College Wesleyan Church Sermons

Rev. Steve DeNeff - John 17:20-23, 25-26; Eph. 4:1-6. For some, the most significant affect of the Holy Spirit is that He joins us to fellow believers, to whom we belong. In Paul’s letters, three metaphors explain how, exactly, the Spirit does this: A body, a family and a temple. In each, the Spirit does something miraculous to join us to the people of God who serve to assist the Holy Spirit in fo...

Rev. Matt Beck - John 16:12-15; Galatians 5:22-25. Jesus has more to say to his disciples, but he will tell them in an extraordinary way: through the Spirit of truth. By taking a closer look at what Jesus said about how the Spirit would guide the disciples, we can learn how the Spirit is guiding us now. We may find that we are asking the wrong questions about “the will of God” and that the answers...

Rev. Steve DeNeff -John 14:27; 15:9-14; 16:33; Romans 15:13. The natural man is restless until he finds his rest in God. But once we have, the Holy Spirit re-orders our interior world with the personality of God. Here is the source of our peace, joy, love and hope. But how does this differ from our temporary moods and emotions? How does God’s Spirit stabilize us even when everything is under water...

Rev Beau Hamner -  John 16:5-11; Romans 8:1-11. Many Christians today have adopted a “struggle theology” in which they are always battling sin and only sometimes winning. Too many of us seem to have an obligation to the sinful nature. We are caught in the same sins again and again. How does the believer respond to conviction, when it comes from the Holy Spirit How do we know when it does not? How...

 Alex Mandura - John 14:25-26; 1 Corinthians 2:9-16. As Christians, we believe Christ’s promise that the Holy Spirit is within us and active. Yet, why is it that some Christians seem to be more aware of the Holy Spirit “teaching and causing to remember” in their lives more than others? More specifically, why do some Christians seem to have a different passion and interest in Scripture? This sermon...

Steve DeNeff - John 14:15-20, 23; Romans 8:15-17. To every believer, Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit would “be with us and would be in us,” that we would “not be orphans” but would “make our home” with Him. Yet many Christians struggle with the very problems this indwelling would resolve. One such problem is the assurance that we are Christians at all. What affect should God’s Spirit have on o...

Steve DeNeff - Luke 24:36, 45-49; Ephesians 3:7-11. On the first Easter, Jesus established, not only the gospel (Lk 24:45-47), but the community that would be responsible for declaring it: the Church (24:48-49). This new community - as flawed and fragile as it is - would become "the mystery which for ages past was kept hidden in God ... so that now, through the Church, the manifold wisdom of God s...

Rev. Steve DeNeff - Luke 24:13-35. One sees what one looks for. After following Jesus toward Jerusalem, "the end of our journey" is on the road to Emmaus (v.28), then back again to Jerusalem (v.33). Like the disciples, we are to see ourselves as travelers along the road (v.13). Like them, we are kept from recognizing Jesus in our every day affairs (v.16). Like the them, we tend to misinterpret "wh...

Steve DeNeff - Luke 19:28-42, 45-48. It’s Palm Sunday. We gather with the “crowd of disciples joyfully praising God in loud voices singing... Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.” But can we stay with him as he weeps over the city, cleanses the temple, argues in our courts and contradicts some of our most cherished traditions? We can worship, but can we weep? We can sing with the publi...

Steve DeNeff - Luke 18:18-27; 19:1-10.  As Jesus nears Jerusalem we see a contrast between a rich young ruler (18:18-27) and an old, well-established tax collector; both ambitious and wealthy, both well known in the community, and both very interested in Jesus. As is often the case with Jesus, things are not as they seem. In the conversion of Zacchaeus - which is meant to be typical of our own con...

Dr. Amanda Drury - Mark 10:13-16. The story of Jesus blessing the children isn't a kids story--it's for adults (children already know they are welcomed on Jesus' lap, that's why they're there). What if children aren't the future of the church, but they are the church? What would it look like to move past patronizing images of children and see them as equal co-heirs with Christ?

Steve DeNeff - Luke 9:57-62. Everyone is busy. Our schedules are crowded. Our plates are full. Multi-tasking is a sign of importance and Balance a sign of maturity. Sadly, much of our discipleship today is about adding yet another commitment to a growing list of priorities. The result is a "junk drawer" of commitments, collected over time, each one detached from all the others; too valuable to thr...

