College Wesleyan Church Sermons

Steve DeNeff - Genesis 3:9-13; Matthew 8:1-13; Galatians 3:26 -28. Why is there so much division among us? The walls that divide us are not between different races or generations but in every human heart. The good news is that in Christ these walls come tumbling down as God forms us all into one new Person.

Steve DeNeff - Genesis 3:6-10; Mark 5:1-20; John 8:31 -36. Why does our pursuit of “freedom” only lead to more bondage? We are too easily entangled in things that once gave us pleasure until, before long, we serve them. The good news is that through Christ the Spirit of God has set us free from the power of sin and death.

Steve DeNeff - Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7; Proverbs 4:18-19; Mark 8:22-25. Why do smart people do stupid things? Our trouble is not rebellion but folly. Blindness. We walk in darkness, “having no idea what we’re stumbling over. The good news is that, in Jesus, God has opened our eyes and we can see things as they really are.

Steve DeNeff - Isaiah 55:1-7, 12-13; Mark 1:1-8; 14-15. The gospel is not about going to heaven after we die. It’s about heaven coming into us before we die. It’s more than a message. It’s a miracle. And it’s a way of life practiced in community before a world that is desperate for answers.

Steve DeNeff - Mark 7:31-37 & Isaiah 40:3-5, 9-11. It has never been harder, and it has never been more urgent to share the gospel than it is today: harder because people are disenchanted and less interested, yet urgent because so much is at stake. But even when the soil is hard, we must keep sowing.

Alex Mandura - Luke 2:25-32, 36-38.

Steve DeNeff - Luke 2:8-12; Philippians 2:5-11. To humble ourselves and obey is the nature of God: “Being in very nature God . . . he made himself nothing and took the very nature of a servant . . . (then) he humbled himself, and became obedient,” (Phil. 2:6-8). This is not only Jesus’ humanity; it’s ours at its best. It’s who we are and who we want to be.

Emily Vermilya - Matthew 1:18-25; Luke 1:26-38. Sometimes a single act of obedience can take the rest of our lives to complete. Like Joseph and Mary, we are summoned into a story that has already begun and is larger than us, and to give our consent requires us to spend the rest of our lives doing what is hard and beyond us.

Eric Crisp - Luke 1:5-22. Obedience takes time. Sometimes it cannot be done in day, not even in the day we are told. Like Zechariah, we must wait for another day when the opportunity presents itself, then we must be true and faithful to that moment before God will open new possibilities.

Steve DeNeff - Isaiah 40:1-5; 42:1-9. Sometimes obedience means believing the impossible, saying the absurd, holding onto he improbable simply because we’ve heard God’s Voice. It means being the minority report. Sometimes the certainty of it is unclear, even to us, so it is only by looking back that we know what the will of God was.

Steve Lennox - 2 Peter 1:1-11. For the most part, Christians know what God asks of them, but feel ill-equipped to oblige, explaining their shortfall as “being human.” In this passage, God makes clear that He has already given us everything we need for living the godly life.

Steve DeNeff - Luke 20:45 - 21:4. Contrary to popular belief, our possessions lie at the heart of our spiritual lives because whatever we do with them, for better or worse, we do to ourselves. That’s why the widow who “put in everything - all that she had to live on” is so impressive a model of discipleship. In sharp contrast to the “long and flowing robes” of the Pharisees, she quietly reflects t...

Steve DeNeff - Matthew 15:21-28. What happens in seasons when God is not speaking? Whether we like it or not, every one of us has been (or at least “felt” like we’ve been) in that season. Like the Canaanite woman, we’ve desperately cried to God, “Lord, help me” but “Jesus did not answer us at all.” This message - on the importance of not speaking for God when God is not speaking - will give counse...

Emily Vermilya - Acts 15. Discerning the voice of God lies at the heart of our desire to shift from asking to listening. But what if God’s leading seems unclear or leaves open a number of options for us in terms of next steps? What do we do when what we discern lies in direct contrast with what another brother or sister is hearing from the Lord? Examining the account of the Jerusalem Counsel (Acts...

Steve DeNeff - 1 Samuel 16:1-13. “But the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Do not consider his appearance… The Lord does not look at the things man looks at… the Lord looks at the heart.” On discernment as the single most important practice for dealing with complexity in our contemporary lives.

Ethan Linder - Amos 2:6-12, 8:11-12. “I will send a famine through the land--not a famine of food or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the Lord.” On yearning to hear the voice of God, only to find we’ve lost our hearing.

Steve DeNeff - Jeremiah 1:1, 4-10, 17-19. “Look I have put my words in your mouth. Get up and prepare for action.” On the importance of Biblical imagination.

Steve DeNeff - Ezekiel 3:1-11. “The voice said to me, ‘Son of man, eat what I am giving you – eat this scroll – (and) let my words sink deep into your own heart first; then go to the people in exile.” On the importance of putting ourselves before the Word and obeying it, whether anyone else does or not.

Steve DeNeff - Nehemiah 8:1-8, 13-17. “He read aloud from daybreak until noon… and all the people listened attentively to the Book.” On getting reacquainted with Scripture as the Speaking Voice of God.

Steve DeNeff - 1 Kings 19:3-4a, 8b-13a. “After the fire came a gentle whisper . . . and Elijah went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.” On the importance of hearing the still small voice (meditation).

Steve DeNeff - Numbers 22:21-31. “Then the Lord opened the donkey’s mouth and she spoke to Balaam… so Balaam bowed low and fell facedown.” On the importance of hearing God in a multiplicity of ways.

Steve DeNeff - 1 Samuel 3:1-12, 15-21. “One night, Eli was lying down in his usual place… and Samuel was lying down in the Temple, where the ark of God was.” On the importance of rhythms and regiment for hearing the word of the Lord.

Steve DeNeff - Mark 9:14-27. In this well-known miracle is a parable for the contemporary Church. Like the father’s boy, we have been “robbed of our speech” (v.17). In the eyes of the public, we cannot speak because we cannot hear (v.26) and we cannot hear because we no longer believe (v.19, 29). We are “disenchanted,” by our overcrowded beliefs. Whenever we’re speechless, the solution is not to k...

Emily Vermilya - Matthew 13:3-13; 16-17. Listening is an art form necessary for those who desire to know, understand, and follow God. The parables of Christ call us to move beyond merely hearing the proclaimed word to truly listening for the fullness of the voice of God. Though usually offered as simple stories, the parables require us to look beyond the obvious for the deeper intended message and...

Steve DeNeff - Philippians 3:10-4:1. What happens after we believe? What do we do next, and what if nothing happens? Many Christians complain that their lives are not what they expected, not even after they were “saved.” Have they done something wrong? Has God over-promised and under-performed? Or were they wrong about what it means to be “saved?” This message will re-examine conversion in the lig...