, a labor of love requires actual labor—and sometimes it is extraordinarily difficult.

I am experiencing this in a very personal way through the journey of helping my 89-year-old father, who has dementia.

As his only child, I carry the responsibility of helping manage his life and making decisions for his care. Recently, he underwent hip replacement surgery. Although the surgery was successful, his hospital stay was complicated by severe delirium. Since returning home, I have spent many hours helping him recover physically and cognitively, organizing caregivers, managing medications, responding to confusion, and staying with him overnight for the past several nights.

There are moments when he does not fully understand what is happening. There are many moments when he is restless, frustrated, and uncooperative.

This journey is physically tiring, emotionally challenging, and financially demanding. But it is also a labor of love. Anyone who has been a caregiver understands the journey. Those who will become caregivers should practice loving in deed so that, when the season to labor in love comes, they will be able to do it.

Love in truth means recognizing that real love is not always comfortable. As a feeling, love can become a fantasy, but love in truth, expressed through deeds, will bring you back to reality. Or, as someone said, “There are things that jerk the slack out of love.” Much of our love is very slack, but labors of love bring us closer to Jesus and give us a greater appreciation of what love looks like.

This text reveals a significant benefit of loving in deed, or what we are calling the labor of love.

John wrote, “We know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him.”

Our labors of love become evidence that the life and truth of Christ are working within us. There are many things that we are unable to do in our own strength. We reach our limit, we hit the wall, and we feel like we have nothing left.

However, your labor of love is actually empowering. When operating in the love and grace of God, you always receive more than you are giving.

Second Corinthians 9:10 reads, “Now may He who supplies seed to the sower, and bread for food, supply and multiply the seed you have sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness.”

God gives seed to the sower. He gives strength to those who labor in love.

Labors of love bring greater assurance of our relationship with God because we are identifying with Jesus Christ, who is the Lord of all the laborers in love.

UPDATED BOOK AVAILABLE NOW: “Biblical & Social Justice: What Is It?”

Donate to New Covenant Church: https://cash.app/$newcovenantindy

Sow seed to Pastor Bryan Hudson, https://cash.app/$BryanIndy

“Every Prayer Finds Its ‘Yes’ -- In Christ”

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1 Corinthians 1:20, For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.

One could consider the title of this talk a bit misleading, as people typically think of answers to prayer as yes, no, or wait. I would like for us to think of prayer in a bigger context. We typically think of prayer as concerning something that we need or want, and this is appropriate.

But let me challenge you to think of prayer in view of the greater purposes of God, in which we are participating in God’s plan, not making the seeking of benefits our primary aim.

I’m thinking about the song we sang in my grandfather’s Baptist church: “Jesus Is on the Main Line, call Him up and tell Him what you want.” I’m not sure what that song would sound like in this age of wireless mobile communication. But our text speaks to something much greater than telling Jesus what we want.

In this text, we are learning something from the experience of the Apostle Paul.

Verse 19 reads: “For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us—by me, Silvanus, and Timothy—was not Yes and No, but in Him was Yes.”

In context, we learn that Paul had been criticized for changing his plans and seeming inconsistent. What he affirmed is this: It is not so much about what you want or what you are praying; it is about doing what is consistent with the will of God. This is the reason he stated that the Son of God, Jesus Christ, was not about “yes or no” in human terms. It is all about finding the “Yes” in Jesus.

Simply stated, Paul said yes to Jesus rather than doing what was on his mind or in his plan. He was willing to shift in order to remain consistent with the Lord.

UPDATED BOOK AVAILABLE NOW: “Biblical & Social Justice: What Is It?”

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Sow seed to Pastor Bryan Hudson, https://cash.app/$BryanIndy

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Summary of the Message

Galatians 5:1-5, Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage. 2 Indeed I, Paul, say to you that if you become circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing. 3 And I testify again to every man who becomes circumcised that he is a debtor to keep the whole law. 4 You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace. 5 For we through the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.

Galatians 5:13, For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. 14 For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

Pastor Bryan Hudson teaches that freedom in Christ is the highest and most essential form of freedom. While civil, constitutional, and personal freedoms are important, the freedom Jesus provides transforms the heart and becomes the foundation for seeking freedom in every area of life.

Using Galatians 5:1, Pastor Hudson emphasizes three instructions: stand fast, do not become entangled, and avoid yokes of bondage.

To stand fast means to remain firmly committed to Christ, resist pressure and deception, and refuse to be moved from the liberty God has provided. The enemy cannot forcibly separate believers from God, but he attempts to persuade them to make choices that move them away from God’s will.

Believers must also guard against becoming entangled again in sin, unhealthy relationships, confusing situations, human opinions, or religious practices that replace faith in Christ. Freedom must be protected by recognizing potential entanglements before they become controlling.

A yoke of bondage is anything that restrains, controls, or places an unhealthy obligation upon a person. Everyone is joined to some type of yoke, so the important question is what—or who—is in the yoke with us. Jesus invites believers to take His yoke upon themselves and learn from Him. When we are properly joined with Christ, we can more easily recognize what does not belong in our lives.

Pastor Hudson also warns against depending on religious performance, misleading prophecy, impatience, or human efforts to accomplish what God has promised. Abraham’s decision to produce Ishmael rather than patiently waiting for Isaac illustrates the consequences of departing from God’s plan.

Freedom in Christ is not only for personal benefit. Galatians 5:13 teaches that believers are called to use their liberty to serve others through love. True freedom moves people beyond their comfort zones to love their neighbors, minister to strangers, oppose oppression, and help others experience freedom.

The message concludes with the declaration that believers are children of promise. Even when there is no visible evidence, God remains faithful to His Word. Therefore, believers must stand fast, remain yoked with Jesus, thrive on God’s promises, and share the freedom they have received with others.

Central message: Whom the Son sets free is free indeed. Our responsibility is to continue walking in that freedom, guard against bondage, remain faithful to God’s promises, and use our liberty to love and serve others.

Donate to New Covenant Church: https://cash.app/$newcovenantindy
Sow seed to Pastor Bryan Hudson, https://cash.app/$BryanIndy

“The Freedom Jesus Gives”

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Galatians 5:1 Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.

UPDATED BOOK AVAILABLE NOW: “Biblical & Social Justice: What Is It?”

Donate to New Covenant Church: https://cash.app/$newcovenantindy

Sow seed to Pastor Bryan Hudson, https://cash.app/$BryanIndy

On July 4, 2026 we will commemorate the 250th anniversary of the founding of our nation. Since this number represents history, let's look at history:

These words from Frederick Douglass in 1861, (the year of Confederate rebellion and secession to preserve slavery) regarding a critique of American culture, still ring true today!

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Americans, Douglass believed, instinctively and culturally watched history and preferred not to act in it. Douglass summed up his bitter complaint as “this terrible paradox of passing history” rooted in a distinctively American selfishness.

“Whoever levies a tax upon our [tea], will find the whole land blazing with patriotism and bristling with bayonets.” If some foreign power tried to “impress a few Yankee sailors,” Americans would go “fight like heroes.”

Douglass fashioned a withering chastisement of American self-centeredness that would match any modern complaint about the culture’s hyper individualism.

“Millions of a foreign race may be stolen from their homes, and reduced to hopeless and inhuman bondage among us,” he complained, “and we either approve the deed, or protest as gently as ‘sucking doves.’ ”

His “wickedly selfish” Americans loved to celebrate their “own heritage, and on this condition are content to see others crushed in our midst.”

From "Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom" by David W. Blight, Page 324

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Pleased to announce an updated edition of my book, "Biblical & Social Justice: What Is It?"

https://www.biblicaljusticebook.com