Rev Steve DeNeff - Luke 9:51-56. As soon as Jesus “set his face to go to Jerusalem,” he entered a Samaritan village where his disciples were not welcome. “Do you want us to command fire to come down and consume them,” his disciples asked, and they said this because they didn’t know what spirit they were of (9:55, margins). Who are the Samaritans of our day? And what does the cross call us to do wi...

Rev. Steve DeNeff - Luke 9:46-51.  When Jesus says, "I am the Way..." he means that his is the most satisfying life available. Yet we've covered the way over with programs designed to elevate Jesus while we continue to traffic in whatever way is common to our culture, usually in ignorance of the ways of Jesus. We underestimate, if we even notice the stark differences between Jesus' way and our own...

 Re.v Steve DeNeff - Luke 9-18-22; 28-43. In Luke 9, we read the story of The Transfiguration (vs.28 “he went up to the mountain to pray") and Jesus healing a demon possessed boy (vs.43 "Awe gripped the people as they saw this majestic display of God’s power.”) The marriage of these passages call for two equal movements within our faith. First, that we withdraw to be alone with God. Second, that w...

Dave Ward - The Book of Philemon.  "Is there a place in your life where you unknowingly live face to face with the will of God and keep missing it? This week we are going to experience the book of Philemon anew. We will discover some key differences between the way Paul and Philemon lived out their faith and the impact that had on others. Philemon’s ability to miss the will of God while being a fa...

Steve DeNeff - Luke 16:1-8.  "In this complex parable, Jesus shows how a shrewd manager uses what he has, for as long as he has it, to gain for himself honor in the day when it’s all been taken away. This message will encourage our people to store up treasures in heaven by empowering the next generation with skills and assets so they can be stewards themselves. We’ll discuss creative ways to leave...

Steve DeNeff - Luke 10:25-37.  Giving is the most visible act of a steward. It’s the culmination of all their preparation up to now. Yet we don’t always have to wait. Sometimes we can start with the practice of giving and not only our money, but our time (“he went to him and bandaged his wounds”), our possessions (“and poured on oil and wine”), and our property (“then he put the man on his donkey”...

Steve DeNeff - Luke 12:35-46. To “break” what we possess is to multiply it or develop it, so that we can grow or expand our faculties, our talents, our resources and opportunities.  Together with our commitment to “bless” it (or to live within its means) this is the key to our long-term giving and it is the key to giving more. Like the stewards in these parables, we are to grow our capital and to...

Rev. Steve DeNeff - Luke 12:13-21.  Long before stewards can be generous, they must learn to live more simply. While striving to live fruitful lives (ambition), they must be grateful for what they already have (contentment). The key to this freedom is not just following whatever impulses they have (“I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones”), but cultivating the right impulses for, “a man’s...

Emily Vermilya - Luke 19:11-27. "In most of us, there is a strong connection between our concept of God and our level of generosity. This sermon will explore that connection in the contrast between the mindset of a consumer (“I kept it laid away”) and a steward (“You have been trustworthy in very small matters”), and show how our concept of God (“I was afraid of you . . . Sir, here is your talent”...

Steve DeNeff - John 6:1-15.  To think like a steward, we must put ourselves and all our belongings between God and whatever He is trying to do. Like the boy with his fish and loaves, stewards share their lunch so the multitudes can eat. But imagine what would happen if he did not; if he ate the lunch himself. This is what happens in a consumer culture like ours. This sermon will explore Jesus’ cal...

Rev. Erci Crisp - John 14:9-21.

Rev. Steve DeNeff -  Luke 2:8-14; 2 Corinthians 5:16-20.  The incarnation is the reconciling of two entities that were previously far apart. This brief Christmas day message will call us to be agents of reconciliation in a nation (and world) deeply divided over race, politics, and opportunity. The outcome, I hope, will be that our people will use their positions in the home or in the community to...

Rev Beau Hamner - John 1:1-5, 14; Philippians 2:1-8.  For God so loved the world that He gave his only son. He didn’t “like” us on Facebook. He didn’t “click here” to show his support. He came and lived among us. He moved in. He took up our infirmities. He became what we are. He showed us that His comfort was worth sacrificing for our benefit. To be incarnate, then, is to be fully present in the c...