College Wesleyan Church Sermons: Recent Episodes
College Wesleyan Church
Steve DeNeff: Growth brings complexity and complexity strangles growth. That is the paradox confronting every church that grows. How do Spirit-animated churches, like ours, protect the mission from the threat of success? How do they find their leaders? And what do they expect from them? As we think about leaders in our church, what can we learn from the one in Acts?
Steve DeNeff: For years the Church has been “the most segregated hour all week,” but slowly things are changing. As we become more integrated, does anyone have a vision for something beyond diversity? What does the Holy Spirit want diversity for? What is possible for the Church only after it has engaged and empowered ALL the children of God? And how does a church like ours become more like that in the power of the Spirit, rather than our own power?
DJ Coleman: Those who walk in the Spirit live in the flow of conversations with God about what they are working on together. More than praying with the mouth or from their heart, they pray in the Spirit and with impressive results. Things happen that otherwise wouldn’t have because of their conversations with God.
Ethan Linder: Our cultural moment is determined either to keep faith “personal and private,” OR to militarize our faith, bludgeoning others with our arguments. The apostles give us a third way: refusing to compartmentalize or weaponize, they instead, “spoke as the Spirit enabled them.” (Acts 2) This sermon will address what it means for us to speak as the Spirit enables us.
Steve DeNeff: If the secret of Pentecost is 120 people learning to walk daily in the Spirit, what are the quiet, unseen habits of those people? What do they do in private that prepares them for the public demonstration?
Steve DeNeff: For years, we have prayed for revival, for another Pentecost. But the secret of Pentecost is not the number (120) who were “filled with the Spirit,” but those who learned to “walk in the Spirit” afterward. This is what it means … Are you in?
Steve DeNeff: Despite the spiritual climate of our day, this is what is still possible for the Church – for our church – because of God and Pentecost.
Steve DeNeff: Matthew 7:13-14, 21-29; Throughout Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, he calls for a deeper, more thorough transformation that occurs in layers. All are good but some are better. What are they? And how do we move from one to another?
Megan Swan: Jesus's teachings in Matthew 5:13-16 describe believers as the "salt of the earth" and the "light of the world". This isn't a command to become salt and light, but rather a statement of who followers of Christ already are because of their relationship with Him. By recognizing and celebrating the ways in which CWC is already salt and light, we can become more intentional about our Christian influence and experience the joy of making a difference in the world around us.
Steve DeNeff: According to Jesus, persecution, whether great or small, is inevitable. Rather than resisting it, he tells us to embrace it (“rejoice and be glad”), as a prophetic act that helps to establish the kingdom of God.
Steve DeNeff: It is almost a cliché to say that society is polarized. In fact, we are coming apart faster than any other Democratic nation. Yet a too heavy emphasis on this has kept most of us from tending the old, private, and still undisclosed conflicts of our own doing. These are the hardest places to make peace. Using a popular story of the OT (Jacob and Esau), we’ll look at what is involved in making peace and discovered that the conflict often lies, not in the space between us, but in the space within us.
Amanda Drury: In Matthew 5:8, Jesus declares, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” But what does this kind of purity actually look like? David, though deeply flawed, is remembered as a “man after God’s own heart” because of his relentless return to God in humility and repentance. Psalm 51 offers a window into David’s response to failure—not one of self-pity or denial, but of heartfelt confession and longing for a clean heart. We are invited to examine the state of our own hearts: Are we hiding, pretending, or drifting? Or are we allowing God to search, cleanse, and transform us from the inside out? Purity isn’t merely the absence of wrong—it is the presence of God’s refining work in our inner lives.
Nathan Metz: Joseph’s life was radically changed by the betrayal of those he loved. What must he have felt? Surely there are few people who can speak so powerfully on the topic of mercy than Joseph himself. Let’s look closely and gather wisdom from his story that may change our story.
Nathan Metz and his wife Jade and their children are members of College Wesleyan. Nathan is an ordained Wesleyan who has served as a pastor and a missionary. A graduate of Wesley Seminary, Nathan is now the Director of Chaplaincy and Leadership Development with TLC Management.
Vickie Conrad: What are you hungry and thirsty for? And how do our cravings affect the way we live? Is it possible that the way of Jesus invites us to a hunger and a thirst that also fills...
Ethan Linder: We’ve nearly discarded the word “meek” from our vocabulary: partly because we don’t understand what it means, and partly because it feels impractical, fragile… not fit for our moment. In every life, though, there comes a moment when we need a power that’s more than forcefulness, and a fortitude that’s based on more than blind optimism. “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth."
Steve DeNeff: Sooner or later there comes a hush in every person’s life, that moment when the unthinkable happens, when the last option has failed and we’re alone with our thoughts. What then? “Blessed are those who have lost what is most dear to them, for they are embraced by the One who is most dear to them.”
Steve DeNeff: Who are the most holy among us? It’s not always who we think it is and despite our intentions to become more holy, we have learned habits that move us in the opposite direction. What are those habits? And how do we unlearn them?
Emily Vermilya: The Beatitudes are not commands to achieve but radical declarations of blessing that reveal the Kingdom of God, where the overlooked and broken are already favored.
Steve DeNeff: Pentecost is a towering moment in the Christian story. The Spirit comes, the Church is born and the gospel is preached to people in 15 regions on 3 continents. But there is a shadow - a bright shadow - that follows this moment with a series of peculiar attributes setting the people of God apart. To the extent these attributes are present in the Church today, she will live in the world as a Spirit-animated Body.
Steve DeNeff: This meal is shared (by guards, sailors, prisoners, and Paul) in the most unlikely of conditions – in a storm at sea, while the ship is coming apart.
Steve DeNeff: “God does not show favoritism but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right.” God is not just calling us to include others at our table… He is calling all of us to another, larger, more global table.
Andrea Summers: A key to God's mission for the Church was the inclusion and commissioning of those who were overlooked and different. (i.e., the Grecian widows and leaders)
Ethan Linder: Luke seems nearly obsessed with having us picture Christ’s life – and the church’s life – at the table. This sermon will explore how for the early church (and for us) the table can be a place that re-defines what it means to be family.
Steve DeNeff: In the course of their (the apostles') eating, Christ commissions them to be witnesses of these things.
Steve DeNeff: In the first meal after the supper, the couple’s eyes are opened to the reality of a new creation (mirrors Gen. 3:6-7)
Steve DeNeff: For most of us, and for Churches in general, two roads diverge, one the way of glory, the other the way of a cross. “Anyone” or “whoever” (v.25) chooses the other discovers a disquieting reality: The cross is a different kind of glory.
Ethan Linder: One of the core teachings of the Christian faith is that “in the name of Jesus Christ, we are forgiven.” The problem is: we don’t believe it… at least not enough to release us from the crushing weight of shame. In this sermon, we’ll explore John 8 and Romans 8, seeing how Jesus demonstrates – and Paul codifies – a new posture toward the most vulnerable, unpresentable, unworthy versions of ourselves and each other.
Steve DeNeff: In a “perversion of justice,” God can reverse the deep power of sin and restore us to righteousness and wholeness.
Steve DeNeff: The boundary between sinners and saints is not where we think it is. But in Christ the two are reconciled to God and to each other.
Nathan Metz: The grace of Jesus toward Simon painted a picture of who he would become: Peter. We all need this kind of imaginative grace from God that is the power to change us and the projection of who we can become in Him. As we receive this imagination of grace from God, we will offer the same gift to those around us by (1) giving a new name (2) an opportunity to get use to it, (3) freedom to be tested and (4) second and third chances.*Nathan Metz and his wife Jade and their children are members of College Wesleyan. Nathan is an ordained Wesleyan minister who has served as a pastor and a missionary. Nathan is now the Director of Chaplaincy and Leadership Development with TLC Management.
Emily Vermilya: The healing of the official’s son. What happens in the space between our requests of God and his ultimate action? Long before anyone knew of the miracle of healing that happened in Jesus’s second sign, the miracle of faith emerged.
Ethan Linder: Nicodemus and being born from above. This exchange between Jesus and Nicodemus left the Pharisee confused, because he couldn’t understand what it meant to be born again. Do we understand it? Or have we just fooled ourselves into thinking we do? This sermon will talk about what Jesus meant when he talked about being “born again,” and how that differs from our expectations of “spiritual life,” and reframes our approach to life with God.
Emily Vermilya and Steve DeNeff: In the midst of a storm, we navigate more than govern. We discern more than decide. So what have we discerned for the direction of our Church?
Vickie Conrad: As we enter the Christmas season, we are reminded that the greatest gift to the world is Jesus. Unlike the earthly gifts we unwrap during the holidays, this eternal gift calls for more than a one-time thank you—it invites a daily response of obedience, gratitude, and praise.
Steve DeNeff: In Luke’s version of Christmas, there are two stories occurring at the same time, each in a different city, with different kings and kingdoms, each with a different spirit. These two stories continue to this day. One gets all the news. We belong to the other.
Ethan Linder: An angel appeared to Joseph, because (though he didn’t carry the life of God within him) he had a load-bearing role to play in Jesus’ life. The angel’s call to Joseph – to adopt the promise of God – offers us countless gifts in the inheritance of faith: from the way we interpret Scripture, to the way we see our lives in light of other people’s callings. This sermon will explore some of the inheritance Joseph left us through Jesus, and make space for us to overhear Joseph’s invitation as one we might accept, too.
Sermon SummaryNathan Metz: What does it mean to be ‘favored’ by God? It’s not a reward. It can’t be withheld. Favor is not a commodity, it’s a relational posture. The ultimate expression of God’s favor is Christ’s filling, the incarnation. Mary was favored and filled so that we may now be favored and filled. How? Faith. The filling of Christ in Mary and in us is a theological mystery. We respond in faith by accepting His favor and magnifying Him.*Nathan Metz and his wife Jade and their children are members of College Wesleyan. Nathan is an ordained Wesleyan who has served as a pastor and a missionary. A graduate of Wesley Seminary, Nathan is now the Director of Chaplaincy and Leadership Development with TLC Management.
Steve DeNeff: For anyone still wondering if their faithfulness still matters, this story of Zechariah and Elizabeth reminds us that anything… literally anything… is possible with God.
Steve DeNeff: In God’s economy, there is more joy in giving than in receiving. There is freedom in possessing nothing. There is wisdom in trading what we cannot keep for gaining what we cannot lose. Before we enjoy this freedom, we will have to unlearn virtually everything we’ve been taught about our things.
Steve DeNeff: The political illusion is that all problems have, in our mind, become political. But as Christians we have a different story and a better alternative in the shape of a Beloved Community practicing these five values.
Steve DeNeff, What is most needed - in fact, what the public is waiting for - is a church with a vision for something bigger than itself, that lives for the sake of the city and the life of the Church.
Sermon SummaryEthan Linder, Nehemiah’s work is largely focused on rebuilding crumbling walls; but in this passage, he’s worried about a crumbling community. This sermon will walk through the forces that pulled Nehemiah’s community (and ours) apart – and the invitation of God to live in a new way that pulls us together.
Josh Davis, As we consider scriptures from Genesis to Revelation, we see that God is a diverse, unified community. In order to more fully reflect God’s glory, we the Church must be what, in Christ, we already are: diverse and unified.*Josh Davis loves people and loves to make safe space for complexity. A third-culture person himself, Josh served as a missionary to the Dominican Republic before founding Proskuneo Ministries (www.proskuneo.org), a ministry that equips and resources Jesus-centered, multicultural worshiping communities. Josh is a creative pastor, a spiritual director, and the co-author of the book “Worship Together [in your church as in heaven].” In his spare time, he loves to walk long distances, learn languages, and drink coffee. Josh lives with his wife and children in Clarkston, GA where over 60 languages are spoken in a 1.5 mile radius.
Steve DeNeff, If the altar builds the temple, then what (and how) we worship is what we will become.
Steve DeNeff, Soon or later, everything about us – our families, our work, and especially our worship – takes the shape of an altar hidden in the routines of our lives.
Steve DeNeff, Ezra 2:68-3:1, 10-13; Haggai 2:1-9. The story of Ezra-Nehemiah: A nation once devastated by the exile is given permission from an unlikely source to rebuild. But sometimes the hardest work is that which is done in the people themselves before the building begins.
Steve DeNeff, The story of Ezra-Nehemiah: A nation once devastated by the exile is given permission from an unlikely source to rebuild. But sometimes the hardest work is that which is done in the people themselves before the building begins.
Emily Vermilya, Our understanding of the gift of the Holy Spirit is often incomplete. What does the Spirit make possible, not only through deliverance and relief, but also through sustaining and enduring our present realities?
Ethan Linder, Mark 6 is one of the most infamous “un-miracle” stories in the Bible. Jesus is back in his hometown, and instead of receiving a warm reception, he’s met with unbelief… so much so that he’s unable to do much of his best work; he later explains this to his hearers, saying that a “prophet is without honor in his hometown.” Why – on the heels of incredible miracles – is Jesus unable to do much ministry among the people who knew him best? This sermon will explore the relationship between God’s work and our belief, attention, and assumptions, and invite us to be part of God’s ministry to those who are unconvinced by Jesus.
Elizabeth Scull , John 15:1-17. God is so often our coach, our encourager, our lifeline, or our resource in how to live our life...but a vine is greater than all of those things. Jesus illustrates how God isn't just a resource in our life, rather the source of our life. How does that kind of living with God look different?
Caleb Dunn , Luke 14:1-24. Throughout the Gospel of Luke, Jesus uses simple table interactions to reveal the truth of who God is and the nature of God's Kingdom. In this passage of Scripture at the table of a prominent Pharisee, Jesus not only challenges those who value religious traditions or personal prominence over the love of their neighbors, but also Jesus uses the parable the great banquet to teach about God's invitation in our lives. Each of us have been invited to our place in the Kingdom, and Jesus communicates that God is not simply looking for the right people who have all of the status, gifts, or abilities. Instead, God is looking for anyone who will ultimately respond to the Lord's invitation. While we can always find another excuse to delay or resist the various promptings of Jesus in our lives, the Lord calls us to say yes to whatever he has for us in the Kingdom of God.
Kasey Kalk, Matthew 11:25-30. Rest is a pretty hot topic these days. It's talked about a lot. But for many, rest feels like an allusive concept. How can I possibly meet all the expectations of life and work and still find time for rest? Misconceptions about rest that are likely influenced by the cultural view of work/productivity can lead us to believe that the work has to be done in order to rest, but I think, in Matthew 11, Jesus is calling us to something different. When we are yoked to Jesus, we find rest for our souls AND the work continues. Rest and work can co-exist so let's explore what that looks like.
Ryley Olson, John 9:24-25. Worship is revelation and response. But often times a part of this equation can break down. The breakdown is not in God's revelation; it's in our response. In the ninth chapter of John we see four groups of people respond to a miracle from Jesus. Only one responds correctly. By seeing ourselves in the story, we are asking God to help us respond correctly when He reveals himself to us.
Roger Younce, John 4:1-32. Jesus engaged in a conversation with an outcast. No one expected him to talk with her and yet the conversation led to many finding Christ. What can we learn from this conversation? What did Jesus see in the woman at the well that we might be missing?
Vickie Conrad, Ezekiel 47. This message explores the narrative of how water is a recurring theme from Genesis to Revelation, symbolizing God's provision and life-giving power. In Genesis, God provides life-sustaining water through rivers and rain, but human thirst for more than just water leads to spiritual drought. Throughout the Bible, figures like Jacob and the Israelites encounter water in transformative ways, yet often fall into spiritual drought due to their own desires. The prophet Ezekiel's vision of a life-giving river flowing from the temple represents God's Spirit reviving a barren land. This vision is fulfilled by Jesus, who offers living water to quench spiritual thirst, symbolized by the water flowing from His side on the cross. Believers, as temples of God, are called to let this living water flow through them, bringing life to others and fulfilling God's vision of a renewed creation.
Sermon SummaryTisha Connell, John 1:45-51 & Matthew 4:1-11. Many times we believe that how we are perceived impacts if and how we can do good ministry. What happens when we are inaccurately perceived? What is our response? Do we need to correct people’s perception so that ministry can be done? What Jesus shows us is that we can surpass people’s perceptions of us and do GREAT ministry. Before we do that we have to deal with how we perceive ourselves. We need to deal with our own understanding of our identity. Jesus shows us the areas of identity that we tend to wrestle with and what His foundation was for His own identity so he could do GREAT ministry.
Sermon SummaryHallie Harrington, Genesis 16:1-16. All throughout Genesis, Abram and Sarai struggle to live as the people of God. In their desperation to see God’s promises fulfilled, they decide to take matters into their own hands. Yet, God’s grace is bigger than their messy relationships and poor decisions, and we will see him come alongside his people as they learn what it truly means to represent him to the world.
Emily Vermilya, John 2:1-11. God encounters his people in the magnificent and the mundane. And while his Kingdom work is never limited by humanity, we see time and again, that his desire is to involve us in these efforts to restore and redeem. So often, the measure of God's activity is reflective of the measure of our obedience.
Brian Fry, Ephesians 4:1-3; Matthew 11:28-30. Jesus was gentle and lowly in heart (Matthew 11: 28-30). These are part of Jesus’s character and two aspects of the Jesus Way. The gentleness and lowliness of Jesus are how we—the body of Christ—maintain the unity of the Spirit in the midst of our disagreements and frustrations with each other (Ephesians 4: 1-3). The second-half of the sermon suggests 5 practices that can help us be gentle in our disagreements (the outside of the cup), while at the same time making room for the Holy Spirit to transform our inner lives so they become more like Christ’s (the inside of the cup).
Sermon SummaryZach Szmara, Mark 8:22-26 (supplemental text, Acts 8:26-31) . In Mark 8:22-26, the central theme is Jesus healing a blind man in two stages. Initially, the man gains partial sight, seeing people as blurry figures. After a second touch from Jesus, his vision becomes completely clear. Similarly, in Acts 8:26-31, Philip is first called to proximity to others, but then receives a second calling to deeply connect with him (kollaō in Greek). The sermon emphasizes that we often settle for the first touch or call, feeling content with imperfect vision or mere proximity. However, God desires us to pursue something more and something deeper - full clarity in our sight and to move from simple proximity to genuine connection with others.
Sermon SummarySteve DeNeff, Ephesians 3:14-21. There are two things that Paul wanted for the church in Ephesus. I want those same two things for us at CollegeWes: Power and Love.
Nathan Metz- Luke 8:22-25. Jesus asked the disciples to leave a shoreline of success for a stormy ride to a foreign land. Stretched out before us are the waters of challenge, change and calling. We cannot sail them with out leaving a good shoreline for what is appointed. We cannot survive them without trusting Christ more than our own capacity to sail. With Christ we can cross every lake, through every storm, to reach the shoreline of our calling.
Steve DeNeff - Isaiah 2:1-5; Luke 24:36-37, 44-49. The great assembly at the end of time has begun in the rise of the church.
Steve DeNeff - Ezekiel 36:24-28; John 20:19-23. The Spirit of God breaks the power of sin in believers' lives.
Alex Sicilia - Matthew 9:9-13. Through studying the calling of Matthew and the later interaction between Jesus and the Pharisees, we are reminded about how true holiness will inevitably move us to love people by considering the irradiating compassionate and transformational power of Jesus’ holiness. So, the sermon is an invitation to consider our own hearts by checking them through the light of how we treat others. Jesus teaches that our walk with God and the way I treat my neighbor are intimately connected.
Emily Vermilya - John 20:19-29; 1 John 1:1-4. Doubt has long been perceived as that which separates us from Christ. But in the Easter narrative, we see doubt as a regular, recurring, and formative part of the journey of faith. Ultimately, Jesus’ response to such uncertainty leads to the highest point of confession in John’s gospel and models for the church how we, as Easter people, should embrace seasons of uncertainty, ask the difficult questions, and welcome those who are still in search of the risen Christ.
Steve DeNeff - Matthew 26:20-23, 31-35, 69-75. What does God know about you that you don’t know?
Steve DeNeff - Matthew 16:21-27. The way to greatness is from self-importance to self-denial.
Ethan Linder - Matthew 14:22-33. It’s tempting to read the story of Peter in the boat as a simple moral tale: don’t doubt, and God will enable you to participate in a miracle. That’s not good news; has anyone ever manufactured more faith on-command? The Good News is that in this passage, there’s a different invitation, one that helps us journey with the God who loves us enough to come find us in the storm, and then – amidst our unbelief – to walk as Jesus does. This sermon will explore Matthew 14’s fateful night in the boat, and help us learn how we can follow Jesus – walking, sinking, swimming, confessing – into a promise we can put weight on.
Steve DeNeff - Matthew 4:18-22. If at first we “leave … and follow,” everything else comes easier.
Daniel Rife - In a time of plenty, it’s easy to be distracted and avoid addressing the wounds we bear and the brokenness around us. In the season of Lent, we’re invited to step away from the plenty so that we might discern where our hearts truly lie, allowing God to heal our wounds and teach us how to have compassion for the world again.
Steve DeNeff - Luke 10:1-37. A disciple is someone who lives with Christ for the world. Now in the company of the Body, the disciple is prepared to bear collective witness to the city where they belong. What opportunities are there for bearing witness to our community? What is available in the Church? What are other believers doing to make a difference in our city?
