First Pres Colorado Springs Sermons

There may be no more famous conversion than Paul’s. He gets it all! Humbled, directed, washed, eyes opened, life changed, corrected and turned, no wonder Paul said “whoever is in Christ is a new creation” (2 Cor 5:17). If we have experienced conversion, a second turning, a repentance that leads to faith, a rebirth and spiritual regeneration, then we are totally transformed. Death looks different n...

Mary turned to see the man she thought was the gardener, but when Jesus pronounced her name, she “turned again” and saw that it was Him! What is this second turning? What happens in her heart and mind to open her eyes to Jesus right there before her face? We often think of Christianity as an offer to take up a set of beliefs, a philosophy of life, or a pattern of habits that lead to healthy living...

Zacchaeus wanted to see the parade, like on Palm Sunday. He wanted to see Jesus. What happened was much more than an entertaining experience. By meeting and receiving Jesus Christ, Zacchaeus’ entire life was transformed. “So, you are talking about lifestyle change; an alteration of one’s moral center and system of ethics.” Yes, but much more. This is an internal change that produces external effec...

I once was blind, but now I see. Conversion opens the eyes. You see the entire world differently. When you know the Creator, you see the beauty of the creation with new eyes. The sky is bluer, the grass is greener, the air is sweeter. But seeing is also a metaphor for how we understand everything in our lives. C. S. Lewis said, “I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not on...

The Samaritan Woman at the well is one of the most powerful stories of conversion in the Bible. Jesus demonstrates that He knows her entire past and love her fully. We fear that when we are fully known, we will not be fully loved. “If only you knew…” Jesus knows, and He knows what it will cost, but He offers forgiveness, redemption and new life. The conversion of the woman at the well is a progres...

The story of Naaman the Leper is a story of conversion. When you come to Christ, you feel that your old life has been washed away (in baptism) and you have been made entirely new. It is not unlike the picture of Naaman dipping in the water seven times and coming up fresh and new. (cf. Isaiah 1:16; Acts 8:26-38 and the Ethiopian Eunuch.) There is a true change to a life made new in Christ. We, like...

Moses recognized the presence of the Lord and hid his face in repentance (verse 6). This is a true acknowledgement of his own sin. But God draws Moses near, promises to walk with him through all his life, and then God directed Moses to move out in His purposes by faith. Conversion leads to new life. A self-interested life is directionless, and often runs out of steam. God gives us a new purpose an...

“Turn me and I will be turned” is the old KJV of verse 18. What is conversion? It is a total change in life comprised of repentance and faith. It cannot be an external change of habits or intentions. It is an internal rebirth. Jeremiah knew what would really make a change was when the law was written inside the human heart. The old heart of stone is removed and a new heart of flesh is installed (c...

So, then, never, never, never give up. When our current scenario goes shaky, when wars and rumors of wars rise up, when it looks like the church will die with us and turn to dust in our hands, remember, we are receiving a Kingdom that is already guaranteed, has been inaugurated by Christ, and by the power of God will not fail to come into its full manifestation. The Kingdom of God is coming. Do no...

Just as God revealed His mission to Abraham as a mission for a people, that God was planning to bless all nations through the chosen nation, now we see that the mission of God plays out through the deployment of a church. The ekklesia is the body called and sent by God to be the arms and feet of Jesus, to be the witness to the character of Jesus Christ, to be the instrument of God’s mission to red...

The mission of God culminates in the sending of His Son Jesus Christ. All that has been promised and foreshadowed is now fully revealed in Him, and for the rest of history, the implications of what has been revealed in Jesus will be ours to explore. He is our Savior. He is our Lord, leading us now, by the Holy Spirit, on the mission of redemption. If Jesus was subject to difficulties and suffering...

All our striving is incomplete. We have not yet received the fullness of God’s promises, but by faith we carry along on God’s mission and the hope of the consummation keeps us moving forward. There were so many moments when it seemed like the mission was over; when it seemed like the people of God would not survive. God showed up in each one to sustain His people and continue His mission. Would we...

