Christ Community Sunday - Olathe Campus

The powerful story of Christmas is that Jesus, who is the God who sees, has come into our world looking for us. And he sees us looking around looking for him. And he declares to us “There you are…I have been looking for you…I have come to see you…to be with you…to love you…to redeem you!” But he finds us turning our gaze away from him. He finds us distracted and looking past him as though he isn’t the one we are looking for. e.And he cries out all the more “I am here! I have come! I see you! I want you! I am the one you are looking for. Stop searching. Stop wondering. Stop turning. Open your eyes and see the God who sees you!”Sermon Notes: https://www.bible.com/events/4880837421.12.12

As the Lord of Hosts, God is working in our world and fighting for us by bringing order to the chaos in us and around us. He actively guards, protects, and fights for his good creation. He does so by sending a son.Friends, we all have battles, challenges, and threats in our lives. But we must never lose sight of the truth that we also have a God who is our Lord of Hosts who fights for us, stands for us, defends us, and protects us.As we look upon our nativity sets and reflect on the story of Christ’s birth, may we see the Lord of Hosts being born unto us, fighting for us against our great enemy that seeks to devour us.SERMON NOTES: https://www.bible.com/events/4880152221.12.05

Sermon Notes: https://www.bible.com/events/4880149621.11.28

If you are a follower of Jesus, you are here today because somebody in your life was obedient to Jesus’ command to make disciples. What a gift that is. Church, may we offer that same gift to others. We do not merely exist for ourselves and for those inside these walls. We exist for the complete and holistic flourishing of our neighbors and for those who do not know Jesus yet.This is who Jesus has called us to be and what he has called us to do. It is his unchanging mission for our ever changing world. I am so overjoyed and blessed to be on mission with you. I am encouraged and empowered by the truth that the other thing that hasn’t changed and will never change is who is with us.SERMON NOTES: bible.com/events/4879773621.11.21

21.11.14

We give generously because we have generously been given so much from God. When we receive and rejoice in the depth of God’s grace toward us in richly blessing us with his son whom he sent to die for our sins, our response of giving generously is not one of obligation but adoration. It is a delight and joy to give and live generously because we are responding to the joy and generosity of our loving Father.There are no two ways about it. James is very clear. If God doesn’t manage our wealth it will ruin us. May the Holy Spirit bring to us a deeper understanding of our tende21.11.07

Boastful arrogance has no air to breathe in a room filled with gratitude toward God. The less grateful we are to God, even for the small things, the more blind we will be to his goodness and presence, and more boastful and arrogant we can become.Real faith is prepared for what we can’t control...which is a lot of stuff. But are we a people who cling to Jesus tighter than our own plans? Or are we deceived by the illusion and delusion of our own control?The reason we can be ok not being in control is because we trust and follow the one who walked straight into death and hell itself following the will of God to bring about our salvation and security. 21.10.31

Lament is a way of getting what we want in line with what God wants. Because lament adopts God’s view of a broken situation so that it can begin to be made whole. It begins to develop within us a distaste for certain things so that we will turn away from them. It begins to reshape our wants and develop a taste within us for what God wants.I don’t know exactly what it is you need to turn from. It’s probably not all the same for all of us. But as we humble ourselves and turn to God, he will give us grace and show us what we need to turn away from. And when we come to the Lord like this, he will lift us up.21.10.24

Learning to listen and thinking before we speak can help train our tongues, but it cannot save our souls. These practices only address symptoms and surface level issues. They will not and indeed cannot remedy the source from which our words set things on hellish fire. Real faith changes how we speak. Real faith shapes and forms our words. Only because real faith comes from the one who is the word of God. Our only hope of being rescued from the fires of hell within us and that await us because of sin is receiving Jesus, the word of God, who is able to save our souls and give us new life now and forever. Real faith changes how we speak, but it's because real faith changes our hearts.21.10.17

God’s radical grace toward us is what compels us to respond to him with a real faith that really works. Our works are not what move God toward us. Our works are not what convince God to accept us. Our works are not what persuade God to forgive us. God doesn’t need our works in order to rescue us from sin and death, because the work of Christ on the cross for us was fully sufficient for that. But that doesn’t mean God isn’t interested in our works. Who will be served, forgiven, healed, encouraged, empowered, strengthened, uplifted, challenged, overjoyed, and loved by your faith this time tomorrow? Who will know, receive, feel, and be blessed by the love of Jesus through your real faith? 21.10.10

