The College Church

Jesus compared the Kingdom of Heaven to some surprising things - like a mustard seed and leaven. These illustrations highlight the idea that the kingdom of heaven will impact the world in a life-altering way, yet it does so through small and often "invisible" acts of love by Jesus-followers. Join us as we are reminded that God often works through the little things to make the biggest imp...

Why do some people hear Jesus' words and never change, while others are transformed from the inside out?  Join us as we begin a summer journey through the parables that reveal the quiet power and surprising nature of the Kingdom of Jesus.

Most relationships don't fall apart all at once. Hurt accumulates. Trust erodes. Resentment takes root. So how do we move forward when we've been wounded—or when we've wounded someone else? This Sunday we'll conclude our series on relationships by exploring forgiveness, reconciliation, and the hope that God can create a future that seems impossible today.  

Our culture teaches us to avoid discomfort, ghost difficult people, and cut ties when relationships get messy. Jesus calls us to a different way. In this sermon, Pastor Bill explores practical, biblical wisdom for resolving conflict and fulfilling our call to be ministers of reconciliation.  

Conflict is a normal part of life. People see the world differently, want different things, and sometimes clash. But why do disagreements so often become division, resentment, and broken relationships? This week we'll explore Jesus' surprising diagnosis of what really drives conflict—and the inner work that must happen before we can move toward resolution.

Relationships are hard — and boundaries can make them even harder. What do you do when people push back against your “no”? In this sermon, we’ll look at how Jesus responded to anger, manipulation, and resistance without losing His peace or compromising His love. Boundaries aren’t walls — they’re gates. Come discover how truth, grace, and healthy limits can transform our relationships.

Why are relationships so exhausting—and why do healthy boundaries feel so hard to set? In this honest and practical message, Pastor Bill explores what Scripture teaches about responsibility, love, and emotional health through Galatians 6 and the example of Jesus. Discover how boundaries protect relationships, preserve freedom, and help us love others without losing ourselves.

Jesus came, full of grace and truth.  Those are not easy to hold together, and most of us tend to fall off on one side or the other.  Speaking the Truth in Love is hard.  It's hard because it requires both the courage to risk the relationship (and our comfort), and the purity of heart to seek the other person's good.  No one is a natural at this, but learning to speak the truth in love is...

Listening is hard.  It doesn't come naturally to anyone.  We have to learn how to listen, and practice listening.  Jesus is the master.  As we apprentice ourselves to Jesus, we learn how to become the kind of people who love others by listening incarnationally.

Apologizing is hard.  Every time we apologize, something inside of us has to die.  As a result, many people respond to criticism and confrontation by denying, defending, excusing and shifting blame.  This typically makes things worse.  Pastor Bill explores how we can become the kind of people who respond to criticism with humility and gratitude, and apologize well. 

Relationships are hard.  And some of the realities of our modern world aren't helping.  We're often tempted when relationships get tumultuous, uncomfortable or painful to just bail.  But God often uses are most challenging relationships to refine and mature us and teach us how to love like Jesus does.  In this sermon, Pastor Bill examines Jesus' relationship with Peter as a case study...

Right before Jesus took off for the Father, He gave His followers a mission: to make disciples. What did He have in mind? And what might it look like, today, for a church to honor and fulfill Jesus' command?

One of the last statements of Jesus challenges his followers to make disciples by going, baptizing and teaching them to obey Him. This challenge to the church is a foundational part of our vision at College Church. Join us on Sunday as we unpack this text about making disciples of Jesus. 

John's account of the resurrection begins not with joy, but with tears.  See how Jesus ministers to Mary's tears, renews her joy and mobilizes her for ministry.

For its first 1000 years, the church viewed the cross as the means by which Jesus triumphed over sin, death and the devil, and ransomed humanity from Satan's grip.  In this final sermon on atonement, Pastor Bill explores how Jesus' victory on the cross overcomes our fear and sets us free to play our part in the restoration of all things.

Jesus died to take away, not only our guilt, but also our shame. What does this mean? What is shame? How does Jesus take it away? How is shame healed? What's our role in the healing of shame? Pastor Bill explores those questions and more.

What exactly happened when Jesus died on the cross? What did Jesus' death accomplish and what difference does it make? In this first of three sermons on atonement, Pastor Bill explores how the cross deals with our guilt, and how we can experience freedom from guilt, condemnation and despair.

Jesus commands His followers to be generous with the poor.  This sermon explore some of the obstacles to doing so, and invites us to put Jesus' words into practice, alone, and with others.

Our culture teaches us that we are free to do whatever we want with our money and possessions.  Jesus challenges that belief and invites us to join Him in living a radically different way.  

Jesus understood that greed makes us anxious, distracted, discontent, and lonely. But generosity opens us to the beauty of contentment. Join us Sunday as we explore the practice of generosity and how it leads us to a place of contentment. 

Everyone wants to be happy. Jesus says that it more blessed to give than to receive. This seems to fly in the face of our conventional wisdom. Is Jesus telling the truth? We'll explore how Jesus's teaching can revolutionize our beliefs, our hearts and our practices when it comes the how we relate to our money and possessions.

The story of Ruth ends with Boaz advocating publicly for Ruth's plan and making yet another sacrifice for Naomi and her family.  The conclusion of this story is often misunderstood. Pastor Bill explores the deeper meaning behind these events, and how they call us to live lives of radical, selfless love.   

Ruth 3 is one of the most tension-filled chapters in all of Scripture, and also one that offends our modern sensibilities on many fronts.  And yet, it offers the possibility of redemption, for even the most vulnerable of people, during even the darkest of times.

A young immigrant woman takes a risk to provide food for her widowed mother in law. God provides for her through the generosity and kindness of an ordinary person. Ruth 2 suggests that the path to redemption requires more than ethical actors and ethical systems--it requires creative restoration!

We all long for redemption.  We all long to know that the story ends well.  The Book of Ruth is a redemption story - with surprising characters and surprising plot twists.  It provides a road map for suffering people to live beautiful, hopeful lives that can become conduits of God's redemptive work.