Philemon and the Power of Jesus Christ

Yesterday Northwest Community Church kicked off a new teaching series on one of the shortest books in the Bible. Over the next 3 weeks we are going to walk through Philemon together and discover some incredible things about the power of Jesus Christ.  We will see how God is able to use a short letter (Philemon contains less than 450 words, is organized into only 25 verses, and takes less than 5 minutes to read) to highlight Jesus Christ's ability to reach people, change people, and forgive people. When you combine God's Word with a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, you have the recipe for life-change not only in your life but also in the lives of people around you. Remember, God has been changing people's lives for centuries and the book of Philemon is a perfect example of the lengths God is willing and able to go in order to reach people and transform them.

Sundays, May 17, 24, & 31 at Northwest Community Church

During week 1 of the series, we walked through the first ten verses of Philemon and introduced the three main characters of this powerful letter. We met Philemon, Paul, and Onesimus. Philemon was a wealthy, influential businessman, a fully devoted follower of Jesus Christ, and a man who was known for his ability to refresh and encourage other people. The Apostle Paul was writing to Philemon while imprisoned in Rome for preaching about Jesus Christ. Onesimus was a runaway slave with a shady past who eventually gave his life to Jesus Christ and experienced dramatic life-change and forgiveness.

If you missed week 1 of the Philemon series be sure to listen to our podcast and read Philemon 1-10 during one of your quiet times later this week. As you do, keep in mind that the book of Philemon shows us the power of Jesus Christ and His ability to reach people no matter where they are in life. Onesimus had a shady past and was running from his problems and yet God allowed him to cross paths with Paul in a Roman prison. Meanwhile Paul was suffering imprisonment and God gave purpose to his suffering and allowed Paul to lead Onesimus to Christ. And then finally Philemon was riding a wave of success and was suddenly given an opportunity to be an example to the world of what forgiveness and faith is all about.  Wow! Jesus Christ truly has the ability to cut across all barriers and circumstances to reach people no matter where they are in life.

Finally, we challenge you to ask yourself three questions as you study the introduction to Philemon:

1. Am I willing to give God my past?
2. Am I willing to trust God in the midst of pain and trials?
3. Am I willing to surrender my success to God and trust Him with my future?

Papua New Guinea Building Trip

On March 14, Will Blanchard, Kent Doughty, Dave Pinti, and I left Northwest Arkansas and headed to Papua New Guinea for 13 days to finish building a missionary house in the mountains in a tribe called Wantakia. It took 30 hours of travel, including 5 airplanes and 1 helicopter, but we final made it to the ends of the earth! It’s crazy to think that this tribe has such little access to the outside world that they’ve never even heard the name “Jesus” before. Well, our plan is to change that. We are partnering with BJ and Jill Sanders and their team to make the name of Jesus famous not only in Wantakia, but all over the mountains of PNG.

When we arrived, BJ and Jill's house still had a long way to go. Our hope was to finish the house by the time we left, but that task seemed impossible. We decided on 3 very important rules that would guide us each day. 1) Quantity, get as much done as fast as we can. 2) Quality, we used tape measures most of the time and sometimes we even used a square. 3) Safty, "safety third" was repeated frequently during our days of work - especially when a ladder was balanced on the side of a hill using a large stone.

Each day we worked as hard as we could, from sun-up to sun-down, barely even breaking for meals. We even worked most nights with head lamps and flashlights. As we were building the house, the local people watched our every move and followed us around everywhere. They are so excited, and they don't even realize what Good News they are about to hear! So, after putting in about six 14 hour days, we were able to see the house finished! We were even able to do work on the other 2 houses. So, all three families moved into their tribal homes this weekend!

The trip was a huge success, so I want to thank you on behalf of Northwest for all for your prayers and support.

Scott Sanders
Student and Missions Pastor @ Northwest

If you’d like to stay updated on ways you can pray for this team, check out www.reachwantakia.com. 

Also be sure to check out a recent video the team posted the day before they left.

It's Snowing and We're Adapting

We hope you and your family are staying warm and enjoying the beautiful snow across NWA. We want to give you a heads up about how we are going to adapt our Sunday worship gathering this week. The normal time and location will be different so listen up and help spread the message. On Sunday, March 1 Northwest Community Church will host our worship gathering at 11:00 am at our office building at 8250 West McNelly Rd Bentonville, AR 72712. We will have a simple but exciting worship gathering for everyone who can make it. We will have hot coffee, donuts, genuine friendships, and a refreshing time of worship and teaching for you and your family. We will revisit a passage in Hebrews 6:18 - 19 which describes the hope we have in Jesus Christ as being an anchor for our souls. Come prepared to discuss how Jesus has been the anchor in your life in recent months. Put on your flexible pants and come join us! Also, consider using this snow day as an opportunity to serve your neighbors and invite them to join you tomorrow morning at Northwest.

Finally, if you and your family decide to stay home tomorrow morning please remember to utilize the Northwest podcasts posted on iTunes and our website. You could easily gather around your computer, phone, or tablet and listen to a recent message that will help your family study God's Word together and spark great conversations.

Have a great weekend,
Will

Mud Pies

Yesterday Northwest Community Church kicked off a new teaching series entitled Mud Pies. Where did we get such an odd title like Mud Pies? Well, the inspiration for this series comes directly from a quote from a Christian apologist, author, and scholar by the name of C.S. Lewis in his sermon entitled "The Weight of Glory." Lewis writes, "If we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling around with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased."

Northwest Community Church
February 22 - March 8

Lewis was making the point that God designed human beings to enjoy Him. We were created by God to enjoy fellowship with our creator, to delight in His laws, instruction, and leadership, and to reflect His character. And thankfully because of Jesus Christ, WE CAN!  Sadly, however, many people end up reducing this incredible relationship down to a set of legalistic rules and never experience the soul-satisfying enjoyment of truly knowing and following Jesus Christ.  We end up settling for mud pies.

During the Mud Pies series we will be discovering how a personal relationship with Jesus Christ leads to enjoyment in God, heartfelt obedience, hunger for God's character, and a desire to please God out of reverence and gratitude. Specifically during Mud Pies we will discover how Jesus is able shape us into generous men and women who give in a way that delights the heart of the Father.  Mud Pies will deepen your understanding of acceptable gifts to God and show you how to manage money in such a way that you actually grow deeper in your relationship with Jesus Christ. Come learn with us and refuse to settle for mud pies as it relates to your finances, generosity, and walk with God.

If you missed Week 1 of Mud Pies be sure to check out the Northwest Podcast on iTunes or through our website. Then make plans to join us for our worship gathering this Sunday at Cooper Elementary in Bella Vista at 10am.