Messages - 562250: Recent Episodes
Chatham Community Church: Chapel Hill, NC
The hallmark of Kingdom People is their love for God and for others. In this hectic holiday season after a contentious election cycle, Kingdom People need to make sure they love others.
The Kingdom of God offers us a different appr o ach . It bears the frui t of goodness, justice, love, mercy, peace, joy... all the fullness of God... It’s a better alternative.
In this sermon, we explore the concept of being "Kingdom People" and how our primary allegiance to the Kingdom of God transcends political victories or losses. The sermon emphasizes that the Kingdom of God is not just a future promise but a present reality where God's will and ways bring peace, flourishing, and wholeness. It highlights the spiritual victory of Jesus, which empowers us to live lives marked by faith, hope, love, courage, and wisdom. The sermon draws from Colossians 1 and 2, focusing on the spiritual resources Jesus provides—being qualified, rescued, redeemed, and forgiven—to enable us to be extraordinary Kingdom People. These spiritual realities fuel our ability to live lives worthy of the Lord, bearing fruit in every good work, and maintaining joyful thanksgiving despite our circumstances. The sermon concludes with an invitation to embrace these truths and participate in communion as a reminder of our unity in Christ.
In the midst of a contentious political season, Kingdom People have the opportunity to live differently. Their hope comes from Christ Jesus and they get to live in that unshakable hope.
No political victory can give you the eternal joy and peace that you were created for . No political loss has the power to steal your peace and joy unless you give it that power.
Kingdom people are citizens of Heaven, but they still live int he world, and Peter calls them to live with distinction in that world. Christians are called to live in a way that honors the society in which they live so that people will notice and honor God.
Who are we: Chosen people, royal priesthood, holy nation, God’s special possession, people in the light, people of God, recipients of mercy, foreigners, exiles, free people, God’s slaves What we do: declare the praises of God, abstain from sinful desires, live good lives for sake of witness, respect everyone, love the family of believers, fear God, honor those in authority, faithful submission, faithful resistance
The kingdom of God sometimes requires us to leave what’s comfortable, familiar and even kind of working for you to enter in, because anything that stands between you and the kingdom of God is terrible for you in this life and into the next.
The Kingdom of God is for everyone. Matthew was a tax collector who met a man who was so compelling that he left everything to follow Him. Is the Jesus you know that compelling?
We are Kingdom people, but what does that mean? It means the Kingdom of God should inform our way of living in the world. The time is right, let's live the Kingdom life.
The Kingdom of God is the off - ramp out of the crazy and it is very near. We’re here to be an alternative to culture, not a mirror of the culture.
The good life does not mean the smooth life, however we might define smooth. Nor does it mean we ’ re always looking for a fight. Decision making that's aligned with God knows that God is already always working and asks, "God, what are you already doing, and how can I be a part of it?"
We love freedom, but sometimes we become enslaved by the things that make us feel free. When we find our freedom in Christ Jesus, we are truly free: free to live the good life.
A + B + C + D = the good life, as God defines it Letter A -- God's truth: Jesus is Lord! God's grace works powerfully to ignite amazing generosity! Letter B -- God's purpose: Shalom: flourishing for all Letter C -- God's promise: Abundance Letter D -- our God-given identity: We are stewards of God's resources We are beloved children of God
In this sermon, we explored the concept of aligning our lives with God's purposes to ignite a life filled with courage, peace, and joy. Using the story of Saul's dramatic conversion in Acts 9, we examined how God can radically redirect our paths, sometimes through dramatic interventions and other times through subtle circumstances. We discussed the importance of aligning our gifts and passions with God's truth, promises, and purposes, and how this alignment can lead to a life that honors God and blesses others. The sermon also highlighted the roles of Ananias and Barnabas, showing how obedience and encouragement can play pivotal roles in God's plan.
We don't walk alone. Sometimes God brings people into our lives to help us along our path, and other times God brings us into someone's path to walk alongside them. When we allow God to bring our relationships under his control, we ignite the good life.
The world gives us many names, many identities, but our most important identity overrides them all and centers our lives: Child of God. When we align our lives around this central identity, we Ignite the Good Life.
One of the most critical transactions described in the Scriptures is where you and I submit all the names and identity markers that we’re carrying around in our bins to the name that God wants to give us: child of God.
