College Wesleyan Church Sermons

Ethan Linder: We’ve nearly discarded the word “meek” from our vocabulary: partly because we don’t understand what it means, and partly because it feels impractical, fragile… not fit for our moment. In every life, though, there comes a moment when we need a power that’s more than forcefulness, and a fortitude that’s based on more than blind optimism. “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit th...

Steve DeNeff: Sooner or later there comes a hush in every person’s life, that moment when the unthinkable happens, when the last option has failed and we’re alone with our thoughts. What then? “Blessed are those who have lost what is most dear to them, for they are embraced by the One who is most dear to them.”

Steve DeNeff: Who are the most holy among us? It’s not always who we think it is and despite our intentions to become more holy, we have learned habits that move us in the opposite direction. What are those habits? And how do we unlearn them?

Emily Vermilya: The Beatitudes are not commands to achieve but radical declarations of blessing that reveal the Kingdom of God, where the overlooked and broken are already favored.

Steve DeNeff: Pentecost is a towering moment in the Christian story. The Spirit comes, the Church is born and the gospel is preached to people in 15 regions on 3 continents. But there is a shadow - a bright shadow - that follows this moment with a series of peculiar attributes setting the people of God apart. To the extent these attributes are present in the Church today, she will live in the worl...

Steve DeNeff: This meal is shared (by guards, sailors, prisoners, and Paul) in the most unlikely of conditions – in a storm at sea, while the ship is coming apart.

Steve DeNeff: “God does not show favoritism but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right.” God is not just calling us to include others at our table… He is calling all of us to another, larger, more global table.

Andrea Summers: A key to God's mission for the Church was the inclusion and commissioning of those who were overlooked and different. (i.e., the Grecian widows and leaders)

Ethan Linder: Luke seems nearly obsessed with having us picture Christ’s life – and the church’s life – at the table. This sermon will explore how for the early church (and for us) the table can be a place that re-defines what it means to be family.

Steve DeNeff: In the course of their (the apostles') eating, Christ commissions them to be witnesses of these things.

Steve DeNeff: In the first meal after the supper, the couple’s eyes are opened to the reality of a new creation (mirrors Gen. 3:6-7)

Steve DeNeff: For most of us, and for Churches in general, two roads diverge, one the way of glory, the other the way of a cross. “Anyone” or “whoever” (v.25) chooses the other discovers a disquieting reality: The cross is a different kind of glory.

Ethan Linder: One of the core teachings of the Christian faith is that “in the name of Jesus Christ, we are forgiven.” The problem is: we don’t believe it… at least not enough to release us from the crushing weight of shame. In this sermon, we’ll explore John 8 and Romans 8, seeing how Jesus demonstrates – and Paul codifies – a new posture toward the most vulnerable, unpresentable, unworthy versio...

Steve DeNeff: In a “perversion of justice,” God can reverse the deep power of sin and restore us to righteousness and wholeness.

Steve DeNeff: Grace is the only cure for prejudice and judgmentalism.

Steve DeNeff: The boundary between sinners and saints is not where we think it is. But in Christ the two are reconciled to God and to each other.

Nathan Metz: The grace of Jesus toward Simon painted a picture of who he would become: Peter. We all need this kind of imaginative grace from God that is the power to change us and the projection of who we can become in Him. As we receive this imagination of grace from God, we will offer the same gift to those around us by (1) giving a new name (2) an opportunity to get use to it, (3) freedom to b...

Steve DeNeff: Signs series week 7, Opening the Eyes of the Blind.

Steve DeNeff: Signs series week 6, Feeding the Multitude.

Steve DeNeff: Signs series week 5, healing the paralytic.

Emily Vermilya: The healing of the official’s son. What happens in the space between our requests of God and his ultimate action? Long before anyone knew of the miracle of healing that happened in Jesus’s second sign, the miracle of faith emerged.

Ethan Linder: Nicodemus and being born from above. This exchange between Jesus and Nicodemus left the Pharisee confused, because he couldn’t understand what it meant to be born again. Do we understand it? Or have we just fooled ourselves into thinking we do? This sermon will talk about what Jesus meant when he talked about being “born again,” and how that differs from our expectations of “spiritua...

Steve DeNeff: Signs series week 2, turning water into wine.

Steve DeNeff: Signs Series, sermon one

Emily Vermilya and Steve DeNeff: In the midst of a storm, we navigate more than govern. We discern more than decide. So what have we discerned for the direction of our Church?