Lane Brown @ Chandler Street

What happens when the old way of living, thinking, and doing church can no longer carry the new life Jesus brings? In Mark 2:18–22, Jesus uses three powerful pictures: a wedding, a patch, and new wine in new wineskins. His message is clear: He did not come to slightly improve the old life. He came to make us new. This lesson challenges us to move beyond just talking about grace, welcome, mission,...

Sometimes God opens a door, and religious people try to put a lock back on it. In Acts 15, the early church faced a major question: would Gentile believers be welcomed through the grace of Jesus, or would they have to carry extra burdens before they could truly belong? The issue was not whether holiness mattered. The issue was whether the church would add requirements Jesus never gave. This sermon...

Sometimes we do not tell God “no.” We just keep telling Him “not yet.” In Haggai 1, God speaks to His people after they had learned to live around unfinished obedience. Their own lives were moving forward, but the work God had placed before them stayed unfinished. They were busy, active, religious, and responsible, but God was no longer at the center. This sermon asks a hard question: have we dela...

Some problems do not go away because we ignore them. They stay buried under the surface: conversations we avoid, wounds we refuse to name, gossip we excuse, bitterness we rehearse, and forgiveness we say with our mouths but do not release from our hearts. In Matthew 18:15–35, Jesus shows His people how to deal with sin, hurt, truth, forgiveness, and restoration. He does not call us to fake peace....

What does true greatness look like in the kingdom of Jesus? In Mark 10:35–45 , James and John want seats of honor beside Jesus, but Jesus shows them that kingdom greatness does not look like status, control, recognition, or power. It looks like the cross. Jesus does not simply tell us to serve. He gives his life as a ransom for many. That means cross-shaped greatness is not about trying harder to...

Have you ever felt like God’s work was moving too slowly? You pray, wait, serve, try to grow, and still wonder why things are not changing faster. In Matthew 11:1-11, John the Baptist is in prison, asking one of the most honest questions in Scripture: “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?” This message, “When God’s Work Feels Slow,” reminds us that slow does not mean a...

This Mother’s Day sermon from Chandler Street Church of Christ explores how God’s kingdom often comes through small and hidden beginnings. In Matthew 13:31–33, Jesus compares the kingdom to a mustard seed and leaven. In John 6, a boy brings five loaves and two fish, something that looks too small for the need, but Jesus uses it to feed thousands. Sometimes we think our small acts of faithfulness d...

Jesus says His followers should not expect the world to treat them better than it treated Him. This sermon from Matthew 10 is about fear, pressure, courage, and the cost of public faith. If you have been tempted to stay quiet, blend in, or keep Jesus private, this message is for you. #WhenFollowingJesusGetsYouHated #Matthew10 #FollowJesus #ChristianSermon #CourageousFaith #PublicFaith #FearAndFait...

What do you do when your plans fall apart and nothing goes the way you expected? In this message from Matthew 10, we unpack a hard but freeing truth: you are not called to control the mission of God—you are called to step into it. Jesus sends His followers out without certainty, without control, and without guarantees… but never without His presence. If you’ve ever felt frustrated, stuck, or unsur...

Most people celebrate Easter… but very few know what to do after it. In this message from Matthew 28:16–20, we wrestle with the real question: Not “Is Jesus alive?” But “Who are we now that He is?” This sermon explores: Why faith isn’t about certainty—but stepping in What it means that Jesus has all authority right now Why Christianity is not just something you believe—but a life you live The diff...

It looked like everything was over. Jesus was dead. The tomb was sealed. Hope was gone. But what if what looked dead… wasn’t? In this powerful Easter message from Matthew 28:1–10, we explore how the resurrection of Jesus doesn’t just give us hope—it changes reality. God was moving when nobody could see it. And now, because Jesus is alive, we are called to move too. This message will challenge you...

Why do we still feel anxious… even when we have more than enough? In this message from Matthew 6:19–34, we explore one of Jesus’ most direct teachings about money, trust, and the condition of the human heart. Jesus doesn’t just talk about finances. He exposes something deeper: what we treasure is shaping the entire direction of our lives. If you’ve ever felt: • stressed about the future • stuck ch...

