College Wesleyan Church Sermons

Alex Sicilia - Matthew 9:9-13. Through studying the calling of Matthew and the later interaction between Jesus and the Pharisees, we are reminded about how true holiness will inevitably move us to love people by considering the irradiating compassionate and transformational power of Jesus’ holiness. So, the sermon is an invitation to consider our own hearts by checking them through the light of how we treat others. Jesus teaches that our walk with God and the way I treat my neighbor are intimately connected.

Emily Vermilya - John 20:19-29; 1 John 1:1-4. Doubt has long been perceived as that which separates us from Christ. But in the Easter narrative, we see doubt as a regular, recurring, and formative part of the journey of faith. Ultimately, Jesus’ response to such uncertainty leads to the highest point of confession in John’s gospel and models for the church how we, as Easter people, should embrace seasons of uncertainty, ask the difficult questions, and welcome those who are still in search of the risen Christ.

Steve DeNeff - John 20:1-10. Easter is the rise of dawn on the Day of the Lord.

DJ Coleman - Acts 10:1-48. How you see someone determines how you treat someone.

Steve DeNeff - Matthew 26:20-23, 31-35, 69-75. What does God know about you that you don’t know?

Steve DeNeff - Matthew 17:1-8. They looked up and saw no one except Jesus…

Steve DeNeff - Matthew 16:21-27. The way to greatness is from self-importance to self-denial.

Daniel Rife - In a time of plenty, it’s easy to be distracted and avoid addressing the wounds we bear and the brokenness around us. In the season of Lent, we’re invited to step away from the plenty so that we might discern where our hearts truly lie, allowing God to heal our wounds and teach us how to have compassion for the world again.

Steve DeNeff - Luke 10:1-37. A disciple is someone who lives with Christ for the world. Now in the company of the Body, the disciple is prepared to bear collective witness to the city where they belong. What opportunities are there for bearing witness to our community? What is available in the Church? What are other believers doing to make a difference in our city?

Abson Joseph - John 3:16-21; 9:1-12. To long for Jesus and to know him are two aspects of discipleship that rely on our ability to ask and face the right questions. Many people are deconstructing faith and Christian tradition because of their thirst for something more and longing for something new. The church needs to be(come) the kind of community where people adopt the right posture to ask and face courageous questions that lead to a fresh encounter with Christ and a deeper relationship with one another.

Steve DeNeff - Matthew 12:46-50. Throughout the gospel accounts, crowds of people encounter Jesus. Intriguingly, in Mark 10, many of these meetings with the masses are followed by Jesus’s further engagement with only a few—his trusted small group of disciples. What conversations did Jesus save for this more intimate setting and community? And what role can this kind of meeting together play in our own formation as we seek to follow Jesus?

Emily Vermilya - Mark 10:1-34. Throughout the gospel accounts, crowds of people encounter Jesus. Intriguingly, in Mark 10, many of these meetings with the masses are followed by Jesus’s further engagement with only a few—his trusted small group of disciples. What conversations did Jesus save for this more intimate setting and community? And what role can this kind of meeting together play in our own formation as we seek to follow Jesus?

Vickie Conrad - Luke 2:41-52. Luke is distinctive among the gospel writers for featuring Jesus as a twelve-year-old. This narrative illustrates Mary and Joseph's commitment to nurturing and raising Jesus, evident in their consistent observance of the Passover. The story unfolds with the anguish they experience upon realizing Jesus is missing after a full day of travel. Upon discovering him in the temple conversing with teachers, Jesus responds to their inquiry with characteristic questions. The significance of these questions, both to Mary and Joseph and to us, invites contemplation.

Steve DeNeff - Luke 2:1-7. Throughout the Christmas story, two things are clear: (1) God is in control, and (2) God is not in charge. This is an important lesson for everyone who feels pushed around by others.

Emily Vermilya - Luke 2:1-5 & Micah 5:2-5. One great surprise about God revealed in Jesus at the incarnation is God’s vulnerability. God is not confined to safe or polished spaces. Instead, he enters our mess. He shows up in “places God isn’t supposed to be,” exposing himself and entering our realities, messy as they might be. To this end, we don’t have to leave our own vulnerable states or situations to find God. He meets us there. He joins the struggle with us, making himself vulnerable right alongside us.

Ethan Linder - Luke 3:21-38. When we come to the “list” passages in the Bible, our eyes glaze over: measurements, records, genealogies – maybe these are part of historical record, but wouldn’t the Bible be better if we took them out? That’s probably true…. unless there’s something in the list that is (itself) a story. This sermon will walk through one of those infamous lists, helping us freshly imagine why these (even these!) verses of the Gospels can be truly Good News.

