Christ Community Sunday - Leawood Campus

When you first hear Jesus speaking in our passage today, you may be slightly offended. Jesus claims to be our shepherd. Jesus says he is our good shepherd because he knows us by name. He doesn’t just lead us, he knows us. He will not leave us or forsake us. He gave his life for us. The hands that stretched out, on the cross of calvary, pierced for our transgressions and crushed for our iniquities, are in fact the same hands we’ve been looking for our whole lives, and when they find us, will never let us go. He is the good shepherd who calls the atheist by name, the Muslim, the Hindu, the Buddhist, and you and me, by name. He invites all of us into his fold, if only we would enter by him. And he knows your name. He lays down his life for you. He holds you. And even death itself cannot take you from his hands. Do you know His voice? Sermon Notes: https://www.bible.com/events/4893026022.08.07

The first-century Gospel writer John brilliantly weaves truth through a multi-layered story of Jesus healing a blind man. In the nearby literary shadows of this remarkable story lurks a provocative question, “Who’s Really Blind? Helen Keller once said, “The only thing worse than being born blind, is having sight, but no vision.” Embracing the Gospel is the only way to gain true sight. Just like the light of the world gives light to the man born blind in our story, so too can Jesus the true light of the world heal you of spiritual blindness and bring light to your life. Do you see him?Sermon Notes: https://www.bible.com/events/4892647522.07.31

We all want to be on the front line of protecting freedom, but the fight for real freedom is not outside of us, but within. We must beware who offers us freedom and at what cost. Satan will use the common areas of our lives to deceive us from our sin. Sin permeates, stains, and spreads. It begins in one part of our life and moves into the deepest parts of us where our subconscious takes over and suddenly we are driven by fear, shame, success, and idols we have cultivated where Satan is at work in our identity. The greatest weapon against the Enemy’s lies is truth. Only truth has the power to set one free and truth is not elusive. Jesus also stands in front of us. He sees our hearts and offers us freedom from sin and the enemy’s captivity. The yoke of Christ gives us rest so that we can experience love and faithfulness over manipulation and destruction, turning us towards what is good.Sermon Notes: https://www.bible.com/events/4892008422.07.17

If the sun stopped shining, our earth would be a dark lifeless wasteland and without Jesus the light of the world, we are in spiritual darkness. Like the sun, Jesus is the source and sustenance of life itself. He is not only the redeemer, but also the Creator. Without light, we can not see what is true, good or beautiful. Without Jesus the light of the world, we live in darkness. He proclaims a bold truth, offers us a great invitation and gives us a hopeful promise. What is eclipsing the light in our lives? Are we living in the dark or walking in His light?Sermon Notes: https://www.bible.com/events/4891615322.07.10

When it comes down to it, many of us are living desert lives, but what if we could have a lush, overflowing life? That is what Jesus offers us. The desert life gets stuck on how impressive Jesus looks from a human perspective. But Jesus knows that his Father’s timing is more important than human strategy. For an overflowing life, our faith has to be bigger than our ability to always know what Jesus is up to. A desert life wants Jesus to meet our every expectation without challenges, changes or disappointments. If we are not careful, we can admire Him without really believing in Him. It is so simple, yet so difficult for so many of us to receive the overflowing life by believing in Him. When we come to Jesus, thirsty and desperate, we become a river of living water that flows out to everyone around us. Bringing life to our world. We have God’s Spirit like a river of life. Sermon Notes: https://www.bible.com/events/4891390022.07.03

Sermon Notes: https://www.bible.com/events/48909625Following Jesus is hard. Staying with Jesus, obeying him, loving him through thick and thin, listening to him, is really hard. Jesus says things and teaches things that are offensive to every culture, every era and basically every person. So we should not be surprised when Jesus makes us uncomfortable. In fact, if Jesus isn’t offending us, isn’t challenging us, we probably just are not listening very well. Jesus will offend you. That is honestly part of his strategy to help grow your understanding of the kind of kingdom he is bringing. The wonderful paradox of the Christian faith is that as we deny self we become our real selves. It’s important, to be sure, whether or not you can follow Jesus. Don’t just ask “can I afford to follow Jesus?” Ask also, “If not Jesus, then who?”22.06.26