In this sermon, we explored the concept of living a life aligned with God's truth, purposes, promises, and our God-given identity, which ignites what God calls the "good life." We examined the story of Pentecost in Acts 2, where the Holy Spirit empowered the disciples to become witnesses of Jesus' resurrection, sparking the global movement of the church. The sermon emphasized the importance of aligning ourselves with God's commands, even when they are difficult or unclear, and the transformative power of the Holy Spirit in both individual lives and communities. We were encouraged to find our place within the church, repent, and be baptized to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, which empowers us to live out God's purposes.
Igniting the good life comes when we allow our lives to align with God's purpose for your life.
In this sermon, we explored the story of David and Goliath from 1 Samuel 17, focusing on how fear and pride can hinder us from living the life God intends for us. We began with a personal story about a friend who made a courageous decision that aligned with God's will, leading to a life of peace and no regrets. This set the stage for discussing how we can live a life marked by courageous, wise, and loving actions that honor God and bring us peace. We identified fear and pride as the two main obstacles to this kind of life. Fear paralyzes us, making us forget God's promises and who we are in Him, while pride blinds us to larger realities, leading to foolish actions. David's approach to Goliath, grounded in God's truth, purposes, promises, and his God-given identity, serves as a model for overcoming these obstacles and igniting the good life.
In the final week of our summer series "Fertile Ground," we explored the parables of the Mustard Seed and the Noble Cedar from Luke 13 and Ezekiel 17. The sermon emphasized the transformative power of Jesus' teachings, which, when planted in fertile hearts, can make individuals and communities extraordinarily fruitful. We discussed how fruitful people and communities can significantly impact their surroundings, changing lives and transforming entire regions. The vision for our church is to become a "Noble Cedar" or "Mustard Tree" community, providing shade, rest, and a home for all, while also being a force for good in Chatham County. We are called to be agents of rising, spreading God's truth, beauty, and love wherever we go, and to engage in both spiritual and practical acts of service. As we move into the fall season, we are committed to investing more resources into our community, praying for disproportionate fruitfulness, and inviting everyone to join us in this mission.
In today's sermon, we explored the parable from Luke 14:15-24, where Jesus likens the Kingdom of God to a grand wedding feast. Despite the King's elaborate preparations, the invited guests fail to show up, leading to a second round of invitations extended to the unexpected and marginalized. This story underscores God's inclusive love and the urgency for us, as His servants, to invite others to His Kingdom. We are called to be the light of the world, sharing the good news and inviting everyone to experience the abundant life Jesus offers. The sermon also emphasized the importance of community, family, and personal relationships in spreading the Gospel.
Finding our faithful response to God's treasures and relying on our faith when we run out of talent.
The fruitful life is lived out of trust that, in every circumstance, God is doing his part to bring about fruitfulness.
There are factors about fruitfulness that are beyond our ability to control , fix, manufacture, or create.
Jesus is going to invite us into a posture of engagement with God that’s going to come more naturally for some of us than others, Jesus is inviting us into a shameless audacity
Sometimes, all you need to do to find a solution, receive what you need, even get what you want, is to ask for it.
The landowner provides fair wages to all his laborers and the last hired will be paid first.
The kingdom of God/Heaven: the range of God’s effective will, where what God wants done is done: “your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven”
Jesus wants us to START praying and be good at not stopping: always pray and never, ever, ever give up.
Jesus invites us into a life of prayer that bears good fruit for us and those around us.
Self-righteousness decimates our ability to be fruitful in the ways that last and matter. The ways that transform us into the people we were made to be and bless those around us.
The Word of God is sown generously. When it finds good soil, you get disproportionally greater fruit.
When God’s Word lands on the good soil of our hearts, it finds fertile ground for a fruitful life.
No matter how messy your family might be, if you bring your gifts to your family, it will help bring some amount of life-giving order to disordered relationships and to make our families more beautiful and less messy.
Patterns of sin and brokenness that repeat over generations tend to become strongholds in our families.
Leading a courageous life in family relationships. Courage is taking action, mourning, listening, breaking rules
Tragedy introduces mess into every family. But God loves to write beautiful redemption stories in families through family -- whether biological or the families we make.
In the midst of the mess, God loves to write beautiful redemption stories in and through the families we are born into and the ones we make along the way.
God welcomes us into his family, giving us a strong and stable place from which to do the work in ours.
Both faithful compliance AND faithful boundaries are faithful expressions of what it means to love and honor family.
God has invited us into his family, giving us a strong and stable place from which to do the work in ours.
Everything about who you are, who you’re becoming, and why you’re on earth is in God’s hands and can be woven into God’s good plans.
