Christ Community Sunday - Leawood Campus

John 21: 1-19 // Tom NelsonI don’t know specifically where your brokenness or struggles lie, nor do I know what mistakes you have made or what your most regretful failures have been or currently are. But I am confident that if you are like me in my mistakes and failures, a crying question of my heart is what is God’s response? For those who are followers of Jesus, or who are considering following him, a burning question we wrestle with, yet one we seldom verbalize, is what is Jesus’ response to us when we fail him?   Does Jesus lecture us? Shame us? Condemn us? Abandon us? Jesus’ response may surprise you, even shock you.Sermon Notes: https://www.bible.com/events/49067531Prayer Requests:  https://ccefc.ccbchurch.com/goto/forms/2509/responses/new23.04.30

John 20:24-31 // Andrew JonesThere comes a moment, in all of our stories, that to truly follow Jesus and believe in him requires more than intellectual assent to his existence. It is more than searching for him. It actually means understanding we are found by Him. He’s the one looking for us, not the other way around. Perhaps the most powerful doubts we ever experience are in moments of pain, loss, and grief. Suffering is the most earth-shaking experience when it comes to what we believe. Nothing makes us question the goodness of God, the trustworthiness of Jesus, like suffering that we just don’t understand. The hands that hold us are not immune to our suffering. They are not pristine and whole. They have been through all of it and more. They are scarred, as a reminder, that our scars will never have the final word over us. Thomas saw these hands and believed. Do we?Sermon Notes: https://www.bible.com/events/49063916Prayer Requests: https://ccefc.ccbchurch.com/goto/forms/2509/responses/new

John 20:19-23 // Tom NelsonAs Jesus appears to his disciples, he greets them with one word that emotionally changes everything.  It was the Hebrew word, shalom which is translated here in English as peace. Shalom is much more than an absence of conflict like we mostly use the word peace today.  Shalom embodies the presence, power, and proximity of the kingdom life Jesus was inaugurating in the world through his atoning death and death-defying resurrection. The word Shalom here directly connects Easter with Eden.  In the first book of the Bible, the book of Genesis we encounter the original creation garden of Eden which means delight. The Garden of Eden was a place where original creation happened, but not only a place but a comprehensive reality when all was well in the world, all was as God designed and desired his very good creation to be. Before sin and death brought disintegration and death to God’s good world and to his crown of creation. With just this one-word greeting, the resurrected Jesus makes this

John 20: 1-11 // Andrew JonesWhat is Easter to you? If you have been a Christian for a while, maybe you would say it’s about Jesus’ victory over death. If you haven't grown up in church, maybe it is a family day about dyeing eggs and hunting for candy. But what about John? He was a disciple of Jesus and was present for the first Easter. That first Easter was one of tragedy, loss, heartache, and pain. It ended with a woman crying over an empty tomb. I am not sure what brought you here today, but before you leave, I have one question I don’t want you to miss. Do you hear your name? There is someone looking for you. He is not far off. He is near. And he is more than the conqueror of death and despair. He knows your name. He calls you by name. The same voice who made everything from nothing beckons you away from the graveyard, and into eternal life with him. Do you hear him?Sermon Notes: https://www.bible.com/events/49052667Prayer Requests: https://ccefc.ccbchurch.com/goto/forms/2509/responses/new23.04.09

John 19: 28-42 // Andrew JonesJesus lived a completely human life, but not just any human life. He lived a poor and oppressed life. He suffered rejection, ridicule and hatred. His best friends abandoned him. He was lied about, beaten and spat on until his death. He died a human death, but not just any human death. He died the most heinous and evil deaths any human could ever die. Jesus died that death for you. He did not have to die to prove he is God, but he does prove that. He did not have to die for the beauty, splendor and glory of a new creation, but he did that too. What Jesus could not have without dying, was you. Our sin, our rebellion, could only be solved by him. Jesus wants you, and me, to know that no matter how bad things get, no matter how much loss, grief and pain we can endure, Jesus can take the worst of it, and bring life out of it. From the foundation of the world, Jesus knew the cost of our sins, and he chose to pay it anyway.Sermon Notes: https://www.bible.com/events/49049017 Prayer Reque

