Christian Center Church Podcast

In Acts chapter 3, we’re given the story of a man who has lain for years at a Jerusalem gate called Beautiful, begging those passing by for some money so he could survive. But one day, he encountered the Apostle Peter, and his world was changed. Though the Apostle didn’t have any money to give him, he did have something much more powerful and valuable. The power that Peter displayed that day in Je...

We’ve all been stressed at one point or another in our lives. You feel the walls closing in, the deadlines pressing, and you can’t seem to stop thinking about just how much you have to do and just how little time you have to do it. At its worst, this kind of stress paralyzes us not only from doing what we need to do, but hearing from God as He tries to get our attention as our mind whirs. This phe...

(Note: This sermon is audio-only.) When hardships hit, one of the first things to go is our faith. For whatever reason, it's all to easy to allow ourselves to fall into despair and unbelief when things get difficult. But did you know that what you are able to receive from God is directly related to your level of belief? In the book of Luke, we're given the account of blind Bartimaeus and his encou...

We all know the story of the Good Samaritan. Those of us who have been in church for a while can nearly quote it by heart, and even those who have never opened a Bible know the general idea. It’s one of Jesus’ best known parables, and its message is pretty clear: love your neighbor as yourself, even if your neighbor looks, talks, or lives different than you do. But what if there’s more here? What...

Welcome back to our study of the book of Luke! We’ve been spending the first part of 2021 working through the Gospel through Luke’s unique professional perspective, and we’ve come to a famous story in the life of Christ: the feeding of the 5000 on a Galilean hillside. Using five loaves of bread and two fish, Jesus fed a crowd of people that would rival most church congregations today. Jesus’ mirac...

Happy Easter Sunday! We hope your celebration of Jesus’ resurrection was joyful and filled with praise and worship. For our celebration, we had a great time of worship and a word from Dr. Mark Lantz on Jesus’ encounter with two disciples on the road to Emmaus. These men were downtrodden and hopeless after witnessing the Crucifixion, and they had no idea what was coming next. What do Jesus’ words t...

Thank you for joining us this evening, as we kick off our Easter weekend celebration. Tonight, we'll have a time of worship, as well as a special dramatic presentation from Dr. Mark Lantz. We hope you will take this time to remember the love and sacrifice of Christ on the cross for the sins of the world, and we are honored you've chosen to spend this evening with us. Christian Center Church is loc...

Last week, we began a discussion of Jesus’ parable of the sower, which could more accurately be called the parable of the soil. Jesus’ point was about the hearts in which His Word was planted, and how they would receive it. The seed doesn’t change, but the soil on which it lands makes all the difference! What is the condition of your heart? Is it good ground, or is it full of thorns and rocks that...

In our survey of the book of Luke, we have reached one of Jesus’ most well-known parables: the Parable of the Sower. However, this story might be more accurately be called the Parable of the Soil, because Jesus’ point wasn’t about the sower or even the seed he was planting, but about the soil on which that seed fell. Jesus was forcing His listeners to consider the state of their own heart as they...

Have you ever met a spoiled brat? Odds are the answer to that question is yes. It seems as if we are surrounded by people (both children and adults) that seem to expect everything to be done for them and to be given whatever they want on demand. That attitude can be frustrating, but Jesus warned us that anyone can become spoiled, and what’s worse, they’re spiritually spoiled. In Luke chapter 7, Je...

Join us for another dive into the book of Luke! This week, we come to Jesus’ encounter with a rather unexpected person: a Roman centurion with a sick servant. This man was completely outside Jesus’ culture, and yet, he expressed a faith that brought not only the miracle he desired, but a word of encouragement from the Savior Himself. Is our faith as unexpected as that of this centurion? If Jesus w...

For as well-known as the teachings of Jesus are, sometimes the most well-known get overlooked or flat-out ignored. The teachings of Christ are to be our guidelines for living as Christians in a world dedicated to its own ends, but oftentimes we simply ignore His teachings, either because they are so familiar, or simply because they’re too difficult to process. One such teaching is “love your enemy...

