The Freedom of the Cross

Pastor Matt Cottrill's message from our second session on Sunday, Jan 4th 2026

This message confronts us with an uncomfortable but liberating truth: keeping Christ at the center requires more than admiration for the cross He hung on—it demands we climb onto our own. Drawing from Galatians 5:24, we're reminded that those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. This isn't advanced Christianity reserved for spiritual elites; it's basic ownership of who controls our lives. The sermon challenges our modern tendency to love grace while avoiding death, to want resurrection power without crucifixion process, to seek blessings without brokenness. We're confronted with the reality that our flesh—that fallen nature insisting on self-rule—has no redeeming potential. It doesn't need improvement, therapy, or motivation; it needs execution. The flesh presents itself as reasonable, even spiritual, convincing us that small compromises are harmless and that God understands our humanity. But Scripture is clear: if we live after the flesh, we will die. This message calls us beyond behavior management to heart surrender, beyond prayer as a ritual to prayer as reordering authority. The invitation isn't to perfection but to daily, deliberate crucifixion—a process that's slow, public, and painful, yet produces the most powerful life imaginable. When the flesh is silent, the Spirit speaks clearly. When appetites are crucified, prayer carries weight. This is the path to true freedom.