Messages from Christ Community Church in Southeast Denver.
On September 17, 2023, Christ Community Church will become Hillside Church. In this episode, Pastor Brandon explains why this change is taking place and invites you to join us in our mission to Belong to Jesus' people, Believe in Jesus, and Become like Jesus.
Pastor Brandon returns this week to explore the idea that Sabbath leads to a just world where we are defined not by our circumstances, but by faithfulness to God.
This week, Kevin Smyth shares from Matthew 11 on the rest for our souls.
This Sunday, Pastor Minde shared the story of a woman
What does Jesus think is the purpose of Sabbath? Today, we explore two stories from the Gospel of Matthew that show us what Jesus intended the Sabbath to be.
Jesus said, "Come to me," because Jesus' yoke is easy and his burden is light. Today, Reid Thornton unpacks the command, invitation, and promise contained in that simple statement.
Creation. Temple. Priesthood. Law. Grace. Rest. These are themes that anchor so much of the Bible's story, and today we see how all of them come together in the seminal practice of Sabbath.
The two ways to live is a consistent theme through the Bible. In this passage from Luke, Jesus applies the "two ways" to how we use our wealth.
What does it mean to give everything to Jesus? For the young man in today's passage, it means too much.
The call of Jesus is beautiful, rewarding, joyful, and difficult. Today we encounter Jesus' radical call to follow him.
Pastor Nathan O'Neal explores Mary's encounter with the risen Jesus.
If God's grace is as extravagant as we saw on Easter Sunday, then what should our attitude toward sin be? This week, we turn to Romans 6:1-14 where the apostle Paul addressed this very question.
On this Easter Sunday, we explore Jesus' threefold restoration of the apostle Peter.
Jesus' entry into Jerusalem during the Passover celebration reveals to us a Messiah, a king very different from what we might expect, but exactly the king we need.
This week, Monica Romig continues our series on The Gospel, considering the return of Jesus as the completion of the Good News about him and for us.
In 1 Corinthians 15:1-8, the Apostle Paul reminds the Corinthian Christians of the good news that he first preached to them. From this passage we learn just what the Gospel of Jesus is.
In this conclusion to our series on prayer, Pastor Brandon asks and attempts to answer the question, "What does it mean to pray in Jesus' name?"
Is it ever okay to complain to God? Isn't that just whining? Today, Pastor Brandon walks us through one of the most disappointing episodes in Judah's history, the nation's response, and why it is good and right to take all of our complaints to God, especially when we feel hopeless.
Throughout the Bible, God's people are called to fast from food for many reasons. In this sermon, Pastor Brandon explores those reasons and Jesus' expectation that his followers would fast.
In Luke 18, Jesus tells a parable about persistence in prayer, and the lesson may be even better than we could imagine.
Guest preacher Reid Thornton joins us today, preaching from 1 Kings 8:23-30.
On fifth Sundays at Christ Community, we have a Q&A time instead of a sermon. This month's Q&A was about prayer. We spent the service practicing different types of prayer and then Pastor Brandon answered questions from the congregation about prayer. We hope this time is informative and helpful for your prayer life.
The second principle of prayer: keep it real. No one kept it more real with God than Jesus did in the Garden of Gethsemane the night before he died.
Today we explore the first principle of prayer: keep it simple. God already knows your heart and knows what you need. God wants you to come to him, but there's no need to dress up your language or repeat things over and over. Just keep it simple.
Did you know that the Holy Spirit and Jesus are constantly praying for you? When we come to God in prayer, we're entering an ongoing divine conversation, which should be the most comforting thing in the world when we struggle to pray.
Repentance is the foundation of life with God. But repentance is much more than saying, "I'm sorry." In this message, pastor Brandon explores Jesus' call to repent because the kingdom of God has come.
Truth-seekers rejoice with the truth, no matter what it may mean for them.
Jesus' coming means so many things, but most of all it means SHALOM. Today, we explore what Shalom is, how Jesus fulfills it, and how we can partake of God's Shalom.
On this first Sunday of Advent, we consider what Christian hope truly is and how having Jesus as our king helps us to live in hope.
In this guest sermon, Dr. Scott W. Sunquist, President of Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary, encourages us in an age of conflict to be the people who love our enemies.
All of the Bible points to Jesus.
In 2 Timothy, the Apostle Paul gives his final instructions to Timothy the young pastor of a church in the great city of Ephesus. Much of his instruction has to do with remaining faithful in the face of temptation and false teaching, and here near the end of his letter, Paul gives his prescription for standing firm: hold fast to God's Word.
Psalm 19 opens to us the two "books" of God's revelation: nature and Scripture, also known as general and special revelation. Verses 7-11 focus on all that we can learn from Scripture, including all that is necessary for the knowledge of God and our salvation.
Where does the Bible get its authority, and why should Christians invest their time in reading and knowing the Bible?
Meditate - Obey - Delight. This is the pattern the psalmist lays out for approaching God's Word.
God's vision for every person is to become like Jesus (Romans 8:29). As a church, that's our vision, too. This week, we consider how we do our part in becoming like Jesus, and our plan as a church to help people do just that.
As we begin this year-long study in spiritual practices, we begin with the questions, What is the relationship between grace and obedience? And, What is the purpose of our obedience to Jesus?
In the Bible, God's people are called Israel, which means "to struggle with God." Followers of Jesus are welcomed into the community of Israel, and together we are all the people who struggle with God. And that's very good news for us doubters and those who ask hard questions.
Today we trace human history from the Ark to the Tower of Babel and discover the origins of human empires and injustice and prepare for God's call to Abram to establish a people opposed to the powers of the world.
We turn our attention to Genesis 3, and humanity's Fall. Today, we begin to answer the question, "What went wrong?" and consider the dual invitations from the world and from Jesus to take and eat.
The book of Genesis began as a catechesis for God's people, to teach them about who they are and who God is and how to be in the world. Today's text, 2:15-25, introduces Adam and Eve, and from them, we learn at least four things about how humans are made and how we are to live.
This fifth Sunday, we did something a little different. Rather than the normal sermon, Pastor Brandon answered questions from the congregation about baptism.
The gospel of Jesus has implications far beyond individual forgiveness. In this message from the letter to the Romans, Berkeley explores the meaning of the gospel for creation.
Just how powerful is kindness? This week Pastor Minde weaves research and Scripture to give us a powerful picture of what kindness can do.
Americans tend to value productivity over rest, and so tend to be really bad at Sabbath. But when the God who needs no rest chooses to, it challenges us to rethink of relationship to rest and why that need is built into who we are.
The whole mission of humanity and of Christ's church is contained in these few verses at the beginning of the Bible that teach us something revolutionary about human value.
This week, pastor Nathan O'Neal shares from the prophet Malachi on the audacity and necessity of Christian hope.
In this second message in the book of Genesis, we ask, "What is the purpose of the Creation narratives at the beginning of the BIble? Why were they written and what does God really want us to learn from them?" We'll see how even in the first words of Scripture, we're pointed to Jesus and to an ongoing, formative relationship with him and others.