John 18:28-19:6 // Tom NelsonThe game of chess reminds me of the Monday worlds we inhabit.  The places we live, work and play are a lot like an extended chess game with many players all with differing abilities and degrees of personal, social, and institutional power. And in life, it doesn’t take long to realize not one of us is completely in control. Not one of us is all knowledgeable, nor are we invincible. Yet we often buy into the enticing illusion of our control, the attractive myth of our certainty. In life we all place our trust in something or someone, but who or what will we put our ultimate trust in? Who will rule us, and who will be our true king?  In a riveting narrative terrain that feels a lot like a chess game, the Gospel writer John confronts us as readers to ask ourselves where our ultimate trust lies. Who is our king? Whoever is the king of your life ultimately gets to decide what you think is true, and what you think is untrue. Where your highest affections are directed, how your priorities

John 18: 1-18 // Brent NelsenWe live in a culture that says that when you get hit, you hit back twice as hard. And I think Christians are just as susceptible to this kind of mentality as anyone else and are all too often participants in it. But that’s not Jesus. Jesus says, when you get hit, you turn the other cheek. And here he practices what he preached. Jesus could have eviscerated this guy. But instead, his eyes are fixed on the cross, which is where he knew he was headed all along. It’s where he had to go for people like you and me. Jesus wasn’t surprised by Peter’s failure. In fact, he knew it was going to happen. Throughout this passage, Jesus was never not in control. And Jesus isn’t surprised by your failure either. And even if your world seems upside down, like Peter’s was that night, Jesus is still in control. And maybe Jesus isn’t meeting your expectations. Or you’re finding out that you’re not who thought you were, or who you wanted to be. Jesus isn’t surprised. He invites you to do the same thin

John 17 // Andrew JonesJesus prays to his father: it’s time to reveal my beauty. Because Jesus knows that only his beauty can really change us. His beauty has been the purpose of his gospel from the very beginning. What we could never understand until Jesus, is the beauty of the God-man sacrificing himself for the same humanity that killed him in the first place. The image of sacrificial love, of dying to self, is our image. That is who we are now because we have been converted, not only to the truth of Jesus. We’ve been converted to the beauty of Jesus. The Christian life is a portrait. A sculpture. A play. We are supposed to look like, sound like, smell like, the love, the sacrifice, of Jesus. We know, and must proclaim, in all we do, that beauty did save the world. And it is saving us.Sermon Notes: https://www.bible.com/events/49041711Prayer Requests: https://ccefc.ccbchurch.com/goto/forms/2509/responses/new23.03.12

John 16: 16-24 // Tom NelsonAs Jesus prepares his disciples for his absence in the Gospel of John, he does not answer when he will return. Jesus does, however, focus on what following him will mean in his absence. Following Jesus will mean waiting. Waiting is hard for all of us. Maybe you are waiting for something right now in your life, the healing of a physical or emotional illness, a broken relationship to be reconciled, or a new job opportunity to appear. As difficult as waiting is, if you choose to follow Jesus, that will mean waiting. Jesus tells us waiting will mean two things; waiting will be hard and waiting will be worth it. With constant expectancy and a blessed hope, those who follow Jesus learn to wait.Sermon Notes: https://www.bible.com/events/49037954Prayer Requests: https://ccefc.ccbchurch.com/goto/forms/2509/responses/new23.03.05

