Ernest Stellingwerff of our Elder Team is Executive Director of RISE UP Recovery in Hastings. He brings us a special sermon on overcoming sin and addiction. Juxtaposing Col. 3:1-17 with James 1:14-15, Ernest specifies areas related to “The Battle of the Heart” and “The Battle of the Mind.” Every other worldview teaches that performance leads to the verdict; only Christianity teaches that the verdict (Christ paying for our sins) leads to performance (purity and good works flowing from our life in Christ). Our heart posture affects what we think, and what we think dictates our actions. Thoughts are the first step in any sin; replace those thoughts with the Word of God, the Bible. Run away from sin and toward God! Ernest’s closing admonition is to examine our hearts to see if there is anything we’ve put as more important than God (see Ps. 51).