Christ's Church of Joplin

Elijah’s servant surveys his circumstances and thinks, this doesn’t look good. Elijah prays that this man’s eyes would be opened, and God gives him spiritual perception. Jaron encourages us to ask God to do the same thing when we pray. We need his help to see all things in relations to Him, and only when we have that kind of vision will be see things as they really are.

In this talk, Jeremiah takes us through a familiar story about an Old Testament prophet who had seen God do great things in the past but who had gotten discouraged in the present. In this story, we see how God interacts with people who feel weak and discouraged, and how we can look to him for all the rest and resources we need.

Jaron kicked off our annual teaching series on prayer by reminding us that God is our provider. He is able to make all grace abound to us, so that we not only have enough to give, we have enough to live. As we begin a new season of more focused time in prayer, he encouraged us believe that God hears our prayers and to expect him to answer.

Modern people have access to more information than any previous generation, but most of what’s available doesn’t feed our souls. We are tempted to consume too much, too fast, and only what pleases us. In this talk, Tim uses the Wisdom Pyramid, created by author Brett McCracken, to help us consider what kinds of information will do our souls the most good and what we should consume in moderation or learn to live without.

This is a recording of Jaron's talk from our Christmas Eve service.

Many people think they have to get their lives together before they come to God, but the Gospel reveals that Jesus got it together for us. He lived a perfect life, died a sacrificial death, rose from the grave, and unites us with him. We can stop working and start enjoying, because Jesus lived the life we could never live and he is living and reigning today.

In the opening chapter of John’s gospel, he tells us about his best friend, Jesus — who He is and what he came to do.

Both ancient and modern readers of Revelation have seen things in their world that don’t seem to line up with what Jesus said. The overarching message of this passage to these people is this: If Jesus said he will, he will. This passage reassures us that Jesus will judge, conquer, protect, and reign with his people, just like he said he would.

John sees a vision of the anti-God forces in the world and their destruction. These structures and systems pull worship away from God. Ultimately, these forces will destroy themselves, and only those who leave them and set devotes themselves to God will be saved.

The righteousness of God is displayed throughout the Book of Revelation, and in these chapters, it is specifically expressed in God’s righteous judgement of evil. This book teaches us that God will judge the wicked, vindicate his people, and erase evil forever. All of this is good news to those who receive God’s righteousness as he reveals it.

In these two chapters, John tells us the Christmas story from the perspective of heaven. He sees four scenes that reveal a victorious Savior, a defeated devil, a deceived world, and a well-nourished church. Most of all, these scenes point to a sovereign God who rules over all and care for those who are his.

John sees a door standing open in heaven and is called by Jesus to come up and see things that are going to happen in the future. But what immediately follows is not a vision of the future on earth, but a revelation of what is currently happening in heaven. He sees the creator God on his throne. He sees various creatures engaged in endless worship. He sees a scroll that no one can open. And then a lion who appears as a lamb.

The opening chapters of Revelation include letters to several of the early churches. Jaron guides us through one of those letters, written to the church in Philadelphia, that has been accused of not doing enough to earn their salvation and prove their right standing with God. Jesus strengthens this church by reminding them that he has done enough, that he knows what it’s like to face false accusations, and that he will uphold this church by his own power and word.

Jaron introduces our new teaching series from the Book of Revelation. In this talk, he reminds us that we're reading someone else’s mail, the message is forth-telling more than it is foretelling, and this letter is written in first-century Christianese. However, like the original recipients, we can read this book and receive help from God to remain steadfast and faithful in the midst of hardship. We are not in the same circumstances, or even the same century, but we are looking to the same Jesus.

Tim leans on the Puritan pastor, Richard Sibbes, to interpret and apply God’s word given by Isaiah regarding the servant he would send to save his people. God says that his servant won’t break bruised reeds or quench smoldering wicks. We see here a very encouraging word about how Jesus responds to weak and troubled people.

Long before Jesus was born, the prophet Isaiah described the ministry of the Messiah: he would bring good news to the poor, release captives, and heal the sick. In one of his first sermons, Jesus announced that he is the Messiah and this is his mission. In this talk, Jaron makes the case that we reach out to our communities with the good news and all that it entails, because that’s what Jesus is doing and we’re on mission with him.