Steve DeNeff - John 1:1-5, 10-14, 16-18. To people living in the first century, the claims of the first Christians concerning the incarnation were scandalous. Here’s a handful that are so outrageous even Christians have a hard time believing them. Yet the gospels want us to practice them as we enter a season, Advent, that is all too familiar to us.

Steve DeNeff - John 4:7-19, 25-30, 39-42. The first evangelist in the gospels is the least likely, least prepared person … and that’s a why she’s the perfect example of what it means to share our faith in a culture that is hostile to evangelism.

Steve DeNeff - 1 Thessalonians 5:1-8; 2 Timothy 4:3-5. Toward the beginning of Paul’s career, he wrote a series of letters to young Christians worried about current events, telling them how to conduct themselves in times of chaos and moral confusion. In one of these letters, he contrasted children of the day with those of the night, those who are awake and sober with those who are asleep or drunk. This message is a pastoral word to the Church in our day, tired but awake just before dawn.

Emily Vermilya - 2 Corinthians 8:1-9; 9: 6-13. Generosity is typically understood as activity--described by actions of charity or through things we give away. But Paul describes generosity as something deeper: a responsive expression of the gospel itself, a disposition of our souls, and the means by which we allow God's sanctifying work to continue in and through us.

Ethan Linder - Philippians 2:1-11. What does it mean (really) to be humble? Humility is an often-praised virtue throughout the Scriptures; but how do we cultivate it in our everyday lives? And what – despite our best efforts – gets in the way? This sermon will address the shape of humility, and the ways our current habits, attitudes, and practices may choke it out.

Steve DeNeff - Psalm 15; Romans 12:9-10, Ephesians 4:15-16; Philippians 4:8-9. In a culture of high suspicion, the creative minority will practice a rule of integrity.

Steve DeNeff - Isaiah 61:1-3; 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12; Colossians 3:15-17. Why is nearly everyone you know so overwhelmed?There is a silent scream for simplicity and yet it is more illusive and complex than ever. How do we in the Third Order practice this ancient discipline despite the speed and chaos of our everyday life? And what difference would it make in the workplace if we did?

Steve DeNeff - Psalm 51:1-4, 6, 9-10; Ephesians 4:1-3, 29-5:2. Every Order or Society needs rules for engagement. How do members treat one another, especially those with whom they disagree? How do we make room for different convictions and how do we express them without tearing the Society apart?

Steve DeNeff - Philippians 1:27-2:5. In a culture of individualism, like ours, never underestimate the power of a two or three who gather faithfully around a common rule.

Daniel Rife - Hosea 2:2-23. The twelve minor prophets seem heavy on gloom and doom and can often form for us images of an angry and destructive God—the last thing we’d consider him is a passionate lover. But returning to the first book of the twelve, we are introduced to a faithful and devoted God who has bound himself to a broken people, willing to give everything to fulfill his covenant to bless them and make them a blessing to the world.

Steve DeNeff - Malachi 3:2-7b, 16-18. Toward the end of his collection of Screwtape Letters, C.S. Lewis suggests that “the fine flowers of unholiness can grow only in the close neighborhood of the Holy (for) nowhere are we more tempted as on the very steps of the altar itself.” Perhaps this is why the most devout are sometimes the most dishonest, or perverse, and thus the hardest to save. So Malachi preaches a message of integrity in our worship that reaches far from the sanctuary, to the most remote places in our lives.

Ken Schneck - Micah 6:1-8. Biblical justice does face the offender, but it is even more concerned with the offended and those who are not where they are supposed to be in society. Justice works to restore those on the margins. It acts to restore balance. It brings good news to the poor, sight to the blind, and liberty to the oppressed. It is always saying to those without hope, "This is the year of the Lord's favor.”

Steve DeNeff - Jonah 3:1-4:4, 11. Despite all that is wrong with the world, and despite how often we’ve been told avoid it, perhaps God is raising up a movement inside the nation but outside the Church. How might we cooperate (instead of compete) with that?

Emily Vermilya - Zechariah 4:6-10 & 1 Peter 1: 6-8 & 13-22. Once in the waiting room, Zechariah’s prophecy called Israel to the hard work of hope. But hope is more than wishful thinking or passively waiting for the world to change. Hope is the call of God to have faith in his promise, always preparing for the ultimate fulfillment of his promises, while actively partnering with God in bringing the Kingdom of Heaven to earth.

