Christ Community Sunday - Leawood Campus

When Jesus is invited into every part of our daily lives. Jesus becomes more present to us in our Monday worlds of work, work,  school, recreation. He becomes more present in our homes, in our friendships and family.  When Jesus becomes more and more Holy Spirit fills and empowers us. He draws us to deeper intimacy with Jesus and He guides us, teaches us and reshapes our priorities and reorders our loves. Jesus becomes more in how we do our work, how we treat and speak to our boss or fellow employees. In how we love our neighbor. How we serve, follow and how we lead. In how we sacrificially serve our spouse or honor our parents. In how we speak about, how we love those who we may disagree with. Humility grows when Jesus becomes more and more in our lives.Sermon Notes: https://www.bible.com/events/4885174022.03.06

Sermon Notes: https://www.bible.com/events/48847927From a posture of glorious holiness and a motive of unfathomable love, God the Father, sent Jesus his Son on a divine rescue mission to save us his fallen image-bearers from eternal separation from himself. When we slow down and pause to reflect on it, the intensity and beauty of God’s love, its breadth, and width, its sacrificial nature, the lengths God went to make possible our rescue is simply breathtaking, completely overwhelming to our minds and senses. God’s love unveiled by John is a saving love, a rescuing love, a love that takes the initiative. Saving faith in Jesus saves us from perishing, that is being eternally separated from God, Saving faith in Jesus saves us for eternal life.22.02.27

If I were to ask you what you think is the greatest obstacle to faith, what would you say? Perhaps what blinds us more than anything else to true gospel faith is religion. Churches can be full of religious people, moral people, upstanding citizens, who do not really know Jesus or have forgotten what life with Jesus is all about. For God so loved the world, that He gave His son, not just to people we view as “messed up”, but also for the religious, self-sufficient, successful, and obedient. He knew we would need a MIRACLE to save us from ourselves. His Son was lifted up for us to see Him there and offer us an eternal life with God. Through Him, we have been born again.Sermon Notes: https://www.bible.com/events/4884399222.02.20

Jesus came to make God accessible to everyone. Jesus died so that people could have access to God. Are there places in our lives or in our church, or the Church, where we’re putting up barriers that make it more difficult for people on the outside to encounter God? Church is meant to be a place to practice dying to self, for the sake of others, even if that means you don’t get the song that you want, or the sermon (or preacher) that you want, or as many donut holes as you want. How can we make it easier for people to encounter God, either within our walls or outside of them?Sermon Notes: https://www.bible.com/events/4884042522.02.13

In John 2, by turning water into wine,  Jesus draws his disciples to a greater faith. They learned about the kind of king Jesus is and the kind of kingdom he means to bring. It is easy to forget when the wine is flowing, that it can’t flow forever. What do we do when the wine runs out? When life’s circumstances let us down? John tells us in that moment to trust Jesus. When our wine runs out, we are often tempted to scramble and resort to all kinds of self-preservation that never works. But Jesus’ rescue plan never fails. Do whatever he tells you to do. Not because it stops the fun, but because it leads to real joy. Simple obedience to him, is not some esoteric, mystical thing. He is here and available to help us with real, everyday problems. He is not an insurance plan for your soul; He is a master of ceremonies who cares about every last detail of your life, who wants the best for you and knows how to get it. Sermon Notes: https://www.bible.com/events/4883671122.02.06

In our text this morning, in John 1, there are five men. Andrew, probably John himself, Peter, Philip, and Nathanael. All different with different motivations, questions and jobs. But all of them come and see Jesus for the first time. And it changes them forever. If you are here and you are a christian, or exploring what it means to be a Christian, you are a link in the chain, that goes way back to this story, right here. Somebody pointed you to Jesus. And whether it was years and years of conversation, or one blurted out, whatever it was, it beckoned you to come and see for yourself. And even if you aren’t sure if you are interested, keep coming, because Jesus is interested in you and he wants to build something on your life that you can hardly imagine. Put yourself in the story, maybe for the first time. Sermon Notes: https://www.bible.com/events/4883308122.1.30

Sermon Notes: https://www.bible.com/events/48829523First-century Christians waiting for the Messiah were expecting a King, a strong leader, a warrior who could take on their oppressors from Rome. They wanted the Lion of Judah and a judge who was on their side. They were not prepared to see the Lamb. Israel’s minds and hearts were stubbornly set on only accepting someone who fit the picture in Her mind. No one was looking for a lamb and if we are honest, neither are we. We can be so quick to dismiss the Lamb if we forget His power. He is THE LAMB! He is so much more! He IS the strength and power of true light, and He IS the sovereign authority of God. If we are going to take Jesus seriously, worship him rightly, obey him fully; we need to see the Lamb.22.01.23

As humans, we have always had an interesting relationship with darkness. On one hand, we can be afraid of the dark, but we love it when we need it. To hide. To retreat. To sin or commit evil. John wants to reveal to us that Jesus is the Light. He is not a light, but the one true light, who gives life to humanity. Satan opposes Jesus and His light everywhere he can, but Jesus came into the world to drive out the darkness. John wants us to see that the light came into the darkness and everybody closed their eyes, and fumbled for the light switch. Because as much as we may hate the darkness, we need it to cover the reality of who we are. When we live in obedience to the light, we not only walk in the light ourselves, but we can shine the light for others. Shine the light.Sermon Notes: https://www.bible.com/events/4882572222.01.16

