For full recap and discussion questions - see this link.

In this sermon, we see that Jesus changes now only "why" we give but also "how" we give. The author, Paul, writes that those who follow Jesus are to give aggressively. We unpack why we can be reluctant to do that and why we ought/get to. Through this practice of "aggressive giving" we see that God wants to encounter us "aboundingly, personally, and holistically."

Series: Jesus Changes Everything
Driving Question: If Jesus changes everything, how does He change what we live for?

In this sermon, we see how living for Jesus is something we "get to do" and not merely something we "have to do". Living for Jesus not only frees us from man-made scorecards that leave us exhausted, but also invites us to transformational seasons of "wrestling" where God pulls us in close and reminds us that He holds our future.

Full Recap Here

2 Corinthians is a letter written in pain, not after it. Paul invites us into his raw, honest weakness—and inside that weakness, he discovers a hidden strength.  The phrase that ties together his hope amid pain and struggle is this:

“For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

Not “strong-strong,” the kind we prefer, but a paradoxical strength that is only available in weakness. 

2 Corinthians 8: How does Jesus transform the way we relate to money?

Money promises security, significance, and satisfaction. But it lies. It cannot give that to you/us.

1. Giving Is Not Primarily About Capacity
2. The “Riches” Jesus Gives
3. What Now? Accept, Repent, Risk

2 Corinthians 1.12-22
How does this Jesus logic apply to how we make plans and decisions?

1. Live with Undivided Commitment to Jesus in the "Small"

2. Recognize That God is in the Room

3. Make People Your Mission

4. Give Jesus Your Full "Yes"

For sermon summary email [email protected]

In this message from Jesus Changes Everything, we explore how the relentless love of God meets us where we are and transforms who we become through the story of Saul in Acts 9.

Jesus comes to Saul unexpectedly—showing that grace begins with God’s initiative, not our effort or "worthiness". He puts Saul on the ground to humble and reorient him, reminding us that the frustration of our agenda can be love in disguise. In blindness, Jesus places Saul within a new company, teaching him to receive the companionship of other Jesus followers. Finally, Jesus marks him with a new name and purpose—to carry His name to the world.

The same relentless love that met Saul still meets us today—interrupting, restoring, and sending us out as people marked by His name.

For more extended summary, email [email protected].

Acts 1:6–11 + 1 Thessalonians 4 | Jesus as Coming King

Series: Jesus Changes Everything
Driving Question: What hope do we have that Jesus is a Coming King—and how does that hope shape the way we live today?

1. What Jesus Brings When He Returns

It’s hard to untangle what we think about Jesus’ return from the images we’ve absorbed—from Left Behind books, movies, and cultural depictions filled with fear, rapture, and chaos. But Scripture paints a very different picture: a returning King who brings restoration, not panic.

When Jesus returns, He brings:

• Reunion – “God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Christ” (1 Thessalonians 4:13).
  Our hope is not in escaping the world, but in reunion—those we’ve loved and lost will rise to meet Him. Death will not have the final word.
• Our truest selves – When He appears, “we will be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.” In that moment, every part of us that feels incomplete or unknown will finally be made whole. We will finally become who we were always meant to be.
• A world remade – Heaven and earth will be joined together again. What was lost in Eden will be restored in full—God and humanity dwelling together in unbroken communion. The story ends not with escape from the world but with renewal of it.
• Himself – The greatest hope of all is not just reunion or renewal—it’s relationship. Jesus will be with us face to face. Every longing, every ache for home, will find its answer in Him.

2. When Will It Happen?

Jesus’ disciples asked, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom?” (Acts 1:6). Jesus responded not with a timeline but with a mission: “You will be My witnesses.”

N.T. Wright says, “When Scripture talks about the future, it gives us signposts, not snapshots.” The point is not prediction, but preparation. The kingdom has already begun—Jesus reigns now through His Spirit in His people—but the fullness of His reign is still to come.

No one knows the day or hour. Don’t get lost chasing predictions or online theories. The truth is: we’re called not to speculate but to live faithfully in light of His coming.

3. Why This Hope Matters Now
Believing that Jesus is the Coming King gives us everyday hope—for when life feels unsure, unfair, or uneven.