Storms can be frightening. Storms and fear usually go hand in hand. This is not only true of weather-related storms, but also of life-related storms. We all face fearful storms and are living in a very fearful culture. Jesus is not only the creator of the omnipotent God of the universe, Jesus is the loving and attentive omnipresent God who is always there with us even in the midst of chaos. He is here with us and for us. Just before ascending into heaven, Jesus’ last recorded words are, I am with you, even to the end of time. Jesus' uninterrupted and attentive presence in our lives is why we should not be paralyzed by fear. As apprentices of Jesus even in the midst of our greatest fears, our fiercest storms, in the deepest valleys of pain, grief, and doubt, we are never, ever alone.Sermon Notes: https://www.bible.com/events/4890674222.06.19

Sermon Notes: https://www.bible.com/events/4890341222.06.12

Life is like smoke. It looks real and solid but when you try to grasp it, it slips through your fingers. And this observation leads Qohelet to the brink of despair at times, because there seems to be nothing that can be counted on in this life “under the sun.” Rather than try to grasp the smoke, the hevel, and watch it slip through your fingers, live life with an open hand. The simple pleasures of life - those are a gift from God. Enjoy them. The relationships you have are a gift from God. These are ways that God is providing for us - enjoy them while you have them. So for Qohelet, the whole duty of man is to enjoy your life such as it is, and to die. But actually there’s something more. The whole duty of man is not just to enjoy life and die. The whole duty of man is to fear God and keep his commandments.Sermon Notes: https://www.bible.com/events/4889982822.06.05

Jesus is not only the only Son of the Father, but His father has given him all authority under heaven and on earth. Literally, everything hangs on every word that comes from His mouth. If you want to honor God, you must honor the Son. Honoring the Son means taking his words, not just the words we like, but especially the words we don’t like, seriously. He is the Son of the Father, the Judge of all, the final word over every life, or he is nothing. We should honor him by crying out to him for eternal life that only the Son of the Father can give. He promises us, in his timing, just as he has been doing from the very beginning, that he will bring life to dead things, even dead things like you and me.Sermon Notes: https://www.bible.com/events/4886683822.04.03

Sermon Notes: https://www.bible.com/events/4889156522.05.22

Human beings, for most of human history, have a really unhealthy relationship to money. It’s one of those through lines of every age, culture, ethnicity, doesn’t matter: people love money. Qoheleth puts his finger right on the problem. Pleasure and work, and other good things that we can love too much, are like the carrot at the end of the stick that, when you finally get it, leaves you disappointed. It promises rest, but only leads to restlessness. The Bible shows us that we can’t rest from the love of money until we find the rest it promises elsewhere. Which is why Jesus is so adamant that he and he alone can give you rest. Our joy. Our security. Our happiness. He is our ultimate investment and retirement plan. It’s all him. He’s the only thing in life and death that cannot be taken away. Sermon Notes: https://www.bible.com/events/4888549922.05.15

One of the main ways we seek meaning is our work. We were created with work in mind. But when Adam and Eve rebelled against God, not only was human work toilsome, human work became idolatrous.  Instead of work being a vital aspect of  God-honoring worship, humans began to worship their work. And that continues today!  The reason we feel so deeply the meaninglessness of our work at times is precisely because we were made for meaningful work. The reason we often feel the fruitlessness of our striving is because we were made to be fruitful. The reason we feel daily the pain of our toil acutely is because we have a deep God-given impulse to purposefully create, cultivate and contribute to human flourishing. Like so many mirages of meaning we may chase, our work, paid or not paid will eventually let us down.Sermon Notes: https://www.bible.com/events/4888546222.05.08

