Christ Community Church Charlottesville Sermons

The disciple interacts with governing authorities by submitting to Jesus as King, seeking the Unity of the Spirit, and living as a kingdom citizen.

The human nature is given to extremes, either making laws against something or over-indulging. This is certainly true for digital technologies. We live differently In light of the gospel, though. Jesus puts technology in its rightful place for the disciple, seeing it as useful but also fleeting and engrossing.

We were created to work and care for God's creation. Jesus fulfilled the original covenant of works and we are enabled to do good works as we appropriate his grace into our lives. Our work should be a reflection of what God has graciously done in our lives, not to earn his love.

There is a new existence coming, brilliant in glory because God is there. Let us lift our souls in hope to the promises of God - not to escape this present world, but to work for God's honor with greater hope and courage.

Some things in life simply require all-in commitment. Discipleship is one of them. Jesus calls his followers to a whole-life commitment. And we find, as we place him first, that Jesus is the greatest treasure of all.

Do you know the Father's great love for you? He desires, and is able, to meet you in place of need.

The banquet is a Biblical image for present and future grace. Through this banquet analogy, Jesus teaches us about God, His Kingdom, and His redeemed people. And in doing so, He calls people to receive and give grace.

All those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.

Mission makes us passionate - this is true for all types of people in all types of missions. But what type of passion does God-given mission produce? What is it like? Does your passion reflect God's heart?

Are you feeling motionless? The safest place to be is where forward motion depends solely on the breath of God. What does it mean to wait well?

To the person longing to enter the Kingdom, Jesus responds, the Kingdom has plenty of room, but: Do you know the way? Do you know the time? Are you willing? ``

Through these two short parables, Jesus reveals an aspect of His Kingdom, challenging us to see the Kingdom that IS and WILL BE, even amid the continued sinfulness of the world.

The fall has bent each one of us over, disfigured from God's intention, from bodily and spiritual oppression. Satan tries to use our affliction in His favor, but the Lord Jesus calls us to freedom. Sabbath is for freedom.

What comes to your mind with the word repentance? How do you define repentance? Is your definition Biblical? Your practice? Jesus says, unabashedly, "it's time to repent".

When you think about Jesus' mission statement - does it include fire? This passage resets our expectations with God's Word and shows us how the Cross & Fire contribute to the renewal of all things.

Are we ready to meet the Lord? Will he find us faithful and wise? What does it look like to be ready? Jesus' return motivates our joyful service.

Why do we worry? It doesn't help things, and it doesn't really make sense for those who follow Jesus. And yet we persist. In response, as a compassionate shepherd, Jesus invites us to the Father who is pleased to give us His Kingdom.

When greed takes over, Jesus shows that the issue is not money, resources, or stuff - but our hunger. Our hungers can lead us away from God or to God. Lord, teach us to hunger after you and not to follow the ruinous paths of our own idolatry.

Speaking in a hostile environment, Jesus teaches his disciples - fear GOD, not man. This passage shows us why fearing God is the sanest choice and what it could look like.

What we love shapes us. This truth has a direct impact on our lives as we seek to take seriously Jesus' call, "Be on guard against hypocrisy". How do we become people of Integrity rather than hypocrisy?

Are we seeing the light or walking in the darkness? What either opens our eyes or causes them to shut? God intends for his disciples to see the light of Christ.

In response to Jesus and his work, we are called to "hear and obey". There is blessing in this, as well as protection from spiritual hazards.

God displays great power through Jesus, as evidenced by the healing of this mute man. His power reveals the arrival of God's Kingdom and insists upon a decision about Jesus.

Jesus' goal when He teaches his disciples is more than the deposit of information - it is growth from the inside out.  In this passage, we learn how prayer is the conduit for intimacy in our walk with the Lord.

In response to the universal fear of death, God raises Jesus from the dead - Jesus, on whom death has no hold. Why can't death grip Jesus? And what does that have to do with his people?