Abson Joseph - John 3:16-21; 9:1-12. To long for Jesus and to know him are two aspects of discipleship that rely on our ability to ask and face the right questions. Many people are deconstructing faith and Christian tradition because of their thirst for something more and longing for something new. The church needs to be(come) the kind of community where people adopt the right posture to ask and face courageous questions that lead to a fresh encounter with Christ and a deeper relationship with one another.
Steve DeNeff - Matthew 12:46-50. Throughout the gospel accounts, crowds of people encounter Jesus. Intriguingly, in Mark 10, many of these meetings with the masses are followed by Jesus’s further engagement with only a few—his trusted small group of disciples. What conversations did Jesus save for this more intimate setting and community? And what role can this kind of meeting together play in our own formation as we seek to follow Jesus?
Emily Vermilya - Mark 10:1-34. Throughout the gospel accounts, crowds of people encounter Jesus. Intriguingly, in Mark 10, many of these meetings with the masses are followed by Jesus’s further engagement with only a few—his trusted small group of disciples. What conversations did Jesus save for this more intimate setting and community? And what role can this kind of meeting together play in our own formation as we seek to follow Jesus?
Steve DeNeff - John 1:43-51. For every disciple, the first movement toward change was an encounter with Jesus. It was unforgettable. But it was divisive. Whoever met him was better or worse, but they were never the same. What role can the Church play in orchestrating these encounters? How does worship provide the space and the structure? And what must we do for ourselves?
Steve DeNeff - Isaiah 55:1-3a, 6-7; John 7:37-43. How many Christians actually enjoy the life that Jesus promised? How many of the “saved” are converted? How many are apprentices of Jesus, learning to do easily and routinely the things that Jesus taught us to do? If we were to get serious about discipleship – the believer and the Church – here are four dimensions of that must be involved.
Vickie Conrad - Luke 2:41-52. Luke is distinctive among the gospel writers for featuring Jesus as a twelve-year-old. This narrative illustrates Mary and Joseph's commitment to nurturing and raising Jesus, evident in their consistent observance of the Passover. The story unfolds with the anguish they experience upon realizing Jesus is missing after a full day of travel. Upon discovering him in the temple conversing with teachers, Jesus responds to their inquiry with characteristic questions. The significance of these questions, both to Mary and Joseph and to us, invites contemplation.
Steve DeNeff - Luke 2:1-7. Throughout the Christmas story, two things are clear: (1) God is in control, and (2) God is not in charge. This is an important lesson for everyone who feels pushed around by others.
Emily Vermilya - Luke 2:1-5 & Micah 5:2-5. One great surprise about God revealed in Jesus at the incarnation is God’s vulnerability. God is not confined to safe or polished spaces. Instead, he enters our mess. He shows up in “places God isn’t supposed to be,” exposing himself and entering our realities, messy as they might be. To this end, we don’t have to leave our own vulnerable states or situations to find God. He meets us there. He joins the struggle with us, making himself vulnerable right alongside us.
Ethan Linder - Luke 3:21-38. When we come to the “list” passages in the Bible, our eyes glaze over: measurements, records, genealogies – maybe these are part of historical record, but wouldn’t the Bible be better if we took them out? That’s probably true…. unless there’s something in the list that is (itself) a story. This sermon will walk through one of those infamous lists, helping us freshly imagine why these (even these!) verses of the Gospels can be truly Good News.
Steve DeNeff - John 1:1-5, 10-14, 16-18. To people living in the first century, the claims of the first Christians concerning the incarnation were scandalous. Here’s a handful that are so outrageous even Christians have a hard time believing them. Yet the gospels want us to practice them as we enter a season, Advent, that is all too familiar to us.
Steve DeNeff - John 4:7-19, 25-30, 39-42. The first evangelist in the gospels is the least likely, least prepared person … and that’s a why she’s the perfect example of what it means to share our faith in a culture that is hostile to evangelism.
Matt LeRoy - Matthew 22:34-40, Deuteronomy 6:4-9, Leviticus 19:18. In his Great Commandment, Jesus shows his genius and authority by bringing all of the feast and fruit of the Scriptures into one seed, bursting with potential harvest. It is the double pulse of the heartbeat of God. He not only pulls in every command of the past but unleashes and prefigures the future of love.
Steve DeNeff - 1 Thessalonians 5:1-8; 2 Timothy 4:3-5. Toward the beginning of Paul’s career, he wrote a series of letters to young Christians worried about current events, telling them how to conduct themselves in times of chaos and moral confusion. In one of these letters, he contrasted children of the day with those of the night, those who are awake and sober with those who are asleep or drunk. This message is a pastoral word to the Church in our day, tired but awake just before dawn.
Lori Minor & Steve DeNeff - Acts 16:16-34; Philippians 4:4-9. This is a message for anyone whose life has been interrupted by tragedy or injustice and they are suddenly alone, as if in prison. But it’s a message about surviving, about finding God in that dark place, about triumph despite one’s conditions. It’s a message about choices - hard choices - that some make (most don’t) in prison that transform them and become for others a powerful witness.
Emily Vermilya - 2 Corinthians 8:1-9; 9: 6-13. Generosity is typically understood as activity--described by actions of charity or through things we give away. But Paul describes generosity as something deeper: a responsive expression of the gospel itself, a disposition of our souls, and the means by which we allow God's sanctifying work to continue in and through us.
Ethan Linder - Philippians 2:1-11. What does it mean (really) to be humble? Humility is an often-praised virtue throughout the Scriptures; but how do we cultivate it in our everyday lives? And what – despite our best efforts – gets in the way? This sermon will address the shape of humility, and the ways our current habits, attitudes, and practices may choke it out.
Steve DeNeff - Psalm 15; Romans 12:9-10, Ephesians 4:15-16; Philippians 4:8-9. In a culture of high suspicion, the creative minority will practice a rule of integrity.
Steve DeNeff - Isaiah 61:1-3; 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12; Colossians 3:15-17. Why is nearly everyone you know so overwhelmed?There is a silent scream for simplicity and yet it is more illusive and complex than ever. How do we in the Third Order practice this ancient discipline despite the speed and chaos of our everyday life? And what difference would it make in the workplace if we did?
Steve DeNeff - Psalm 51:1-4, 6, 9-10; Ephesians 4:1-3, 29-5:2. Every Order or Society needs rules for engagement. How do members treat one another, especially those with whom they disagree? How do we make room for different convictions and how do we express them without tearing the Society apart?
Steve DeNeff - Philippians 1:27-2:5. In a culture of individualism, like ours, never underestimate the power of a two or three who gather faithfully around a common rule.
Ethan Linder - Genesis 32:22-32. Christians typically talk about the importance of submitting to God as part of our discipleship. But what about wrestling with God? Not just the cliche, topical-level struggles to believe, but deep conflict with God… what could be the value of that? This sermon will unpack Jacob’s struggle with God, and our own – and discuss how conflict with God–real and brutal –can leave us with a blessing, even as it leaves us with a limp.
Daniel Rife - Hosea 2:2-23. The twelve minor prophets seem heavy on gloom and doom and can often form for us images of an angry and destructive God—the last thing we’d consider him is a passionate lover. But returning to the first book of the twelve, we are introduced to a faithful and devoted God who has bound himself to a broken people, willing to give everything to fulfill his covenant to bless them and make them a blessing to the world.
Steve DeNeff - Malachi 3:2-7b, 16-18. Toward the end of his collection of Screwtape Letters, C.S. Lewis suggests that “the fine flowers of unholiness can grow only in the close neighborhood of the Holy (for) nowhere are we more tempted as on the very steps of the altar itself.” Perhaps this is why the most devout are sometimes the most dishonest, or perverse, and thus the hardest to save. So Malachi preaches a message of integrity in our worship that reaches far from the sanctuary, to the most remote places in our lives.
Ken Schneck - Micah 6:1-8. Biblical justice does face the offender, but it is even more concerned with the offended and those who are not where they are supposed to be in society. Justice works to restore those on the margins. It acts to restore balance. It brings good news to the poor, sight to the blind, and liberty to the oppressed. It is always saying to those without hope, "This is the year of the Lord's favor.”
Steve DeNeff - Jonah 3:1-4:4, 11. Despite all that is wrong with the world, and despite how often we’ve been told avoid it, perhaps God is raising up a movement inside the nation but outside the Church. How might we cooperate (instead of compete) with that?
Emily Vermilya - Zechariah 4:6-10 & 1 Peter 1: 6-8 & 13-22. Once in the waiting room, Zechariah’s prophecy called Israel to the hard work of hope. But hope is more than wishful thinking or passively waiting for the world to change. Hope is the call of God to have faith in his promise, always preparing for the ultimate fulfillment of his promises, while actively partnering with God in bringing the Kingdom of Heaven to earth.
Steve DeNeff - Habakkuk 1:2-4; 2:1-3; 3:16-19. There is a strangeness in God’s ways that makes even the most devout wonder, and sometimes stumble, yet the just are called to live by faith. What is God up to? Why is this happening? How long before He answers? And how do we manage the hurt and insult of unanswered prayer? What are we to do in the meantime? That’s the message of Habakkuk.
Vickie Conrad - Zephaniah 3:1-5, 14-17; Colossians 3:1-3; 5-6. In the book of Zephaniah, the pronouncement of God's judgment upon sin can be overwhelming and anxiety-inducing, similar to the emotions we experience when consuming news or media. As Christians, we often shy away from discussing God's judgment or wrath, feeling that they are unbecoming of His character. However, it is important to acknowledge that justice and wrath are integral parts of who God is. Zephaniah's message to Judah, the surrounding nations, and the world at large was a call to seek righteousness and humility because the day of God's judgment was approaching. The people had misplaced their trust in their own accomplishments and false gods, becoming prideful and corrupt. Zephaniah's message encompasses divine judgment but also offers hope and the promise of restoration. Reflecting on this, we are prompted to consider how we may be hiding or downplaying God's wrath in our lives. We are encouraged to seek refuge in God's righteousness and favor, allowing Him to protect and guide us.
Ethan Linder - Haggai 1:2-9; 2:2-9; 1 Peter 2:1-5. Haggai is an often-overlooked prophet – his book has only 2 chapters, and his main focus is restarting a building project God’s people have long left dormant. Our time and place may demand a different “building project” than Haggai’s, but his central questions hold up: why is there so often a gap between God’s priorities and ours? And how do we faithfully say “yes” to God’s invitation in a way that’s sustainable and lifelong? This sermon will explore those questions, and invite us to experience the Gospel as we build what God’s called us to.
Logan Hoffman - Ezekiel 37:1-14. In Ezekiel 37, we see depicted in a vision a moment that many of us have or will experience. A moment where it seems God has abandoned us, where God’s favor has failed us, and so we are without hope. In that moment we are the dry bones, far removed from the life we once had and well beyond the hope of rescue. It is in this moment that God chooses to show up through the words of the prophet, to demonstrate that hope is found precisely in the valley, to teach us that God’s favor means something different than we’d thought, and to promise us that he will bring us up out of our graves.
Steve DeNeff - Deuteronomy 28:1-2,15. Throughout Israel’s history, God has used the prophet to protect the nation’s identity and to guide her moral and ethical practices. Strange as it may seem to some, the same people are called for today, in our society, because we’re confronted with the same moral and ethical challenges. But who are these prophets? And what is their message? What is the core of a prophetic community? How does our community, at CWC, become part of a larger movement bearing witness to the gospel in our day?
Steve DeNeff - Deuteronomy 28:1-2,15. Throughout Israel’s history, God has used the prophet to protect the nation’s identity and to guide her moral and ethical practices. Strange as it may seem to some, the same people are called for today, in our society, because we’re confronted with the same moral and ethical challenges. But who are these prophets? And what is their message? What is the core of a prophetic community? How does our community, at CWC, become part of a larger movement bearing witness to the gospel in our day?
Jesus promised his disciples the gift of the Holy Spirit following his departure from them. And while the gift was delivered, our understanding (or misunderstandings) of this gift of God may impact our reception of the gift and the Spirit's impact in our lives.
Jesus promised his disciples the gift of the Holy Spirit following his departure from them. And while the gift was delivered, our understanding (or misunderstandings) of this gift of God may impact our reception of the gift and the Spirit's impact in our lives.
Steve DeNeff - John 20:26-28; Revelation 5:6a, 7-14. The Ascension gets little attention in today’s Church but to the early Christians it was the climax of the gospel. In the Ascension, Jesus is not only savior but King. What does that mean for the way we work, and witness, and worship?
Steve DeNeff - Matthew 28:11-15; 1 Corinthians 15:12-23. There is no place where the resurrection of Jesus is more gospel than in the death of someone we love, or in our own death. Yet there is confusion over what, exactly, the resurrection means for those who have died. Many even Christians are victims of the wrong story. So what is the right one? What are the implications of Jesus’ resurrection for our resurrection?
Ethan Linder - Colossians 1:15-23, 3:1-14. We talk often about the resurrection as a central event in Christian history, and it is. But what bearings does the resurrection have–not only on what we usually conceive of as our “spiritual life,” but our ordinary habits, dreams, relationships, and losses? If the resurrection isn’t Good News for that, we need another gospel… but if it is, our lives have real possibilities of reflecting Christ’s life. This sermon will talk about those new possibilities, and explore how new life in Christ is a real advantage for ordinary people living ordinary lives.
Steve DeNeff - John 20:19-23; Ephesians 4:1-7, 11-13. The Church is the core element of God’s plan to redeem the world. She must rediscover her calling or risk becoming non-essential to society. At the center of that calling is what we, her members, strive for and become.
Steve DeNeff - Matthew 28:16-20; Ephesians 1:3-14. Some of Jesus closest friends are those who doubt even as they worship. How does Christ, risen among us, show himself again through the Body to those who doubt? How do we overcome our doubts with something more powerful than proof?
Steve DeNeff - John 19:40-20:1; 2 Corinthians 5:14-6:2. People of the resurrection (or Easter People) are people of the first day. But what does that mean? And how are their lives better - noticeably different - because of it?
Steve DeNeff - Exodus 3:7-8a; 6:6-8; 1 Peter 1:3-9. The First Easter is the Last Exodus. Let the march begin!
Emily Vermilya - Exodus 13:17~14:14. In the establishment and execution of his covenant with Israel, God was anything but efficient, at least by human calculations. What if our fixation with getting through the desert to the Promised Land comes at the expense of knowing God in deeper and more significant ways. What if in our relationship with God, the journey through the wilderness is just as significant as the destination?
Steve DeNeff - Exodus 16:1-3, 6-12; Mark 8:11-21. The social and political climate of our day gives us plenty of reason to despair, to expect the worst, to be overly critical, to find a culprit and blame them. There is a pathology to despair that follows us long after we’ve left Egypt. The good news of the exodus is that we can be delivered from this. But deliverance involves choosing what to believe and practice.
Steve DeNeff - Exodus 31:12-13, 16-18; Matthew 11:28-30. On the seventh day, the Lord rested but He never told you to… until the Exodus… so there’s more to the Sabbath than a day off .. a lot more.
Dave Drury - Exodus 3:10-4:17. We all experience those moments of regret, embarrassment, and self-doubt. Even the most brash among us, when they are alone and honest with themselves, can admit they don't feel they measure up. The call of Moses in Exodus 3-4 is a key moment defining what grace means in scripture. Moses felt inadequate in many of the ways we feel inadequate, he felt inadequate confidence, inadequate faith, inadequate credibility, inadequate skill, and in the end he had inadequate will. How did God respond to this? The story of Moses' call makes it clear that the cure to the crippling effects of inadequacy is not denying you are inadequate, it is embracing inadequacy. That's the beauty of grace. Only those who know they are inadequate find grace. The core of your repentance, your confession, your very salvation is a dawning realization that you are not enough. You don't measure up. All have sinned and fallen short. So as a believer in God your aim is not to deny your inadequacy, nor beat yourself up over shortcomings--it is to admit you are inadequate in all things, apart from Christ. Grace means inadequacy is not a problem, it in fact unlocks the cure, the secret weapon of every believer's trust. When we are weak, he is strong. This is a core message of all of scripture as grace of God overcomes inadequacy.
Ethan Linder - Matthew 4:1-11, Exodus 35:4-29. What does it mean to walk in the way of Jesus when you’ve been raised in the values of the Empire? This is a tension every person living the Spirit-filled life experiences; but it can easily go undetected. The danger for many Christians isn’t sudden wickedness–it’s a subtle drift toward allowing our vision of “normal” life to be built around priorities God doesn’t share.
Steve DeNeff - Exodus 17:1-7; Matthew 6:25-33. Throughout the exodus story, God is “testing” the people (15:25), and the people are “testing” God (17:2, 7). But what does that mean? How are we tested today?
Amanda Drury - Matthew 17:1-13. What does it look like to "come down the mountain" after experiencing the presence of God? What do we do with encounters with God that we can't quite wrap our minds around? What do we do when those encounters dry up? How can we faithfully live as followers of Jesus Christ regardless of whether we are on top of the mountain or on the ground below?
Steve DeNeff - Exodus 19:1-6; 20:1-21; Matthew 5:17-20. Once ought of Egypt, the people of God struggle with the “ghosts of Pharaoh,” the remnants of their past life that weigh them down. True freedom comes in the form of obedience.
Steve DeNeff - Exodus 6:1, 6-9; Luke 4:14-21. For all who are in bondage, God promises deliverance, but that usually involves more than we think.
Steve DeNeff - Exodus 3:1-8a, 10; Mark 1:14-20. The work of Jesus is to form a New Community devoted to another way of life and through that community to offer an exodus (a way out) from the anxiety and exploitation of bondage.
Steve DeNeff - Exodus 2:1-10; Mark 1:9-13. When Christians talk about Jesus, we start with Christmas, but when Jesus talks about himself, he starts with Moses (Lk. 24:27) because, apparently, it is impossible to understand or appreciate who Jesus is apart from Moses’ life. Beginning with Moses, what is the meaning of Jesus’ life? And how does that change the way we live out Jesus’ life in the world today?
Ken Schneck - Acts 9:1-9. Paul was absolutely convinced that he was doing God's work as he tried hard to arrest Christians and stop them from preaching that Jesus was the Messiah. He thought the notion was not only preposterous--that the Messiah would get crucified by the Romans--but no doubt he thought it was blasphemous. He no patted himself on the back for being such a powerful servant of the Lord! He was completely wrong. It is possible for us to be completely convinced that we are doing the Lord's bidding, fighting the Lord's battles, and destined for a great big crown when we get to heaven... and be completely wrong. It's possible for us to be demonizing those who are actually on the Lord's side. We need to leave room for the Lord to show us where we might be mistaken. Lord, we want to see. Open our eyes to our blind spots.
Tim Witte - 1 Corinthians 1:18-30; Judges 7:2-8. Throughout the Bible, God regularly works in very unexpected ways to the point where those in the accounts are often wondering and questioning what God is doing. Yet God gives insight to His people to discern His purposes that are grander than they/we could ever imagine and always in line with His nature.
Steve DeNeff - Psalm 23:1-3a; John 4:4-14. A shepherd (leader) is a person who takes responsibility for what is or isn’t happening inside them. But how does one do this when they’re already tired in their work? The last we thing we need is another thing to do, something else to work on. Here’s a word of encouragement for anyone who is tired of working on their own spiritual lives.
Steve DeNeff - Jeremiah 1:4-10; 1 Corinthians 2:1-5. There’s a long history in the Bible of God’s Spirit possessing a person’s speech so that their words “plant and build.” Yet the only advice most of us have heard, over the past few years, had been to watch what we say. But what might happen in our relationships, in the places where we work and live, if we “spoke with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power… using words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words?”
Jeff Clark - 1 Corinthians 2:6-16. Scripture repeatedly links prayer with God’s power and activity in the world. Yet many of us have internalized a vision of the perfect prayer life that isn’t practical to the reality of our lives. If Paul is right that we have the mind of Christ (v. 16) and have access to things discerned only through the Spirit (v. 14) it could be that we are over-complicating prayer. Could developing intimacy with the Spirit be the surest way to see God’s purposes come to life in the places we live, work and play?
Eric Crisp - Deuteronomy 5:12-15; Mark 3:1-6. Our desire is to listen to the Spirit, to walk in the Spirit, to be empowered by the Spirit but sometimes we lose sight of the Spirit in the frantic pace of our days. Sabbath is an invitation to reorient our lives around a different way of being in the world. This is not a final day of the week in which we fall down in exhaustion to rest but instead, a first day of our week that postures us to notice who we are and whose we are.
Eric Crisp - Deuteronomy 5:12-15; Mark 3:1-6. Our desire is to listen to the Spirit, to walk in the Spirit, to be empowered by the Spirit but sometimes we lose sight of the Spirit in the frantic pace of our days. Sabbath is an invitation to reorient our lives around a different way of being in the world. This is not a final day of the week in which we fall down in exhaustion to rest but instead, a first day of our week that postures us to notice who we are and whose we are.
Steve DeNeff - Isaiah 30:19-21; Ephesians 1:3, 7-14. Have we been overthinking the will of God? Have we made it harder and more mysterious than it really is? How does the Holy Spirit change the way we discern God’s will? How does He use holy impulses and careful deliberation, solitude and community to reveal God’s will for our lives?
Steve DeNeff - Isaiah 30:19-21; Ephesians 1:3, 7-14. Have we been overthinking the will of God? Have we made it harder and more mysterious than it really is? How does the Holy Spirit change the way we discern God’s will? How does He use holy impulses and careful deliberation, solitude and community to reveal God’s will for our lives?