John 16: 4-15 // Andrew JonesIn our sermon today, Jesus is preparing his disciples for him to leave them. He is actually trying to convince them it is to their advantage for him to go. When I leave, the Helper will come to you, Jesus says and Jesus promises that the Holy Spirit will come and is better suited to help us than even Jesus. His job is to be with us, everywhere at all times. He’s divine and eternal. He’s not just around us, like Jesus for his followers, but he is actually within us to comfort, strengthen and protect. If you are a follower of Jesus, the Holy Spirit is like a preacher that lives within you and speaks through you. He tries to raise His voice above all the rest and will always point us to Jesus. As followers of Jesus, we often need times of solitude so we can listen intently to what he is quietly preaching directly to our hearts. Are we listening?Sermon Notes: https://www.bible.com/events/49029792Prayer Requests: https://ccefc.ccbchurch.com/goto/forms/2509/responses/new23.02.26

John 15: 18-27 // Tom NelsonIn our nation, the times are changing and they are changing fast. We see it and sense it in many ways. Those of us who are committed to following Jesus, who embrace orthodox Christian faith who hold to biblical truth in matters of truth, marriage, sexuality, and morality as Jesus did, will make an increasingly secular society uncomfortable, angry, and even hostile to who we are, what we love, what we believe and how we live. While growing opposition, even hostility toward our faith saddens us, it should not surprise us. Jesus told us this would be the case and this has been the more normative experience for Christians throughout history. We are not victims, we are apprentices of the king of kings who is Lord of all. Who said, The gates of hell will not prevail against the church. Our God is sovereign, his kingdom will triumph. But we must not forget we are in the midst of a great spiritual battle where two kingdoms are contesting for the love, devotion, affection, and allegiance of

John 15: 1-11 // Andrew Jones Jesus gave us an object lesson two thousand years ago. Christians must grow. Jesus understands the stakes of our growth better than we do. It’s actually the whole reason he came in the first place. He did not just come to die and forgive our sins, it was his means of transforming us through redeeming growth into a new people called the church. The key to growth is remaining or abiding , depending, on Jesus. The fruit he is looking for is a growing dependence on him for all things. It looks like asking for help from him in every part of our lives. He is not saying, ask for my help with the spiritual stuff. The fruit of dependence grows by depending on him in everything. Allowing ourselves to be completely dependent on God will often feel uncomfortable, like a pruning. It may not feel good, but it is necessary to grow. Growing is not a test to prove we deserve joy. Growing in him is joy. He wants so desperately for his joy to be our joy that he will not only endure the cross, rescu

If we were able to ask the Creator of the Universe where he would choose to live, where he would call home, it is not a place. It is you. He wants to live in you. The question is, do we want him to live in us? Because there is a cost. God’s grace is free, but it’s not cheap. If you want God to live in you, you have to love Jesus. This is not a condition or threat to us, it is simply a necessary condition if we truly want to accept his love for us. To be in a relationship with Jesus, we must love him. This is more than an emotional connection. Loving Jesus looks like obeying Jesus. We must want to obey him, trust him, and grow in our obedience to him. This is necessary for him to live in us. He doesn’t expect us to do the work alone, he tells us we will do it together.Sermon Notes: https://www.bible.com/events/49018549 Prayer Requests: https://ccefc.ccbchurch.com/goto/forms/2509/responses/new23.02.05

Today we are looking at the moment Jesus is speaking to his closest followers and friends. His disciples. He is trying to prepare them for the worst night of their lives. They are going to witness humanity’s utter rejection of God’s grace in Jesus. Jesus tells them, and us, don’t be troubled; I know where you are going. Jesus, who knows he is about to die, be resurrected, and ascend to his Father, also knows where he is, we will also be. He is going to prepare a place for us. It is a place where none of the rules, the wisdom, of this age, this world, apply. It is a place that actually makes sense, for example, to love your enemy, which makes no worldly sense. Jesus says we must not be troubled because He knows He is enough for us and we will be with Him.Sermon Notes: https://www.bible.com/events/49014836Prayer Requests: https://ccefc.ccbchurch.com/goto/forms/2509/responses/new23.01.29