The Commands of God - the Sovereign, Saving God - are not optional. Why does He command? When we respond with action there is an intended result that conforms to God's good purposes in our life. What keeps us from obeying? Do we trust that His directions are good?

God has Sovereign authority... but does He limit it with the human heart? What's the relationship between Sovereign love and free will? Using the Biblical metaphor of the Potter and Clay, we explore the intersection between Sovereign Love and Free Will.

God is a mighty warrior, able to triumph over all that stands in the way of His purposes. But his triumphant miracles are not limited to the grand-scale miraculous... He also works His victory in the human heart through the triumph of the cross of Jesus.

In Exodus 3:11, Moses has “a close encounter” with the Lord as he asks him a very basic and yet vital question: “Who am I?”. The Lord then graciously responds when he reminds Moses, “I will be with you”. We engage this passage from Moses’ perspective and then enter into God’s epic promise in response.

Moses faces reality - God's plans for Israel involve him. God sends Moses, as He sends all his people - to fulfill his good purposes for them and to fulfill his good purposes for the world. Do we shrink back in fear or selfishness from God's sending?

God's deliverance has two moves. The first is an event, taking us OUT OF bondage. The second is a journey, bringing us INTO a good and spacious land. Both moves work together for one rescue - God does not leave us halfway.

Have you had your life script re-written? When God encounters us, He often changes our script. Perhaps you feel like a failure; perhaps you've had dreams come and go. He uses these things as training grounds for growth. When God encounters us, it's holy ground.

When we think about God's call, perhaps we view it upside down? In the case of Moses, and in the witness of the whole Scripture, God turns call right side up and offers us joyful motivation for service. The God who Delivers - He calls us.

In the face of feeling forgotten, God proclaims - I know just where and who you are. In response to our hiding, God says - do not run, you're not lost. And as we cry out in our distress, God hears and delivers. He knows us.

Do you want to know God? There is only one way. And through the Word made flesh this way is made open to us. How do we grow in our ability to know God?

December leaves many of us over-full, maxed out. God's fullness is different - and He gives us grace out of his fullness, grace that fills instead of a man-made fullness that empties.

With this verse, we're diving deeper into the ocean of God's mystery and, by grace, seeing the glory of the One and Only Son. John 1:14 changes everything - our greatest need met; our ultimate hope fulfilled; our deepest longing satisfied.

Are we okay with the mystery of God, the mystery of Christmas, the mystery revealed through Jesus, the mystery that ultimately saves us? Even in mystery, Jesus' life makes sense of our life.

What grows up when God plants disciples? How would we answer that questions corporately, for the church?

What causes a person to take risks and esteem the Lord's call as more valuable than even their own lives? How does one discern the call of God? How does a disciples' adventure differ from basic thrill seeking? Paul's words to the Ephesian elders help answer these questions.

Is your faith dead or alive? What does it take for us to have faith AND deeds? A disciple's faith engages the brokenness of the culture with the gospel, bringing the shalom of God.

Compassion belongs to God. He is the Father of all compassion. So how do we know when the "compassion" we feel is from Him or a only a shadow of the true thing? What does a disciple's compassion look like?

Jesus calls his disciples' relationships to be defined by love. Not simply human love, but love "as I have loved you". The church, as a community of disciples, is known by love. We're to be a feast shared slowly with one another and not fast-food.

There's a difference between worldly generosity and Biblical generosity - the transformative power of the gospel. Through this power, disciples of Jesus are able to live out of this principle: the treasure of the coming age outshines the treasure of the present age.

Our minds are in a battle, being filled daily by falsehood, accusation, distraction. As disciples of Jesus, will we be conformed to the world or transformed by the renewing of our minds? What does it look like to be transformed?

Jesus offers us some priceless lessons about the Heart of a Disciple in the story of the Good Samaritan from Luke 10:25-37. Often we, like the lawyer, priest and Levite, get caught in the trap of valuing knowledge over application. The result? We walk right by those whom God has put before us.