Steve DeNeff - Isaiah 44:1-5; Acts 4:1-12, 23-24a, 29-31. The Holy Spirit is forming a community that is peculiar from all others, not only in kind, but in degree. This community is the source of spiritual power for its members in the marketplace, providing it’s a Spirit Community. But how would we know? What could we expect if we belonged to one? And how could our present circles of influence become a Spirit-filled community?
Steve DeNeff - Isaiah 11:1-4a, 5; Romans 8:5-10. Those who walk in the Spirit find that God’s Spirit is in them, living and breathing. In their resonance with God’s Spirit, they discover the very mind of God.
Steve DeNeff - Isaiah 63:7-14; John 14:15-17; 16:8-14. The hidden life of a prophet begins with walking in the Spirit. The more we grow in that capacity, the more effective and influential is our witness to the places where we work and live.
Steve DeNeff - Joel 2:23-24, 28-29. The Holy Spirit is the active Presence of God with His people in many places. Most of the time, these people are not ministers and these places are not religious. But something happens there, in these places with these people, when they surrender themselves and their work to the Holy Spirit.
Steve DeNeff - Exodus 3:1-4, 7-8a, 10-12; 1 Peter 1:13-16. The present crisis of work is not economic, but spiritual in nature. It’s a reckoning with the meaning of our lives and our labor. The gospel of God is that we have been “called” to a higher purpose, to something more, and our work is the platform where God does His work.
Steve DeNeff - Isaiah 40:28-31; 2 Corinthians 1:18-22. Between a promise and the fulfillment of it is a gap. In that gap we have the freedom and power to choose a mindset of either “yes” or “no.” And in Christ, everything is “Yes.”
Ethan Linder - 1 Corinthians 6:9-12; 1 Corinthians 13:1-13. Often, we think of love as a decorative, sappy, flowery thing; but Paul calls us to re-examine this perception–going so far as to say that love is load-bearing–the focal point of the Christ-shaped character. In this sermon, we’ll examine what it means for love to give structure to our life, and why we (like the church in Corinth) are so often tempted to focus on other things.
Amanda Drury - Psalm 77. As faithful readers of the text, what does it look like to focus on the “middle” of stories we find in Scripture? Our minds are so quick to jump to the end where we see resolution (ie: the storm is calmed, the battle is won, the dead are raised, etc.) but often times life seems to pause in the middle—before we can see resolution. So what does it look like to trust in God when we are in the middle—especially when we’re not so sure God is even trustworthy.
Emily Vermilya - Isaiah 41:17-20; 43:18-21; John 7:37-39. Jesus promised his followers that “rivers of living water (that would) flow from within them,” referring to the gift he would impart to them in the Holy Spirit. In remembering our baptism, we remember that just as water channeled into the desert brings the promise of life, so we are God’s channels, called and equipped by the power of the Holy Spirit, to bring life into even the most barren places in our world.
Vickie Conrad - Joshua 4:4-9; 1 Peter 2:1-5. Throughout the Bible there are intentional acts of legacy building by God’s people (Jacob, Moses, Samuel, Joshua). God commands us to remember our experiences with Him and pass them on to the next generation. In the New Testament Jesus sought to establish a way for His disciples to remember His sacrifice. “And He took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is my body, which is given for you. Do this is remembrance of me.’” In this sermon we will look at the literal stones as signs for us to remember God’s acts of the past. What literal things can we leave around that will cause our children to ask what does this mean? How can we become living stones, living proof of God’s power in our lives? How will we as families leave lasting stones for the next generation. In closing we will encourage families to set traditions with their families to remember God’s goodness, power and deliverance. Legacy is not just about what we leave our children monetarily or even passing along a good family name. God is concerned about leaving a legacy of standing stones placed throughout our lives as we pass on biblical values, faith-lessons, and heavenly treasures to the next generation.
Steve DeNeff - Isaiah 5:1-4; John 15:1-8. From the beginning, God has granted every species the capacity to reproduce fruit “after its kind,” the potential to generate something new beyond itself. In these two parables - one of Israel, the other of a new Israel - is an invitation to live the fruitful life.
Daniel Rife - Genesis 1:1~2:2; John 2:13-22. The Temple was the heart of the Jewish people, it was the place where YHWH had promised to live in the midst of his people, it was the place where heaven and earth overlapped. But God did not originally design his temple to have four walls. As we follow the temple motif throughout the biblical narrative, God reveals his invitation to participate in extending the kingdom of heaven by building a new temple… or perhaps it’s an old temple, made new by his Spirit.
Steve DeNeff - Isaiah 61:1-3; John 11:1-44. Tears are a major part of our story, in the Bible, and they happen for different reasons. But tears are not a sign that something is “wrong.” Tears are a visible sign of an invisible reality, and they allow us to participate in the character of God who weeps. In the sacrament of tears is the fellowship of sufferers.
Steve DeNeff - Exodus 19:1, 2-7, 16-25. Like fire on the mountain is the holiness of God, awesome and unnerving, domestic and wild, good but unsafe, cleansing what it could destroy. Whatever happened to the God of consuming fire? How did he become so tame?
Steve DeNeff - Ezekiel 37:1-14; John 20:19-23. From the beginning of time, God’s Spirit has moved like a wind (or “breath”) across the earth, creating and sustaining life. Sometimes the people God has formed grow weary, then come apart, and when we do we need a second wind (of God’s Spirit) to renew us.
Tracey Steenbergh - 1 Samuel 17. David went from caring for his father's sheep to fighting a giant. How did he do that, and what can we learn from his example? What might happen if we practice remembering God's faithfulness, trust God has given us enough, and say yes to God in the everyday circumstances of our lives? Maybe the the more we say yes to God, the easier and more natural it becomes so that, walking in step with the Spirit, we live a life of yes.
Steve DeNeff - Acts 2:17-21; Galatians 5:16-18, 22-25. On the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit was poured out on “all flesh,” male and female, young and old, slave and free. But what does it means to live and move daily in the Spirit? How do we cooperate with God’s Spirit during the course of our day? Here’s a few things we can practice - and get better at over time - to “keep in step” with the Spirit.
Steve DeNeff - Acts 1:3-12a; Hebrews 4:14-16. We often think of what Jesus has done (death and resurrection) or what Jesus will do (glorious return), but very little of what he is doing now (intercession). In Christ’s ascension we see how much we need and have a priest, and this gives us new boldness for things we are facing today.
Ethan Linder - Titus 2:11-14, 3:1-8. What does God want from you (or for you)? Over time, it can be easy to reduce God’s claim on our life to the “spiritual” dimension… believing God expects us to live morally and do a couple spiritual disciplines. That’s not a bad vision; but it leaves a lot of our lives untouched. Paul presents something bigger: in Christ, we are invited into a grace-shaped life that recasts our relationships with ourselves, with others, and even with our time.
Dave Drury - Matthew 16:15-19; 1 Peter 2:4-5; Matthew 28:17-20. We live in an era of rapidly eroding trust in the institutions of our society and the church is no exception. Attempts to recover what Jesus left us without the baggage of distrusted church institutions are difficult. There are many things Jesus could have left us that he chose not to; instead: Jesus left us the church. Why? And what does this inheritance mean for each of us with concerns about the church in the world today?
Steve DeNeff - John 19:41-20:3, 11-18; Romans 5:12, 14b-17. The passion story, in John’s gospel is a re-telling of Creation (Gen. 1-2) thru the lens of Jesus’ resurrection. Since that first Easter, God has been “finishing the work he’s been doing,” (Gen. 2:2), bringing “light” and “life” to all who believe. In this message, I want to re-fire our imagination using creation and resurrection to re-tell the history of the world and the story to which we belong.
Steve DeNeff - Luke 24:1-8; 1 Corinthians 1:18-24. There is a divine economy that changes the value of everything we cherish and everything we despise. In this economy, there is power in surrender, glory in suffering, freedom in obedience, and life in the shadow of death. Ever since the resurrection, the end is where we start from. Our worst moment is the beginning of our best.
Steve DeNeff - Mark 16:1-8; 2 Corinthians 4:7-16. In Mark's gospel, Easter is unfinished. Jesus is risen in the negative space. Power is subtle, hope is deferred, certainty is mixed with confusion, and joy is mixed with fear. Easter is a treasure, but we carry it in jars of clay. Mark's account of Easter is for the weary, the skeptical, the frustrated and the faint of heart.
Steve DeNeff - Matthew 27:57 - 28:1. What is the meaning of Easter? How do we live into that meaning every moment of our lives? Rather than think of Easter as one story, told differently, think of it as four stories told thru the lens of the “night before.” What happens on Easter is best understood thru the lens of what happened on the night before.
Steve DeNeff - Matthew 21:1-17. From Palm Sunday (“Behold your king comes to you…”) to Good Friday (“Hail, king of the Jews…”) the last week of Jesus life - Holy Week - is the slow and unwelcome rise of a new king whose power increases as his popularity wanes. The story is a parody to kings and their powers. What is the power of a crucified king? How is it different from ours? What are the new “laws of power,” as informed by Christ’s journey through Holy Week?
Alex Mandura - Psalm 23, John 15:9-14, 21:15-17. Shepherding is not just an activity we pick up when we want. Rather, it is a discipline we grow in, enabling us to ‘love our neighbor’ and care for the people God has placed in the season of life we find ourselves. As we lean into this discipline, we find in our past, stories and evidence of lives transformed, cared for and lifted up to our Lord. We hear of people who have looked to Jesus Christ, The Good Shepherd as their example. This Discipline of Shepherding is not just a celebration of yesterday, it is the way we rise as the People of God toward the future.
Steve DeNeff - Isaiah 41:8-14; Matthew 14:22-33. What is the gospel to the oppressed; to those in despair, about to drown? Lately, it seems we are inundated with bad news - natural disasters, global pandemics, human atrocities that engulf the world - and the gospel seems small in comparison. Yet there is one theme running through the Bible, from beginning to end, that is pure gospel and it’s exactly what people need and want to hear.
Steve DeNeff - Isaiah 46:3-7, 12-13; Mark 10:17-31. The story of the rich young ruler is often used to denounce the accumulation of wealth, which it does, but beyond that it shows us how Jesus announces the gospel with particularity to each person’s need, calling those who toil and strive to “turn and believe” in the gospel of rest.
Steve DeNeff - Isaiah 35:3-6, 9b-10; Mark 9:14-27. Jesus said, “repent and believe the gospel” and, as Christians, we like to think that we already believe. But usually we are somewhere between belief and unbelief. So what does it mean to believe? How does it release the gospel and change our predicament?
Steve DeNeff - Isaiah 52:7-10, Mark 1:1-5, 14-15. The Kingdom advances at the speed of our announcing it. It’s time for the Church to believe the gospel again. But what is it? And what does it mean to believe it?
Leanne Ketcham - Luke 9:28-43. Luke 9:28-43 tells of two sons. One is deeply suffering and is brought by his father to Jesus for healing. Another has yet to suffer and is brought by His Father to experience glory before His suffering will lead to the healing of all people where they might also join Him in glory.
Chris Bounds - John 14:15-26. Four times in this passage Jesus says that if we love him, we will keep his commands. This sermon with explore (1) why keeping the commands of Christ are essential to loving Christ; (2) why loving Christ is so difficult; and (3) how the Holy Spirit makes it possible for us to walk in love of Christ.
Steve DeNeff - Isaiah 42:1-4; Matthew 12:1-18. When the prophet said, “justice is driven back and righteousness stands at a distance” (Is. 59:14), he may have been speaking of us. How is the Kingdom’s version of justice different from what is commonly called ‘justice’ today? How do we pursue it in our communities? What do we want for society?
Steve DeNeff - Isaiah 44:1-5; Matthew 16:13-19. The kingdom of God comes one gathering at a time, when citizens live together with God and for the world. How does the kingdom of God advance? What is the place of the local church, or the Christ-centered business or team, in that advance? How do we avoid the temptation of an Empire?
Steve DeNeff - Isaiah 61:1-7; Matt. 9:35-38; 10:1, 5-8. God’s vision for a new society involves a “kingdom of priests,” which is odd because priests build seminaries, and not kingdoms. Yet Isaiah says we “will be called priests of the Lord, (and) named ministers of our God,” (61:6). What do priests do? How are they different from the prophet that everyone wants to be? How do we co-opt our jobs to do the work of a priest?
Steve DeNeff - Isaiah 32:1-8, 15-18; Luke 6:27-38. Citizenship involves an oath of allegiance to, not just the principles, but to the people. How do citizens of the kingdom live with one another, especially with those that others can’t live with? What “rules” guide our social behavior? How are these different from what is commonly accepted today?
Steve DeNeff - Isaiah 35:3-10; Matthew 5:1-10. When hearing about the kingdom, we want to make it happen but first, we must enter it ourselves. We cannot bring it unless we’re in it, unless it’s in us. But how does one enter it? What does citizenship mean? What is assumed? What is expected? This message will remind us that “our citizenship is in heaven,” and call us to practice that allegiance here, on earth.
Steve DeNeff - Isaiah 9:2-7; Matthew 4:12-14, 16-17. Two forces compete for the heart and mind of the public. Both have valid argument but neither has a vision for the whole. The Kingdom of God is that vision and so Jesus came preaching the kingdom of God. But what is it (and isn’t it)? How does it answer the deep and collective longing of society today? This message will introduce us to the main components of the kingdom of God and inspire us to become part of it.
Vickie Conrad - Jeremiah 29:4-14. A new year is upon us! We’ve been waiting for 365 days for 2022. Already we are waiting on things like Apple iPhone 14, the Super Bowl, The Batman movie, days of the endemic, and so on. Our culture doesn’t train us to journey through an interim time very well. We are wired to expect instant gratification in daily lives. We can order just about anything and find it on our doorstep 24 hours later. We can send a message around the world almost instantaneously. In this cultural economy, a delay feels like a waste of time. A delay feels like a valid reason to doubt the love of God. No one felt more like this than the people in exile during the time of Jeremiah. The Israelites wait 70 years for deliverance. We, just like the Israelites, find ourselves in periods of interim when we are waiting on God to do something. We are waiting for things to get better. But, what do we do in the waiting?
What if instead of putting our hearts on hold until things improve, we accept the reality of the way things are and live intentionally, embrace it, and live the life God wants for us even if it's messy and not what we want. What if by embracing this messy life of waiting we are set free, transformed, and our lives are better than we ever imagined them to be? The prophet Jeremiah writes a letter to those in exile who are waiting for deliverance in a city that has taken them captive and they are miserable. The advice Jeremiah gives the Israelites might be just the advice we need at the beginning of the new year while we are waiting on the world to change.
Eric Crisp - Matthew 2:1-12. That the “king of the Jews” would be worshiped first by Gentiles, adherents to a pagan religion. If salvation is of the Jews (see John 4:19-22), why should the first to worship this salvation come from regions far outside of Israel, indeed outside Jesus’ own religious heritage? Wasn’t there anyone closer, maybe someone within Judaism to authenticate this moment? Or did God intend something else by sending magi, strangers from another region and cult? Are these the kind of worshippers God seeks?
Steve DeNeff - Luke 2:4-20. That the first witnesses would be shepherds whose testimony was inadmissible in court. Of all the people God could have told on the night of Jesus’ birth, he chose to tell shepherds first. They were the first to visit, the first to inform the Holy Family, the first to tell everyone what they’d seen and heard. But why? Wasn’t there anyone else awake? Couldn’t anyone more reliable have been found? Or does God intend something else for his witnesses, something greater than evidence or argument?
Ethan Linder - Isaiah 7:10-14, Matthew 1:18-25, John 1:46. That the “sign” for all of this would be so underwhelming. Of all the signs that God is present and active – a pillar and cloud, a shadow falling backward or a virgin giving birth – why is this one, at zero hour, so underwhelming? Wasn’t there a better way for God to make His point? Or did He have a better point to make?
Steve DeNeff - Hosea 11:1-4; Luke 2:1-7; Matthew 2:13-15. That God would use people Israel hated to position Himself to save the world. According to St. Paul, Christmas came “in the fullness of time,” and according to the gospels, the most unlikely people paved the way: Caesar Augustus, Herod, and the Roman government. Why and how did God use the Romans to accomplish His plans for the world?
Aaron Perry - Luke 1:26-38. The “Holy One to be born” came from seemingly suspicious origins - Egypt, Nazareth, a suspect lineage, and an unmarried mother. Why would God choose such questionable origins to usher in one who would “save his people from their sins?” What is revealed about God’s character and how he interacts with humanity? Could it be that our expectations, just like Israel, have been misplaced?
Steve DeNeff - Ezekiel 34:11-16, 23-24; John 10:14-16. The heart of any shepherd is to reconcile, to gather, to unite yet the culture seems scattered by controversial shepherds and angry sheep empowered by churches that divide and condemn. How do we shepherd in tense places and help to heal the world until there is “one flock and one shepherd?”
Steve DeNeff - Exodus 13:17-18, 20-22. Throughout the story of Exodus God is “with” his people in the form of a fire and a cloud. And as long as he is, Israel is safe. How does this inform the ministry of Presence for a shepherd? Why is the presence of some so powerful, and others … well, not? When is Presence most important? And how does one practice it with increasing skill?
Steve DeNeff - Deuteronomy 32:48-52; 34:1, 4-12. From the previous sermons on shepherding, one could almost forget that it’s sometimes hard and frustrating work. The challenges, the risks, the raw emotion that comes with caring for others can discourage us or tempt us to stay with only the most compliant. From Moses life comes these lessons for navigating the challenges of this good, but sometimes frustrating work.
Ethan Linder - Deuteronomy 6:1-15, 20-25; Luke 12:27-34. In Deuteronomy 6, Moses expresses hopes for a future he will not even see; a soon-coming-day in which others will partake in the dream Moses worked for. In that climate, Moses concerns himself less about threats from without, or even threats from beside. He warns about the enemy within. Along with Jesus in Luke 12, Moses is keenly aware that sometimes what sheep need protecting from are the things that come naturally to them (but are bad for them). This sermon will explore God’s invitation to learn to protect our sheep, even from themselves.
Steve DeNeff - Exodus 33:1-3, 12-18. The study and pursuit of good leadership is big business today. Companies spend over $50 billion annually developing it. But leadership becomes something different when it’s done by a shepherd, and done in the context of the other three disciplines (know, feed and protect).
Steve DeNeff - Exodus 16:2-4, 13-18, 21; Mark 6:34-44. Like Moses, we look at the people God has entrusted to us and are quickly overwhelmed by their needs. Then we hear God say, “Give them something to eat,” (Matt. 14:16), but we don’t know where to find it. In these parallel stories - the feeding of Israel in the wilderness (Ex. 16) and the feeding of the multitude in the desert (Matt. 14) - we begin to see how shepherds learn to feed their people.
Steve DeNeff - Exodus 19:1,3-6; Isaiah 40:9-11, 27-31. The first practice of a shepherd is to develop trust in the sheep. Empathy (or “knowing”) is the place where trust begins, yet empathy is hard to come by these days. How do we develop empathy when society is pulling us further apart? Here are three routines we can build into our schedule, without doing anything more, that will increase our capacity to “know” another person.
Steve DeNeff - Exodus 1:8-11a; 2:23-25; 3:15-17. Something happens when we notice we notice what’s happening. We see things (or people) that others don’t see. And we see them, not because we’re looking for them, but because we’re looking into them, where no one else is looking. Who are the people God wants us to notice? What are we looking for? And what does God want us to do with them? In this message, we’ll discover who, exactly, God wants us to shepherd.
Steve DeNeff - Exodus 3:1-14, Matthew 9:35-38. Even though the term is unpopular, people are still looking for a shepherd and that’s why they’re so critical of their leaders. When God raises up a shepherd, the people have a future with possibilities they didn’t have before. Maybe the work inside our jobs begins with shepherding.
Steve DeNeff - Isaiah 43:1, 16-21; Colossians 1:9-12. To Israel, the best indicator of what God would do in their future was to remember what He did in their past. They looked back (Is. 43:16-17) to go forward (19-21). They backed forward. As we emerge from the past two decades, and especially the past two years, we go forward by looking back. What has God done in and through us together in the past? And what does that mean for our future?
Steve DeNeff - Exodus 5:1-9, 15-18; Matthew 11:25a, 28-30. The pandemic has exposed deep flaws in the purpose and value we give to our work. The way that we work isn’t working. Yet despite our trouble, the gospel includes a vision of worship in our work, a festival of sorts in the desert, and calls us to participate. How do we find the worship in our work? Where is the festival in the desert?
Amanda Drury - Ephesians 2:4-10. What does it mean for us, the people of God, to do "good deeds?” This morning, we’ll walk through the church's call to kindness and the joy that comes with love in action.
Steve DeNeff - Mark 8:11-21. Three of the four gospels mention “the yeast of the Pharisees” and tell us to beware of it yet none tells us what, exactly, it is. But a closer look at the Pharisees and their interactions with Jesus will reveal a danger that is subtle, highly contagious and still prevalent among Christians today. Behind all of the rhetoric today is a hidden agenda and the perennial temptation to reduce the gospel to a means of carrying out that agenda. Whatever our views are on this of that subject, we should beware the yeast of the Pharisees.
Steve DeNeff - Romans 14:1, 5-8, 17-19; 15:1-2. Throughout the Bible we are called to live in unity but that’s been difficult in the past two years with so many controversial subjects. But if this has been harder, maybe it’s supposed to be. Maybe God is using these tensions to teach us how to live as part of His divine plan to unite all people in Christ. So how can we share a community identity without losing our particular heritage? What differences disable and divide us, and which ones should we celebrate?
