Lenexa Central Church Sermons

Ruth 4:1-12Boaz is willing to do what no one else will do. He is in love with Ruth, and love has a cost. It’s a cost that Boaz is willing to pay, because no price is too high. Like God's love for us, it’s a lavish display of costly grace. We are not worthy of this gift, but no price is too high for our God!

Ruth 3Faith is an active trust in the One who is “threshing out” the bad and preserving the good in our lives. Just as the wind blows, separating the wheat from the chaff, the wind of the Spirit blows in our life preserving the good and discarding the bad.

Ruth 2Ruth went looking for grain, but she found so much more. She found grace. Grace opens the door to more than mercy but to covenant relationship. God’s ultimate plan of salvation doesn't end with the forgiveness of your sins, but extends to the complete transformation of your life. In this journey towards transformation, we find grace in the grain again and again!

Ruth 1In our suffering, God is present, sovereign, and purposeful. In Naomi’s limited view of her life it appeared that God was actively working against her. However, the story points toward the hope of another harvest just on the horizon, and we often experience this hope through someone we would least expect.

Romans 8:31-38 God went all in and it will always be enough! We may be discouraged as we face trials of many kinds, but nothing can overcome what God has already done for us. The challenge is to live as conquerors and not as victims.

Ephesians 4:1-6A divided world needs a united Church. This is only possible through the healing and empowering presence of the Holy Spirit. This Pentecost, we ask the Spirit to reconcile, heal, and make us one in Him.

Romans 8:18-30Our worries about the future often begin with a "what if..." question. There is so much about the future we don't know, but God’s Word declares that we are never alone in our struggle. God is WITH us and the Holy Spirit intercedes FOR us even when we don't know what to pray. The Gospel invites us to ask, "What if God is working all things out for the good?"

Romans 8:1-11Following Jesus is simple, but it doesn't happen by accident. We live in this tension of obeying the desires of the flesh or surrendering to the work of the Holy Spirit. We are invited by grace to simply cooperate with God in our salvation by "setting our mind" on the things of the Spirit.

Romans 6:15-23What does it mean to be human? Sin creates the illusion that we can be our best selves by focusing on ourselves. The Gospel, however, is that grace transforms our heart so that the desire to sin is overwhelmed by a desire to love God and others. It's an invitation to be "awl" in.

Romans 6:1-14Coming to faith in Christ means we embrace an entirely new understanding of death and life. The cross and resurrection demonstrate God’s miraculous power to bring life out of the experience of death. God wants to do the same for us as we die to sin and are raised with Christ to live holy lives. We are wanted by our Creator, both dead AND alive.