NLCC Walnut Grove Campus

Step 5 on the journey to freedom is to admit to God, to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs. To confess our sin is to walk in the light. Shame thrives in the darkness and we hope to bring our sins out of the dark and into the healing light of the love of God- as we confess our sins to one another.

Step 4 on the journey to freedom is to have an encounter with the truth- to make a 'searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves'.The alcohol, the pornography, the lying, the overeating, the compulsive spending, the gambling and the phone addiction- these are the tip of the iceberg. The reason we go to these things to self-medicate is because we have some unhealed stuff deep within us. This week we explore how to bring these unhealed places within us into the open to be healed by the light and love of God.

Step 3 on the journey to freedom is to surrender- to come to a place in life where we echo the words of the tax collector in the temple: 'God, have mercy on me a sinner'. We are likely to trust our own wisdom and path in a trial or amidst temptation- but freedom will come when we surrender our will to the God who has the power to set us free.

We begin our new series with the story of the Rich Younger Ruler and his need for freedom. In this sermon we discover that vulnerability, honesty, and surrender are the keys to healing, as Jesusthe Good Doctorlovingly exposes what keeps us stuck and invites us into new life. Though the path is not easy, surrendering everything to Him leads to the joy of a heart set free.

At the close of his letter, Paul gives some final instructions to the Colossians that address their conduct towards those outside the church. He tells them to pray earnestly, to act wisely, and to share Gods plan of salvation graciously with all. The grace we have received through Christ is meant to be shared!

In this sermon we focus on the issue of slavery. Colossians 3-4 shows that while Paul did not call for the immediate abolition of slavery, his vision of equality in Christ and his instructions to masters and slaves planted seeds that ultimately fuelled the abolition movement led by Christians throughout history. Today- this passage challenges us to think about better ways to be employees and employers as we follow Jesus.

In this sermon we focus on what it means to be thankful- and how thankfulness inspires a life of obedience to Jesus. It is in thankful worship where we recall the love of God, the grace of Jesus, and the fellowship of the Spirit. Worship is where our hearts are recalibrated and where we are inspired to live a life for Jesus.

Today we will hear Pauls passion for the church to love one another. Paul cares about the individual- but he believes that the transformation of Jesus in our life should lead to a community of love for one another. His desire of the church is that we live out 7 virtues that display the love of Jesus: Compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, forgiveness and love.

As apprentices of Jesus, alive in Christ, we must get rid of all the sinful ways of our old self, like sexual sins and sins of anger, that lead to death and destruction. They are part of the old way that cant co-exist with our new life in Christ. Instead, as we put on the new self, we are being made new by Gods Spirit in the image of the Creator. We are becoming more like Jesus, fully human and fully alive.

Pride, self-pity, entitlement, and anger. These are emotions and actions that many of us struggle with. By listening to the story of King Uzziah, as well as the prophet Isaiah, we see a contrast between the entitlement of the King and the humility of the Prophet. And it is Jesus who has the power to show us what a life of humility looks like- He who did not feel equality with God was something to be grasped- He humbled Himself and became obedient to death on a cross.

Paul is going to encourage the church in the ancient city of Colossae that they are motivated by the wrong thing. They are focusing on and motivated by the rules-but the rules wont change their heart. And so today we will see that it is only when we set our hearts and minds on Christ that our lives are changed.

There is only one source of living water that will quench our thirst. His name is Jesus. Paul wants us to see that fullness of life, wisdom, knowledge and salvation comes through Jesus alone. There is no other stream where our thirst is quenched. In Jesus alone we experience, receive and enjoy the fullness of the love of God. Only Jesus. No rivals.