Matthew 15:21-28. Jesus uses the faith of a marginalized woman to expose our pride and invites us to a better way.
Steve DeNeff - 1 Samuel 1:1-20. The story of Hannah is the story of a woman and a nation who is barren, “who cannot bring salvation, who cannot give birth to the people of the world,” (Is. 26:18). Still, year after year she worships in the sanctuary of barrenness and it’s here where Yahweh finds her. Then a sudden joyous turn. Hannah unceremoniously conceives and what she brings forth is no ordinary child. Samuel will be the link. Samuel is the future. Samuel will bring the Word of the Lord (1 Sam. 3:21).
Eric Crisp - 2 Kings 5:1-16. Naaman's successful life is summarized in a few sentences but the final phrase, "he suffered from leprosy," overshadows everything else. What do we do when one monumental phrase looms over the sentence of our life? Naaman's story shows us that God's seemingly simple instructions for our monumental problems aren't always easy.
Steve DeNeff - Esther 3:1-6; 4:1-17. When God seems absent, look for Him in the negative space, in the places between the other things you’ve been looking at.
Matthew Beck - 1 Kings 17:7-24. Israel has lost her way. Her kings are evil; her prophets, rejected; widows, abandoned; and sons, without breath. A devastating drought appears to be her end. But just as the brook dries up and only crumbs remain in the flour jar, Yahweh brings a sudden joyous turn. Miraculous meals are provided, sins are forgiven, a child resuscitated, as Yahweh tells the story of Israel coming back to life through a prophet, a widow, and her son.
Steve DeNeff - Genesis 45:1-11; 46:1-7. How do we manage the many transitions we’ve been asked (required?) to make in the last year of our lives? Toward the end of his life, Jacob was forced to gather his possessions and head to Egypt, where he would remain for the rest of his life. Many times, we’ve made that journey, leaving what we know, for what is unfamiliar; foregoing what we love, for what is unpleasant. But God meets Jacob at the border and offers a promise that every child of God should hear.
Ethan Linder - Exodus 1:22, 2:1-10. From Moses’ life, we learn that the world is littered with possibilities of divine intervention (burning bushes, plagues on enemies, waters parted, God’s people delivered). But if we zoom in on Moses’ first days, we learn from another figure (Moses’ mother) that sometimes, God doesn’t remove suffering or give clear direction, and we’re left to make the most of a desperate circumstance. This sermon will meet us in that space, helping us to learn to lean into the Spirit, even when God doesn’t offer clarity or relief.
Steve DeNeff - Genesis 37:2-11; 12-13, 17b-28. “Then he remembered the dream…”. We’ve all had dreams, at one time or another, but where did they come from? And what are they for? Joseph’s dreams are an example of what God intends for ours. Like Joseph, we have them and forget them, but on the day we remember them, everything changes and everything comes together.
Eric Crisp - Genesis 16:1-16. Protagonists of many stories have to survive wilderness experiences. We watch them overcome struggles of circumstance or injustice. The story of Hagar, Sarai, and Abram challenges our assumptions about how to overcome the wilderness while simultaneously showing us how God’s unfailing love and faithfulness is unexpected good news in our own stories of struggle.
Steve DeNeff - Genesis 12:1-7. The Bible is full of stories that convict and inspire, but what if we read them again, this time as fairy tales, each with a sudden and unexpected turn that brings sudden relief, or even joy to the one caught in that predicament? What if we read these stories in the Old Testament as gospel? What if we read them as good news instead of good advice? What if they were announcements and not just prescriptions? Beginning with Abraham, we’ll do just that! We’ll look at how each of these characters were interrupted by God and how each encounter was a sudden and happy turn that changed their situation and their fortunes.
Matthew Beck - Acts 12:6-17. The book of Acts, more than any other book in the Bible, tells the Story of God with humor. The Holy Spirit-filled apostles are mistaken for drunks. A young man falls asleep and out a third story window as Paul preaches late into the night. After Peter is miraculously freed from prison, he is precariously left locked-out, knocking at the door of his friends’ house. If we aren’t laughing through the book, we’re missing the hilarity of the good news: that life in the Spirit is a holy comedy. If we look closer, the “acts” of the apostles aren’t otherworldly, they’re relatable - ordinary, sometimes even laughable, everyday responses to the extraordinary activity of God.
Lenny Luchetti - Acts 1:1-11; 2:1-13. Most of us wonder what will or should happen when the Holy Spirit comes upon the church. But according to Acts, when the Spirit comes chains of bondage are broken. First, the disciples are set free from the chains of self-centered self-absorption (addictions and attachments). Then, the Holy Spirit hands the church the chain cutters inviting us to a mission of liberation. The Spirit empowers us to cut chains by witnessing with works and words. But in Acts, most of the times when the Spirit shows up, the church goes out to witness with words about Jesus. When the Spirit comes upon us we will be nudged to say something to someone somewhere about what Jesus has done for us and can do for them too. Obeying that nudge to witness with words has the potential to bring chain breaking jubilee to a diversity of people with a diversity of needs.
Ethan Linder - Luke 19:1-9. The story of Zacchaeus shows us how an ordinary day can be transformative for our values. In one meal, Zacchaeus transitioned from a swindling tax collector to a vibrant “son of Abraham.” In this sermon, we’ll talk about how (at our tables, in our conversations, and along the road of our life, as in Zacchaeus), Jesus invites us to an “after” that’s better than our before.
Steve DeNeff - Psalm 46:1-11; John 20:19-23. Things are changing quickly in our world (Psalm 46) but in the midst of all that change is a Community of like-minded disciples (John 20), gathered around a Table, and wherever they gather in his name, Christ is Present (Luke 24). This Community is anti-fragile and so it’s attractive to those still caught in the storm. How does this Community gather at that Table? And how, exactly, is Christ present when they do?
Steve DeNeff - Psalm 119:97-105; Luke 24:13-16, 28-32, 36-37, 44-45. What is written in the Scriptures? How do we read them? Why do some have more success than others in hearing the Voice of Jesus through them? Here are some things you can actually do to improve your chances of hearing God’s Voice in the Scriptures.
Steve DeNeff - Psalm 19:7-11; Luke 24:25-32, 44-48. When the Scriptures are read and interpreted in the company of good companions, Christ is present and his voice can be heard.
Steve DeNeff - Proverbs 2:1-11; Luke 24:13-19a. In our Christian journey we need the right people and the right conversations. This is trickier than it seems. Indeed many who have the right friends, have the wrong conversations. What are the conversations we should have, when Christ is Present, and how do the right friends help discern His Presence?
Steve DeNeff - Isaiah 32:1-4; Luke 24:28-35. At the heart of Easter is the message that Christ is alive and Christ is present, active in our midst. Yet because of our blindness we often miss him, we can’t recognize him even when we see him (v. 15-16). Still he comes to us, again and again, in at least four ways, all present on the road to Emmaus and each one practiced in the Church today. By putting ourselves inside the Body as it practices these things, we make it possible for Christ to reveal himself to us in new ways.
Steve DeNeff - Luke 24:13-36. On the road to Emmaus the disciples are overwhelmed and running from Easter. But an encounter with Jesus reunites them to their faith and to their community. Today more than ever, people need an encounter with Jesus that reunites them with their community. What can they do? And what can we do for them?
Chris Bounds - Matthew 21:18-22. When Jesus curses the fig tree at the beginning of holy week, he is “shaming” the shame incurred by humanity in the Fall, when they used “fig leaves” to cover their nakedness. When we think about salvation in Christ Jesus, we often address our guilt before God; alienation from God; and bondage to the power of sin. However, we rarely talk about the problem of shame in our lives. Jesus came to liberate us from our shame – the meaning to which the “cursing of the fig tree” points.
Steve DeNeff - Matthew 20:20-28, Psalm 42:1-11. The unfaithful are those who betray us. Like Judas and Peter, these are people who are supposed to be our allies. What do we do with people close to us (in our homes, on our teams, in our workplaces, at our church, etc.), but we cannot trust them?
Steve DeNeff - Matthew 20:20-28, Psalm 42:1-11. As we continue to look at the uninvited companions who fill Jesus’ life and ours, this week we turn to those who disappoint us. These are the “followers” who are difficult to lead.
Joanne Solis-Walker - Exodus 13:17-18. Sometimes God delivers us from difficult circumstances, and we walk in the valley, but not through the shadow of death (like COVID, oppression, illness). Sometimes God delivers us from ourselves because of our circumstances or our foolishness (our insecurities, lack of confidence/entitlement, blindness, narrow-mindedness, pride, biases, or because of what oppression, trauma, or life challenges have imposed upon us). Sometimes God does not deliver us (not because He can't but because He knows what we don't know), and we walk through the valley of the shadow of death (like Jesus in the desert - temptations, Jesus in the garden - pass this cup, Jesus on the cross - death).
Our response: What if God does not do what we think God should do, and as a result, our loved ones die, there are abuse and oppression? What happens when God does not deliver us?
Steve DeNeff - John 11:47-54, 12:1-3, 9-11; Psalm 57:1-11. As we continue the “Me to We” journey we’ll be looking at our “uninvited companions.” This week, we’ll look at corrupt people - those who mislead us (i.e. the Chief Priest; High Priest). They are powerful, but we cannot follow them. So how do you live with, work for, answer to, support and love someone who abuses power?
Steve DeNeff - Psalm 3; John 8:31-43, 48-59. Each of us have critics that we can’t impress. We should stop trying because the key to dealing with our critics lies in us, not in them.
Steve DeNeff - Luke 6:27-36; Psalm 23. Central to Jesus’ Community is the right disposition toward one’s enemies. The sons and daughters of God – the siblings of Jesus – prove it when they “bless those who persecute… turn the other cheek… (and) give to everyone who asks.” Strong families forebear and forgive one another.
Steve DeNeff - Nazareth: The Purpose of a Family - Isaiah 61:1-3; Luke 4:14-22. When Jesus returns to his hometown, the Spirit is on him and the purpose becomes clear. From now on, he will be “anointed… and sent.” Strong families have a collective mission that involves each of them, and that mission is to redeem what was once lost.
Steve DeNeff - Isaiah 35:1-8a; Luke 4:1-13. In the wilderness Jesus is tempted by the devil but he doesn’t go there alone. He is “led (imperfect tense) by the Spirit.” Strong families go into hard places together. They support one another and remain present and faithful until the time is over. These bouts with the wilderness only make them stronger.
Steve DeNeff - Isaiah 42:1-4; Luke 3:21-23a. At the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, before he has accomplished anything, he is baptized and the Father pronounces a blessing over him, saying things about him that every person longs to hear. Against a culture of criticism and contempt, strong families use language that blesses.
Steve DeNeff - Genesis 12:1-3; Luke 2:41-52. In this rare episode of Jesus’ childhood, he reveals that his agenda is to re-establish the Father’s house, an extended family of God. This is great news for people in our day, especially those seeking a new or stronger family.
Alex Mandura - 2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16 & John 1:1-18. There are many things we have not liked about this last year, and it's not a bad thing to want the days ahead to look different. However, as we look to scripture and the Incarnation itself, it gives us eyes to see our present moment through a new lens and move forward with anticipated hope.
Larisa Levicheva-Joseph - Matthew 1:18-25; Luke 2:21-38. Our God is the one who knows the whole story, we are simply in the middle of it. However, God is inviting us to participate with him in it. The question is, how will we respond?
Steve DeNeff - Isaiah 9:2, 6-7; 51:4-6; Luke 2:8-14. On the night he arrived, God introduced us to a different savior and a different kind of salvation that was unlike any we’d known before. This salvation - from God - is as hard to comprehend in our day as it was in theirs, even for Christians who, for the last nine months, have been looking elsewhere. But how, exactly, is God’s salvation so different? And what difference does it make in a year like this one?
Beau Hamner - Isaiah 12:1-6. Joy is not found in the absence of pain, discomfort, and suffering. Rather, joy is found in the contentment with what is to come.
Matthew Beck - Luke 2:8-15, Isaiah 9:1-7. The good news of Advent, foretold in Isaiah’s poetry and found in the angel’s announcement to the shepherds, is not a passive peace or shallow Shalom, but nothing short of the full redemption of all humanity reconciled to God and the restoration of all things. While we might settle for an absence of conflict or peace of mind, God wants to give us peace on earth.
Steve DeNeff - Job 14:1-2, 7-10, Isaiah 11:1-5, 10, 12, 16. In Advent we wait in hope for God to break in upon us with something new, something beyond our power to do. This newness is rooted in God’s own activity and is embodied in the earthly, human form of Christian community.
Steve DeNeff - Ephesians 3:14-19; 4:1-6. On the hidden potential of conflict, or how our differences make us stronger.
Rev. Steve DeNeff - Ephesians 4:7, 11-16. On the right use of talent, or how the Body of Christ shows us what our gifts are.
Steve DeNeff - Ephesians 3:14-19; 4:1-6. On the hidden potential of conflict, or how our differences make us stronger.
Beau Hamner - Luke 14:7-14. In these two seemingly insignificant parables, Jesus instructs us how we are to position ourselves at His “table,” while also giving us guidance as to who we are to invite to join us there.
Steve DeNeff - Ephesians 2:1-6, 13-22. He himself is our peace who has made the two one… for through Him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.” In Christ, we are not “separate but equal;” we are “different yet one.
Steve DeNeff - Matthew 16:13-20. The life expectancy of a church is about 70 years. How does one, like CWC, live for 125? There are many reasons but the most significant is that they are able to sustain the Founder’s vision and passion. Ours is the promise of Christ to build a colony of heaven at the gates of hell.
Ethan Linder - Mark 4:13-20, 30-34. When Jesus is pressed to explain what the Kingdom of God is like, he comes up with a perplexing analogy: the force powerful enough to overtake the Roman Empire, to outlast the powered-up kingdoms of the world is… a seed, some dirt, a shrub. The most effective communities, Jesus seems to think, are those who can say “yes” to God’s invitation to do things that--though small in themselves--take on a life of their own.
Matthew Beck - Acts 18:1-4, 18-19, 24-26. The brief cameos of Priscilla and Aquila in the drama of church history move the plot forward in significant ways and further the Gospel's reach. They turn their displacement into missions. Their business funds the Jesus movement. Their home becomes a place of worship. In short, they add to everything they touch and everyone they encounter. This is the heart of the shift from "Me to We." It is human nature to view the community for what it can give us before we consider what we can give to it. And yet, if our posture toward the church is one of addition, rather than subtraction, the Gospel can multiply, just as in the case of Pricilla and Aquila.
Steve DeNeff - Ephesians 1:15-23. Christ is the Center of every Christian community and that community is the portal into Christ. They are not the same - Christ and His Community - yet we can’t get into the One except through the Other, nor into the Other except through the One. But what, exactly, is that community? And what are we doing to help each other find Christ?
Eric Crisp - Ephesians 1:2, 15-23; 4:4-6. If Christ is present in the world through His Body, the Church, then why are so many today devoted to one more than to the other? If the Church is truly the Body of Christ, there is no other way to belong except together. It’s all or nothing! So what does this mean for the way we practice our faith?
Steve DeNeff - Belonging - Ephesians 1:3-11, 22. Most of us have a deep longing to belong to another person or community but it’s often for our own sake. Paul describes a different kind of community and another way of belonging. In the Church, our community begins and continues in what Christ has done to both of us, whether we know it or not.
Steve DeNeff - Second Conversion - Acts 9. In the famous story of Saul’s conversion on the road to Damascus, there were two encounters that changed Saul’s life. One was with Jesus himself. The other was with Jesus’ people. Both were essential to Saul’s conversion. Yet we speak of one more than the other. In this intro to the fall series, Me-to-We, we’ll look at 4 characters that God brings into our lives to finish the work he started in us.
Dave Ward - It Is What It Is - Titus 3:1-8. There is a brokenness to our world. This brokenness is not just something that exists “out there.” If we look carefully, that brokenness is in here. It is tempting to ignore it or resign ourselves to it, saying “it is what it is.” God’s amazing grace gives us another way forward. For anyone needing a second chance, a new start, this is the best news possible. But this grace is not just for people who have not yet received it or come to know it. We need daily reminders of Christ’s amazing grace so we can live lives of amazing grace. If we do this well, then we ourselves become living reminders of God’s grace to others.
Jeff Clark - Building from the Rubble - Nehemiah 1:1-4, 2:1-18; 2 Corinthians 10:3-18. Paul says, “it is not the one who commends himself who is approved but the one who is commended by the Lord.” But many of us find our ordinary lives messy from forces that are beyond our control. What new potential might emerge if we humbly lived fully surrendered to Christ in the sphere of service God assigned us? We might find a Spirit-empowered believer has an advantage in building something beautiful from the mess.
Steve DeNeff - The Greatest of These… - John 15:7-14; 1 Corinthians 13:1-8a. It is common to hear people speak about love. We search for it but too often it eludes us. The Christian vision of love is more powerful and practical than almost everything we’re hearing. And it is within our reach. At the peak of Peter’s list of virtues is love - for those inside the Church and those outside as well- but how do we learn it and what does it actually do?
Ethan Linder - By Design - 1 Corinthians 10:23-11:1. Many of us want lives that are more expansive, whole, and free; but it’s not as easy as wanting it (otherwise everybody would live that way). In this passage, Paul invites us to examine the structure of our lives, and how we can partner with God to build lives that are “constructive,” not just to us, but for others.
Steve DeNeff - Colossians 1:9-10; Philippians 1:9-11. The first two virtues of a beautiful life, virtue and knowledge, are often competitors in society today. In reality they are joined, but how? How does knowledge stimulate virtue and how does virtue cultivate more knowledge? In other words, how do we get smarter without becoming insulated or arrogant? To link these two virtues we need to practice the Biblical vision of both as expressed in these prayers of Paul.
Steve DeNeff - 2 Peter 1:2-11. Of all those who become Christians this year, about one in four will actively pursue this spiritual growth and of those who do, about one in ten will move on to new heights. What the others lack is often a vision and/or a plan. What do you want to be? And how is that going to happen? In this passage, written to new believers in the first century, Peter gives us a vision (v.4) and a plan (v. 5-7) for getting unstuck in our spiritual lives.
Eric Crisp - 1 Peter 4:7-11. When we recognize our identity as God’s special possession, we begin to sense that there is a better way to live in our world. But formation into this other way does not happen by accident or alone. We long for shepherd-elders who have seen suffering and the resurrection power of God. We need connections with those whose lives exemplify the Jesus-centered life.
Ethan Linder - 1 Peter 4:7-11. Peter writes to the Christians in exile, exhorting them to be sober-minded and alert; not just for self-protection, but to see things as they truly are. In this sermon, we’ll examine God’s invitation (through Peter’s words) to the kind of life that keeps us rooted in our own communities and growing toward the Kingdom of God.
Emily Vermilya - 1 Peter 1:6-7; 3:13-18; 4:12-16,19. In a world filled with suffering, we're often tempted to go searching for the cause of such trials and hardships. But Peter’s instruction to the first century church encourages looking beyond reasons for why suffering exists and emphasizes the significance of how we respond to such difficulties in this life. Such a perspective change impacts our witness, our ability to cope with life’s challenges, and influences our understanding of the temporal nature of suffering.
Emily Vermilya - 1 Peter 2:13-17, 3:8-9. Submission is a required and formative action in the Christian journey: first to God, then to one another, and even to the authorities placed in leadership over us in this world. Peter’s instruction for submission to the first-century church was born out of his own experience of being formed through submission as he walked with Christ. Such instruction continues to guide and form us today
Steve DeNeff - 1 Peter 2:5-10. When something happens, like what happened lately, our tendency as exiles is to get so embroiled in the controversy that we forget who we are. Without formally denying our identity - our right to practice our faith - the culture subtly gives us another one. Now more than ever, we must rediscover our narrative, our name and our agenda.
Steve DeNeff - 1 Peter 1:1-9, 17-21. The past few months have been among the most disruptive and uncertain of our lives. We have suffered many losses and from everything we hear, there will be even more. Yet our hope is that in and by these losses we are being perfected and saved for the day when Christ is finally revealed.
Eric Crisp - 1 Corinthians 12:4-7, 11-27. On Pentecost, we celebrate the Holy Spirit’s indwelling of the people of God, beginning the Church’s mission to the world. Paul reminds us that we can misunderstand and misuse the gifts of the Spirit, hindering the effectiveness of our mission. While the proverb “a chain is only as strong as its weakest link” has generally been accepted by organizations, teams, and even churches, is it possible that in the economy of God, those we perceive as weak might make us stronger?
Steve DeNeff - Acts 1:1-3, 6-11. Everyone wants to go to heaven ... but not today! Perhaps it’s because we’ve misjudged it. What if heaven is other than we think? Closer than we think? In the ascension of Jesus everything changes on earth and in heaven. So why do we still stand “gazing into heaven” as though it were some idyllic place far removed from our world and our mission?
Joined - Luke 22:39-46; Romans 8:26-30. In times when the flesh is weak, the Spirit is willing and prays through us, for us, putting language to our confusion, our grief and even our anger. It is here where “the Spirit pleads for us in harmony with God’s will,” and this is why “all things work together for our good.” In the loneliness of suffering, we are more united with God than ever.