Pleasure also has no answer to pain. This is perhaps pleasure’s greatest weakness as a purpose to life. Qoheleth will point this out later, but life is so hard, even under the best of circumstances, and you can’t simply distract your way through that. No matter how much pleasure you can have, all it takes is one devastating diagnosis, or loss, or divorce, or death, to completely undo you. And you can’t throw pleasure at that pain, can you? It doesn’t work. The spell that pleasure casts is easily and immediately broken by pain. The human capacity for pleasure pales in comparison to God’s capacity for it. There is beauty, and delight, and music, and light, and colors, we can’t even experience. They only exist for God’s delight. Qoheleth’s lesson is not that he wanted too much, and it let him down. It’s that he wanted too little, when Eden was there all along. And God intends to make everything into Eden one day, and invite you in, if you are willing to follow him there. Sermon Notes: https://www.bible.com/event

Sermon Notes: https://www.bible.com/events/48878305The paradox of human knowledge is the more we know…there is so much more we do not know…like climbing a mountain, when you get to the top, you see other mountains you have never seen before. This is life under the sun. Gospel life under the sun is smoke, but there is life over the sun and it is found in the Son! The vivid contrast between a life lived without God and a life lived in the face of God. John 10:10 reads…I have come to give you life and abundantly, a life of purpose…of deep joy and satisfaction that only ultimately comes in a deepening intimacy with God. The meaning we long for is found in a relationship. Our creator and redeemer, before the face of God. 22.04.24

There is no meaningful way to follow Jesus, no matter how compelling his example and his teaching, if you think he is dead and buried like every other human person from the beginning of time. If he is not raised, then we have no hope. But in fact, Paul says, and he bet his entire life on this: Jesus has been raised. And if he has been raised, then we have eternal hope in him. The only thing more wonderful, in fact, than worshiping this risen Jesus today, will be seeing him when he comes again, to make all things right, and when he utterly destroys our last enemy. And if you can begin to wrap your mind and heart around that, not only as something you hope is real, but something you know is real, you will begin to understand the power of the phrase we started this whole day with. He is risen. He is risen indeed.Sermon Notes: https://www.bible.com/events/4887441622.04.17

John recounts Jesus’ words to religious leaders who are hell-bent on rejecting and condemning him -–despite the evidence. These religious leaders are so motivated to condemn Jesus, they have already decided the verdict in their hearts. If we are honest with ourselves, some of us have made our verdict already, picking and choosing the things we “like” about Jesus. And rejecting anything that gets in the way of our desires or our comforts. We may like what Jesus says about heaven and love. But sexuality? Or money? Or caring for the marginalized? Or loving our enemies. Nah, I’m good. Our heart motivations may be different from the religious leaders in Jesus’ day. But the outcome is the same. We too reject Jesus. So the question we have to wrestle with today is this. Whether you consider yourself a Christian or not, When it comes to Jesus–what will your verdict be?Sermon Notes: https://www.bible.com/events/4887074922.04.10

Sermon Notes: https://www.bible.com/events/48862957It is so easy for us to embrace a misguided religious faith founded in a religious consumer mentality. Christian faith is desirable to us as long as it is comfortable and helpful to us. When it helps us form friendships or our involvement in religious services provides a sense of connection or provides us with great business contacts, or helps our kids or teenagers make better choices and find better friends. Hear me carefully, making good friends and experiencing community are good things, often good things that are outworkings of authentic faith and authentic faith community. And asking our heavenly Father for the desires of our hearts and for things we need is often a very good thing, done with the right motives.  But sometimes our fair-weather faith becomes fickle and proves shallow when life is hard, when we confront suffering, rejection, loneliness, or when prayers seem to go unanswered. How does our faith hold up then? Ask yourself, what is my true hea

Sermon Notes: https://www.bible.com/events/4885927222.03.20

It is easy to miss, in our polarized world, that Jesus seems to have intentionally drawn together people from across ideologies and cultures of the world to be worshippers. Jesus is not after ideologies. He is after worship in spirit and truth. This is Jesus’ language for a new heart that only the Spirit can give, a new obedience to the truth that Jesus is Lord of all. Does Jesus have our worship? This is something, whether we have followed Jesus for a long time, or we are considering him for the first time, that we have to ask ourselves. Jesus’ offer of living water comes at a price: you have to worship him alone, even at the expense of the culture, politics, ideologies, that have shaped you.Sermon Notes: https://www.bible.com/events/4885568122.03.13