Ccc Sermons

In Acts 13:1-4, we see that the church at Antioch was told by the Holy Spirit to set apart Paul and Barnabas for missionary service; so they did! They prayed for them and sent them off to do extraordinary things. In the next chapter, Acts 14:24-28, after their work was complete, we see those men return to Antioch to celebrate with their church all that the Lord had accomplished through them. This Sunday, at CCC, we’re calling it “Sending Sunday,” because we have the privilege of hearing updates, praying for, and setting apart three couples from our local church for their work in taking the gospel to the nations! Please make every effort to join us, both so you can be an encouragement to them, and so the Lord can use them to stir up missionary zeal in you as well.

If you had never heard the story of Jonah, you may assume that the story would end at the conclusion of chapter 3. Jonah had finally gone to Nineveh, God’s word had been shared, the people had repented, and God had relented of the disaster that had been forewarned. But this Sunday, we will see that there is one additional unexpected chapter to this story. In this final portion of Jonah, God confronts His prophet about his lack of pity, and He challenges His people who read this book to examine our own hearts as well. This story ends with a question mark, not a period–inviting us into the story, to see what may need to change within our own hearts and lives.

In Jonah 3 we witness the largest repentance recorded in Scripture. The most evil in the city turned upside down by the grace of God! As we admire God’s power to save in Jonah 3, we will also learn from Jonah and the King of Nineveh how a heart compelled by the gospel should be transformed.

In this second chapter of Jonah, we see that Jonah’s voluntary dive into the Mediterranean involved weeds “wrapping around” his head (v. 5) and metaphorical bars “closing upon” him (v. 6) as he sunk toward certain death. He survived that near-death experience not because of some cleverly crafted escape plan, but because “salvation belongs to the LORD” (v. 9). In this ancient story, we’ll see incredible relevance for our own lives today!

“Relentless.” Does that seem like a good word to describe God? “Relentless” means “persistent, not giving up.” In the late 1800’s, Francis Thompson wrote one of the better-known poems in the English language, “The Hound of Heaven.” In that poem he describes trying to run away from God, only to find that, like a hound chasing its prey, God never gave up His pursuit of him, the foolish, wayward sinner. Yet, the “Hound of Heaven” was not chasing the sinner to destroy him, but to redeem him in his gracious love. That was Jonah’s experience, too. Is it yours? We try to run away from God, the “Hound of Heaven,” only to experience His relentless pursuit of His glory and our eternal good. And, in the end, when He captures us by His sovereign grace, aren’t we eternally grateful? Join us this Sunday as we see “The Relentless God” portrayed in Jonah 1:7-17.

Speaking of the book of Jonah, G. Campbell Morgan once wrote, “Men have been looking so hard at the great fish that they have failed to see the great God.” As we begin our five week journey through this little book of the Bible on Sunday, let’s commit together to read and apply this book in a way that has God as its center, not a whale. We will find amazing truths, challenging truths, inspiring truths crammed into this book. What should make us marvel within its pages is not that some fish swallowed and housed a human being for three days, but that God had mercy on Nineveh, on Jonah, on the sailors, and even on us. So join us as we dive into Jonah, and invite a friend to come with you!

Join us as special guest Mark Prater preaches from Isaiah 41, encouraging us to “Fear Not” when we consider all the evidence for trusting God with our lives and our futures, namely His presence & His activity.

Special guest Mark Prater teaches about prophecy along with Pastor Marc Goodwin.

One of the last sentences in Luke’s Gospel is “He (Jesus) parted from them and was carried up into heaven.” So, that would be a wrap, right? End of the story of Jesus’ ministry. Wait. Luke wrote a second book of the Bible, too, didn’t he? How does Luke begin his second volume, The Book of Acts? The very first sentence in the Book of Acts is, “In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, until the day when he was taken up.” Did you catch that? As Luke begins his second book he refers to all that Jesus began to do before his ascension to heaven. Well, that stirs our interest, doesn’t it? So, what’s Jesus doing now? What sort of ministry does Jesus have now that he has ascended to heaven? Join us as we look for answers to those questions!

If you were asked about areas where you would like to grow in your Christian life, a majority of people would say that growing in prayer would be on that list, and if not at the top, it would be near the top. Prayer is a vital means of grace in our discipleship process as believers. It is an expression of our need and dependance on God, not only as individuals but also as a church. We want to grow in the area of prayer at CCC. Please join us in Luke 11 as we consider the prayer life of Jesus our Redeemer and learn what He has to teach us.

It’s no coincidence that in both the first and the final chapters of the book of John, we see Jesus telling His disciples, “Follow me.” The entire life of a Christian, from beginning to end, is one of following our Savior. But the paths on which we are called to follow Him vary widely from person to person. Some are smooth and easy, while others are dark and difficult. In John 21:20-25, we’ll see our Savior reminding us that He is the one who lays out the path of life before us, and that He can be trusted to lead us through all life’s twists, turns, and trials.