Steve DeNeff- Joel 2:28-30a, 32a; Luke 4:14-21. In various times, as God decides, the Spirit takes over our faculties and channels himself through us in superhuman ways. In these moments, we accomplish far more than usual and always for the glory of God. While these moments come and go, our daily lives continually prepare us for them.
Steve DeNeff - Isaiah 11:1-2; John 14:26; 16:12-15. The same Spirit who led Jesus into the wilderness, then out again is the One who guides us into all truth, always reminding us of what Jesus said and sometimes even more. Indeed, the Holy Spirit is the faculty God has given us for hearing His Voice.
Emily Vermilya - Isaiah 42:1; Luke 3:21-22; John 21:1-14; Romans 8:14-17. The same Spirit who empowered Jesus as the Son of God, empowers us to be “the children of God.” The “Spirit of holiness (who) appointed the Son of God in power” (Rom. 1:4) also appoints us toward the same end.
Steve DeNeff - John 14:15-20, 20:19-23. When Jesus “breathed onto” his disciples he intended to, not just sustain his ministry but to expand it with, in and through us. Through the Holy Spirit God dwells within the Body of Christ like he dwelled in the humanity of Christ. Through the Holy Spirit we may become, by grace, what Jesus was by nature. It is time for us to live up to that.
Steve DeNeff - Luke 24:13-27. We’re in the middle of the two worst weeks, people are worried about the economy, about their families and their jobs. They’re looking for good news. Yet they want more than good news. What they’re craving - and don’t have words for - is Easter and Easter is more than the resurrection.
Steve DeNeff - John 12:20-36. Palm Sunday is best known as the coronation of Jesus our King. But later that day - after the famous parade - our King’s heart was “troubled” as he confronted a dilemma and a question that confronts us in these worrisome days. What is the dilemma and “what shall we say?”
Steve DeNeff - John 6:1-14. As disciples, our calling in a time like this is to be an extension of Christ’s own doing and being.
Steve DeNeff - Mark 10:46-52. If you could have a private audience with Jesus and ask for anything you wanted, what would you ask for? No, really, with all that’s been happening you’ve got one ask and you’ll probably get it. What would it be? What should it be? Here’s an example of how we might pray in these times.
Steve DeNeff - John 5:1-15. This has to do with our dis-ease: Do I still believe in wellness; do I think it is possible and do I really want it for myself? What about the change will be most disruptive?
Steve DeNeff - Mark 4:35-41. This has to do with our trust: Where have I put my trust? In whom or in what do I have faith? Who will take care of me? How do I know I will be okay?
Steve DeNeff - John 1:29-39a. This has to do with our purpose: What are my dreams? What do I want out of life? What kind of life is worth wanting? What desires occupy my thoughts and lead my ambitions?
Alex Sicilia - Matthew 17:1-9. Through this message, I intend to encourage the listeners on how we can live more meaningful lives by living with a transfiguration perspective. By this, I mean a perspective in which we are reminded on how Jesus entered our reality and shone His glory IN our reality to encourage us to know Who He really is, to listen His voice, and to feel His touch. By being reminded of who He really is, we are encouraged to live in our present reality with a more clear and meaningful perspective that will have a direct impact on our every day life.
Steve DeNeff - Acts 8:26-39. Most Christians want to help others find their way back to God but for some the idea of sharing the gospel feels awkward. What if, instead of learning a few talking points, we learned a few skills? And what if these skills applied to almost any conversation?
Matthew Beck - Genesis 3:6-7, Luke 11:37-44, Luke 5:29-32. At first glance, the clean-unclean metaphor in Scripture seems lost on us today. But perhaps the meaning is hidden in plain sight for an image-controlling culture that can no longer tell what is filtered and what is real. We, like the Pharisees, are experts at cleaning the outside. But are we what we appear to be? The good news is that Christ can make us clean on the inside.
Reflection Questions:
- Is my interior life consistent with my exterior life?
- Am I being honest with God and others about what’s truly going on inside?
- Does my version of purity separate me from and alienate the very people that need God?
- What might Christ want to clean inside me?
Steve DeNeff - Genesis 3:9-13; Matthew 8:1-13; Galatians 3:26-28. Why is there so much division among us? The walls that divide us are not between different races or generations but in every human heart. The good news is that in Christ these walls come tumbling down as God forms us all into one new Person.
Steve DeNeff - Genesis 3:6-10; Mark 5:1-20; John 8:31-36. Why does our pursuit of “freedom” only lead to more bondage? We are too easily entangled in things that once gave us pleasure until, before long, we serve them. The good news is that through Christ the Spirit of God has set us free from the power of sin and death.
Steve DeNeff - Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7; Proverbs 4:18-19; Mark 8:22-25. Why do smart people do stupid things? Our trouble is not rebellion but folly. Blindness. We walk in darkness, “having no idea what we’re stumbling over. The good news is that, in Jesus, God has opened our eyes and we can see things as they really are.
Steve DeNeff - Isaiah 55:1-7, 12-13; Mark 1:1-8; 14-15. The gospel is not about going to heaven after we die. It’s about heaven coming into us before we die. It’s more than a message. It’s a miracle. And it’s a way of life practiced in community before a world that is desperate for answers.
Steve DeNeff - Mark 7:31-37 & Isaiah 40:3-5, 9-11. It has never been harder, and it has never been more urgent to share the gospel than it is today: harder because people are disenchanted and less interested, yet urgent because so much is at stake. But even when the soil is hard, we must keep sowing.
Steve DeNeff - Luke 2:8-12; Philippians 2:5-11. To humble ourselves and obey is the nature of God: “Being in very nature God . . . he made himself nothing and took the very nature of a servant . . . (then) he humbled himself, and became obedient,” (Phil. 2:6-8). This is not only Jesus’ humanity; it’s ours at its best. It’s who we are and who we want to be.
Emily Vermilya - Matthew 1:18-25; Luke 1:26-38. Sometimes a single act of obedience can take the rest of our lives to complete. Like Joseph and Mary, we are summoned into a story that has already begun and is larger than us, and to give our consent requires us to spend the rest of our lives doing what is hard and beyond us.
Eric Crisp - Luke 1:5-22. Obedience takes time. Sometimes it cannot be done in day, not even in the day we are told. Like Zechariah, we must wait for another day when the opportunity presents itself, then we must be true and faithful to that moment before God will open new possibilities.
Steve DeNeff - Isaiah 40:1-5; 42:1-9. Sometimes obedience means believing the impossible, saying the absurd, holding onto he improbable simply because we’ve heard God’s Voice. It means being the minority report. Sometimes the certainty of it is unclear, even to us, so it is only by looking back that we know what the will of God was.
Steve Lennox - 2 Peter 1:1-11. For the most part, Christians know what God asks of them, but feel ill-equipped to oblige, explaining their shortfall as “being human.” In this passage, God makes clear that He has already given us everything we need for living the godly life.
Steve DeNeff - Luke 20:45 - 21:4. Contrary to popular belief, our possessions lie at the heart of our spiritual lives because whatever we do with them, for better or worse, we do to ourselves. That’s why the widow who “put in everything - all that she had to live on” is so impressive a model of discipleship. In sharp contrast to the “long and flowing robes” of the Pharisees, she quietly reflects the character of God’s own gift, Jesus, who noticed her.
Steve DeNeff - Matthew 15:21-28. What happens in seasons when God is not speaking? Whether we like it or not, every one of us has been (or at least “felt” like we’ve been) in that season. Like the Canaanite woman, we’ve desperately cried to God, “Lord, help me” but “Jesus did not answer us at all.” This message - on the importance of not speaking for God when God is not speaking - will give counsel to both those crying out (like the woman) and those who try to avoid them (like the disciples).
Emily Vermilya - Acts 15. Discerning the voice of God lies at the heart of our desire to shift from asking to listening. But what if God’s leading seems unclear or leaves open a number of options for us in terms of next steps? What do we do when what we discern lies in direct contrast with what another brother or sister is hearing from the Lord? Examining the account of the Jerusalem Counsel (Acts 15), the Early Church models for us the role of others in helping us discern God’s voice and encourages us to become a community of people who engage in corporate discernment.
Steve DeNeff - 1 Samuel 16:1-13. “But the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Do not consider his appearance… The Lord does not look at the things man looks at… the Lord looks at the heart.” On discernment as the single most important practice for dealing with complexity in our contemporary lives.
Ethan Linder - Amos 2:6-12, 8:11-12. “I will send a famine through the land--not a famine of food or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the Lord.” On yearning to hear the voice of God, only to find we’ve lost our hearing.
Steve DeNeff - Jeremiah 1:1, 4-10, 17-19. “Look I have put my words in your mouth. Get up and prepare for action.” On the importance of Biblical imagination.
Steve DeNeff - Ezekiel 3:1-11. “The voice said to me, ‘Son of man, eat what I am giving you – eat this scroll – (and) let my words sink deep into your own heart first; then go to the people in exile.” On the importance of putting ourselves before the Word and obeying it, whether anyone else does or not.
Steve DeNeff - Nehemiah 8:1-8, 13-17. “He read aloud from daybreak until noon… and all the people listened attentively to the Book.” On getting reacquainted with Scripture as the Speaking Voice of God.
Steve DeNeff - 1 Kings 19:3-4a, 8b-13a. “After the fire came a gentle whisper . . . and Elijah went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.” On the importance of hearing the still small voice (meditation).
Steve DeNeff - Numbers 22:21-31. “Then the Lord opened the donkey’s mouth and she spoke to Balaam… so Balaam bowed low and fell facedown.” On the importance of hearing God in a multiplicity of ways.
Steve DeNeff - 1 Samuel 3:1-12, 15-21. “One night, Eli was lying down in his usual place… and Samuel was lying down in the Temple, where the ark of God was.” On the importance of rhythms and regiment for hearing the word of the Lord.
Steve DeNeff - Mark 9:14-27. In this well-known miracle is a parable for the contemporary Church. Like the father’s boy, we have been “robbed of our speech” (v.17). In the eyes of the public, we cannot speak because we cannot hear (v.26) and we cannot hear because we no longer believe (v.19, 29). We are “disenchanted,” by our overcrowded beliefs. Whenever we’re speechless, the solution is not to keep talking - though, often, that’s what we do - but to really listen, first to God and then to others before we know what the gospel really means for our world today.
Emily Vermilya - Matthew 13:3-13; 16-17. Listening is an art form necessary for those who desire to know, understand, and follow God. The parables of Christ call us to move beyond merely hearing the proclaimed word to truly listening for the fullness of the voice of God. Though usually offered as simple stories, the parables require us to look beyond the obvious for the deeper intended message and meaning. In the Parable of the Sower (as it has often been entitled), we find a reminder that in order to receive the Word of the Lord and see it flourish in our lives, we must refocus and commit ourselves to cultivating soil in which it can take root and grow.
Steve DeNeff - Philippians 3:10-4:1. What happens after we believe? What do we do next, and what if nothing happens? Many Christians complain that their lives are not what they expected, not even after they were “saved.” Have they done something wrong? Has God over-promised and under-performed? Or were they wrong about what it means to be “saved?” This message will re-examine conversion in the light of Paul’s experience and contemporary Christianity and show how this effects our lives, as individuals, and our church.
Steve DeNeff - Philippians 3:1-12. At the core of our church is a mission, and at the core of that mission is the pursuit of God in Christ as he is manifest in the Word, the Gospel and the Church. Today’s culture has challenged the Church’s commitment to these three things - offering substitutes that have only a form of godliness - but every disciple and every church will ultimately be measured by their pursuit of them.
Steve DeNeff - Psalm 100. Saying “thank you” is one of the first things we learn as a child, yet the words can seem shallow when there is lots to be thankful for. Perhaps that is the plight of most, even poor Americans. The more we have, the more we notice what we don’t have. Yet “thanksgiving” and “praise” v.4) mean something different in the Psalms. Here they are not just words, but rituals. They are not just manners, but ways of life. What if saying “thank you” is more than good etiquette; what if it’s good therapy? And what if it changes more than our attitude; what if it actually changes the outcome? At the heart of Israel’s worship (v.2) is the knowledge that we belong to God (v.3) and that it is his nature to take care of his own (v.5).
Steve DeNeff - Psalm 130-131. As Americans we are not accustomed to waiting nor do we wait for the right things. This song, sung on the temple steps by a seeker on his way into worship, describes one whose heart is pure even if the rest of him is not. He was once in the depths (v.1) and has found God’s forgiveness (v.4), but he has not yet found redemption (v.7). Here on the steps, between forgiveness and redemption, he waits (v.5-6) for himself and for his people. One day, he/they will be what God created him/them to be. Meanwhile, he quiets himself like a child in his mother’s arms (131:2), content for now yet longing to be what he was created to be. What are you waiting for? And what are you doing while you wait? If we wait for the right things, and we wait in the right way, God will fulfill His promise to redeem us in the end.
Steve DeNeff - Psalm 32. The desire for innocence is a primal instinct. Just as we seem inclined to do what is wrong, we are inclined to cover it up (v.1), to “keep silent” (v.3) until we can stand it no more (v.4). Then we admit to our sin and discover that our innocence lies, not away from guilt, but through it… on the other side of it (v.5). With new confidence and enthusiasm we cling to God who does even more than we ask for, who not only covers our sin (v.1) but surrounds us with songs of deliverance (v.7). At the end of our innocence is the beginning of God’s unfailing love (v.10).
Alex Mandura - Psalm 88. Darkness. Loss. Overwhelmed. Grief. Desolation. Abandoned. These are sobering words that describe a season of life we are in, or perhaps someone in our circle of relationships. What do we do when these dark nights arise? More often than not our response is mixed with blaming God, ourselves or others. Our actions range from avoidance, forsaking others or even providing insufficient attempts to resolve the spiritual desert we are in. Psalm 88 gives us the story of a person walking through such a season, that doesn’t have a clear resolution, yet shows us that the response in the midst is the hope we are looking for.
Emily Vermilya - Psalm 23 is often referred to as the most widely-known Psalm in the Bible. We learn it early in our journeys with Christ and recite it often. But there is a distinct differences in knowing the Psalm and living it. As a Psalm of assurance, Psalm 23 is intended as a Psalm for living—providing us with an expression of confidence in God, our great Shepherd who will provide for every need.
Steve DeNeff - Psalm 31. In the last twenty years, we’ve seen the rise of a new intolerance for, not just the “religious” but the “righteous” in particular. Around the world, and especially in America, the people of God have become the subject of criticism and scorn. The righteous have been labeled, “intolerant, irrelevant and extreme,” and not only by their enemies, but by their friends “who speak cordially with their neighbors but harbor malice in their hearts.” We are like "a city under siege,” (31:21). In response to our critics, Christians today have resorted to a few strategies designed to protect them but, so far, each has only made things worse. In this Psalm - a prayer to Yahweh - another strategy emerges for dealing with our critics and this one has helped preserve us for centuries.
Steve DeNeff - Psalm 27. Terror… threat… intimidation… anxiety… dread and the failure of nerve. It seems like a low-grade fear has gripped the soul of our nation, our neighborhoods and even our leaders. At the bottom of our trouble is a deep and subtle fear… of failure, of rejection, of loss, of each other. Yet the Psalmist, whose circumstances were more dire than our own, found a way to conquer his fears, not by casting them out but by finding God in them: “He will conceal me there when trouble comes,” (v.4, NLT). What has fear kept you from doing? What have you settle for, or settled into, that is below you due to your fear? What would you do, or try to do, if you knew you could not fail?
Beau Hamner - Psalm 116. God is present with us through both through periods of blessing and periods of struggle. In both, He listens attentively to our prayers of joy and our prayers of lament. He responds through graciousness, compassion, and protection. Our response to His action should not be one of ambivalence or inaction. Instead we are called to fulfill our vows we have made to God and respond to Him with thanks before all His people.
Eric Crisp - Psalm 1. The psalms are songs for the people of God. Songs can influence our thoughts as well as our emotions and the psalms are meant to form the way we see and experience the world. Throughout the seasons of life, the psalms speak to the heart of the disciple, leading to a life that flourishes in every circumstance. Psalm 1 sets the agenda for our life of worship and leads us to the root of a fruitful life.
Emily Vermilya - John 3:22-30 & Matthew 6:1-4. Much like John the Baptist's disciples, we live in a culture that encourages us to vie for status and public renown—to broadcast our accomplishments widely and make known the great things we’ve done. Consequently, our perceived value and worth is often tied directly to the titles we’ve been given and the accolades we’ve received. But this mindset breeds a spirit of competition and self-centeredness; and we, like John’s disciples, can lose sight of our primary purpose and calling to “prepare the way of the Lord.” In the example of John the Baptist, we find the embodiment of Jesus’ teaching on doing good deeds, not to be acknowledged and praised by others, rather for the sake of the greater Kingdom. This requires the great discipline of hiddenness and an intentionality in elevating others, specifically Christ, before ourselves: “He must become greater and greater, and (we) must become less and less.”
Alex Sicilia - Luke 9:57-62. In all of life, we have varying levels of commitment (closeness, or passion). We can be 1) Interested 2) Involved 3) Committed or 4) Surrendered. We see these levels of commitment in our work, sports, hobbies, ideas, with other people, and in our relationship with Jesus. This message will invite College Church to consider what level we are at in our relationship with Christ. It will encourage us to participate in full devotion, surrender, and total dedication to Jesus and how to help others in this journey. We want to move beyond the basic stages of interest and involvement and into the transformational levels of commitment and surrender.
Eric Crisp - Matthew 27:57-61; John 20:10-18. If we love God, we obey God and when we think of obedience, we usually think of action. But what if the call to obey is a call to wait? Our productivity culture has a bias toward action: we plan, we prepare, and we execute. But obedience is often a call to patiently wait on God to work and we get witness and evangelize. Mary Magdalene helps us see what it means to actively wait for God because we love God.
Steve DeNeff - John 14:15-24. Obedience is the first and last lesson in discipleship: If we love God, we will obey him. But if we obey God, does that mean we love him? In fact, there are 3 reasons to obey God and not all of them are equal. To obey God for love is the highest form of obedience. What are the others? And how do we know which one motivates us?
Steve DeNeff - John 21:1-17. Most of us have heard, and some of us believe that God loves us like a child. But do we love God? Really? How would we know? More than that, how we he know? We may tell him, perhaps every Sunday, but relationships are complex. Most require more than words. They require action. So what might we do to prove that we love God? What actions might he interpret as evidence of our love? Fortunately, we are not on our own here. The Bible offers a handful of things we can do to “prove” that we love him. Jesus’ conversation with Peter is one of them: "Do you love me? . . . (then) feed my sheep.” But who are these “sheep?” And what is involved in feeding them? This message will focus on the call to take responsibility for someone else’s spiritual growth.
"One of the great themes throughout the Bible is the struggle between life and death: “The thief comes to steal, kill and destroy but I have come that they might have life and have it more abundantly,” (Jn. 10:10). This struggle culminates in life of Jesus as death reaches out to claim him (Good Friday) and in the process dies itself (Easter). This is the message of Easter - “the last enemy to be defeated is death” (1 Cor. 15:26) - and it is played out every day in this world through our lives."
Steve DeNeff - Isaiah 42:1-4; John 12:12-19. In Jesus’ day, as in ours, there were lots of expectations, social and political, swirling around the coming of Israel’s King. But what rode into Jerusalem that day was something else - something uninvited and underwhelming - such that everyone missed it. We still do. Now as then, even those shouting “Hosanna” seem oblivious to the subtle correction of Jesus to our expectations: “Our king comes to us righteous and having salvation . . . (but) riding on a donkey,” (Zech. 9:9; Jn. 12:15). The message is clear, and maybe we’ll see it “only after Jesus is glorified,” (Jn 12:16). Jesus is the savior of the world and he is able to do this from a minority position. Even today God enters the imperial city . . . riding on a donkey.
Steve DeNeff - Mark 11:12-19. It is common, today, to hear religious people say that God is love. Isn’t that what the Bible says? But has anyone wondered what His love is capable of? Have they wondered if there are not, perhaps, sides to it that we have not seen and will not accept? These two stories, told on the way to Jerusalem, reveal how loyal and furious is the love of God, such that we do not want to be on the wrong side of it. Apparently this can happen even to those safe inside the “temple” system. Can it happen to us? If so, how should this inform the God we worship? What God have we worshiped that, perhaps, should die on the road to Jerusalem?
Ethan Linder - Isaiah 35:4-8; Matthew 11:1-15. John the Baptist’s whole life—his prophecies, his baptism, his confidence—pointed toward Jesus being the Messiah. Yet when he is in prison, he says, “Are you the one we’ve been waiting for, or should we expect someone else?” We (along with John’s disciples) are left wondering why his faith took a downward turn. What about Jesus’ actions made John question if He was the one? Probably the same ones that make us wonder whether God will come through, and leave us asking the same question: “Should we expect someone else?” This sermon will explore that tension and help us name God’s presence in our lives—even when it doesn’t seem like enough to live by.
Steve DeNeff - John 6:16-21; 11:17-37. Most of us want a God that can do miracles because there is always something too big or too hard for us that we need God to do. So if God should calm a storm or raise the dead, it is no surprise to anyone. This is what gods do or they are no god at all. The real surprise comes when God, instead of calming the storm, should walk out into it and, instead of raising the dead, should grieve at the funeral even more than the family. Most of us don’t even want a God like that but sometimes that’s the only God there is.