Jesus commissioned his disciples to preach the good news, baptize believers, and teach them to obey all that He had commanded. All disciples should expect to become disciple-makers. In this talk, Jeremiah Anderson describes how this framework shapes our mission at Christ’s Church to help people love and obey Jesus. He also gives some practical suggestions for what it might look like for each of to take steps toward making more disciples.

The night before he dies, Jesus gives his disciples a new command: love one another as I have loved you. In this talk, Gabe Lett helps us see why this command was new and what obedience to it produces. He also makes the case that Jesus not only demonstrated this command, He promised to empower those who follow it by sending the Holy Spirit.

Why does the family of God gather? Jaron offers two answers. First, because we always have. Since it’s earliest days, the church has kept coming back together to enjoy fellowship with Jesus, to eat around his table, to devote ourselves to his Word, and to pray for one another. And second, because we have been gathered to God. He has made us one with him and one with each other.

As students and teachers head back to school, Jaron encourages all of us to enroll as students who are learning from Jesus. His curriculum is the knowledge of God, and he’s the only one qualified to teach it.

Jeremiah Anderson wraps up our series in the book of Exodus by reviewing what we’ve learned through this book. He summarizes the remaining chapters of Exodus by drawing out four big ideas and reminding us that our first identity and ultimate destiny is to be a people among whom God manifests his presence by revealing his glory.

The Hebrew people forfeited God's intention for them to experience his presence intimately. Moses steps in as a middle man between God and the people by persuading God to restore relationship and manifest His presence with the people. The good news is that Jesus eternally prays and ensures that God will be present with his people throughout all of eternity.

God chose a specific people and has specific intentions for them. He has specific instructions on how they are to live and conduct themselves. In this talk, Kris helps us see how all these details reveal the nature of our covenant-making God and highlight God’s desire to be in right relationship with us.

In Exodus 16, God leads Israel into the wilderness to teach them to believe in Him. The wilderness is analogous to where Christians find ourselves until Jesus returns and where we learn to believe in God more. Jaron looks at this text and points out four lessons we can learn by asking the question, "What does faith look like when we sense a legitimate need but see no apparent way to meet that need?"

The author of Psalm 118 believed that there is such a thing as success and that God is able to give it. This is a look at his prayer, at the idea of success throughout the Bible, and a review of some of the various blessings God grants to those he wishes to make successful.

When God’s people are caught between the sea and Pharaoh’s army, they complain that God has set them up for disaster. It is a set-up, but not that kind. God leads his people into situations that look impossible so that He will receive all the credit for delivering them. The Israelites are being set up to glorify God and watch him defeat their enemies.

The Passover meal and the Passover events are recorded side by side in the Exodus story. Jaron argues that the two are inseparable and serve the same purpose: to help us remember. We remember that God required a demonstration of faith along with the sacrifice. We remember that God brought about justice . And we remember that when God delivered us, he re-created us, too.

Moses tells us that Pharaoh hardens his heart. Then, he tells us that God hardens Pharaoh’s heart. So which is it? And what should we do when we notice our own failure to respond to God’s word? Jaron helps us see how hard-heartedness happens and reminds us that through Jesus Christ, God promised to turn hearts of stone into hearts of flesh.

God has just commissioned Moses and sent him to Egypt with a message for Pharaoh. And then on the way there, God tries to kill Moses. (Or at least, it feels that way to Moses.) Why? Moses had failed to circumcise his son, committing a potentially deadly breach of covenant with God. In this talk, Jaron helps us see how seriously God takes his covenants and what that means for those of us who are living in covenant with him today.

God sends Moses to speak a supernatural message backed by supernatural signs. The words he speaks and the signs he performs are not meant to prove something about Moses, though. They demonstrate God’s power to save his people and God’s enduring love for them. When we preach the gospel today, we are hoping that even stranger signs and wonders will accompany the proclamation of this supernatural message.

When God calls Moses, Moses wants to know what he should call God. God gives himself a name that emphasizes his eternal and perpetual existence among his people: “I am that I am.” Not only has God been present all along, he has seen, he has heard, and he will deliver them.

The people of God are miserable. They’ve been in hard labor for a long time, and they’re crying out for a deliverer. As the nation of Israel is about to be re-born, we’re introduced to two midwives, Shiprah and Puah, who fear God and defy the King of Egypt. In this talk, Lynn helps us think about what it means to fear God and how that fear affects both the outcome of this story and the way each of us relate to God today.