Before the coming of Jesus, if you said, “God saves us by the blood,” you would think of Moses and the Passover dinner in Egypt when God freed the slaves. In this hall of faith is also a lot of mistakes being made, sins. God provided a sacrifice for sin in the Passover lamb at Exodus. We can see now that this was not only a defining event for the people of God, but an introduction of a theme in th...

God’s promise to Abraham and Sarah is a covenant. God does not only share His intentions to save the world but acts on them. A promise from God is as sure as done. God’s ability to declare and sustain covenants is a particular way God reveals Himself and His mission to us so we can understand it and participate in it. Our faith is trusting the promises God has made. Look again at the Abrahamic Cov...

The mission of God is clear from the beginning. God was not satisfied to have His creation fall into disobedience, self-destruction and decay. God sent His Son. “Mission” means being sent. Who sends God? Only God can send God. God sent Himself into the world to seek and to save the lost. God did not abandon the disobedient world, but revealed Himself as still in relationship, still involved, still...

God is not done writing the story. Hang in there. God is at work in good and ill. We like to think that God is enlisted in our story. We have a great plan, God, so please get on board! Christopher Wright wrote, “It is not so much the case that God has a mission for his church in the world, as that God has a church for his mission in the world. Mission was not made for the church; the church was ma...

Those who name Jesus are sent on mission. As we kick off the new year, let us look at 2025 as an opportunity to spread the name of Jesus around the world. The shepherds hurried off to see the child that was announced as a gift to the whole world. Mary could see that the nations were already longing to see her child. These same shepherds turned about and went to tell everyone they could find about...

A. W. Tozer said, “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.” What you think about God changes you. What you name Jesus changes your name. God promised, all the way back in Isaiah, that if we name Jesus aright we will ourselves be renamed. You have a new identity now if you are in Christ. The old is gone; the new has come. (2 Cor 5:17) The person who n...

Joseph and Mary had to make a choice. They were ordered to name this child Jesus, but in the end it was up to them. They brought their baby boy to the Temple to be presented on the eighth day. It was more than a circumcision, the b’rit milah was a naming ceremony as well. The infant is presented to the community of faith. What shall we call him? They named him Jesus. Simeon the priest said, “I hav...

I once watched news footage of a black Friday shopping riot. On the wall behind the melee was a Christmas wall hanging saying “Peace.” We don’t just want peace as a wall decoration. Jesus brings true peace. The reign and rule of Jesus brings peace. Prince of Peace will be King of Kings and his Kingdom will be filled with peace. To name Jesus Prince of Peace is to trust in the hope of his promises....

I thought Jesus was the Son and God was the Father. Everything that is the Father’s is the Son’s. Isaiah, under the inspiration of the Spirit, foretells the coming messiah to be the Everlasting Father, the eternal God. Jesus is our Father. He is the progenitor of our salvation. Whatever your experience of your earthly father, know that Jesus is your Everlasting Father. Jesus said, “I will not leav...

The infant is named Jesus. It means God saves. But only God can save. To name Jesus Mighty God is to recognize that Jesus is the incarnate Son of God, who is Himself God Almighty, worthy of praise. This is the mystery of the incarnation. God himself has come down. God himself is the shepherd who comes to gather the sheep. God himself, the Creator, enters his creation to save and redeem. If you wan...

The first title Isaiah gives the coming Savior is Wonderful Counselor. A good counselor is able to see things about you that you yourself cannot see. A good counselor can listen and empathize when you think no one would ever understand. A good counselor offers hope and healing where you think you are stuck. Jesus is more than a good counselor; Jesus is the Wonderful Counselor. To name Jesus Wonder...

Jesus made a stunning claim. He said very clearly that the entire canon of Scripture is there to do one thing and one thing only—to point us to him! Jesus Christ is the Word of God incarnate. “The Word took up flesh and dwelled among us.” Jesus Christ should be read off every single page of Scripture. Every page speaks of Jesus (T Keller, Preaching, Ch 3). Without the Word we sat in silence. Witho...

Is the Word of God a regular part of your life? What are good ways to keep God’s holy Word pouring into your mind and heart? We receive all kinds of messages every day, many of them designed to inflame our desires, increase our devotion, or aggravate our needs, all in the name of getting us to buy new products or maintain our brand loyalty. Some messages are designed to erode our trust in God dire...