Remember: mercy triumphed over judgment in your life. If you are a Jesus follower; if you are here because you believe God himself came to earth to live, die, and rise again because of you, then mercy triumphed over judgment in your life. If that is true, where does your mercy need to triumph over judgment for someone else? Who do you not want to serve. Not want to forgive. Not want to acknowledge. Not want to love. Because it’s hard. Or uncomfortable. Or inconvenient. I’m not talking about being best friends, or giving trust where it is not deserved, or not having boundaries with certain people in your life. I’m asking, who needs our mercy, because we have received such mercy? 21.10.03

As you look back on the hard seasons of your life you know that you wouldn’t relive them. But you also know you wouldn’t exchange them. Because you know that God has formed you and forged you into the person of real faith that you are today as a result of it.Some of us here are smack dab in the middle of a trial. While I don’t know what you are going through or how God is specifically using your trials to refine you, I do know this. If our God who is the giver of all good gifts and has already given us his son that we might be freed and forgiven, chosen and cherished, we can trust that he will give us wisdom, strength, faith, and even joy in the midst of our trials for our good and our flourishing.21.09.26

When all I can do is groan out to God. The mess is too big. The future is too hard. The pain is too deep. Sometimes we groan because we don’t know what to say. Sometimes we groan because words just aren’t enough. The Spirit hears our groans. He joins with us in our groaning. He steps into the place of confusion, doubt, or fear. We’re His children! Isn’t that what a good parent would do? He adds His groans to ours.But here’s the difference. While our groans are weak. His groans are strong. While our groans are full of confusion. His are full of clarity. While our groans feel like despair. His are filled with hope. Because He knows what His children need. 21.09.19

SERMON NOTES: https://www.bible.com/events/48755401Walking in the Spirit requires active effort, not passivity. The metaphor of walking implies that we are on a journey every day that requires us to apply the freedom of the Spirit to every aspect of our existence. When you get up in the morning, do your job, watch tv, and lie down. We are to walk in the Spirit every moment, day after day, year after year.As we do this, the Spirit leads us. As we come to know the Scriptures more and more, the Spirit uses the truth to transform our lives more from the ways of the flesh to the new way of the Spirit. Whenever the Spirit shows us the way, it is our responsibility to keep in step with that.21.09.12

SERMON NOTES: https://www.bible.com/events/48755401The Spirit gives gifts to be given away, and we would be remiss if we failed to see his gifts as resources for our mission on Monday. Can you imagine the Holy Spirit giving you gifts, empowering your abilities, and then saying, “but these are only for when you’re at church on Sunday, or midweek on Wednesday, or bible study on Thursday. They aren’t at work when you’re at work, or when you’re parenting, or when you’re at school?”You are gifted and empowered for God’s mission on Sunday and on Monday. Church, would we be awakened to the power of the Spirit in us, who manifests the presence of God to us, and advances the kingdom of the Son through us.How is it possible that the same Spirit that hovered over the waters at creation is at work through me and my mundane Monday?21.09.05

SERMON NOTES: https://bible.com/events/48755401 I get that I need friends. Of course, I don’t want to be alone. But why this Friend? I’ve got my people. Of course, we need human friends. It is often our human friends -- our church family -- where we experience God’s presence together. But they will never be enough. We will never be enough. Our longings are too big for any person or people to fulfill. Even our best friends disappoint us. And even if they don’t. They will eventually leave us. We need this Friend, promised to us. This Friend who will tell us the truth. Gently, lovingly, pulling us out of our isolating regret. We need this Friend who will never walk out on us. Who can be yours forever through Jesus.21.08.29

SERMON NOTES: https://bible.com/events/48749019Maybe you are a pile of bones convinced there is no hope. Maybe you are a breathless body convinced you’re alive. Maybe you are with us today convinced that you hear the rattling of bones, the rushing of wind, and the voice of Jesus calling you to life. We cannot revive or resuscitate ourselves. New life is only possible through the Spirit who reveals to us this beautiful news. The good news of Jesus is not simply that we are forgiven. It is no less than that. What we find in Jesus is that he has made a way for us to be born again through his Spirit by sharing in his life, death, and resurrection. Are you really alive or are you just living?21.08.22

SERMON NOTES: https://bible.com/events/4874629121.08.15

https://bible.com/events/48742174

https://www.bible.com/events/48740041