Central Community Church | Sermon Audio

Matthew 10:24-42 In Matthew 10 Jesus tells His disciples what to expect as they go about proclaiming the gospel. We should expect danger, division, and God’s present and eternal care.

Matthew 10:24-42 Jesus has been explaining to his disciples that they will face persecution, but he tells them they do not need to be afraid.  If God is on their side, there is nothing to be afraid of.  Disciples of Jesus are to carry the gospel message being courageously fearful, uncompromisingly loving as privileged ambassadors of Christ. 

Last week we pushed back on the excuses we make for not participating in the Mission of Jesus. This week we look at the very real costs and enormous blessings of participating in the Mission of Jesus.

Matthew 10:16-23 The image of a sheep among wolves is startling. There is grave danger. And yet Jesus sends His followers – prepared, preserved and protected – into such danger … all for His sake … to bear witness about Him. He sends us having gone before us, and He sends us going with us. We’re in good hands as we answer the call to be His witnesses.

Matthew 10:16-23 Despite a steady departure away from Christian values and foundations, in our Canadian context we enjoy many religious freedoms. Nevertheless, Scripture teaches us that every believer that takes a stand for Christ will be persecuted at some point, to some extent. In this section of Matthew Jesus tells us how we should face persecution when it comes.

Matthew 10:16-23 When Jesus sends out his disciples on their first mission’s trip, he gives them a warning about what they will find.  People are going to oppose them, and they will face persecution.  However he also gives them some amazing promises about how God will take care of them through all of it.

As we move from the Sermon Discourse (5-7) to the Mission Discourse (10), Jesus now sends the 12 with His authority to demonstrate and proclaim the message of the Kingdom. The disciples are moved from observers of the ministry of Jesus to participants in the ministry of Jesus; and you are called to move from observer to participant as well.

Matthew 9:35-10:15 Having invested in his disciples the principles of the Kingdom and having demonstrated the message and power of the Kingdom, Jesus now summons his disciples on mission for the Kingdom. Spurred on by the heart of God for the lost, ordinary people are transformed into apostles, sent ones, to proclaim the good news of the Gospel and in the process transform the lives of those they...

Matthew 9:35-10:15 Jesus invites us into His mission: To proclaim and demonstrate the Good News about Him to a world that is harassed and helpless without Him. And those He calls He also prepares with everything needed to succeed.

Matthew 9:35-10:15 As Jesus begins to empower the disciples to continue His earthly ministry He further reveals the motivation of the kingdom of God, the means in which that kingdom will expand, and the stakes at play. In so doing he reveals compassion, power, and justice as tenants of the Gospel of Christ. 

Jesus closes His Sermon on the Mount with the most difficult words He ever spoke: “‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.” He challenges us to evaluate and uncover the very foundation of our lives and consider “Where do we stake our hope?” But ultimately, it’s not a question of whether we know him (as important as that is), but whether He...

Matthew 7:21-27 Missing the mark. Being known by Jesus. Your Foundation.

Matthew 7:21-29 Jesus ends the sermon on the mount with some of the most frightening words he ever speaks.  Jesus gives his disciples a stern warning about not placing their trust in cheap grace or religious works.  However, he does not say this to simply scare them but to show them where true salvation is found. 

Matthew 7:21-29 After preaching the greatest sermon of all time Jesus closes with a weighty warning: there will be people that will be rejected from eternity with God despite having made a public confession of faith and even having worked mighty miracles. Empty words and works on their own cannot save. It is only through true relationship with Christ as demonstrated in real obedience that we can b...

Jesus not only said that there will be false prophets, but that there will be false prophets in our midst. This sermon explores how to keep from becoming heresy hunters, suspicious that everyone is a false prophet on the one hand, and undiscerning sheep who get devoured by wolves on the other.

Matthew 7:15-20 Encountering a wolf is a scary thought. Encountering a wolf dressed as a sheep is an even scarier thought. In Matthew 7:15-20, Jesus warns us to beware of ravenous false prophets and teaches us how to recognize a wolf when we smell one.

Matthew 7:15-20 The Bible tells us that those who take the truth of God’s Word and turn it into lies are destructive and destined for destruction. It is essential that the church learns how to recognize them, reject their teaching, and counter their message with truth so that people will not be led away from God, but find God and salvation through Christ.

Matthew 7:15-20

In Jesus’ mountain sermon, he encourages his disciples on the subjects of prayer, how they treat others and makes his exclusive claims about himself and his way that leads to life.

Matthew 7:7-14 It is commonly heard that all roads lead to Heaven.  Jesus teaches something different.

The reason why we celebrate Easter is because the resurrection happened, means that we have hope in this life and the life to come, and therefore matters more than anything else on the planet. 

1 Corinthians 15:1-8 All sorts of things compete for our time and attention, yet we can only hold to one thing as thee most important priority in our lives. For Paul, that thing was the Gospel: the good news of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This good news changes everything both now and for eternity! How will you respond?

1 Corinthians 15:1-11 The Easter story is the best news ever! When believed and received by faith, the loving and gracious death, burial, resurrection, and appearances of Jesus give life and hope that extend far beyond this world or anything that we can even imagine – the hope of abundant and eternal life.

1 Corinthians 15:1-9 The good news of Jesus death and resurrection is the reason why we celebrate, not only on Easter Sunday but every day!  Because Jesus died for our sins and rose again, we can be forgiven of our sins and live forever with him.  We have so much to celebrate!

A Good Friday meditation on the words Jesus cried out from the cross, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” that helps us with our own “Why, God?” questions.