Christ Community Church - Leawood Campus - SUNDAY MESSAGES

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