Most people care… until it costs them. Jesus went all the way to the cross. Most people say they care. Jesus shows us what real compassion looks like. In this message from Matthew 9 and Matthew 16, we see that Jesus doesn’t just feel for people—He moves toward them, even when it costs Him everything. This sermon will challenge you to rethink compassion, mission, and what it truly means to follow J...

One of the most striking things about Jesus’ ministry is the company He kept. Again and again Jesus is found sitting at the table with the very people respectable society avoided: tax collectors, sinners, and outsiders. In Matthew 9:9-13 , Jesus calls Matthew from his tax booth and then sits down at a table filled with people many believed did not belong. But Jesus reveals something revolutionary....

What if the interruption in your life isn’t random… but a call from Jesus? In Matthew 4, Jesus walks into ordinary lives and says two words: “Follow me.” No plan. No explanation. Just a call… and a decision. This message explores what it really means to follow Jesus when: life is busy plans get disrupted and clarity is missing You don’t need all the answers to follow Jesus. You need enough trust t...

Most of us live like God is grading us. Do better. Try harder. Prove yourself. But at Jesus’ baptism, the Father speaks before anything is done: “This is my beloved Son… in Him I am well pleased.” Then comes the wilderness. This message will challenge how you see God, yourself, and what obedience really looks like. Stop performing. Start living from who God says you are. #BelovedBeforeYouProveIt #...

Why do good ideas, faithful preaching, and sincere faith sometimes fail to produce lasting change? In Matthew 13, Jesus tells the parable of the sower and shifts the focus away from technique, strategy, and effort—and places it squarely on reception . The same seed is sown everywhere, yet the results are wildly different. In this sermon, we explore: Why churches experience uneven growth How soil i...

Many people don’t leave the church because of open hostility. They leave because they become invisible. In Matthew 18, Jesus issues one of his strongest warnings—not to outsiders, but to the community of faith—about overlooking “the little ones.” In this sermon, we explore how neglect, silence, and well-meaning systems can quietly push people to the margins, and why Jesus takes that seriously. Thi...

On the road to Emmaus, two disciples knew the Scriptures, believed the promises, and still failed to recognize the risen Jesus walking beside them. In Luke 24, Jesus reveals something unsettling and deeply relevant for the church today: You can know the Bible and still miss where God is going. This sermon explores the difference between knowing Scripture and understanding its direction, why the di...

The church did not invent mission. The church was formed by God’s mission. In this sermon, we trace the story of a God who refuses to turn inward, from Genesis to Jesus. God’s blessing always moves outward, widening, deepening, and reaching the places we least expect. This message confronts a hard question: Are we moving with God, or just preserving what feels familiar? If you’ve ever wondered whe...

What if discipleship is not about doing more, but about learning how to live in the flow of the life God is already bringing into the world? In this sermon, Formed by the Flow , we explore Ezekiel’s vision of the river that flows from God’s presence and brings life wherever it goes. This message traces how God’s life flows from sacrifice, deepens through trust, and moves outward toward places of n...

Christmas opens the door, but it was never meant to be the end of the story. In this message, we confront a hard truth many churches and believers face: stillness often feels like faithfulness. The disciples believed. They gathered. They were sincere. And they were stuck behind locked doors. Jesus meets them there, not to shame them, but to send them. Drawing from John 20, John 5, Esther, and Paul...

What does it actually mean to follow Jesus in a crowded, distracted, and comfort-driven world? This sermon explores the heart of incarnational faith, not as a seasonal idea, but as a way of life shaped by presence, humility, and movement toward others. Drawing from the birth of Christ, the shepherds, and the posture of Jesus Himself, we are challenged to move beyond simply having room and instead...

Life rarely stays neat. Plans wobble. Circumstances shift. And often, nothing on the outside gets fixed. But something on the inside can change. In Philippians 4:6–9, the apostle Paul shows us a different way to live. From a prison cell, he teaches the church how thanksgiving reshapes the heart, how an excellent mind forms a faithful life, and how inward formation naturally becomes outward witness...

What is God’s purpose behind blessing His people? In Philippians 4:10–20, the apostle Paul shows us that contentment, generosity, and mission are deeply connected. God forms His people inwardly so His grace can flow outward. A church shaped by Christ becomes a church that blesses others. In this final message of the Pressing Upward, Going Outward series, we explore: • The difference between resign...