How and where God is to be worshiped, who and what was acceptable to him was the argument of her day. To both Samaritans and Jews God was the product of years of indoctrination, protocol and prejudice. All of this worked for a while, until God asked a woman of ill repute for a drink. In this encounter, the God of her youth began to die and a new one – an other who was seeking her, who belonged to no one and so he belonged to everyone – was rising in front of her. Suddenly, her worship as no longer about precedence, protocol and prejudice. It was all about spirit and truth, for those are the qualities that the real God seeks.
Steve DeNeff - Mark 8:31-9:1. What is it about Jesus that most surprises you about God? The images that we have of God come early in life and, over time, become fixed and then fragile. When something goes wrong, or when God is silent for a period of time, it rattles these images and we let go fo them a little. Something about God “dies” and in this death, something new, something stronger, more personal and closer to the Truth rises in its place. This cycle, known as “conversion,” is a predictable, normal and even healthy process. By holding on to things we know for sure, we can emerge from this “death of God” experience with a stronger grip on Him who was dead and is alive forevermore.
Joanne Solis-Walker - Acts 10:25-35; Isaiah 43:18-19. Cornelius, an officer in the Italian group of the Roman Army did not expect to be in the presence of Peter and yet Peter stood before him. The thought of Peter welcoming men from Caesarea into his house was not conceivable, yet the men are not only welcomed, but Peter invites them to spend the night. Though alienated from each other, these two men were brought together by unexpected visions from God. These visions represented something new that exceeded their wills and imaginations. In a similar manner, God is doing a new, new thing today to bring to fruition the vision He has for His Church.
Steve DeNeff - John 11:38-45. In one of Jesus’ most memorable and disruptive miracles, he raises Lazarus from the dead. But this time he does not finish the miracle alone. He orders his disciples to “take off the grave clothes and let him go.” This week, we’ll profile some of our people who have been forming one another communities across our city. We’ll tell their stories and celebrate the ways that they have been “taking off the grave clothes” for people that Jesus has raised from the dead.
Steve DeNeff - Luke 11:1-10. “Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction and faithful in prayer… Have equal concern for one another… (and) pray for each other so that you may be healed.”
Steve DeNeff - John 13:1-17. “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others more important than yourselves; each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others… Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.”
Steve DeNeff - John 8:1-11. “Do not repay evil for evil; if it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone… be patient, bearing with one another in love… Forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another; forgive, as the Lord forgave you… Confess your sins to one another and pray for each other so that you may be healed… (and) remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his ways will save him from death and cover a multitude of sins.”
Steve DeNeff - Matthew 7:24-29. “I am convinced, my brothers and sisters, that you yourselves are full of goodness, complete in knowledge and competent to instruct one another… Submit to one another out of reverence to Christ… and let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom… set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.”
Steve DeNeff - Matthew 9:18-26. “Brothers and sisters, do not slander one another… Don’t grumble against each other or you will be judged, for the Judge is standing at the door… Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing… Let us hold unswervingly to the hope that we profess… and let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Do not give up meeting together – as some are in the habit of doing – but let us encourage one another, and all the more as we see the (last) Day approaching.”
Steve DeNeff - Luke 5:27-32. “Live in harmony with one another. Don’t be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position… Do not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another… Instead, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another… accept one another, just as Christ accepted you in order to bring praise to God… be devoted to one another in brotherly love (and) honor one another above yourselves… be kind and compassionate to one another… offer hospitality to one another without grumbling… and when you gather to eat, you should wait for each other.”
Steve DeNeff - John 17:20-26. In Jesus, God’s solution to a universal problem is a particular person and not just a person but a people through whom God will bless the earth. These people live with God and God lives through these people in ways that are peculiar, yet attractive to the rest of the world. Jesus, the Son of God, is the whole Church in the shape of a single person. What if a whole community moved toward this together, from slave to child? What if the Church was truly the Body, the physical Presence of Christ in the world? If we lived together as God lives within Himself, in the Trinity, how would we live And how would it be peculiar yet attractive to the way everyone else lives?
Eric Crisp - Luke 2:41-52; Colossians 3:1-3, 12-17. Many live life without noticing the absence of Jesus. Others notice Jesus’ absence and, as they begin to look for him, wonder why he isn’t there. We rediscover Jesus, however, when we are in the Father and about the Father’s business, dwelling in the word of Christ and putting on love, peace, and thankfulness.
Steve DeNeff - Isaiah 9:2-7; Luke 2:1-14. For many, the shift from Slave to Child is only self-actualization. They celebrate the privileges of a firstborn, yet forget their commensurate responsibility. Like Jesus, we are the Presence of God in this world. We live in the Father for the world. That is why Jesus’ birth and ours is “good news of great joy to all people.”
Emily Vermilya - John 1:1-2, 10-14; Colossians 2:9-10. When asked what God is like, most will say that He is “love” but do we know what this means? Jesus said, “The Father loves the Son” (John 5:20) and he prays “that the love you (the Father) have for me may be in them,” (John 17:26). In fact, the love of the Father for the Son and for us is the same love to the same degree. Just as the Father loved us through the Son, the Son will love others through us. God is not just the standard, but the Source of our love for others. This changes everything about the way we love one another.
Steve DeNeff - John 1:1-2, 10-14; Colossians 2:9-10. For many, their humanity is a weakness: “I’m only human,” they say to excuse their last failure, yet the more of these failures they have the less human they become. What if Jesus, and not somebody else, is the measure of our humanity? What if God took on our flesh so that we, in our flesh, can be like God? But how? In his humanity, God makes demands upon our humanity, yet He offers freely to give us all that He demands.
Steve DeNeff - Hosea 11:1-4, 8-11; Luke 1:26-32a. Fatherhood is an idea that many today find repulsive because it stirs up images of male dominance, of abuse or neglect, and so much of it is for good reason. Yet God is a Father and that’s how He wants to be known. What if fatherhood properly understood is the cure for fatherhood properly condemned. The relationship that Jesus had with his Father is the very relationship that we can have, not some other.
Steve DeNeff - Acts 1:4-8; 11:19-26. Organizations are often attracted to the obsolete, to things that should have worked but did not, to things that were once productive but no longer are. Then something happens - something unpredictable and unwelcome - that forces us to re-examine our assumptions, methods and goals. It’s a moment that calls us forward, from Jerusalem to Antioch, and if we go God will meet us there with new power and new opportunities. I believe our church is in an Antioch moment that calls for us to establish new presence in the community, outside these walls.
Emily Vermilya - Deuteronomy 6:1-25. The mission of God is timeless and unchanging. His "faithfulness continues from generation to generation,” (Ps. 119:90). Throughout the bible, we read of the home serving as a primary place of disciple making—a place where faith is birthed, scripture is revered, and discipleship is prioritized. The gathered church, then, serves as a supplementary disciple-making entity—a place where what is taught and modeled in the home is edified and supported. But in our contemporary culture, it seems too often this equation has been flipped and the “heavy lifting” of discipleship has been placed upon the church with little regard for the impact of what is or is not modeled in the home. In our charge to make more and better disciples who transform the community and resource the church, and in an attempt to continue to pass along this mission to the next generation, we must return to the model of discipleship that is rooted in the home and edified and supported in the gathered community.
Steve DeNeff - Mark 3:7-16a, 19b. As we discussed last week, we live in a time of unprecedented change. Traditions, values and mores that have governed our lives for years are met with suspicion from a public determined to “do what is right in their own eyes.” Even the institutions that have stabilized us in the past are, themselves, weakened by internal conflict and impotence. One of those is the Church. Never has the public been less interested in the Church; never have they needed it more. We must now ask, “what will the Church do? How will we adapt to these times? What changes are called for in making more and better disciples?" In this passage, Jesus gives us a formula for relevance in any age.
Emily Vermilya - Isaiah 43:15-21. We are people of ritual and routine. We like what's known—the things we can predict and plan for. We like to presume that the good things we have known and been a part of in the past will continue in the days ahead. But the story of God is filled with examples of the Lord disrupting the norm for the sake of doing something greater…"a new thing." And while neither God nor his mission ever change, the manner in which he accomplishes his will and ways is ever-changing, keeping us alert, active, and aware of his presence in our midst, and calling us to join him in his transforming work.
Steve DeNeff - Genesis 25:5-11; Hebrews 11:8-16. Toward the end of life we wrestle with our horizons, with our limitations, and we are tempted to become cynical or even to despair. It feels as though we “did not receive what was promised; we only saw it and welcomed it from a distance,” (Heb. 11:13). Our hope is in knowing that we have always been only a part of a story that is much larger than us. Here we must act intentionally to empower the next generation to continue the same story. For them, as for us, the story is larger than a single generation and the point is never the player but the promise.
Steve DeNeff - Gen. 15:9-18; Heb. 6:13-19a. Our image of God is most evident when we pray. What do we sound like? Who do we think is on the other end? Somewhere along the way, we go from “Our Father” to “Dear Lord.” We go from saying what is on our hearts, to saying what we think he wants to hear. What if praying could be simpler, more natural and engaging? But how? In his conversations with God, Abraham modeled a kind of prayer that was unusual in his day, and in ours, and without trying he shows us another way of talking to another kind of God.
Dave Ward - Genesis 18:1-15. What is my disposition? What is the condition of my heart? “All the days of the oppressed are heavy,” says Proverbs, “but the cheerful heart has a continual feast,” (15:15). The heart of a slave can be timid or pessimistic because she worries that God and the world are laughing at her (Gen. 18:12-15). But a child of promise believes that God and the world are laughing with her (Gen. 21:6) and so she is free from the fear of failure and lives with a disposition of joy, wonder and confidence.
Rev. Steve DeNeff - Genesis 17:1-7, 10-11; Romans 4:7-13, 16-17. Why do I do what I do? What is my relationship with the law? To a slave, freedom always means the end of whatever is holding him back, whether it is bad (like the prodigal) or good (like the elder brother). But children obey the promise, not the law. They obey because of what they are (sons or daughters who share the Father’s image) and because of what they’re becoming. Their freedom consists in moving within a set of disciplines that they have assigned to them selves that multiply their options and stretch their horizons.
Steve DeNeff - Genesis 15:1-6; Romans 4:18-24. How do things get done? Who will be responsible for me? Even though we speak of providence and faith, we often worry and work as though we were on our own. We get trapped in a golden cage, enamored by our success and validated by others’ approval. But a child’s life is different. She lives into the promise, instead of apart from it, always supporting the work that Someone Else is doing. What would it be like if our lives were governed by a promise?
Rev. Steve DeNeff - Genesis 15:1-6; Romans 4:18-24. Who will take care of me? How will I be safe? Life is uncertain and most of it falls between the answers. The slave seeks certainty and control, but the child leaves what is obvious and secure and walks into the unknown. Like Abraham, we are called to “go to a place . . . even though we do not know where we are going.” We are called to live in between the “leaving” (Gen. 12:1) and the “arriving” (Gen. 12:5), between the already and the not yet, building altars along the way until one day, we finally get home.
Rev. Steve DeNeff. Isaiah 41:8-10; Galatians 3:6-9, 16, 26-29. Who is God? And who am I in relation to that? There are many ways to apprehend God but three of the most common are as a seeker, or as a servant, or as a son or daughter (child). Of these, the child is the most important and the most preferred but it’s elusive. Many Christians speak of it, but live most of their lives as a servant. Like Abraham, we are familiar with God, or at least the idea of Him, until we actually meet him – until He speaks – and then we discover that God is not who we thought He was and neither are we.
Steve DeNeff - Eph. 1:15-19, 3:16-19; Phil. 1:9-11; Col. 1:9-12; 2 Thess. 3:10-13; 1 Thess. 1:11-12. We talk a lot about spiritual growth but what, exactly, is it? How do we know if we’re growing spiritually. Using the letters and the prayers of Paul, we’ll identify seven areas of growth that happen in a believer’s life between the time they become a Christian and the time they leave this world. Are they happening in you? Which one?
Lenny Luchetti - Luke 15:11-32. Throughout the Bible, God removes barriers that separate people from him, from each other, and from life needs. We see this especially in the life and teaching of Jesus, specifically in the parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15). The church is an extension of Jesus’ ministry. Or are we? Do we possess the empathy that ignites in us the compassion, courage, and commitment to cut the curtains that keep people from the abundant life?
Steve DeNeff - 2 Timothy 2:1-7. Proverbs says that “the fruit of the righteous is a tree of life,” (11:30) meaning that the life of one good person is multiplied a hundred times in the people around them. So Jesus and Paul both tell us to reproduce ourselves in others who, in turn, will do the same with people in their own community. This sermon will focus on how living things reproduce, each after its own kind, and call CWC to become a multiplying presence in our community and beyond.
Emily Vermilya - Matthew 19:16-22; Hebrews 11:1-3;6. So often, as we grow in our walks with Christ, we ask God to increase our faith. We desire to see evidence of God at work around us so that we have greater assurance and reason to believe in his authority and power. But the author of Hebrews tells us that faith comes before proof—that it grows in the absence of something, rather than just in its manifestation. If this is true, then perhaps we must be intentional to cast off or give up things that prevent our faith from growing.
Steve DeNeff - Ephesians 4:17-5:2. As disciples we are called to “learn Christ,” which involves more than merely accepting him. To learn Christ requires a process and curriculum for “putting off” the old self” and “putting on the new self” the one we were created for in the first place. This looks different for each one of us. For some, it involves “speaking truthfully” instead of lying. For others it means “building others up” instead of tearing them down. But this practice of “putting off (and) putting on” can be learned over time once we know how to do it. In this message I’ll outline a change cycle, to show that this is how people are transformed, and give practical next steps for learning Christ.
Rev. Steve DeNeff - Jonah 1:3:1-2. When God calls us into redemption of the world, we sometimes don’t like what we’re called to do, but if we obey Him we will find that God has gone before us, that His grace is more generous and patient than we thought, and that the life we saved was actually our own. Didn’t Jesus say something like this? “He who loses his life, for me and for the gospel, will save it,” (Mark 8:35).
Rev. Ethan Linder - Daniel 3:1-30. Most of us admire Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego for their courage; but behind their courage is a value that keeps them standing tall. This is more, then, than a story of how to stand up in a moment of decision; it’s also a reminder that obedience might cost us all we have. This sermon will examine that tension and help us understand explore what kept these three on their feet.
Steve DeNeff - 1 Samuel 17:1a, 4, 8-11, 16-24, 32-37, 40-50. It’s been said that you can’t have the right friends if you don’t have the right enemies. In this popular story, we are called to confront our enemies in the Name and power of God. But our posture is not one of anger or violence, but one of humility and complete trust that “God will hand our enemies over” in His time and in His way. Our battle is not for our sake, and it is not in our armor, but in His “so that the whole world will know that there is a God and that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord’s,” (17:46-47).
Eric Crisp - Ruth 1. What do we do when life has become “bitter” for us or, worse yet, it seems that “the LORD himself has raised his fist against us?” The book of Ruth gives us a snapshot of one seemingly insignificant family during the days when the Judges ruled in Israel. God seems silent and for Naomi and Ruth, the future looks bleak. But Ruth and Boaz show us how living in the freedom of and maybe from the law sets them free. They are living in the way of the Gospel and God continues to be faithful to His promise through this exceedingly significant family.
Rev. Steve DeNeff. Exodus 1:6-11a; 2:23-3:12. The success of any venture is disproportionate to one person, to the one who is called. But what if that person doesn’t feel called? What if they’re not very good at the thing God calls them to do? Many of us have been in that place and some are in it now. “Fake it till you make it,” is the most common approach. But here is a better one: Take off your shoes for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” Moses is an example of someone, like us, who is called out of our weakness instead of our strength. Rather than fighting against our deficiencies, or hiding them as is more common today, Moses encourages us to use them as leverage for the power of God.
Rev. Steve DeNeff - Genesis 37:1, 3-11. In between the dream and the reality is a long and barren stretch known as “middle time,” where old dreams go to die. Somewhere between the “already” and the “not yet” is a valley fraught with temptations to compromise or to despair. But to those who hold onto these God-given dreams, God will open new horizons beyond our imagination.
Steve DeNeff - Genesis 22:1-18. Have you ever wanted something, more than anything, only to get it and be asked to lay it down again? “Take your son, your only son whom you love . . . and sacrifice him there (on Moriah),” (Gen. 22:2). This unspeakable ask, from God to Abraham, to sacrifice the very thing God gave us is at the core of our faith. It is something God himself has done (see John 3:16) and something every one of us, at one time or another, will be asked to do. But it is here, at the altar, where God raises what we sacrifice so that it is more powerful than before (see Heb. 11:19).
Rev.Alex Mandura - Genesis 9:8-17. Noah and The Flood. For many of us, we know the story, we learned about it in Sunday School. And yet for others they know it only from the people who are debating the historical facts in the public square. In both these cases, the purpose for telling this ancient story gets submerged. Craig Bartholomew wrote “A major feature of any story is its central conflict, the thing that goes wrong and needs to be fixed.” The Flood story is about the relationship and conflict between God and creation. The climax involves a deluge of water never encountered before and a boat full of animals. The resolution; well, that’s the plot twist in our story.
Rev. Matthew Beck - Genesis 1:26-31. Henri Nouwen said, "One of the tragedies of our life is that we keep forgetting who we are.” How do we find ourselves again? We re-collect our stories by recollecting the Story of God. In other words, we remember by retelling. The overarching narrative of Scripture and the individuals stories in the library of the Bible, answer our most foundational human question, "Who am I?” with an ever better divine one, “Who is God?”. In our summer series we’ll explore how God reveals himself to humanity in a series of Old Testament stories, starting at the beginning: God creating and his unique imprint on the first humans: "the Imago Dei".
Rev. Emily Vermilya - Acts 2:42-47. The book of Acts is filled with stories of grandeur—healings, revival, and an assortment of overt demonstrations of the power of God. These accounts, like the momentous and extraordinary experiences of our lives today, are significant to our understanding of God and the story he is unfolding. But what of the seemingly “lesser” moments of the life of the 1st Century Church—or of our lives, for that matter? Was/Is God any less active in the everyday, unspectacular moments? And is it possible that God’s most formative work is being accomplished in these ordinary times?
Rev. Eric Crisp - Acts 2:1-21. The story of Pentecost reminds us of the promise of Jesus to empower his followers with the power of the Holy Spirit. Often, however, we either doubt that this power is available for us or we try to manipulate or form the Holy Spirit for our own purposes. But Acts 2 also reminds us that the Spirit shows up and forms us, not the other way around. This sermon will explore the questions, "What does the community empowered by the Holy Spirit look like?" and "When do we have a posture that is open to the Spirit?"
Steve DeNeff - Revelation 1:12-18. "Stuck on the island of Patmos on the Lord’s day.” That’s how John describes himself moments before he encountered the risen Lord. Patmos was a kind of Alcatraz for the Romans – a place where prisoners go and are never heard from again – but as John stands on the shores, contemplating his grim future, he turns around to see “the Living One...(who) was dead and behold, is alive forever more,” (Rev. 1:17-18). What John discovers is that God has a plan for, not only him, but the whole world. There is a new day coming. God has a plan for the ages.
Steve DeNeff - Acts 22:2-21; 2 Cor. 5:16-18. Salvation is often portrayed, in evangelical circles, as the acquiescence to a series of good beliefs – Jesus died, Jesus rose again – but the resurrection reminds us is that Easter is, at its core, about a personal encounter with One who is alive and active in this world. Saul (turned Paul) was one who came late for Easter, who was “abnormally born,” as he put it (1 Cor 15:8). The conversion of Saul is a window into how active Jesus is for the gospel today. Who do you know that is late for Easter? What hope do you have that they will ever find it? Take heart in the story of Saul, that even though your friends are far from God, He is still pursuing them. He still has a plan for them and He will not rest until He has found them.
Steve DeNeff - Matt. 27:57-61; John 20:10-18. Anyone who has attended a funeral knows how solemn, and sometimes devastating a moment that can be. So Mary has come to the garden to pay her respects and finds, to her amazement, that Jesus’ body is gone. There can only be one explanation: someone has stolen it. But this is no ordinary funeral. On Easter, things are not as they seem. This is a different garden and there is something that Mary doesn’t know. And what she learns, that first Easter, is good news for everyone like her who search for hope.
Ethan Linder - John 20:24-29. When we come to church, we often hear people saying (like the disciples did), “I have seen the Lord!” while others, like Thomas, find ourselves farther from belief than we wish. This can produce isolation, shame, and unworthiness that propels us from the community of faith. This sermon will work to unravel some of that shame and doubt while exploring what happens when Jesus shows up and invites “those who have not seen” to “yet still believe.”
Rev. Steve DeNeff - Luke 22:24-34; 1 Peter 1:3-5. Most of us have too high, too ambitious an opinion of ourselves – “even if all the others fall away . . . I never will” (Matt. 26:33) – which makes failure doubly hard for us. But the living Christ has a very different view of us, both before and after we fail, so he is never surprised and he is never finished. In fact, he still prays for us. For all who have blown it, at one time or another, the resurrection offers a “new birth into a living hope” that we can begin again.
Steve DeNeff - John 11:17-27. For many, Easter is the celebration of Jesus’ resurrection and the anticipation of our own someday. Like Martha, many of us have confined the resurrection to a day in the future when we will rise from the dead (John 11:23-24), and it is that as well. But the resurrection is a reality that we can live in now, for Jesus says, “I am the resurrection…” and he said it before he raised anyone, including himself. The resurrection is the beginning of a new story, a new world and a new way of living in it. It’s a mindset, an awareness that heaven has broken in and the old order has been cast out. Easter is only proof of that.