As we look at the first chapter of Exodus, Jaron connects it to the story of God and his people so far. This book is a continuation of that story, and the opening verses highlight a few major themes. God is the primary influence in the life of his people, and we can trust him to make things happen, just as he said.

God leads Israel out of slavery and into the wilderness. It's a place of training and temptation, of miraculous provision and disorienting paradoxes. In this talk, Travis helps us think about what God might have wanted to teach his people during this season and what he might have for us in similar times.

In part two of this series, Jaron introduces a game plan for going forward. Jesus Christ laid the groundwork for our mission, and he has given each of us gifts for engaging this mission. As we use those gifts in submission to him and in cooperation with one another, we grow together. In this next season, we want to equip every member of Christ's Church to use their gifts and work together as we pursue five avenues of ministry: reaching, connecting, gathering, caring, and discipling.

Christ’s Church is a family on a mission. Because we’re God’s family and we’re living under God’s rule, we are a family living in peace. This peace is both vertical (peace with God) and horizontal (peace with each other). Jaron encourages those who are enjoying peace with God to take a few practical steps as we live in peace with one another.

Jesus hears that a close friend is on the verge of death, and instead of rushing to his aid, Jesus waits. The story that unfolds in this chapter shows us a glimpse into the future glory that awaits the resurrected Jesus and into the life he gives now to all his disciples who are facing death.

When Jesus heals a man born blind, the reactions of everyone involved reveal something about their own vision. In this story, those who think they can see prove themselves blind. And those who acknowledge their lack of clarity eventually see Jesus.

In the midst of the storm, Jesus seeks out his disciples and tells them who he is. He gets in the boat with them, and delivers them to his Father’s desired destination.

Having attracted a huge crowd, Jesus alienates most of them by criticizing their motives and making audacious claims about himself. He says, “You must eat my flesh and drink my blood.” The sign of the multiplied bread means Jesus is the bread that gives eternal life. And that in him, there is more than enough.

Jesus initiates a salvation encounter with a disabled man, without hope and waiting for a miracle. Jesus addresses the infirmity in his body and his soul, and when the Pharisees find out, they’re furious. In the conversation that follows, Jesus explains how he works in unison with the Father not only to heal but to judge and to give eternal life.

In his hometown, Jesus is received but not honored by the residents. But when a desperate father travels from another town to ask Him to heal his dying son, Jesus does it. The man believes Jesus before he sees any evidence that his son was healed. In this way, Jesus’ word functions as a sign. When he speaks, it is so, revealing that Jesus is God.

We consider some of the obstacles to making good decisions – including a few to which Christians may be particularly vulnerable. We then look at who God is and what he does. And find that growing in our faith and confidence in him improves our decision making processes and emboldens us to decide, take initiative, and act.

In his first public miracle, Jesus turns water into wine. This miracle is also a sign, revealing several important things about Jesus: he isn’t obligated to anyone else’s cause, he controls creation, and he is God’s plan for transforming the world.

This is the opening talk in a series about decision-making, guidance, and the will of God. What does the Bible teach about God’s will? Can we know his will? If so, how? When we turn to the Bible, we learn that a right understanding of the will of God is the starting place for a life of good decisions.

The Holy Spirit helps us pray in a variety of ways. He ushers us into our God’s presence, making our right to be near our Father a reality. He reminds us of the relationship we have with the Father and gives us confidence to keep approaching him. And, when we don’t know what to ask for, the Spirit intercedes on our behalf.

The communication we have with God is shaped by the relationship we have with God - all of this comes to us through the Son of God, Jesus Christ. What kind of prayer life has Jesus given us? Jaron answers that question by making the case that Jesus built us a prayer life of unlimited access and transparency, a prayer life that works, and a prayer life that continues.

Jaron introduces a new series on prayer that will focus on what each member of the Trinity is doing when we pray. To kick things off, we look at two statements Jesus made about prayer in the Sermon on the Mount, which help us think about who we’re coming to in prayer and how we approach him.

As we embark upon a new year, Jaron turns to one of the most beloved psalms in the Bible to remind us that the Lord is our shepherd. One of the ways He shepherds us is by restoring our souls. This restoration comes to us through retrieval (the Lord rescues us from every trouble) and through revival (the Lord breathes new life into us).