• When life feels unsure
   Hope reorients us. Even if we don’t know when Jesus will return, we live with the future in view. We aim our lives toward heaven.
   As C.S. Lewis said, “Aim at heaven and you’ll get earth thrown in; aim at earth and you’ll get neither.”
   This hope doesn’t make us escapists—it makes us dream bigger, live bolder, and bring glimpses of the coming kingdom into today.
  
  
• When life feels unfair (Luke 18:1–8)
   The persistent widow reminds us that God’s justice is coming. When Christ returns, the world will be truly just—the wrongs made right, the oppressed restored, and the righteous vindicated. Until then, we keep praying and pleading for the kingdom to come on earth as it is in heaven.
  
  
• When life feels uneven
   “No one gets the life they want,” Tim Keller said. Life feels uneven, unpredictable, and fragile. But even in the unevenness, we trust that when Christ appears, transformation begins—the renewal of all things, the restoration of Eden.
   There is One greater than Brady, whose hands are sure and whose victory is certain. Because Jesus reigns, the final outcome is not in doubt. Heaven on earth will become true again.

Pray
Lord Jesus, our Coming King, thank You for the promise that You will return to make all things new. When life feels unsure, unfair, or uneven, help us to live with heaven in view. Strengthen our hope, renew our hearts, and teach

Series: Jesus Changes Everything
Driving Question: What does it mean that Jesus is our Sanctifier—and why should we cherish this part of who He is?

1. What God Is Like

When Scripture calls Jesus our Sanctifier, it reveals something about God’s nature. The word “sanctify” comes from the Greek hagios—the same word for holy. To be sanctified means “to be made holy.”

But holy doesn’t just mean nice or morally good. It’s not a Ned Flanders kind of “clean” holiness. In Isaiah 6, when the prophet encounters God, the room shakes, angels cry out “Holy, holy, holy,” and Isaiah falls in awe.

God’s holiness is stunning—a raw, beautiful power that stands against all the disorder and rebellion of the world. His very existence is a threat to everything unraveling in creation.

When we say Jesus is Sanctifier, we’re saying His holiness doesn’t just stay distant—it moves toward us. It changes us. It invites us into awe, wonder, and transformation.

2. What God Wants for Us

1 Thessalonians 4:3 says, “This is the will of God—your sanctification.”

God doesn’t just want you to be a “nice person.” He wants you to resemble Him—to share in His stunning beauty and goodness.

C.S. Lewis wrote in Mere Christianity that God’s goal is not to make better men and women of the old kind, but a new kind of person. “It’s not like teaching a horse to jump better,” Lewis says, “but like turning a horse into a winged creature.”

That’s what sanctification is—God transforming you from creature to child.

At the heart of this transformation is one question: Do you believe you matter to God?
The enemy’s main strategy is to make you doubt it—to make you feel like a faceless person in a sea of others. But sanctification is God’s declaration that you matter deeply to Him.

You no longer have to beg for others to affirm your worth—you already matter to the One who is stunning beyond all else. And what He’s doing is reshaping your life so that you begin to resemble Him

3. When and How God Does It

1 John 3:2–3 says that “when we see Him, we shall be like Him.”
Sanctification is both future and present. One day we will see Jesus face to face and be fully like Him—but even now, the process has begun. (2 Corinthians 3.18)

As we look at Jesus—in prayer, worship, and the gathered life of the church—something within us is being transformed. As we behold Him, we begin to resemble Him. Every moment of worship, every act of surrender, every time we fix our eyes on Jesus, the Spirit is quietly reshaping us to look more like Him.

We are being sanctified—made holy—not through striving, but through beholding.

Pray
Holy God, You are stunning beyond measure. Thank You that You not only save us but sanctify us. Help me believe that I matter to You, and form me to resemble You in every part of my life. As I look at Jesus, may Your Spirit transform me more and more into His likeness. Make our church a community that lives in awe, wonder, and holiness that reflects You. Amen.

Driving Question: What does it mean that Jesus is our Healer—and how do we participate in His healing work today?

1. God’s Deep Desire for Healing

From Genesis to Revelation, the story of Scripture is the story of a God who heals what sin has broken. 

Ezekiel 47 gives us a vision of a river flowing from the temple—the river of life—bringing healing wherever it goes. This river represents God’s presence, His heart to restore His world.

