College Wesleyan Church Sermons

Steve DeNeff

Steve DeNeff

Nathan Metz- Luke 8:22-25. Jesus asked the disciples to leave a shoreline of success for a stormy ride to a foreign land. Stretched out before us are the waters of challenge, change and calling. We cannot sail them with out leaving a good shoreline for what is appointed. We cannot survive them without trusting Christ more than our own capacity to sail. With Christ we can cross every lake, through every storm, to reach the shoreline of our calling.

Steve DeNeff - Isaiah 2:1-5; Luke 24:36-37, 44-49. The great assembly at the end of time has begun in the rise of the church.

Steve DeNeff - Ezekiel 36:24-28; John 20:19-23. The Spirit of God breaks the power of sin in believers' lives.

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.

Ethan Linder - Matthew 14:22-33. It’s tempting to read the story of Peter in the boat as a simple moral tale: don’t doubt, and God will enable you to participate in a miracle. That’s not good news; has anyone ever manufactured more faith on-command? The Good News is that in this passage, there’s a different invitation, one that helps us journey with the God who loves us enough to come find us in the storm, and then – amidst our unbelief – to walk as Jesus does. This sermon will explore Matthew 14’s fateful night in the boat, and help us learn how we can follow Jesus – walking, sinking, swimming, confessing – into a promise we can put weight on.

Steve DeNeff - Matthew 4:18-22. If at first we “leave … and follow,” everything else comes easier.

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?

Steve DeNeff - John 1:43-51. For every disciple, the first movement toward change was an encounter with Jesus. It was unforgettable. But it was divisive. Whoever met him was better or worse, but they were never the same. What role can the Church play in orchestrating these encounters? How does worship provide the space and the structure? And what must we do for ourselves?