First Pres Colorado Springs Sermons

In one way or another, you will spend your life. The question is what will you spend it on. Jonah realized they were all doomed if he did not change course. He realized that death was coming over all of them, including himself. There was no more choosing. There was only one thing to do—give his life for theirs’. At that moment, he was willing to die to save the lives of the shipmates. Jesus said there is no greater love (John 15:13). Jonah may have done it more out of desperation than love, but he lays his life down. When will you lay your life down for the call of Jesus? The one who tries to save his or her life loses it, but the one who gives his or her life away finds it saved by Jesus (Mark 8:35). Speaker: Tim McConnell

What is your first reaction to God’s purposes in your life? Do you embrace them? Even the hard things? God had an errand for Jonah—go and preach grace to the citizens of Nineveh; go and preach love to your enemies. Jonah probably had a list of reasons in his own mind why he got on a boat to flee in the opposite direction. We are given an errand today. Go and preach forgiveness to the ends of the earth (Luke 24:47); make disciples of all people (Matthew 28:19). How do we respond? Speaker: Tim McConnell

What does it mean to have eternal life? It means you are in the love of God. Love goes on forever. As Paul said, hope lasts only as long as you are waiting for what you are hoping for. Faith lasts only until you know by sight the thing you once believed without seeing. But love. Love goes on forever and only grows greater. To put your faith in Christ is to be in Christ, in His love, which goes on and on and on. People ask, “Am I safe?” We want to be safe, and to create safety for others. The one truly safe place to be is in the love of God for eternal life in Jesus Christ. Speaker: Matt Holtzman

The cross is the culmination of Jesus’ mission of love. The only way that God could be both just and the justifier of sinners, both righteous and the forgiver of rebels, is to send His own Son to pay the due penalty for our error and rebellion. God would not do that unless He loved us. God so loved the world, so loved the fallen, rebellious, spiteful world, that He gave His Son, His only Son. That Son is Jesus who died for us on the cross. That Jesus was laid in a tomb outside of Jerusalem. That tomb was found empty and that Jesus was seen again, alive after He was dead. He is risen! Now we can know the truth of the second half of vs. 16 – “whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” People ask, “What is my worth?” Your worth is proven in the death and resurrection of Jesus. God sees you worth the life of His own Son. Speaker: Tim McConnell

On Palm Sunday, Jesus came into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey. Many crowded around singing “Hosanna!” Everyone wanted to see Jesus. Can you see Jesus? In this conversation with Nicodemus, Jesus says something has to happen before you can see. You must be born again from above, born again spiritually, fundamentally transformed and regenerated. Like a baby that opens its eyes for the first time, when you believe in Jesus the Spirit of God opens your eyes to see. People ask, “Am I enough? Do I have what it takes?” Nicodemus would never earn his way into heaven. We need need Jesus, we need God to open our eyes so we can see. Speaker: Tim McConnell

Jesus was forceful about removing the marketeers from the House of the Lord. The disciples were no doubt embarrassed and concerned. I wonder if they made up excuses for Jesus. “Honestly, He’s never like this!” Love and truth are connected. Sometimes love looks like this. Love removes what is damaging and perverse to return your life to right relationship with God. Jesus is willing to stand for truth. People today want to ask, like Pilate did, “What is truth?” Jesus stood for truth and love; grace and truth. Truth is out there. “Truth reveals reality, and reality can be described as what we humans run into when we are wrong, a collision in which we always lose.” (Dallas Willard) Speaker: Tim McConnell

Jesus turned water into wine. Jesus loved being Jesus. He must have! Look at how much fun He has. It was not a parlor trick. It reveals how invested Jesus is in people and the problems they have. Jesus is invested in us the same way. We ask, “Do all people matter to God?” Here is a seemingly insignificant young couple getting married. Jesus cared enough to expose His power and threaten His agenda. All people matter to God, and all their worries and cares matter too. God loves people all the way down. Speaker: John Goodale

When Jesus called His disciples to follow Him, they were moved to drop everything and follow. The conviction was immediate. We have a hard time trusting. Trust is a big deal. You have to earn it. It takes time to build up and can be destroyed in an instant. How did these men and women trust Jesus so quickly? People ask “Can I trust you?” They want someone to trust. Jesus is worthy of all our trust. His love and faithfulness are sure. Speaker: Tim McConnell