But why is there so much to heal? When sin and death entered the world, everything fractured—our relationship with God, with each other, and even with ourselves. The Hebrew word shabar (Isaiah 61) means “to be broken beyond repair.” Only God can heal that kind of brokenness.

Healing is not a side project of Jesus—it is central to His mission. God desired healing so deeply that He sent His Son to bind up the brokenhearted and restore what was lost.

2. How Jesus Heals

Jesus healed in miraculous ways—He made the blind see, the lame walk, and the sick whole. These healings weren’t just ancient stories; they are still available for us today through the Spirit’s power.

But Jesus also healed in quieter, deeper ways—through His loving presence.

He ate with sinners, welcomed the outcasts, called Zacchaeus by name, and restored Peter after his failure. He healed through compassion, through relationship, and through time spent with those others avoided.

Jesus didn’t just save us and leave us broken—He saved us and began healing us.

Even today, many of us still live out of unhealed places. We strive, perform, and carry the broken patterns of generations before us—whether through survival, comparison, or self-protection. But Jesus is still healing those internal wounds. He is forming us into people who are safe for others, breaking cycles of fear and striving so that His peace can flow through us.

3. Our Hope for Healing

Our hope begins and ends in God’s faithfulness. He will go to great lengths to heal you.

Revelation 21 gives us the ultimate promise: a day when there will be no more mourning, no more crying, no more pain, no more death. That is God’s final plan—and we can trust that He will finish what He started.

Right now, we live in the messy middle. Jesus has come and begun the healing process, and God will one day complete it. Healing takes time and often feels painful, but as Paul reminds us in 2 Corinthians 4:16, “our inner self is being renewed day by day.”

And not only is He healing us—He’s inviting us to join Him. We don’t do the healing; Christ does. But His presence and love in us can bring healing to others. Healed people heal people. Every act of grace, listening, and compassion becomes a small river of life flowing through us.

Pray
Lord Jesus, thank You that You did not merely save us but you are also actively healing us. Help us to trust Your process when it feels slow or painful. Make us people whose presence brings healing to others, and help our church become a place where Your river of life flows freely. Heal us, Lord, and make us healers through Your Spirit. Amen.

Driving Question:
Do you need saving? As you reflect on your life—in your actions, your presence in the world, your work, your city—do you truly feel like you need a Savior? And if so, do you want one?

1. The Reason We Are Always Exhausted

Many of us functionally depend on ourselves to be our own savior. We try to manage life, fix our problems, and carry our burdens alone. This self-reliance can leave us anxious, exhausted, and restless. Like the Pharisee in Jesus’ parable, we trust in our own performance and sense of “enoughness.” The problem is that this posture closes our hearts to mercy. When we think we are fine on our own, we miss out on the experience of Jesus as Savior.

2. Two Choices for Approaching God

In Luke 18, Jesus contrasts two men praying at the temple:

• The Pharisee: Self-satisfied, confident, and blind to his own need for rescue. He is fine in his own eyes and misses the doorway to salvation.
• The Tax Collector: Standing far off, unable to even look up, acknowledging his weakness, and saying, “God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”

The tax collector’s posture—humble, desperate, and fully aware of his need—is the picture of someone ready to call out for divine intervention. Weakness, not strength, becomes the gateway to transformation. When life is overwhelming and painful, it’s tempting to escape, numb, control, or fight. Jesus suggests a different first step: simply stand before the only one who can save you and say, “Lord, have mercy on me.”

3. “God, you are my only hope”

To say, “Jesus is Savior,” is to live in dependence rather than control. It’s to acknowledge: God, You are my only hope. This posture isn’t just an occasional prayer—it’s the organizing principle of Scripture and life. No matter the circumstances, no matter the depth of our pain, the goal is to repeatedly return to this truth: God is my only hope.True freedom isn’t about being self-sufficient; it’s about trusting that Jesus has already done what matters most. It’s about experiencing the mercy that meets us in our weakness and learning to live from it daily.

Pray: Lord, teach me to depend on You as my only hope. Thank You for mercy that meets me in my weakness and makes me whole. Let my life reflect the freedom that comes from knowing I am already loved and already Yours. Amen.