Everything about who you are, who you’re becoming, and why you’re on earth is in God’s hands and can be woven into God’s good plans.
We share a common purpose that we live out in both unique individual ways and together as a community.
Our purpose is not intended to be a mystery that we may or may not stumble upon. We are God's handiwork, made to do good works. It doesn’t mean we know it all at once, but it is discoverable.
Everything about who you are, who you’re becoming, and why you’re on earth is in God’s hands and can be woven into God’s good plans.
Receive the generous gift of forgiveness and enter into Jesus's victory over sin and death. That gift calls us to love one another in real and tangilbe ways.
Getting ready for Easter, no event in all of human history has changed more individual lives and had greater global cultural influence than what happened on Easter Sunday.
Jesus’s saving work for the world, for us, what he saves us from. What he saves us for.
Prayer and worship are the paths whereby we both cultivate a hunger for God and express our hunger for God.
Prayer and worship are the paths whereby we both cultivate a hunger for God and express our hunger for God.
When you take a good thing and try to make it an ultimate thing eventually it results in disastrous things and makes us lesser things, lesser people than God designed for us to be.
In moments of great need and in every other moment, what we most truly long for is God, and when we pursue God with passion, determination, and longing, all the other things that we long for: peace, family, satisfaction, relief, rest, and the list goes on, find their proper place in our lives and be satisfied to the right measure and at the right times.
The invitation for all of us in this series is to cultivate a deeper hunger—a hunger for God that is worth building your life around and that can and will make you strong to endure anything that life might throw at you.
And apart from some intentional spiritual and emotional work, most of us are going to hunger for a very narrow range of things: Applause. Approval. Success. Control. Money. Comfort. Convenience. Adventure. Independence. God hard-wired each of us up with a hunger for Himself When we settle for less than God we miss what we were designed to run on and we do not have the strength that he created us to have.
Sermon series on cultivating a hunger for God. We can long/hunger for God and bring our other longings to God
Even though it seems crazy and even though the journey is not easy: the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go.
Spiritual Power in everyday places can meet resistance. When we live into the Spiritual Authority we’ve been given and bring Spiritual Power to everyday places, people will start to think of us when they have a spiritual question or need. We’ll get to point them to God.
in Jesus and because of Jesus and through Jesus: -you are more powerful than you now see or know -but you need to see it and know it -in part because you’re up against more and different kinds of opposition than you can see or know
Jesus has given us everything we need to continually carry Spiritual Power into every place, situation, and relationship we find ourselves in, even when there is opposition.
Our battle is not against flesh and blood but spiritual forces of evil--and the Lord has given us authority and armor to fight this battle.
He’s given us this power and authority, there must be some sort of reason we might need it
Exploring Spiritual Authority - it isn’t about having power over people because of how much you pray or how much Bible you know
The early stories of Jesus alluding to this spiritual authority and see that one of the key components is deep connection to Jesus.
Open up the Scriptures and see what they teach about who Jesus is and what he tells us about who we are and what we’re called to do.
The cross was God’s solution to a problem that they didn’t initially think was that important.
We are all prone to wanting to believe the kinds of things that affirm our current state and require little to no change from us.
We are all prone to wanting to believe the kinds of things that affirm our current state and require little to no change from us.
When fear threatens to hijack you, let the promises God has made to you keep you grounded in faithfulness to God
No matter what decisions you’ve made in the past, if you’re willing to give yourself over to the Lord TODAY, he will come alongside you
God show himself faithful time and time again and invites us to respond to that faithfulness.
Your value and your worth decided on the cross, Inner Strength, Resilience is found in a biblically guided community, that replaces lies with Scripture that gives life. Deuteronomy 6
Your value and your worth decided on the cross, Inner Strength, Resilience is found in a biblically guided community, that replaces lies with Scripture that gives life. Deuteronomy 6
Relationally connected as a core value at CCC is only possible through the gift of unity by the spirit.
Relationally connected as a core value at CCC is only possible through the gift of unity by the spirit.
Developing inner strength by transforming the core lie of people pleasing into the core truth that you can’t fill a spiritual hole with your accomplishments, your stuff, or other people’s approval. You can only fill a spiritual hole with God’s Spirit.
Developing inner strength by transforming the core lie of people pleasing into the core truth that you can’t fill a spiritual hole with your accomplishments, your stuff, or other people’s approval. You can only fill a spiritual hole with God’s Spirit.
Jesus heal the man born blind. Son of Man believed in. Pharisees miss the point. I once was blind and now I see