College Wesleyan Church Sermons

Steve DeNeff - John 12:1-8. Today Jesus is in Bethany (which means “house of the poor”), in Mary and Martha’s home, at a dinner in his honor. During the meal, Mary pours a pint of alabaster, an expensive and potent perfume, onto the feet of Jesus and wipes them with her hair. This simple act of devotion creates controversy even outrage among Jesus’ disciples who have better plans for the money. Bu...

Dr. Bud Bence - Mid Week Bible Study

Dr. Judy Crossman - Midweek Bible Study 

Rev. Steve DeNeff - Isaiah 29:13-14, 17-19; John 9:35-39. In the center of all things unseen is One who holds all things together, Jesus Christ. Thus, to see clearly is to see Him as he is, and not as we imagine him to be. It is to see the end of all things before they are upon us and to fall on our faces in worship of him whose face has changed (Luke 9:29), the First, the Last and the Living One...

Steve DeNeff - Isaiah 32:1-5, 8; Mark 8:22-26. The prophet Isaiah promised a day when “the eyes of those who see will no longer be closed… when the fool will no longer be called noble, nor the scoundrel highly respected,” (32:3, 5). This revolution has come in Jesus Christ but everyone looking can see it. Jesus invites us into this revolution, this reversal of things, and as we practice these new...

Eric Crisp - Psalm 119:97-106; Luke 10:21-24. There is nothing in this world that bears witness to things unseen like the Word of God. Yet many who are familiar with their Bible are blind to things unseen. The trouble is not in what is written, but in how we read it. Those who see clearly read it differently and they consistently obey what they read. Indeed, obedience is the best exegesis of Scrip...

Dr. Amanda Drury - Seen To Unseen Mid-Week Bible Study.

Rev. Steve DeNeff - Isaiah 6:8-10, Mark 10:46-52. At the bottom of every miracle is a touch from Jesus on the desire of one who knows he is blind: “What do you want me to do for you?” (Mark 10:51). Against the idea that the gospel will solve all our problem, this sermon will suggest that the gospel actually reveals what our real problems are. To know that we are blind is our real problem, and to p...

 Seen to Unseen Mid-Week Bible Study by Dr. Dave Smith.

Rev. Steve DeNeff - Isaiah 42:16-20. Blindness is a powerful metaphor of our spiritual condition. It is impenetrable darkness. It is ignorance. It is hardness of heart.  And it cannot be cured by oneself or by one’s teachers. It can only be cured by a miraculous touch from Jesus: “The man they call Jesus… put mud on my eyes, then I washed, (and) now I see,” (John 9:11, 15 NRSV). This sermon will i...

Rev. Steve DeNeff - Psalm 121:1-8; 2 Corinthians 4:16-18. Every day we are immersed in things that are urgent, daily and temporary. The unintended consequence is to be near-sighted, to neglect the important and the eternal. Yet it has always been those who thought the most of the next world that did the most in this one. What Christians believe and what we hope for is not an escape, or a mirage, b...

Rev. Alex Mandura - Luke 2:22-33. We are a hurried and restless people. We are always ready for the next, running from one thing to another. Even on this first Sunday of Christmas we are rushing from the ending of one year, and pining for the next. Many of us have already plotted out how this next year is going to be different. We are ready for the shiny new year, ready to see the old gone, ready...

Rev. Steve DeNeff- Luke 2:8-20. Who would have thought that the savior would be “born of a woman, born under law,” (Gal. 4:4). Most people, Americans especially, expect something larger, more visible and pronounced. They do not expect small, quiet and unseen routines to change anything.  But what if the way to change things is to subvert them? What if God became small because this is how things ge...

Rev. Matt Beck - Matthew 2:1-12; Luke 1:46-55. When the star appeared, Herod the Great gathered the Jewish leaders and intercepted the Magi in Jerusalem, grasping for information on a rumored newborn "King of the Jews”, promising to go and worship him, too. By a dream, the Magi would see through the murderous king's deception, refusing a partnership with power. After paying homage to Jesus in Beth...