We tend to think that it is only Satan who would want to remind us of our past sins. Surely the God who has forgiven us of those sins wouldn’t want to do that, right? But what if rather than letting us forget about our past sins, God actually wants us to remember them? Could it be that He has redemptive purposes for pointing us to our previous failures? Join us as we look at John 21:1-19. We’ll see Jesus Himself doing that very thing with Peter, and we’ll see why He often does the same with us.

How do we know that Jesus really did rise from the dead – I mean in a real physical body? And, even if he did, what difference does it make? Wouldn’t Christianity be just as valid, just as valuable, even if the resurrection of Jesus were just a “story”? Interestingly, the Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15, “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins…we are of all people most to be pitied.” This Sunday, we are going to explore John 20:19-31, meeting people whose lives were radically transformed when they encountered the physically resurrected Jesus. How might our lives be changed?

“He is risen!” “He is risen indeed!” Those seven words will be uttered (among the English speaking world, at least!) by countless brothers and sisters in Christ this Sunday morning. You may even hear them around CCC! They’re intended to be echoes of the words of the first eye-witness of the resurrection nearly two thousand years ago, and they’re just as true today as they were then. As we worship together on Sunday, we’ll be in John 20:11-18, seeing Jesus make His first appearance to Mary Magdalene and hearing from His own lips what He was raised in order to do.

Most of us, when we have exciting news to share, find it hard to keep it in! We post it on social media, call our friends, send a mass text. We want others to know what we know and to share in the joy that we have found, so we have an eagerness to make it known. So, it’s fascinating that when Jesus was raised from the dead that Sunday morning long ago, He slowly revealed the reality of His resurrection to His disciples. It was as if He was leaving a trail of breadcrumbs for them, building dramatic tension as they tried to sort through what had happened. Join us as we look at John 20:1-10 together and see how Jesus began to progressively and deliberately reveal His resurrection to His disciples.

In the days of the New Testament, Jews would refer to Fridays as their “Day of Preparation.” Each week, as Friday arrived and the Sabbath (Saturday) was looming, Jews would prepare in certain ways to make sure they were ready for that weekly day of rest and worship. The Friday of Jesus’ crucifixion and burial were no exception. In fact, as we look at John 19:31-42 together, we’ll see John refer to that day not as “Good Friday,” but as the “Day of Preparation.” We’ll read about the burial of Christ, how Sabbath preparations impacted the handling of His body and helped to set the stage for the resurrection that would take place on the other side of the Sabbath. Hope you can join us!

We recently put out an Easter Devotional Guide for families, and one of the recommended activities is for parents to take their children on a cemetery scavenger hunt. Some may find that to be a bit strange or even harmful for children, to expose them to the concept of death. But the Christian gospel is a message about the death of Christ and His defeat of death, so that we may be prepared for death ourselves. And if we shy away from the subject, whether with our children or within our own minds as adults, we strip the gospel of its full power and minimize the significance of what Jesus has accomplished for us. Join us in John 19:28-30, as we read John’s account of the moment in which Jesus died, seeing what He meant when He said, “It is finished!”

Was Jesus’ death on the cross the result of things getting out of hand when angry Jewish leaders demanded that Pilate have Jesus executed? Or was there more to it than that? In John 19:16-27 we read such clear, straightforward language – sentences like “So he [Pilate] delivered him over to them to be crucified” (19:16). Yet, Peter would preach just weeks later, “This Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified . . .” (Acts 2:23). Maybe we should read John 19 again. Maybe the Lord wants us to see in John 19 that Jesus’ death was all pre-planned for our sake – for our salvation. Amazing love. How can it be? May the Spirit elevate Christ in our thinking, our affections, and our church!

Have you ever read the Declaration of Independence? Here’s a small sample: “When a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government.” This statement demonstrates that our nation began because colonists, experiencing prolonged unjust governance, refused to submit to it any longer. In stark contrast, as we look this Sunday at John 19:1-16, we are going to see Jesus being faced with the most unjust actions imaginable, and rather than rebel against those in authority, he submits to them. In this text, we’ll see our depravity as human beings as we condemned God’s Son to death, but we’ll also see our Savior’s glory, as the King of kings subjecting Himself to Pontius Pilate for our eternal good.

If you’re a parent, you’ll probably agree that an important part of parenting is teaching children how to listen –whether that’s teaching little children to listen to the word “No” or teaching older children to to listen to wise counsel and right sources of truth. We can probably all think of a time when we should have listened to our parents better, where we thought we knew better, so we ignored their counsel. In our text this week, John 18:28-40, Jesus is coming up to the cross, and He speaks to Pilate about who he is listening to: to Jesus himself or to the opinions of others? Join us as we study this passage and ask ourselves the same question.