Christ Community Church - Leawood Campus - SUNDAY MESSAGES

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