We’ve started out 2021 talking about the choices we have to make every day, and how we can use Scripture to ensure that those choices are smart and Biblical. And now, after five weeks, we come to the close of our conversation. We’ve discussed choices from productivity to planning. But what about the choice to avoid something that plagues all of us: stress? Stress is a choice, believe it or not. Yo...

As we continue our study of the book of Luke, we encounter the story of a man who needed Jesus, but had no way of getting to Him. The bridge between this man’s need and Jesus’ power was his own friends, who took it upon themselves to take this man straight to the only One Who could help him, going so far as to lower him through the roof of a house to get him to Jesus. What are you willing to do to...

Have you ever felt burnt out? After a great victory, have you ever felt yourself falling into despair and frustration, with seemingly no way out? Well, good news: you’re not alone! Elijah, one of the greatest prophets in the Old Testament, suffered the same burnout, immediately after one of the greatest works of God in his life. What do you do with burnout? How can you recognize it? And how does i...

We all like winning. As much as we may deny it, no one likes to end up losing, whether that’s in a game, on the job, or anywhere else. But have you realized that winning in life is a choice? What’s more, you were created to be a winner! As we continue our discussion on the choices you’ll have to make as a believer, we cannot skip over the fact that God wants you to win in life, and the choices you...

We continue our discussion of the book of Luke by taking a look at one of the most famous stories in Scripture: the calling of the Apostle Peter. Jesus came to Peter at an unexpected time and in an unexpected way, and it was through this encounter that Peter became one of the greatest preachers who has ever lived. What can the calling of Peter tell us about the way Jesus calls us to greater things...

Planning for the future is an overwhelming project. There’s so much to take into consideration, and that’s not even mentioning the simple fear of the future that many of us struggle with. It’s tempting to just let it all go. What if there was a way to orient your vision in a healthy and Godly way so that the future doesn’t seem so scary? The Apostle Paul had a mindset that allowed him to do just t...

The Gospels are our direct link to the words and work of Jesus. So why are there four of them? And what can we gain from reading each one on their own and as a part of the whole? Every Gospel is told from a unique and incredibly important perspective. Join us as we start 2021 out by taking a look at one of the Gospels told from a unique and professional perspective: the book of Luke.

Starting out a new year is hard. It goes beyond simply making resolutions and getting back to business as usual. It involves changing our mindset and the way we make every decision that comes our way. Yes, like it or not, this year is going to involve some decisions. So as we enter 2021, we invite you to join Dr. Mark Lantz as he looks at some of the choices we as believers have to make. This week...

Merry Christmas from Christian Center! We're excited to celebrate Christmas Sunday with you, especially this year. We've been through a lot together as a church, but let's take a moment and rest in the peace and joy of Christ and His coming to us. We've been on a journey to discover that true peace and light that Jesus brought to the world through His birth, and as we draw ever closer to Christmas...

For the month of December, we've been focusing on the peace and light of Christ's coming in the midst of a dark and chaotic time, both in His time and ours. This year has been one of social isolation and, in some cases, ostracization. And yet, there are individuals within the church who have been facing this type of isolation for many years. It takes a toll on a human soul to be an outcast. But th...

As we approach the end of the year, many are feeling as if the rug has been pulled out from under them. Their lives have been thrown into chaos, with no end in sight. The world is loud, chaotic, and dark. But as we enter the Christmas season, we reflect on what Christ brought to us through His birth, and as we do so, we realize that the world today is not all that different from the world our Lord...

This is our last "regular" midweek gathering of the year 2020! As we prepare to close the year, we've been looking at some Biblical ways to end the year well. No matter how this year has treated you, you can ensure that you end the year strong and clear about who you are in Christ. This year has been rough for most of us. But every setback can be used as a set up for something greater. Join us as...

Grace is nothing short of miraculous. None of us deserve it, and yet, it is freely offered each and every day. It's ours for the accepting, for no merit of our own. Despite this, grace gets taken for granted many times. As we come out of the Thanksgiving season, let us give thanks for the ultimate gift: the extravagant grace of God. His grace is what sustains us and gives us hope for the future, a...