Christ Community Church - Leawood Campus - SUNDAY MESSAGES

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. To defeat our real enemies. And His victory over sin and death is our victory. Somebody wins for us. SERMON NOTES: https://www.bible.com/events/4880151721.12.05

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 Testament writers like James describe as Agape love, the binding glue that holds a local church together and fuels a flourishing faith. As fellow Christians, we have a window of opportunity to be the church, the gracious and truth telling mouthpiece, the loving hands and feet of Jesus who laid down his life for others. 21.11.14

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

Our words matter to God. Words can lift up or tear down. They can unite or divide. They can make us laugh or make us cry. Words stick with us and cannot be taken back. They leave a lasting imprint. Our tongues reveal our human sinfulness and brokenness. It is like a barometer for our inner world, our character, and our spiritual formation. At the root of any tongue problem is a heart problem. We must pursue a wise lipstyle by training our tongues, being attentive to our words, and being reflective in what we say. Are we using words that are edifying, necessary, and grace-filled? Our words matter and need to be guided by grace in a broken world.21.10.17

The more we internalize, trust, and believe in Jesus’ mercy for us, the more mercy, compassion, and service will be evident in us toward others. There’s a direct relationship between how loved we know we are, to how much mercy we show those around us. This is why Jesus ALWAYS points out that the one who loves Him best are always the ones who have received the most mercy. It’s also why the poor and oppressed are almost always examples of faith. If we feel better about ourselves when we consider the poor, the broken, the immigrant, the single mom, the addict, the unemployed, the unpopular, it is that moment when we must reconsider ourselves in light of grace, as rebels, and outcasts, as exiles, now brought near by the blood of Jesus Christ.21.10.10