Youth ministry is so important here at Heartland. Youth are not just the church of tomorrow, but the church of today.

Why Refuge? (Ps 46:1, 2 Cor 5:17)

Why youth ministry? (Mat 19:13-15, 18:3)

Church of today vs Church of tomorrow (Mat 28:19-20)

Our life needs a reno. When we are raised and hidden with Christ we begin to practice putting off and putting on, allowing Christ to renovate us into His image. Being rebuilt means we put away a few things and are renewed. It also means intentionally letting go.

The church is not a place for people who have it all figured out. It's a community of people who are being rebuilt, learning, growing, and working through these very areas (in Colossians 3:5-7) with honesty and grace.

You have been raised with Christ! What is holding you back from seeking Jesus above everything? Prayer starts with Jesus. Seek Jesus above everything to get his perspective on anything.

It is ingrained in us to slip back into measurable rules and regulations to find success over destruction caused by self-indulgences, but we can only truly overcome by belonging to God and letting Him form us.

Being led by emotional experiences and pride leads us to exchange our relationship with God for worthless idols, and to division and a breakdown in relationships. Christ promised fullness in our abiding connection to Him and to His body.

This sermon takes a look at Colossians 2:16-17 and addresses the pressure of religious performance, the problem with shadows, Jesus as being the reality, the danger of legalism, and living in the freedom of Christ.

Spiritual circumcision is identity received. The identity received in spiritual circumcision is inward and spiritual, complete, divine, realized by our thorough identification with Christ in His death and resurrection, brought to fullness in spiritual baptism, and received by faith. Then, our water baptism is identity embraced.