Steve DeNeff - John 13:18, 21-38. In the middle of his last meal with his disciples, Jesus predicts that one will betray him and another will deny him. He is right both times. We have all experienced the sting of betrayal or rejection, even from those closest to us. But in between these, Jesus offers a better way to respond: “As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” Said, as it was, in the context of betrayal this phrase becomes even more powerful. This sermon will address this command – to love one another – as the ultimate form of power in the presence of those who hurt us.
Steve DeNeff - John 13:18, 21-38. In the middle of his last meal with his disciples, Jesus predicts that one will betray him and another will deny him. He is right both times. We have all experienced the sting of betrayal or rejection, even from those closest to us. But in between these, Jesus offers a better way to respond: “As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” Said, as it was, in the context of betrayal this phrase becomes even more powerful. This sermon will address this command – to love one another – as the ultimate form of power in the presence of those who hurt us.
Rev. Eric Crisp - John 13:1-17. Just before the Passover, Jesus gathered his disciples for their last meal together. In this solemn act, found only in John’s gospel, he “got up from the table, took off his robe and wrapped a towel around his waist,” (NLT). Then, after washing their feet he said, “Do you understand what I have done for you . . . I have set you an example.” This example has to do, in part, with the right use of power, position or privilege. In our world today, many are achieving power and position earlier in their careers and this can make them more entitled, less self aware and less sensitive to others. This sermon will discuss the temptation to use power or privilege wrongly, and speak of ways that we can sanctify it, “doing for each other what he has done for us.”
Rev. Emily Vermilya - John 12:34-36. When the crowd protested Jesus’ promise that the Messiah would die (“be lifted up”), he encouraged them to follow and he warned them to remember that they would not always have the choice: “Walk in the light before darkness overtakes you.” After this, he hid himself. To many, this was an exchange between Jesus and his inquisitors. But what if it is more? What if “the light” is coming and going all of the time, in windows of opportunity, in which we can choose to follow or choose to ignore? What if the most dreaded outcome for ignoring the light is darkness, in which no options are open to us, and no choice can be made? This sermon will encourage the devout to look for places where God is convicting us (the “light”) and show them how being open to these convictions brings more options, better choices and more light.
Rev Steve DeNeff - John 12:27-33. As the Greeks appear, Jesus sees forward into his impending death and it is as though two roads appear, one called “Save me from this hour” and another called “Glorify your Name.” Jesus himself appears standing at the fork, where the roads diverge, and from here he says, “Now my heart is troubled and what shall I say?” There is, in every person’s life, at least one crisis that puts us at this fork in the road. Before us lies divergent paths – save me from this hour, and glorify thy Name – and we must choose which road to take. After we make our decision, our decision will make us and it will powerfully shape the rest of our lives. This sermon will help people find themselves, at the fork in the road, and encourage them to choose to glorify His Name.
Steve DeNeff - John 12:1-8. Today Jesus is in Bethany (which means “house of the poor”), in Mary and Martha’s home, at a dinner in his honor. During the meal, Mary pours a pint of alabaster, an expensive and potent perfume, onto the feet of Jesus and wipes them with her hair. This simple act of devotion creates controversy even outrage among Jesus’ disciples who have better plans for the money. But in this act, disciples of every generation are encouraged to pour their best, their possessions, their glory and the sum of their work onto the feet of Jesus. Sooner or later, all that we have and all that we’ve done will end at the feet of Jesus. So this sermon will call us to offer it now, intentionally and generously, while we can.
Rev. Steve DeNeff - Isaiah 29:13-14, 17-19; John 9:35-39. In the center of all things unseen is One who holds all things together, Jesus Christ. Thus, to see clearly is to see Him as he is, and not as we imagine him to be. It is to see the end of all things before they are upon us and to fall on our faces in worship of him whose face has changed (Luke 9:29), the First, the Last and the Living One (Rev. 1:17-18). For the one born blind, the culmination of all healing is an encounter with Jesus Christ: “Who is he, sir… tell me so that I may believe in him… Then the man said, ‘Lord, I believe!’ and he worshiped him,” (John 9:36, 38). We worship what we confess so that we might believe what we worship. This sermon will explore the link between our worship and our journey from seen to unseen.
Steve DeNeff - Isaiah 32:1-5, 8; Mark 8:22-26. The prophet Isaiah promised a day when “the eyes of those who see will no longer be closed… when the fool will no longer be called noble, nor the scoundrel highly respected,” (32:3, 5). This revolution has come in Jesus Christ but everyone looking can see it. Jesus invites us into this revolution, this reversal of things, and as we practice these new things our eyes are slowly opened to the new world order. But like the blind man in Bethsaida, this does not happen for us all at once (Mark 8:24-25). We must challenge old assumptions by experimenting with new ones. We must slowly learn to trust the Bible we were only familiar with up to now. Our trust is an experiment in faith. It is like seeing with the eyes of our heart enlightened.
Eric Crisp - Psalm 119:97-106; Luke 10:21-24. There is nothing in this world that bears witness to things unseen like the Word of God. Yet many who are familiar with their Bible are blind to things unseen. The trouble is not in what is written, but in how we read it. Those who see clearly read it differently and they consistently obey what they read. Indeed, obedience is the best exegesis of Scripture: “Go to Siloam and wash . . . so he went and washed and came home seeing,” (John 9:7). Like walking into a dark cave, each act of obedience takes us further in where we can see what we weren’t in position to see before. This sermon will explore the way in which Scripture lights a path for those who walk behind it, then provide a set of questions for each traveler to ask.
Rev. Steve DeNeff - Isaiah 6:8-10, Mark 10:46-52. At the bottom of every miracle is a touch from Jesus on the desire of one who knows he is blind: “What do you want me to do for you?” (Mark 10:51). Against the idea that the gospel will solve all our problem, this sermon will suggest that the gospel actually reveals what our real problems are. To know that we are blind is our real problem, and to put ourselves in position, then to cry out, “Lord, I want to see!” is the first and last habit of those who continually see the unseen. But how do we posture ourselves for this miracle? Who are the people that can bring us to Jesus? What does it really mean to cry out?
Rev. Steve DeNeff - Isaiah 42:16-20. Blindness is a powerful metaphor of our spiritual condition. It is impenetrable darkness. It is ignorance. It is hardness of heart. And it cannot be cured by oneself or by one’s teachers. It can only be cured by a miraculous touch from Jesus: “The man they call Jesus… put mud on my eyes, then I washed, (and) now I see,” (John 9:11, 15 NRSV). This sermon will introduce the fourth level of the Seeing Pyramid – seeing what others don’t – and show how the assumptions of our present culture keep us blind to the reality of things unseen. We’ll discover what it means to see the unseen and how this miracle affects every area of our lives.
Rev. Steve DeNeff - Psalm 121:1-8; 2 Corinthians 4:16-18. Every day we are immersed in things that are urgent, daily and temporary. The unintended consequence is to be near-sighted, to neglect the important and the eternal. Yet it has always been those who thought the most of the next world that did the most in this one. What Christians believe and what we hope for is not an escape, or a mirage, but a real and present kingdom. This sermon will introduce the Seeing Pyramid and focus on the level 3 – “those who haven’t seen and believe anyway” (John 20:29, NLT) – affirming the hope that everything we’ve believed, yet still haven’t seen, is real and it’s closer than we think.
Rev. Alex Mandura - Luke 2:22-33. We are a hurried and restless people. We are always ready for the next, running from one thing to another. Even on this first Sunday of Christmas we are rushing from the ending of one year, and pining for the next. Many of us have already plotted out how this next year is going to be different. We are ready for the shiny new year, ready to see the old gone, ready for new declarations, new beginnings, ready for our time to be different than before. A problem with this impatient rushing to the next is that we might end up forgetting the promises of God. We might even miss “new life” that God has been giving us along the way. Our story/text today shows us what it is to wait, to remember, to recognize and to take hold of present promises as we step eagerly into the unknown.
Rev. Steve DeNeff- Luke 2:8-20. Who would have thought that the savior would be “born of a woman, born under law,” (Gal. 4:4). Most people, Americans especially, expect something larger, more visible and pronounced. They do not expect small, quiet and unseen routines to change anything. But what if the way to change things is to subvert them? What if God became small because this is how things get done? This sermon will stress the importance of humility because it’s in the ordinary, common routines that we subvert the order of things.
Rev. Matt Beck - Matthew 2:1-12; Luke 1:46-55. When the star appeared, Herod the Great gathered the Jewish leaders and intercepted the Magi in Jerusalem, grasping for information on a rumored newborn "King of the Jews”, promising to go and worship him, too. By a dream, the Magi would see through the murderous king's deception, refusing a partnership with power. After paying homage to Jesus in Bethlehem, they returned home by “another route”. In doing so, the Magi lead us not only to the manger but towards a different kind of power. A power in weakness. Even now we are tempted to fall for the way of Herod, the promise of power. But in the manger, God calls us to the way of Jesus, the power of promise. This sermon will stress the importance of vulnerability, for God has “lifted up the lowly…just as he promised.”
Rev. Steve DeNeff - Ephesians 1:9-10; Luke 2:1-7. Two thousand years is a long time to wait for things to change; yet that’s how long it’s been since Jesus said a change was coming. Perhaps we should look for something else. Maybe change comes like an infant born and growing up. Maybe it doesn’t come from the top, but from the bottom. Maybe it doesn’t happen in one, quick and decisive act but in thousands of smaller ones. Maybe it takes years. Maybe it comes late. Maybe it isn’t easy, but hard. This sermon will stress the importance of patience in waiting for the kingdom to come because in quietness and in trust in our strength.
Rev. Steve DeNeff - Isaiah 42:1-4; John 1:1-5, 10-13. Every Christmas we sing, “Come thou long expected Jesus,” but has anyone wondered what kind of Jesus we expect? Has anyone wondered if we miss him today, perhaps for the same reason they missed him then: he came in a way unexpected. If what is lying in a manger is truly a savior, a Christ and a Lord, then we need to re-think what salvation means and how, exactly, it occurs. The manger is not what we hope for, nor how things get done in our world, yet Jesus is still the savior of the world and he is able be this from a minority position. Perhaps he always enters through a manger because there is never room for him in the inn. This sermon will stress the importance of simplicity and call us to be different, because in the foolishness of Christmas is the wisdom of God.
Rev. Steve DeNeff - Corinthians 5:16-20. At the center of our church is a bold gospel: God makes all things new! This is an optimistic view of God’s grace and it calls each of us to participate in this gospel. This sermon will include stories of old lives made new, showing how God has been active in our congregation through the years, and encourage us to be faithful to the mission of our church in the next generation.
Steve DeNeff - Luke 24:36; 44-49; Acts 1:4b-8. The Church is the hope of its community. CWC is uniquely positioned to influence both the community and the Church. As a century-old institution, with community leaders involved, we are positioned to bring the gospel into every domain of our city. As a home church for over six hundred next-gen leaders, we are positioned to send them with deep convictions into churches all over the world. Like the first disciples, God calls us to “gather (and) stay until we’ve been clothed with power from on high,” (Lk 24:49) and then “to be his witnesses to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). Our mission is to gather and to send. We gather people from the city and the Church, and help to clothe them with power from on high, then we send them back to the city and the Church to be witnesses all over the earth.
Rev.Steve DeNeff - John 15:1-8; 2 Timothy 2:1-2. One of the great challenges of growing churches is to stay true to their mission. Of the organizations who don’t, 85% of their leaders blame internal factors, meaning that complexity and bureaucracy have caused them to drift from their mission. Now they play safe. They protect the wrong people. They have lost their sense of urgency. What rises up instead is a pseudo-mission: something else, something more urgent, something more popular or something easier. The same can be true of our individual lives. God has placed a high calling on each of us, and yet as we grow older there is a tendency to drift. We settle for something less and can miss out on the "fullness of life” (Eph. 3:19) to which God is inviting us. Today we’ll explore how and why this may happen and realign ourselves to God’s mission for our individual lives and for the world.
Dr. Dave Ward - 2 Chronicles 25:1-15. Amaziah served the Lord, but not with his whole heart. This sermon seeks to peer into the character of Amaziah to discern what made him be so part-hearted. We realize Amaziah was following the example he received, continuing traditions he was familiar with, keeping the peace in contentious times, and holding onto attachments and addictions. All of these are the symptoms. The disease was pursuing whatever worked best in the short term. If God worked best, Amaziah followed. If God’s way led to suffering, Amaziah raged. Our meditation of Amaziah ends with ways of diagnosing our own part-heartedness, and treatments for the cure.
Rev. Ethan Linder - Mark 10:17-31. When we look at The Rich Young Ruler, we often see a smug, self-assured aristocrat in love with his money. But if we look closer at the text, we realize he had a vision of discipleship strikingly similar to ours: always focused on the “next right thing” God would call him to do. In this interaction, Jesus proves that discipleship is often about having lives that are quick to respond “yes” even when God asks us to do the next wrong thing—an act of obedience that disrupts all our plans.
Rev. Steve DeNeff - Matthew 6:19-21, 25-33; Romans 15:13. Hope is in short supply these days. As our world stumbles under the weight of terror, tragedy and natural disasters, there is talk of recovery and reconstruction, of legislation and government loans, of “finding a way forward . . . to a new future.” Our leaders say that we must stay optimistic. We must rely on each other. We must believe in ourselves and “keep hope alive.” But the hope of which the Bible speaks is not a conviction that something will turn out well, nor the certainty that it will make sense, but the assurance that, however it seems and however it goes, God will remember; God is still present; and God will fulfill His promises to the end. Our hope begins in the promises of God and it ends in a fearless trust that He who “knows what we have need of before we even ask” will bring it in due time (Matt. 6:8, 26, 30).
Rev. Steve DeNeff - Matthew 5:10-12; Ephesians 4:29-5:2. Every religion has to deal with suffering. Some try to avoid it, to overcome it, or to explain it away. But the mark of a practicing community is that it comes alongside those who carry crosses, with empathy and patience. These people know that “suffering produces endurance, and endurance (produces) character and hope,” (Rom 5:3-4, NET). This sermon will explain how we can bear one another’s burdens in the name of Christ, and how such a community can be used by God to evangelize its city.
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Rev. Steve DeNeff - Matthew 5:43-48, 7:1-2; Ephesians 4:1-6. As our nation becomes more polarized politically, economically and socially we hear the call for justice, for equality and tolerance. Perhaps what is needed is a community devoted to making room for those who are invisible, those on the margins. This community would be open, practicing not just charity but generosity. It would go the extra mile and gives to those who cannot pay us back. It would open itself to the invisible, without passing judgment, for ultimately it is the community, and not just our resources, that help us the most.
Rev. Steve DeNeff - Matthew 5:27-37' Ephsians 3:14-21. The rise of the individual over the community, along with an emphasis on freedom without commitment has led to an impermanent society in which promises are only good intentions. Against this tide of self-indulgence, the people of God are called to make promises and to keep them, for “our freedom doesn’t grow in the abstract; it grows in a particular soil with particular people . . . it grows only as we commit ourselves with and to others.”
Rev. Steve DeNeff - Matthew 5:21-24, 38-42; Ephesians 2:14-18. In our emphasis on diversity, have we forgotten unity? In fighting for justice, have we forgotten what spirit we are of? What historian Arthur Schlesinger called, “the cult of the minority” – the idea that one’s peculiarity is the most important thing about them – has begun to tear at the union of our nation. The trouble is that everyone feels like a minority. But the children of God make peace. We turn the cheek, release our debtors, love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. If someone takes our shirt, we give up our coat as well. And we not only forgive, we absorb the sins that others commit against us. This service will explore practical ways to embody the gospel of peace.
Rev. Emily Vermilya - Matthew 5:1-16; Ephesians 1:3, 11-14. What kind of people are called for by these times? A people formed by the gospel. The Beatitudes are a profile of people who are humble, vulnerable, modest, hungry, simple, compassionate, peaceful and persecuted. They are unlike anything the world has seen, yet they are the happiest and the most whole. And when they come together, in covenant with one another, they form a new society, becoming a social alternative for the world. This sermon will introduce the core practices and call us to live in covenant with each other.
Rev. Steve DeNeff - Matt. 4:12-17; Romans 1:1-2, 16-17. In spite of all that is wrong with the world, the gospel is still “the power of God for salvation.” For Jesus, it was simply that “the kingdom of heaven has come near.” Yet somehow we have turned the “good news” into “good advice” – repent and believe – that has very little to do with what’s wrong with the world and even less with what God Himself is doing. This message will explore the origin of the gospel (in the prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel) and show how it is still the most powerful, optimistic and complete hope for the world.
Rev. Steve DeNeff - Colssians 3:1-14. The Bible encourages us to be "transformed by the renewing of our mind," or to "be renewed in the spirit of our minds" or, better yet, to "have the same mind as Christ.” But how does this happen? How do we get in front of our Instincts, our Desires and Dispositions to influence them the way they once influenced us? This message will continue our conversation from last week, exploring how the work of the Holy Spirit, along with our work, can bring about significant changes in our minds.
Rev Steve DeNeff - Ephesians 4:17-24. After every miracle comes the quiet, invisible work of aligning the rest of our lives with the something only God could do. After feeding the five thousand, we must gather the left overs (Lk 9:17). After the paralytic is healed, we must repair the roof (Lk 5:19). After Lazarus has been raised from the dead, we must remove his grave clothes (Jn 11:44). Even so, the work that follows the miracle of new life is the slow and sometimes frustrating process of renewing our mind until we have the very mind of Christ (1 Cor 2:16; Phil 2:5). Most of us do not have a plan for this and so the mind is often the last thing converted, if it is ever converted at all. Yet because it lies at the bottom of all our instincts and desires, the transformation of our mind is essential to the process of having Christ "fully formed in us.” In this sermon we'll peer into the black box that is the Christian mind and discover how we can cooperate with God in the miracle of our conversion.
Dr. Lenny Luchetti - 2 Samuel 11:1-15. Many Christians find themselves in a spiritual slump. Their passion for God has diminished. They still come to church, pray and read their bible, but deep inside they feel as if their best days in Christ are behind them not before them. The good new is that God doesn't abandon us but comes to us while we're in the slump to get us back on a spiritual streak again. This is the story of David in 2 Samuel 11-12.
Rev. Steve DeNeff - Mark 12:28-34; James 1:26-2:4, 8-9, 12-13. Favoritism is one of the hardest things to get over because most of us prefer the company of others like us. It is our very sense of "belonging" that makes "including" so difficult. But to love others as much as we love ourselves is at the core of our religion even more important than our worship ("burnt offerings and sacrifices"). What would it look like - what would WE look like - if we put our preferences down and love others as much as we love ourselves? How might it affected the very religion we practice? How might "including" affect our sense of "belonging"?
Emily Vermilya - Luke 5:17-26. Perhaps one of the most astounding things about the miracles was the way Jesus involved others—ordinary people. In the story of the healing of the paralytic man, we see, once again, how Jesus allows others to be involved in his life-transforming work. He allows our faith, our creativity and selfless nature to play a significant role in this inexplicable healing and reminds us that Christ still seeks to employ a community of ordinary people to help accomplish his miraculous Kingdom work on earth.
Steve DeNeff - Matthew 14:22-33. To “walk on water” has become a popular idiom describing someone who can do anything, someone bigger than life. Yet the real miracle that day, when Jesus “walked on water,” was that he walked into a storm. He saw his disciples “buffeted by the waves because the wind was against (them)… and he went out to them, walking on the water,” (v.24-25). Many times, when we are in a crisis, Jesus walks into it with us and says, “Take courage; it is I,” then he calls us, like Peter, to walk into the storm with him. This sermon will speak of ways to recognize Jesus in the storm, and challenge us to walk out there with him.
Rev. Alex Mandura - Mark 5:1-20. Many of us want Jesus to bring healing to our hurts and even resolution to our long- standing problems that have become a part of who we are. We want our identities to be changed and transformation to take place. However, we may not be aware or ready for the effect that the healing has upon, not just ourselves, but on our relationships and our community. The miracle of the healed demoniac confronts us with the reality that transformational healing can still take place and lives are still changed because of it.
Rev. Beau Hamner - Luke 17:11-19. Jesus oftentimes finds us in places in which we are stuck, places that are “between.” In those places, we know we need Jesus, even if it is just his pity. Out of desperation we are willing to obey while accepting his pity. We settle, as if his pity is all that he wants to offer us. In doing so, we fail to receive the full transformation that can take place in our lives. This transformation can only take place when we discover the fullness of Christ and surrender at his feet.
Steve DeNeff - Mark 7:31-37. Throughout the Bible, we encounter people who cannot hear: “Ever hearing, but never understanding,” because their hearts are calloused. Like white noise, they have heard the same things so long that they can no longer hear them . . . or anything else. What are the obstacles that prevent us from genuinely hearing? How does Jesus “make the deaf hear” today? What might we do to cooperate with the miracle of hearing that God wants for us? This sermon will explore the stages of having our own ears opened, so we can hear more of what God has been saying all along.
Rev. Steve DeNeff - John 9:1-25. Over the years, we have developed many clever methods for leading people to Christ but none are more compelling than the witness of one who’s seen a miracle. An evangelist (euangelistes) is not a salesman, but simply a messenger of good; someone who has witnessed a miracle. Anyone who has had their own eyes opened can testify. This sermon will show us how to witness, using the miracle that happened once to us.