Steve DeNeff - Habakkuk 1:2-4; 2:1-3; 3:16-19. There is a strangeness in God’s ways that makes even the most devout wonder, and sometimes stumble, yet the just are called to live by faith. What is God up to? Why is this happening? How long before He answers? And how do we manage the hurt and insult of unanswered prayer? What are we to do in the meantime? That’s the message of Habakkuk.

Vickie Conrad - Zephaniah 3:1-5, 14-17; Colossians 3:1-3; 5-6. In the book of Zephaniah, the pronouncement of God's judgment upon sin can be overwhelming and anxiety-inducing, similar to the emotions we experience when consuming news or media. As Christians, we often shy away from discussing God's judgment or wrath, feeling that they are unbecoming of His character. However, it is important to acknowledge that justice and wrath are integral parts of who God is. Zephaniah's message to Judah, the surrounding nations, and the world at large was a call to seek righteousness and humility because the day of God's judgment was approaching. The people had misplaced their trust in their own accomplishments and false gods, becoming prideful and corrupt. Zephaniah's message encompasses divine judgment but also offers hope and the promise of restoration. Reflecting on this, we are prompted to consider how we may be hiding or downplaying God's wrath in our lives. We are encouraged to seek refuge in God's righteousness and favor, allowing Him to protect and guide us.

Ethan Linder - Haggai 1:2-9; 2:2-9; 1 Peter 2:1-5. Haggai is an often-overlooked prophet – his book has only 2 chapters, and his main focus is restarting a building project God’s people have long left dormant. Our time and place may demand a different “building project” than Haggai’s, but his central questions hold up: why is there so often a gap between God’s priorities and ours? And how do we faithfully say “yes” to God’s invitation in a way that’s sustainable and lifelong? This sermon will explore those questions, and invite us to experience the Gospel as we build what God’s called us to.

Logan Hoffman - Ezekiel 37:1-14. In Ezekiel 37, we see depicted in a vision a moment that many of us have or will experience. A moment where it seems God has abandoned us, where God’s favor has failed us, and so we are without hope. In that moment we are the dry bones, far removed from the life we once had and well beyond the hope of rescue. It is in this moment that God chooses to show up through the words of the prophet, to demonstrate that hope is found precisely in the valley, to teach us that God’s favor means something different than we’d thought, and to promise us that he will bring us up out of our graves.

Andrea Summers - Amos 9:11-15; Acts 15:1-19. God is raising up a remnant outside the church that is marked by the infilling of the Holy Spirit. Our urgency in prayer is a hopeful one as we envision and make room for a great ingathering of more people into the tent that Amos and James pointed us to.

Andrew Morrell - Isaiah 61

Steve DeNeff - Deuteronomy 28:1-2,15. Throughout Israel’s history, God has used the prophet to protect the nation’s identity and to guide her moral and ethical practices. Strange as it may seem to some, the same people are called for today, in our society, because we’re confronted with the same moral and ethical challenges. But who are these prophets? And what is their message? What is the core of a prophetic community? How does our community, at CWC, become part of a larger movement bearing witness to the gospel in our day?

Steve DeNeff - Deuteronomy 28:1-2,15. Throughout Israel’s history, God has used the prophet to protect the nation’s identity and to guide her moral and ethical practices. Strange as it may seem to some, the same people are called for today, in our society, because we’re confronted with the same moral and ethical challenges. But who are these prophets? And what is their message? What is the core of a prophetic community? How does our community, at CWC, become part of a larger movement bearing witness to the gospel in our day?

Jesus promised his disciples the gift of the Holy Spirit following his departure from them. And while the gift was delivered, our understanding (or misunderstandings) of this gift of God may impact our reception of the gift and the Spirit's impact in our lives.

Steve DeNeff - John 20:26-28; Revelation 5:6a, 7-14. The Ascension gets little attention in today’s Church but to the early Christians it was the climax of the gospel. In the Ascension, Jesus is not only savior but King. What does that mean for the way we work, and witness, and worship?

Ethan Linder - Colossians 1:15-23, 3:1-14. We talk often about the resurrection as a central event in Christian history, and it is. But what bearings does the resurrection have–not only on what we usually conceive of as our “spiritual life,” but our ordinary habits, dreams, relationships, and losses? If the resurrection isn’t Good News for that, we need another gospel… but if it is, our lives have real possibilities of reflecting Christ’s life. This sermon will talk about those new possibilities, and explore how new life in Christ is a real advantage for ordinary people living ordinary lives.

Steve DeNeff - John 20:19-23; Ephesians 4:1-7, 11-13. The Church is the core element of God’s plan to redeem the world. She must rediscover her calling or risk becoming non-essential to society. At the center of that calling is what we, her members, strive for and become.