The Sanctification of Desire | Free at Last Week 11
Steve DeNeff: The Sanctification of Desire
As we conclude our Ten Commandments series with the final commandment, “You shall not covet…” we’re reminded that God isn’t just concerned with our actions—ultimately he’s after our hearts. What is possible when even our desires, our inclinations, are transformed?
The weight of a Witness | Free at Last Week 10
Every day we testify about someone — a coworker, a neighbor, a friend — whether we realize it or not. This week we dig into the ninth commandment and ask: what kind of witness are we called to be and what does that look like in our daily lives?
Tired and Broke | Free at Last Week 9
On the surface, the 8th commandment is easy to follow. Don’t take stuff that isn’t yours. As we grow in Christ, the 8th commandment has less to do with theft and more to do with generosity. Even further: the easiest generosity is financial. While Paul tells the Corinthians to give freely of their gifts, we ask “what gifts exactly?”. What are the best gifts we can give of freely? This sermon explores three stories in Mark 5 where Jesus gives gifts far more valuable than money. So the question is: is stealing easy?
The Shape of Faithful Love | Free at Last Week 8
The seventh commandment calls us to become people of faithful love. Marriage is its clearest expression, but not its only one. God is forming people whose promises can be trusted, whose relationships are marked by loyalty, and whose lives reflect the steadfast love God has shown them.
A Community of Life | Free at Last Week 7
Most who read the 6th commandment would be sure they’ve never broken it and they haven’t. But read it again, this time as an invitation into a life and a community that not only tolerates our differences, but celebrates them. Like every other commandment, this one has three levels; the highest is what everyone wants. We at CWC have an honest chance of reaching it.
Making Room for Wisdom | Free at Last Week 6
“Honor your father and mother” is the first commandment with a promise. But even if this commandment is good advice, how is it good news? How are we expected to follow this one when relationships are frayed? This sermon will explore this commandment, Jesus’ redefinition of the “family,” and paint a picture of what it means for us to live into our own families (and the family of God) across generations.
Don’t Forget to Remember the Sabbath | Free at Last Week 5
The Sabbath is not a rule to keep. It is a response to our relationship with God.
The Name | Free at Last Week 4
What does it mean to misuse the name of God? What does it mean to use the name properly? This sermon will explore how we can live into this commandment: only by revering the name YHWH (Law) can we treasure it, then be at home with it: “Father” (Gospels), and center our lives around the gravity of God’s life, doing “everything in the Name” of the one who called us (Epistles).
Undistracted Worship Undivided Heart Undefiled Bodies | Free at Last Week 3
God’s command against idols is not simply about statues or images; it is about the ordering of our loves. This sermon invites us to ask: What are we giving our hearts, bodies, habits, and imaginations to? The call of God is not merely to avoid false worship, but to become whole people whose lives are re-formed around him. We cast down idols not because worship is optional, but because we were made to worship the living God with undivided hearts and embodied lives. Since we are made in God’s image – in fact, we are the only part of creation that is – idolatry is a distortion of not only God, but of us as well.
We Love God Wholly | Free at Last Week 2
God did not rescue Israel from slavery simply to give them rules. He rescued them to form them into a holy people whose hearts belonged wholly to Him. In Exodus 20, God frees His people externally. In Mark 12, Jesus reveals that the commandments are fundamentally relational, rooted in love of God and neighbor. In 1 Thessalonians 5, we see God’s final intention: not just outward obedience, but inward transformation of spirit, soul, and body through the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit. True freedom is not the absence of restraint, but a heart so transformed by the Holy Spirit that obedience becomes love rather than coercion. God’s goal is not merely compliant behavior, but wholehearted devotion.
The Freedom of Obedience | Free at Last Week 1
There are three levels of obedience. Most are stuck in the first. But freedom awaits us in the third.