Rev. Eric Crisp - Luke 5:1-11. Many of us want to live our lives on the shores of Christianity listening to the great teachings of Jesus and looking for a miracle to help or amaze us. But, like Simon Peter, Jesus may be asking us to do something that seems risky or ridiculous when viewed thru the lens of our experience. It is when Jesus asks us to move out into the deep water that we often see a miracle. The miracle of the large catch of fish challenges us to follow Jesus into the deep water of disciple-making and trust him to produce the miraculous increase.
Rev. Steve DeNeff - John 2:1-11. Why is this “the first (archon – the ruling, the overarching, the predominant) miracle that Jesus performed?” In this introduction to the series on Jesus’ miracles, we’ll explore how the turning of water into wine, at a wedding in Cana, was typical of everything Jesus came to do. The whole gospel – the covenant, the mystery, the good news for those who have run out of wine – is present in this first miracle. This message will, I hope, inspire us to appreciate what we have, to go into the world and share it with hope, and to believe again in the miracle of transformation.
Rev. Steve DeNeff - John 17:20-23, 25-26; Eph. 4:1-6. For some, the most significant affect of the Holy Spirit is that He joins us to fellow believers, to whom we belong. In Paul’s letters, three metaphors explain how, exactly, the Spirit does this: A body, a family and a temple. In each, the Spirit does something miraculous to join us to the people of God who serve to assist the Holy Spirit in forming us. This last sermon will explore this crucial link between the individual believer and the Body of Christ.
Rev. Matt Beck - John 16:12-15; Galatians 5:22-25. Jesus has more to say to his disciples, but he will tell them in an extraordinary way: through the Spirit of truth. By taking a closer look at what Jesus said about how the Spirit would guide the disciples, we can learn how the Spirit is guiding us now. We may find that we are asking the wrong questions about “the will of God” and that the answers are already available in subtle and surprising ways.
Rev. Steve DeNeff -John 14:27; 15:9-14; 16:33; Romans 15:13. The natural man is restless until he finds his rest in God. But once we have, the Holy Spirit re-orders our interior world with the personality of God. Here is the source of our peace, joy, love and hope. But how does this differ from our temporary moods and emotions? How does God’s Spirit stabilize us even when everything is under water? This sermon will explore another of the Spirits affects: A realistic optimism in a troubled world.
Rev Beau Hamner - John 16:5-11; Romans 8:1-11. Many Christians today have adopted a “struggle theology” in which they are always battling sin and only sometimes winning. Too many of us seem to have an obligation to the sinful nature. We are caught in the same sins again and again. How does the believer respond to conviction, when it comes from the Holy Spirit How do we know when it does not? How do we put to death the same “misdeeds” that have haunted us for years? This sermon will explore another natural affection: An aversion to, and repudiation of all known sin.
Alex Mandura - John 14:25-26; 1 Corinthians 2:9-16. As Christians, we believe Christ’s promise that the Holy Spirit is within us and active. Yet, why is it that some Christians seem to be more aware of the Holy Spirit “teaching and causing to remember” in their lives more than others? More specifically, why do some Christians seem to have a different passion and interest in Scripture? This sermon will investigate the work of the Holy Spirit and the role of believers in this relationship. By the end we should desire to grow in our appetite for comprehending what the Holy Spirit reveals.
Steve DeNeff - John 14:15-20, 23; Romans 8:15-17. To every believer, Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit would “be with us and would be in us,” that we would “not be orphans” but would “make our home” with Him. Yet many Christians struggle with the very problems this indwelling would resolve. One such problem is the assurance that we are Christians at all. What affect should God’s Spirit have on our capacity to love Him? How does He “testify with our spirit that we are God’s children?” This sermon will introduce the idea of religious affections, beginning with the love of God for God’s own sake.
Steve DeNeff - Luke 24:36, 45-49; Ephesians 3:7-11. On the first Easter, Jesus established, not only the gospel (Lk 24:45-47), but the community that would be responsible for declaring it: the Church (24:48-49). This new community - as flawed and fragile as it is - would become "the mystery which for ages past was kept hidden in God ... so that now, through the Church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known ... according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Jesus Christ," (Eph. 3:9-10). Yet there are many who underestimate the power of this community, some who attend it every week. Today we'll celebrate the power of the Church - "the resurrected ones" - and the purpose of our church in particular, and then, in light of that, your place within our church.
Rev. Steve DeNeff - Luke 24:13-35. One sees what one looks for. After following Jesus toward Jerusalem, "the end of our journey" is on the road to Emmaus (v.28), then back again to Jerusalem (v.33). Like the disciples, we are to see ourselves as travelers along the road (v.13). Like them, we are kept from recognizing Jesus in our every day affairs (v.16). Like the them, we tend to misinterpret "what things" have just happened (v.19). Like them, we must learn that Jesus is present even when it seems he is not (v. 25-27). And like them, we need "our eyes opened" so we can recognize him in places and at times when he seemed absent before (v.31). The story of Easter is that Jesus is not only alive, but fully present. So where is he? How can we find him in places where he seems absent? One sees what one looks for.
Steve DeNeff - Luke 19:28-42, 45-48. It’s Palm Sunday. We gather with the “crowd of disciples joyfully praising God in loud voices singing... Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.” But can we stay with him as he weeps over the city, cleanses the temple, argues in our courts and contradicts some of our most cherished traditions? We can worship, but can we weep? We can sing with the public, but can we follow him into trouble, controversy, trial and death? Here, on the eve of Easter, the whole journey is compressed into a single week. How far into the week can we go?
Steve DeNeff - Luke 18:18-27; 19:1-10. As Jesus nears Jerusalem we see a contrast between a rich young ruler (18:18-27) and an old, well-established tax collector; both ambitious and wealthy, both well known in the community, and both very interested in Jesus. As is often the case with Jesus, things are not as they seem. In the conversion of Zacchaeus - which is meant to be typical of our own conversion - we see an other economy in which generosity is the norm. In this economy, Jesus challenges our most fundamental beliefs about our possessions and calls us to act in a way that is consistent to these new beliefs. In this economy, wealth is not measured by what we possess, but by what we give away. The self-sufficient are "sad" and desperate (18:23), while the desperate are made whole (or "saved," 19:9). It is one thing to admire the generous, which most of us are prone to do, but it's something more to imitate them because we actually believe in their values. That's what this sermon will call us to do.
Dr. Amanda Drury - Mark 10:13-16. The story of Jesus blessing the children isn't a kids story--it's for adults (children already know they are welcomed on Jesus' lap, that's why they're there). What if children aren't the future of the church, but they are the church? What would it look like to move past patronizing images of children and see them as equal co-heirs with Christ?
Steve DeNeff - Luke 9:57-62. Everyone is busy. Our schedules are crowded. Our plates are full. Multi-tasking is a sign of importance and Balance a sign of maturity. Sadly, much of our discipleship today is about adding yet another commitment to a growing list of priorities. The result is a "junk drawer" of commitments, collected over time, each one detached from all the others; too valuable to throw away yet too peripheral to re-order the others. It's not that we have too little time to do all the things we need to do; it's that we do too many things in the time we have. So the "way" of Jesus is a narrowing of our priorities down to one, until we are preoccupied with him, until we have absorbed all other priorities - even the most noble - into his call to "follow." But how can we, who have other commitments and promises to keep, become preoccupied with only Him? How can we "let the dead bury the dead" while still honoring our ties and our obligations to them?
Rev Steve DeNeff - Luke 9:51-56. As soon as Jesus “set his face to go to Jerusalem,” he entered a Samaritan village where his disciples were not welcome. “Do you want us to command fire to come down and consume them,” his disciples asked, and they said this because they didn’t know what spirit they were of (9:55, margins). Who are the Samaritans of our day? And what does the cross call us to do with them? At the heart of our most controversial subjects is a prejudice born in our spirit and masquerading as an argument. Perhaps the greatest fault line in our nation runs thru the human spirit. This message will call us to be reconcilers with an other spirit.
Rev. Steve DeNeff - Luke 9:46-51. When Jesus says, "I am the Way..." he means that his is the most satisfying life available. Yet we've covered the way over with programs designed to elevate Jesus while we continue to traffic in whatever way is common to our culture, usually in ignorance of the ways of Jesus. We underestimate, if we even notice the stark differences between Jesus' way and our own. This sermon will outline those differences and challenge us to a 40-day experiment to live in the way of Jesus."
Re.v Steve DeNeff - Luke 9-18-22; 28-43. In Luke 9, we read the story of The Transfiguration (vs.28 “he went up to the mountain to pray") and Jesus healing a demon possessed boy (vs.43 "Awe gripped the people as they saw this majestic display of God’s power.”) The marriage of these passages call for two equal movements within our faith. First, that we withdraw to be alone with God. Second, that we become involved with humans who are in deep need. There are whole religions that focus solely on withdrawing or solitude, and entire religions focused only on outreach or benevolence. The Christian life, however, calls us to both. We may be naturally drawn to one, but as The Church and as individuals, we must learn to do both and learn to skillfully move within them.
Dave Ward - The Book of Philemon. "Is there a place in your life where you unknowingly live face to face with the will of God and keep missing it? This week we are going to experience the book of Philemon anew. We will discover some key differences between the way Paul and Philemon lived out their faith and the impact that had on others. Philemon’s ability to miss the will of God while being a faithful Christian will challenge us to reevaluate some of our most everyday actions. And in the end, we will rejoice in all the good things we have to share in Christ Jesus."
Steve DeNeff - Luke 16:1-8. "In this complex parable, Jesus shows how a shrewd manager uses what he has, for as long as he has it, to gain for himself honor in the day when it’s all been taken away. This message will encourage our people to store up treasures in heaven by empowering the next generation with skills and assets so they can be stewards themselves. We’ll discuss creative ways to leave reservoirs of talent, ideas and money for the stewards of tomorrow."
Steve DeNeff - Luke 10:25-37. Giving is the most visible act of a steward. It’s the culmination of all their preparation up to now. Yet we don’t always have to wait. Sometimes we can start with the practice of giving and not only our money, but our time (“he went to him and bandaged his wounds”), our possessions (“and poured on oil and wine”), and our property (“then he put the man on his donkey”). We can start with what little we have and give it. This sermon will explore the different levels of giving that act as a ladder of generosity, and encourage our people to climb one rung on the ladder.
Steve DeNeff - Luke 12:35-46. To “break” what we possess is to multiply it or develop it, so that we can grow or expand our faculties, our talents, our resources and opportunities. Together with our commitment to “bless” it (or to live within its means) this is the key to our long-term giving and it is the key to giving more. Like the stewards in these parables, we are to grow our capital and to further the Master’s business by doing what we were assigned to do.
Rev. Steve DeNeff - Luke 12:13-21.
Long before stewards can be generous, they must learn to live more simply. While striving to live fruitful lives (ambition), they must be grateful for what they already have (contentment). The key to this freedom is not just following whatever impulses they have (“I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones”), but cultivating the right impulses for, “a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” While the consumer thinks only of “more,” the steward has simplified his life and increased his margins for giving. He is “rich toward God.”
Emily Vermilya - Luke 19:11-27. "In most of us, there is a strong connection between our concept of God and our level of generosity. This sermon will explore that connection in the contrast between the mindset of a consumer (“I kept it laid away”) and a steward (“You have been trustworthy in very small matters”), and show how our concept of God (“I was afraid of you . . . Sir, here is your talent”) directly affects what we think of ourselves and our possessions. It will call us to think and act like an owner of our possessions so that we can be held accountable for them."
Steve DeNeff - John 6:1-15. To think like a steward, we must put ourselves and all our belongings between God and whatever He is trying to do. Like the boy with his fish and loaves, stewards share their lunch so the multitudes can eat. But imagine what would happen if he did not; if he ate the lunch himself. This is what happens in a consumer culture like ours. This sermon will explore Jesus’ call to steward (“You feed them…”) and help people to identify what, exactly, there lunch is, then show them what happens when they give it away.
Rev. Steve DeNeff - Luke 2:8-14; 2 Corinthians 5:16-20. The incarnation is the reconciling of two entities that were previously far apart. This brief Christmas day message will call us to be agents of reconciliation in a nation (and world) deeply divided over race, politics, and opportunity. The outcome, I hope, will be that our people will use their positions in the home or in the community to bring together people or parties that are far apart.
Rev Beau Hamner - John 1:1-5, 14; Philippians 2:1-8. For God so loved the world that He gave his only son. He didn’t “like” us on Facebook. He didn’t “click here” to show his support. He came and lived among us. He moved in. He took up our infirmities. He became what we are. He showed us that His comfort was worth sacrificing for our benefit. To be incarnate, then, is to be fully present in the community where we live, engaging in sacrificial love for the benefit of our neighbors. This message will explore what it means to belong, incarnate, to the community where we live and give us a list of practical things we can do to truly live among them. The outcome, I hope, will be an increase in the number of people who serve the community outside our church.
Dr. Dave Smith - Job 1:1, 6-12; Revelation 12:1-12. Why does our language on earth, both inside the church and without, sound more like the accusations of the evil one than the grace-filled whispers of Jesus into the ears of the Father? (Have you watched any news program recently; we yell at one another and try to destroy one another) The words we share with one another, both in content and in form, should be the re-creative and transformational ones which paint the new reality of heaven rather than the false depictions of Satan. How many of us are living in literal captivity to a lie rather than set free by the Words of heaven? We need to Gospel (make it a verb) one another with Good News…pouring it over each other like anointing oil.
rev. Steve DeNeff - Matthew 1:18-23; Romans 12:1-2. The first and most obvious implication of the incarnation is what it means for human flesh. Contrary to the idea that to “err is human,” the incarnation declares it is not, for even in his humanity, he did not sin. Indeed, the more we sin, the less human we become. It is not normal to sin, and it never was. This message will call us to a new normal, “The humanity of Christ,” and encourage us to live with some things we keep trying to get rid of, and to get rid of other things we seem too happy to live with. The outcome here is a call to embrace our humanity – all of it – with a commitment to holy living.
REv. Steve DeNeff = Luke 1:26-35; 1 Timothy 3:16. In this opening message, we’ll introduce the concept and the language of the incarnation, then show how important it is, and what potential it opens to all humanity, especially those who believe. We’ll distill the meaning of the incarnation into a handful (4-5) of axioms that summarize its mystery (i.e. that it not only happened; it is happening) so we can begin to see the powerful implications of it. The outcome, I hope, is that a spirit of reverence and awe would sweep over us and call us to authentic worship. O come let us adore Him.
Rev. Alex Sicilia - Exodus 16:11-17, 31-36. Through this message I intend to present the idea that blessings have a specific purpose from God, that is to help us become more like Jesus and to accomplish our part in His mission in the world. Because of our human nature, blessings can be misunderstood and even misused because, we tend to lose sight of that purpose and make blessings an end rather than a mean; and then the very blessings that were intended to make us grow, (move) may become the reason we're not growing. We want to encourage hearers to get a Biblical perspective on “blessings."
Rev. Lenny Luchetti, Isaiah 53. The idea is that the more beauty we take in, the more beauty we pour out. The beauty that pours out of us is the peacefulness and faithfulness of Jesus explored in Isaiah 53.
Rev. Steve DeNeff, Proverbs 4:18-19; 10:7; 16:31. By the time most people think of their legacy, it’s too late to worry about it, for legacy is not the way we posture ourselves in front of others but the way that others speak of us after we have left the room. A good name is the reward of the wise; a bad name is the ruin of a fool. One of these is already happening. We are becoming the end of our journey, wise or foolish, and every moment takes us closer there. As goes the river, so goes our legacy. This sermon will explain the importance of finishing well and encourage us to hold fast to the Truth, even in the smallest ways, so that the next generation may follow in the currents of our faith.
Rev. Emily Vermilya - Proverbs 6:20-23; 14:1; 20:7. With the demise of traditional institutions, where do you go to learn wisdom? Of all places designed to teach it (schools, public forums, etc), the most powerful might also be the most overlooked today. Nearly everything that wisdom – or folly – has to teach us is first learned in the home. Indeed, the family is the habitat of both. “The wise person builds her house; but with her own hands the fool tears hers down,” (14:1). In spite of our confusion over what, exactly, a family is, there remains a presence of both strong and weak families in our day and each has their common practices. This sermon will explore those practices and encourage the wise to pursue them.
Rev Steve DeNeff - Proverbs 10:15-16; 11:24-28. "Prosperity and ruin are two of the most obvious consequences of the wise and foolish. But we should be careful here, for neither prosperity nor ruin mean what our culture believes. Many who seek prosperity are ruined by the very thing they seek. In Proverbs, the rich can be poor and the poor can be rich, depending on the relation that either has with wisdom. Prosperity is not simply money, but a lifestyle and it has, not only a different income, but a different mindset, different values, different ways, and a different relationship with our money. So what are the rules that lead to this prosperity? And what are the sins (so prevalent in our culture) that don’t? How shall the remnant live, in relation to their possessions, to show that we belong to the kingdom of God?"
Rev. Steve DeNeff - Proverbs 3:3-6; 10:9; 11:16-2.
"As the speed of a river changes we are pulled into one of two directions and it is here where our destiny is most evident, yet still unseen. From here, “a prudent man sees danger and takes refuge, but the fool keeps going and suffers for it,” (22:3; 27:12). In one direction go the wise who are honest and kind, and in the other go the fools, who are deceptive and self-absorbed. Sadly, we too often reward those moving in the wrong direction but Proverbs assures us that only the wise
Rev. Steve DeNeff - Proverbs 10:11-14; 18-21. "Even though words have gone wild, they still matter. In fact, words shape our destiny. James says that the tongue is like a tiny rudder that is used to steer a ship. They take us in one direction or another. Yet how often we get careless with our words. In Proverbs, the wise and the foolish talk differently. The words of the wise are powerful and bring efficient. The words of a fool are empty and profuse. So before we say it, or before we press “send” we should stop and listen to the wisdom of Proverbs for what is at stake is not only the feelings of others, but our own destiny as well. This sermon will focus on the differences between the wise and foolish use of words, and give practical wisdom for learning a righteous economy of speech."
Rev Steve DeNeff. Proverbs 3:1-2;12:11-12. Another of the subtle currents that carry us is the current of ambition, and Proverbs has much to say about it. Opportunity comes to everyone, it says, though not in the same degree and the wise are those who seize that opportunity. Fools wait for the perfect opportunity and, ignoring all others, complain that no opportunity has come. But how does one seize opportunity without becoming over-ambitious? How do we live a balanced and fruitful life? What principles guide us in the pursuit of our work? This sermon will explore the patterns of the industrious and the idle, and show us how to leverage opportunities on this day.
Rev Steve DeNeff - Proverbs 4:20-23; 23:19-21. "There is a pattern that emerges early in the life of the wise: they know to navigate desire. They do not let their impulses carry them away. Using discipline and restraint, like oars to steer a raft, wise people keep themselves out of currents that would carry them away. The fool pursues them recklessly (note the metaphor for temptation in 7:6-27). He is uninhibited, loud and defiant in his pursuit of pleasure. He can do what he wants but soon enough he won’t like what he gets. In this sermon we’ll explore how temptation works, like subtle currents that carry us away, and give practical wisdom on how to mind the oars so we can avoid trouble ahead."
Rev. Steve DeNeff - Proverbs 1:20-31;2:1-8. "Everyone is talking, but who is really listening? Proverbs says that Wisdom is always calling out, yet who is seeking it? Wisdom falls like rain on the continental divide, and from there it flows toward those who listen and away from those who don’t. Most people would rather give advice than take it. Most, who are good at assessing others, are not as good at being assessed yet those who welcome criticism are the ones who find Wisdom. Listening well, and responding well to criticism, gets harder and harder the older and more educated we become. This sermon will show how our capacity to listen affects every relationship, every venture, every opportunity and teach us how to listen more effectively."
Steve DeNeff - Proverbs 9:1-5; 10-12; 4:5-9,18-19
There are two storylines in our day – one of unprecedented accomplishments and prosperity, and another of disorder and fear – and what is most needed is a remnant of genuine people who are wise. But what is wisdom? Where does it begin and how does the pursuit of it make all other things easier? This sermon will introduce wisdom and folly as currents in a river, with the “fear of the Lord” as the headwaters of wisdom. It will challenge us to “get wisdom, though it cost all you have,” (4:7) and show how the “fear of the Lord” means more than simple faith.
Steve DeNeff - Micah 6:6-8; Luke 9:1-2, 6, 12-17. "Beyond the miracle what God does for us is the miracle of what God does through us . . . for others. This sermon will discuss the importance of service in the normal Christian life and show how this service must be balanced (righteousness, mercy and justice) to do the most good for others. Sadly, the most popular movements for service in our day are imbalanced and so they cannot accomplish the righteousness of God. So how can we? What can we do, specifically, to practice these virtues in the good that we do for others? We’ll offer practical ways to get involved in ministries within our community that elevate others."
Rev. Steve DeNeff - 1 Peter 4:7-11. "In a culture divided by politics and special interests, where even the closest of “friends” are alone together, the way of Christ is a new community in which we are “members of one another,” (Eph. 4:25). In fact, throughout the New Testament are almost sixty “one another” references that describe our life together. In fact, the people around us have tremendous power over our spiritual development. If you’re stuck, try changing not only your practices, but your company as well. This sermon will explore the importance of sacred companions, help to identify the people we need to help us grow (caution: not always the ones we want), and give practical ways for finding them."