Northwest Church of Christ Sermons

God's Adoption Story

In the first week of our seven week study of Ephesians we learned about how God accomplished everything through Christ for our benefit. Now we have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and are God's adopted children. And what many families at Northwest have taught us is that adoption always comes with a price, but that the cost is ALWAYS worth it. Our Father in Heaven feels the same way, that the price for our adoption as His children is worth it!

The One Who Overcomes

The last week of Jesus' life is told in incredible detail in John's Gospel in a way that not only teaches us about Jesus, but also teaches us what kind of followers he desired, how they should live in the world, and what that means for us today. The resurrection is the greatest event in human history and it changes everything. Has it changed you?

Boxing Out for Jesus

In basketball, you box out other players so you can get the rebound. But too often, followers of Jesus boxed out people who needed to be close to Jesus. A crowd wanted to hear Jesus teach, so they boxed out a lame man. They wanted to recognize his importance by shutting out children. They tried to exalt Jesus by shushing blind Bartimaeus. And yet Jesus rebuked the religious crowds to connect with the outsiders. Do we get so focused on Jesus today that we fail to see the people who need him standing right behind us?

Room for One More

Alton Walker presents a sermon on the Great Banquet in Luke 14 that explores how all of us were but one step from being poor, lame, crippled, and blind in some way. But then God came with His amazing grace and now we have a story to tell a world that needs to hear, that Jesus came to seek and save the lost no matter who they are or where they are. There is always room for one more.

The Great Mover

God never leaves us where we are. He is always moving his people to places where they can share the good news or moving lost people to places where they can come in contact with the people of God. Certainly God has a plan and purpose for people who don't know him to encounter Jesus in an eternity changing way. What is your role in this plan to move people to change the world?

The Gospel's Hurdle

What did the God-character do in the parables of the lost sheep and the lost coin? They threw a party to celebrate finding what was lost. What did the older brother do when the Prodigal Son's father threw him a party? He boycotted it. Are we with God in seeking out and celebrating the lost when they are found? Or are we complaining about God's gracious mission in the field? Because if we understand what we are called to do we must be willing to sacrifice to do it.

Our Story, His Story

This week Kent had a conversation with Stacy and Jake Jarrell. The Jarrell's are missionaries in Madrid, Spain who were doing youth ministry until several years ago when they started telling people about Jesus and it changed their lives. This conversation can open doors for you to consider who God might want you to share your faith story with. 

The Missionary Recruiter

This sermon tells the story of a preacher who started traveling around the country trying to recruit people to become missionaries. The thing he kept experiencing, though, was that many Christians who attended church or led ministries kept rejecting his call while broken and normal people kept bridging the gap between the message of God and the ears of the world. What lessons can we learn about telling people about God's good news from these moving stories?

Bad Ol' Days

Last week we talked about the spiritual danger of nostalgia. This week questions whether the "Good Ol' Days" were actually better. Turns out, there's a tremendous amount of data that the world is getting better. So why then are Christians so gloomy? We can push against this despair and anxiety by having confidence in God's love for us, Christ's salvation, the fruits of the Spirit, and by focusing on the good things God is doing in the world and our lives.

The Danger of Nostalgia

Nostalgia pulls us toward the good old days. But in Ecclesiastes, the Teacher of Wisdom tells us that it is not wise to ask why the old days are better than these days. Why is there a problem with nostalgia? It's because it can become an idolatry that denies the presence of God in this moment and the Christian hope for the future. It leads us to spiritual problems. It keeps us from going where God wants us to go. It prevents God from redeeming brokenness to mature us to our full potential, and it causes anxiety, worry, and fear instead of peace, faith, and hope.