When we think about Jesus many things pop into our minds. Jesus was a brilliant teacher and a great healer, but Jesus was also the best friend a person could ever have. What John wants us to grasp today with both mind and heart is there is no greater happiness in life than a deepening relationship with Jesus. Jesus taught and embodied a servant posture as an essential power posture of His Kingdom. Jesus reminds his closest friends, Whoever would be great must be a servant…the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve and give his life as a ransom for many. Those who embrace humble foot-washing friendship, basin and towel servanthood are blessed and happy. Footwashing friendship requires both serving and being served. Jesus is a friend that can always be counted on. Jesus is a friend who humbly serves. Jesus is a friend no matter what. What a friend we have in Jesus!Sermon Notes: https://www.bible.com/events/49014827 Prayer Requests: https://ccefc.ccbchurch.com/goto/forms/2509/responses/new23.01.22

Sermon Notes: https://www.bible.com/events/49007529John tells us about the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. It’s a biography of the most influential and important person who ever lived. And John wrote this not because he thought it was interesting. But because he believed that trusting in Jesus, that Jesus’ offer to follow him in all that we do, was the most important invitation of all time. And that to miss out on that offer would be the most tragic, heartbreaking, but avoidable mistake any person could ever make. And this passage we just read is the warning. It’s the thing we wish we had AFTER we make a mistake. But we have it now. On the cross, Jesus proves that whatever the cost may be for following him, his cost to find you was higher. Don’t say no to him. Don’t. Even if you are here and you don’t yet know what to make of all of this. Don’t close yourself to it. Don’t walk away. Don’t say no to the one who does not say no to you. Prayer Requests: https://ccefc.ccbchurch.com/goto/forms/2509/respons

Discipleship with Jesus involves a high cost that was not lost on first-century followers and it must not be lost on us as twenty-first-century followers. What is the cost of following Jesus? Is it worth everything we may be afraid of losing? Wherever we are in our spiritual journey, these are questions the Gospel writer John helps us thoughtfully and carefully consider. We must not miss that as apprentices of Jesus, we are called to take up our cross and follow him. Apprenticeship with Jesus involves losing one’s life, not keeping it. We are to love God first and foremost. That love for God must be so strong that other loves in our life, including love for self and others, are quite small in comparison. It is out of our love for him that we sacrifice our lifestyle for him and the advancement of his good news kingdom mission in the world.Sermon Notes: https://www.bible.com/events/49004672Prayer Requests: https://ccefc.ccbchurch.com/goto/forms/2509/responses/new23.01.08

Sermon Notes: https://www.bible.com/events/49002180Prayer Requests: https://ccefc.ccbchurch.com/goto/forms/2509/responses/new23.01.01

As we explore Psalm 22 together, it is my heart’s desire that we will see its profound connection to Christmas in our lives. Few texts give us a more compelling glimpse into the meaning of the Bethlehem manger than Psalm 22. This advent season may have you feeling very alone. Feeling alone is one of the most painful experiences of our lives. Loneliness can diminish our sense of worth, harms our bodies, robs our joy, an smothers our soul. The good news is that we have a promised king who will never, ever leave us. He gets our pain, goes to the cross for us, and gives us hope.Sermon Notes: https://www.bible.com/events/48992864Prayer Requests: https://ccefc.ccbchurch.com/goto/forms/2509/responses/new  22.12.18

The season of Advent is a season for asking questions like: is anyone coming to save me? Is the promised king we long for coming and can he save us from ourselves? Save us from this broken world? In Psalm 103, David wants to remind us of God’s great love and compassion in sending his son, who took on our frame, became dust, took on the form of a servant, was tempted and without sin, took our place, and died on a cross. Jesus shouts to us this Christmas season. Jesus is how high and wide and deep the love of God can go. None of us can look at a baby born in a manger and doubt if we are beyond rescue. Absolutely not! Part of this season, the reason we do this every year, is to remember God’s rescue.Sermon Notes: https://www.bible.com/events/48992858Prayer Requests: https://ccefc.ccbchurch.com/goto/forms/2509/responses/new22.12.11