New Life Church - Downtown Little Rock

God is calling you to the light not for condemnation but for freedom! There are things in your life right now that you see plain as day but you are steadily tripping over them. We must bring things to his light if we want to live in freedom and walk in the wholeness he is calling us to. “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is f...

This week we continue in 1 John with Pastor Duane Clayton teaching us about the power of showing Christ's love to everyone around us – not only those it's easy to love.

The bible says that by our love for one another they will know that we are his disciples! The reason why God wants you to love is because he is love. God showed that love by sending Jesus Christ to earth to die for you. Out of that great love, he is asking us to pour it back out on our friends, neighbors, family, and community so that they would see his love through us. “For this is the message yo...

We have to align ourselves with the way God sees the world and he commissioned the church to do it’s part of his great rescue mission! God sees and hears his people! And his heart breaks for the Israelites back then, but also for his heart is breaking today for the people of Little Rock. What does he do? He acts! And his call to us is to be a part of what God is doing. “For we are to God the pleas...

We must let the word and the Holy Spirit constantly challenge us to go deeper. This week we're asking you to let him search you and challenge you in what is next for you, whether you're ankle, knee, or waist deep - the call is go deeper. Not to be a fully devoted follower of Church - but a fully devoted follower of Christ. "Then he said to them all: 'Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny thems...

Unity must be a core value of our local church. Part of maturing and becoming a fully devoted follower of Christ is learning how to maintain a pure heart so we can maintain unity. This week let yourself be challenged and search your heart if there are any ways you can fight for unity in our community. We believe through the grace Christ gives us relationships can be mended. Church hurt can be heal...

Have you ever thought of yourself as a leader? You are! And no one you influence is more important than your family. Leading your family requires loving sacrificially, building trust, and cherishing each other’s differences. Doing this fosters a family culture full of understanding, support, and leadership. “Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, jus...

As a believer do you know that you have access to this same power and spiritual riches that Paul Speaks of in Ephesians? The enemy doesn't want you to be secure in this identity. He doesn't want you to know how God truly feels about you. Because he never wants you to have the healthy relationship with God that God desires and longs for.  “Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in...

Some of you are in a Spiritual battle — but still fighting a person. Your problem is not a person or a circumstance. Your battle is spiritual and God's will is to equip you for that battle in a spiritual way. Not with your own skills, talent, or equipment – but with the armor of God. "...our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the power...

Is Christ in you?

Our vision at New Life Church is that we are a community living in covenant love with each other. A covenant is distinct from a contract in that each side agrees to uphold their side of the agreement whether or not the other is faithful. We have to fight to stay in relationship with each other and we can only do that from the model and power of Christ’s love. We want to live on fire in our faith,...

God uses missional disciples to disrupt a local community, to share the love of Christ with conviction. Then, through the testimony of changed lives, he will expand his kingdom and we can bring glory to him. This call should lead us to be believers who are bold and full of conviction walking in the power of the authority he has given us so we can use it to point others back to our source.  “When t...

What we do forms our loves, and what we love or desire directs our lives. The problem comes when we don’t recognize that our habits form what our hearts love and desire. This week we look at how we can - as Christians - resist seemingly innocent cultural practices and liturgies that so deeply are aspiring to recruit and form our hearts and imagination.  “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters...

What do we do when the odds are stacked against us? How do we respond when it seems like there's no way out? As the world changes we must stay true to our foundation which is the Word of God.  "After this, the Moabites and Ammonites with some of the Meunites came to wage war against Jehoshaphat. Some people came and told Jehoshaphat, 'A vast army is coming against you from Edom, from the other sid...

As we continue through the book of Daniel we're asking ourselves how can we avoid being formed by our culture and instead bring the kingdom into our culture. "If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty's hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worsh...

Jesus called anyone who wants to be his disciple to give up their live which means surrendering your mind, will, and emotions to him. "Then Jesus said to his disciples, 'Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.'" Matthew 16:24-25

Today we are going to stay in the book of Daniel and specifically look at how we can learn from Daniel and his friends about how we can intentionally build healthy guardrails as people of faith that can help keep us on the right path for the long term just like Daniel walked out over decades. As we bow our knee to Jesus and make him Lord, he begins a refining process in us of using conviction and...

We often feel we have one of two options when looking at the pressure of living in a secular culture: We can either separate or assimilate. The book of Daniel shows us there is a third option: We don’t have to separate or assimilate, but we can redemptively participate in the cultural moment we find ourselves in. God has called us to radically integrate into our culture in order to accomplish His...

If you are wanting to live a life of faithfulness to Jesus in commitment to God’s plan and His design, everything around you in our cultural moment will rage against that. We live in many ways in a digital Babylon that condemns moral guidelines, champions immorality, and condemns those who won’t celebrate this new moral vision. God has called us to build a life, plant deep roots, grow our families...

Methods and vision can change as we adapt to the ever changing circumstances of life, but it's our values that determine who we become and what we do with our lives! Values form our decision making, our priorities, and our financial decisions. As a church we have strong values that shape the way we look at things and how we make our calls regardless of what the political climate is, what the cultu...

A weakness is a known bad trait someone has and they try to hide it even though it’s visible — it’s insecurity. Vulnerability is different. It’s the openness and honesty about a weakness or pain with a full desire and willingness to fix it. To grow in our faith and toward the callings God has for us we must be vulnerable with those in our community so we can be challenged and find new strength thr...

What if you could be content with nothing but hunger and need: That is the absurdity of what Paul is telling us in Philippians 4. But the truth is you are most fulfilled not when your plate is full or your bank account is full but when your heart and mind is full of the hope of Christ Jesus. “I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I...

How does a relationship with God provide us the tools we need to live above the anxiety in our world and not carry this in our lives? How do we become people of peace in an anxious world? If we live in a world of systemic anxiety, it takes a person who is a differentiated (able to separate) non-anxious presence to lead people out of it. Here is what this scripture promises us: God is our very pres...

Righteousness – a right standing with God – is never ever grounded on your accomplishments. It’s not about what you have done or don’t do for God. It’s about what Jesus has done. You can only Christ through faith & repentance as you commit yourself to Christ. And after we become one, we press into our righteousness, we press into the perfect creatures God has in store. We work with God to shap...

You will not become who God made you to be by winging it on your own. When you repent of sins and turn towards God you become part of a new family called the Church. God designed the church brilliantly with everything we need to grow and become like Jesus. “I have no one else like him, who will show genuine concern for your welfare. For everyone looks out for their own interests, not those of Jesu...