Sermon Notes: https://www.bible.com/events/4881575722.01.02

I believe we live in a time of great skepticism and growing mistrust and yet skepticism of truth claims and the challenge of discerning what is true and what is not- is not restricted to our modern time. Through John’s witness, we see that from the opening verses of the bible through the very end, the story of God we encounter is one who greatly loves this broken material world. Let’s remember that in the original creation, God declared the material world good! That includes the stuff of this world, our bodies of flesh and blood.  And even after humankind rebelled against God with broken lives and a broken world being the tragic result, God refused to give up on his world and has chosen to redeem and restore it. In Jesus God came to rescue and redeem our world. The very act of Jesus assuming human flesh, the Word sanctified and hallowed our material bodies and our material world. Jesus is history's greatest miracle and Jesus is our greatest hope.Sermon Notes: https://www.bible.com/events/4882101822.01.09

Sermon notes: https://www.bible.com/events/4881569021.12.26

Sermon Notes: https://www.bible.com/events/4881210721.12.19

We are in a sermon series this Advent season on the names of God. How does the Bible talk about God?  What names does He have, the Son given to us on Christmas, who has come to us and will come again?  He is the Lord of hosts which is a reminder that we do not fight alone. He is an invisible general, fighting for us. He isn’t afraid of a human army, and swords and shields and chariots. He’s the lord of hosts! He doesn’t see our battles the way we do. He sees beyond the physical and material. Beyond the human solutions and strategies. And He asks His people to trust Him, that He can do it, even when it looks impossible. Someone fights for us. Do you know that? When you feel overwhelmed by your life. When it feels impossible. Like nobody can make this okay. Do you know God is fighting with you? Do you feel the difference that makes? Someone wins for us. There will be no end to justice and peace when God sends this king. And His victory. Is our victory. The Lord of Hosts becomes human. Jesus. Born in a manger. T

We all long to be seen, noticed, known, valued by others, not just around or tolerated, but really seen. This time of year lots of people are around, but many feel more invisible than ever. This morning, our story in Genesis is giving us a window into the life of one of the most invisible people ever, until God met her. This overlooked woman is actually the only person in the whole bible to give God a name. She calls him the God of seeing because she felt seen for the first time by Him. We are seen by Him as well. We know this because of Jesus, God’s answer to our deepest longings. We know because God came to another young girl named Mary. He promised her she would bear a son, a divine son, whom God Himself would name Jesus, who is more than a God who sees. But a God who suffers, dies, rises again. A God who saves.Sermon Notes: https://www.bible.com/events/4880836921.12.12

Sermon Notes: https://www.bible.com/events/4880149221.11.28

Our world is constantly changing around us. It seems as though it is changing faster now than ever. What never changes, and what always grounds us, no matter what, is not who we are, but whose we are. We do not belong to the chaos of our world when it rears its ugly head. We do not belong to an ideology. We do not belong to a human authority. We don’t even belong to ourselves. We belong to Jesus. And He is in control, and is always taking care of us. He sends us on a mission together to be a family, together, for ALL nations, to bring forgiveness and reconciliation to everyone, everywhere, all the time. He does not call us to do it alone, He is always with us. His church will triumph. His kingdom will come. His will we be done on earth as it is in heaven. His victory is sure. And we are in it. Praise God for it.SERMON NOTES: bible.com/events/4879773421.11.21

The bible tells us God designed the family and the local church to be the primary sustaining institutions for human flourishing. The bible also teaches that a flourishing faith is a belonging faith. That real faith not only believes, it also belongs!  But what does a belonging faith look like? It was a great privilege for us to host Dr. Curt Thompson at Christ Community recently. As a devoted apprentice of Jesus and practicing psychiatrist, Curt brought great insight from theology and interpersonal neurobiology as it relates to God’s design for our flourishing.  Curt highlighted how each one of us as image bearers of God need relationships and community where we are Seen, Soothed, Safe, and Secure. To be seen means we are seen as we really are.  To be soothed is to experience empathy from others. To be safe is to be comfortable in our relationships with others. To be secure means others are trustworthy and won’t abandon us when things get hard. I think these four S’s are a good picture of what the New Testame

In today’s passage, James wants to warn us about the effect money can have on our faith. If we are not careful, wealth can corrupt us. It can convince us that we deserve more than we need. It will even try to convince us that our wants are actually needs. Our want for “stuff” is never done. We must not put our trust in material possessions which can lead to the hoarding of wealth, oppression of laborers, self-indulgence or the murder of the righteous. We must remember to leverage our wealth for love of God and love of others through the practice of generosity and practicing simplicity.SERMON NOTES: https://www.bible.com/events/4879017321.11.07

Planning can be wise and good, but who do we have in mind when we plan? If we long to have real faith, whole faith, lived out faith, we must remember who holds tomorrow. When we plan out our lives and love our plans too much, we become reliant on them. Our plans will inevitably let us down. Our plans, good or bad, successful or unsuccessful, are trials that are designed to bring us closer to who God wants us to be. The moment our plans fail is a moment to trust God and find joy in His plan for the day over our own. We need to remember to number our days, practice Sabbath rest, and pray through our plans. When we do this, our plans become an act of worship and faith in the only One who actually knows what He is doing.21.10.31

When is the last time you really sat down and thought, “what do I want?” Not like in a shallow way. But like, “what do I want in life? It’s a more important question than I often acknowledge. There is ancient wisdom about how important what we want is. How powerful it is, and how dangerous it can be. James chapter 4 is a warning. A warning about wanting the wrong things, and the consequences to our faith and our community together. Jesus linked our unity, our ability to handle conflict well among one another, to the world’s belief in who Jesus is. When we are at war among each other, no one will believe that Jesus is the Son of God. So if we want God above all others, we must humble ourselves and come back to God, our first love.21.10.24