Christ Community Church - Leawood Campus - SUNDAY MESSAGES

1 Samuel 24: 1-7 // Tom NelsonFor God’s covenant people throughout history, waiting was synonymous with knowing God and being known by God, of going deeper with God, but now waiting is more often than not, viewed as if we’ve missed what God has for us or that God must be ignoring us and our desires. I think it is fair to say, waiting on God is one of life’s greatest challenges.Sermon Notes: https://www.bible.com/events/49088649 Prayer Requests: https://ccefc.ccbchurch.com/goto/forms/2509/responses/new23.06.11

1 Samuel 7: 1-11 // Tom Nelson The David and Goliath story is more than an underdog story, more than a big giant who is slain, rather it is a story about eyes that truly see. A story not so much about special courage as it is about spiritual insight. Not so much about an underdog who wins, but a shepherd boy who sees differently. Faith sees differently! Faith sight is different from eyesight. Through the eyes of faith, you can be confident that God is with you, God is ahead of you. Ultimately, the battle is the Lord’s. That all things ultimately are worked out for good by a Sovereign God who loves us and wills the very best for us. When we get our eyes on God, the difficult circumstances, fearful obstacles, griefs, disappointments, and losses we face are put in a more hopeful perspective. Through the eyes of faith, even large giants look small. Secondly, even slim odds are God-sized opportunities. One of our greatest challenges to continue to walk by faith is that we tend to forget God’s past faithfulness to us. Those victory moments when God has provided for us, protected us and his unmistakable presence has been there for us. We never outgrow the need to remember God’s past faithfulness to us. So how are you remembering to remember? How are you tangibly remembering God’s past faithfulness, his provision, his protection, and his unmistakable presence in your life?Sermon Notes: https://www.bible.com/events/49085483Prayer Requests: https://ccefc.ccbchurch.com/goto/forms/2509/responses/new23.06.04

After millennia of promising a king would come, he finally appears, and it’s almost completely overlooked by the world. In the shadow of a massive empire, comes the king over all, and he came for us. Join us this Christmas Eve as we take time to notice and celebrate the birth of the promised king!Prayer Requests: https://ccefc.ccbchurch.com/goto/forms/2509/responses/new22.12.24

Sermon Notes: https://www.bible.com/events/48999988Prayer Request: https://ccefc.ccbchurch.com/goto/forms/2509/responses/new22.12.25

1 Samuel 18-20 / Caleb JenkinsToday, as we explore the story of David and Jonathan in 1 Samuel, I want to convince you that there are three myths in our culture about friendship that prevent us from experiencing friendship the way it’s meant to be, and more than that, keep us being the kind of friend that we as humans need. We’ll see, especially as we consider the kind of friend that Jonathan is, three truths from this story that counter our culture’s myths, and also point beyond friendship to a deeper human need we have.These three truths are Recognizing the importance of friendship enables our flourishing. Our friendships should be intentional. Friendship is Costly. We all want a friend who makes our friendship primary, who’s intentional with us, and sticks with us even when it’s costly…. But it’s much harder to be that kind of friend for others. What might it look like for you to take a step towards sacrificing in your friendships?Sermon Notes: https://www.bible.com/events/49081665Prayer Requests: https://ccefc.ccbchurch.com/goto/forms/2509/responses/new23.05.28

1 Samuel 16:1-13 // Tom NelsonEyes can be tricky things. They play tricks on us.We believe what we see with our eyes more than almost anything else, but as humans, we have trouble seeing. Our seeing can mislead us, even deceive us. What we see often depends on who we listen to. Our human eyesight does not equate with spiritual insight. What do we do when what we see is in conflict with what we have heard? This is often where we have to remember faith is opposed to seeing but not opposed to knowing. That is a warning: your eyes will deceive you. Only God sees rightly. Humans see partially. The only way for us to see rightly is to listen to the one who sees wholly. Are you listening? What are you not seeing that God wants you to see?Sermon Notes: https://www.bible.com/events/49072341Prayer Requests: https://ccefc.ccbchurch.com/goto/forms/2509/responses/new23.05.21

1 Samuel 2: 1-10 // Brent NelsenI know this is Mother’s Day, and Mother’s Day can be hard for some people. Many of you understand the pain that Hannah feels about being unable to have children. You may be struggling with infertility now. Or you struggled with it at some point in the past. Or maybe you are single but you have always wanted a family. You understand Hannah’s pain in a way that I can only imagine. You may be asking the question, “Why did Hannah’s prayer get answered and mine didn’t?” That’s a fair question. And what’s frustrating is that, like so many “why” questions (and we all have them), the Bible doesn’t answer it. It seems from the Bible that God doesn’t always feel the need to explain himself. Instead, it shows us a picture of a God who sees pain and suffering and promises to be with us in the midst of it. Who says, “I know you’re hurting, but I want you to know that I’m right here with you.” What’s so remarkable about the God of the Bible is that he’s not unmoved by human suffering. And this God also knows what it’s like to suffer himself. Who has been rejected, persecuted, abandoned, and even tortured for you and for me? Sermon Notes: https://www.bible.com/events/49071055Prayer Requests: https://ccefc.ccbchurch.com/goto/forms/2509/responses/new23.05.14

Acts 1: 1-11 // Tom NelsonWe often hear things like being on the right side of history…but that can be a very tenuous and perilous assertion to make. As followers of Jesus, we know history is on the march according to a sovereign God’s plan and purpose. More important than being on the right side of history whatever that may be or not be, is that we know where we are in redemptive history. We now live in a time between Jesus’ first coming and ascension and his second coming. In that sense, we are “Tweeners”! We are somewhere between Jesus' first and second coming. Jesus' kingdom has arrived, but it is not fully yet here. Jesus has come to this world, he is now reigning in the heavenly realms, and will one day return to earth. What does that mean for us as faithful apprentices of Jesus on kingdom mission?Sermon Notes: https://www.bible.com/events/49067541 Prayer Requests: https://ccefc.ccbchurch.com/goto/forms/2509/responses/new23.05.07

John 21: 1-19 // Tom NelsonI don’t know specifically where your brokenness or struggles lie, nor do I know what mistakes you have made or what your most regretful failures have been or currently are. But I am confident that if you are like me in my mistakes and failures, a crying question of my heart is what is God’s response? For those who are followers of Jesus, or who are considering following him, a burning question we wrestle with, yet one we seldom verbalize, is what is Jesus’ response to us when we fail him?   Does Jesus lecture us? Shame us? Condemn us? Abandon us? Jesus’ response may surprise you, even shock you.Sermon Notes: https://www.bible.com/events/49067531Prayer Requests:  https://ccefc.ccbchurch.com/goto/forms/2509/responses/new23.04.30

John 20:24-31 // Andrew JonesThere comes a moment, in all of our stories, that to truly follow Jesus and believe in him requires more than intellectual assent to his existence. It is more than searching for him. It actually means understanding we are found by Him. He’s the one looking for us, not the other way around. Perhaps the most powerful doubts we ever experience are in moments of pain, loss, and grief. Suffering is the most earth-shaking experience when it comes to what we believe. Nothing makes us question the goodness of God, the trustworthiness of Jesus, like suffering that we just don’t understand. The hands that hold us are not immune to our suffering. They are not pristine and whole. They have been through all of it and more. They are scarred, as a reminder, that our scars will never have the final word over us. Thomas saw these hands and believed. Do we?Sermon Notes: https://www.bible.com/events/49063916Prayer Requests: https://ccefc.ccbchurch.com/goto/forms/2509/responses/new