God took on flesh in Jesus to become for us the perfect sacrifice of atonement. Jesus came to give His life away in order to rescue us from sin and death. Other gospels tell us all about Bethlehem, where faultless lambs were bred and raised for sacrifice in the Temple. John washed the surface of a person with water. Jesus is the only one who can die for us and make us clean. People want to know, “Will you accept me?” Jesus’ sacrifice ensures the answer is yes. Why would the Son of God agree to become the sacrificial lamb? All for love. Speaker: Tim McConnell

The coming of Jesus, the very incarnation of the Word of God, is a mission of love. God so loved the world. God did not leave His disobedient creation to suffer the eternal consequences of its own rebellion and sin. God did not leave this world to fall into the corruption of its own making. God came. God entered. God took on flesh and walked into our world, full of grace and truth. People want to know, “Am I safe?” There is nothing safe about this world, but God has come to save. Speaker: Tim McConnell

Activated Disciples know what their ministry is. It’s not just about learning more and more information. It’s about serving Christ on mission in this world. Every member has a ministry. What is your ministry? Paul says to see him as a servant of Christ entrusted with mysteries revealed by God. We have been given a trust. How will you use it? The Core is those members who have found their ministry. They have been equipped. They are Active Disciples because they are using their gifts for the Kingdom. Speaker: Tim McConnell

Disciples need deeper discipleship. Worshipers gather on Sunday to experience the joy of worship, but do they grow from milk to solid food? Worship is not a 1-hour a week thing. We belong to Jesus as Disciples. Have you taken a next step? Do you read the Bible at home? Do you pray outside of church? Do you worship God wherever you are? A disciple wants to be like Jesus in everything they do. They are committed believers who need to be edified, built up, given deeper knowledge and love of Jesus to spill out into 7-days a week faith. Speaker: Greg Hartnett

Worshipers need community to begin to grow into disciples. New believers have so much to learn. They are like infants drinking milk. We need the milk of Christian community. Learn how to be together, from all walks of life, and be part of a community of faith, the family of God. These are people who need to be encouraged in Christian community. This is the congregation encouraged to build community. How’s our linger meter? In the garden of Christian community discipleship begins to grow. Speaker: Tim McConnell

Participants have stepped into the stream of the Jesus community, now they need to learn how to worship. These are people who need to be invited to exalt the Lord. We gather this crowd in services of worship and lift up Jesus among them so they can see and know the Lord. Paul told the Corinthian church there was just nothing higher, nothing more important, nothing more glorious than “Jesus Christ and him crucified”—the gospel of Jesus and what he did to save. We are a worship first church. Speaker: Tim McConnell

Community Members hear something about Jesus and his community, his followers. These are people who need to be Evangelized. We reach them through outreach. The believers in Corinth were entrusted with a remarkable mission—reaching people who were very different from Judeo/Christian values. Speaker: Tim McConnell

We sing songs of heaven today. Like a foreigner or immigrant who still sings the folk songs of her native land, we sing the songs of our coming Kingdom. We know them already. The Spirit has ingrained them in our hearts. When heaven comes down, these songs will fill the earth as the water covers the seas. Heaven is singing right now. Can you hear it? Can you join in the song? Speaker: Greg Hartnett

Speaker: Jamal Sarikoki

The shepherds were captured in a song of heaven. The chorus of angels appeared in the sky. Suddenly there was an inbreaking of heaven in their ordinary lives. Something interrupted and captured everything in the light of God. The song of heaven broke into the realm of earth. Can you hear the song of heaven? Can you hear the music of God? Can you respond in song? If you are in Christ, if Christ is born in you, you have a song to sing. The song of heaven invades your earth tonight. Speaker: Tim McConnell

But are you happy? What is your deepest longing? What have you been waiting to see from the core of your being? For Simeon, it was the fulfilment of a promise that one day he would see the “consolation of Israel.” I have seen the Lord! Nunc Dimittis, now dismiss your servant in peace. What would it take to say the same? To say, the Lord has provided for me and I am glad. Speaker: Tim McConnell

Zechariah speaks for the prophets about the prophetic work of John the Baptist. John will accompany the prophets in preparing the way for the Lord. When Kings traveled, roads had to be built before them to allow them to come with all their retinue. John the Baptist, and all the prophets before him, call on us to prepare the way for the Lord. Lower the high places, raise the lowered places. Make his paths straight. Zechariah sings that the Lord has come—not just a prophet, or a judge, or a man, but God himself. John, his son, will prepare the way as a prophet. Sing a song of joy. God is on the move. Speaker: Tim McConnell