Rev. Steve DeNeff - Ephesians 1:9-10; Luke 2:1-7. Two thousand years is a long time to wait for things to change; yet that’s how long it’s been since Jesus said a change was coming. Perhaps we should look for something else. Maybe change comes like an infant born and growing up. Maybe it doesn’t come from the top, but from the bottom. Maybe it doesn’t happen in one, quick and decisive act but in t...

Rev. Steve DeNeff - Isaiah 42:1-4; John 1:1-5, 10-13. Every Christmas we sing, “Come thou long expected Jesus,” but has anyone wondered what kind of Jesus we expect?  Has anyone wondered if we miss him today, perhaps for the same reason they missed him then: he came in a way unexpected.  If what is lying in a manger is truly a savior, a Christ and a Lord, then we need to re-think what salvation me...

Rev. Steve DeNeff - Corinthians 5:16-20. At the center of our church is a bold gospel: God makes all things new! This is an optimistic view of God’s grace and it calls each of us to participate in this gospel. This sermon will include stories of old lives made new, showing how God has been active in our congregation through the years, and encourage us to be faithful to the mission of our church in...

Steve DeNeff - Luke 24:36; 44-49; Acts 1:4b-8. The Church is the hope of its community. CWC is uniquely positioned to influence both the community and the Church. As a century-old institution, with community leaders involved, we are positioned to bring the gospel into every domain of our city. As a home church for over six hundred next-gen leaders, we are positioned to send them with deep convicti...

Rev. Steve DeNeff - John 15:1-8; 2 Timothy 2:1-2. One of the great challenges of growing churches is to stay true to their mission. Of the organizations who don’t, 85% of their leaders blame internal factors, meaning that complexity and bureaucracy have caused them to drift from their mission. Now they play safe. They protect the wrong people. They have lost their sense of urgency. What rises up i...

Dr. Dave Ward - 2 Chronicles 25:1-15. Amaziah served the Lord, but not with his whole heart. This sermon seeks to peer into the character of Amaziah to discern what made him be so part-hearted. We realize Amaziah was following the example he received, continuing traditions he was familiar with, keeping the peace in contentious times, and holding onto attachments and addictions. All of these are th...

Rev. Ethan Linder - Mark 10:17-31. When we look at The Rich Young Ruler, we often see a smug, self-assured aristocrat in love with his money. But if we look closer at the text, we realize he had a vision of discipleship strikingly similar to ours: always focused on the “next right thing” God would call him to do. In this interaction, Jesus proves that discipleship is often about having lives that...

Rev. Steve DeNeff - Matthew 6:19-21, 25-33; Romans 15:13. Hope is in short supply these days. As our world stumbles under the weight of terror, tragedy and natural disasters, there is talk of recovery and reconstruction, of legislation and government loans, of “finding a way forward . . . to a new future.” Our leaders say that we must stay optimistic. We must rely on each other. We must believe in...

Rev. Steve DeNeff - Matthew 5:10-12; Ephesians 4:29-5:2. Every religion has to deal with suffering. Some try to avoid it, to overcome it, or to explain it away. But the mark of a practicing community is that it comes alongside those who carry crosses, with empathy and patience. These people know that “suffering produces endurance, and endurance (produces) character and hope,” (Rom 5:3-4, NET). Thi...

. Rev. Steve DeNeff - Matthew 5:43-48, 7:1-2; Ephesians 4:1-6. As our nation becomes more polarized politically, economically and socially we hear the call for justice, for equality and tolerance. Perhaps what is needed is a community devoted to making room for those who are invisible, those on the margins. This community would be open, practicing not just charity but generosity. It would go the e...

Rev. Steve DeNeff - Matthew 5:27-37' Ephsians 3:14-21. The rise of the individual over the community, along with an emphasis on freedom without commitment has led to an impermanent society in which promises are only good intentions. Against this tide of self-indulgence, the people of God are called to make promises and to keep them, for “our freedom doesn’t grow in the abstract; it grows in a part...