Christ Community Chapel - Hudson Campus

In 1 John 2:15-17, we are warned against loving the world and the things in it, as the "world and its desires pass away." But what does that actually mean? Aren't we supposed to care for the world we live in and the people who inhabit it? Are we supposed to seclude ourselves from the world to avoid loving what's around us more than God? It's a confusing verse on the surface, but as Pastor Joe explains, the real message is about keeping our focus on serving God's kingdom rather than serving ourselves or desiring what's around us. Tune in this week to hear our latest reminder of how deeply God loves us, and how that love can be truly life-changing.

We are all children of God, as 1 John 3:1-3 tells us, for all who have hope in Jesus have his purity transferred onto themselves, receiving God's blessings. It's great news, as it means we receive a love we could never earn purely by the grace of God and the actions of Jesus. So the question is: Are you living as a child of God? Are you finding yourself drawn towards following God and flourishing as the person he made you to be, or are you trying to earn his love or acting like you deserve his blessings? This week, Pastor Joe explains what it means to not only recognize a love that is freely given, but respond as it calls and transforms us.

God looked at us, each and every one of us, at our worst and even then thought we were so lovable and so worth it that he gave his own Son for us. We are loved by a father who has seen us in our lowest moments, who has known the depth of every sin and the weaknesses of our hearts, and still says we are worth dying for. This weekend, Pastor Zach reminded us to grab hold of the love of Christ and lean further into trusting him. He challenged us in that if the love of God is not radiating from us, we may be missing it altogether. Wherever you find yourself, know that you are personally known and fully loved by the God of the universe, and that he invites you to let his love change you and your circumstances today.

Why does it sometimes appear that people have it together? Why do we try so hard to do things on our own? It’s because we’re deceived. Deep down, all of us fail to see the depth of our sinfulness and desperation for Jesus—and we don’t run to him to be our Savior as a result. This weekend, Pastor Joe reminded us that we desperately need Jesus—every moment of our lives. We are not as good as we think we are. But there’s good news. When we realize how desperately we need a Savior—and that Jesus bought our forgiveness on the cross—we can fully abandon the idea that we can do it alone, and run to Jesus, our advocate, and receive grace and forgiveness for our sins.

We often think that a relationship with Jesus equates to just knowing about him, but when we come to know Jesus—to really know him—we experience fullness of joy and real relationship with God. Everything changes when we come face to face with our good Father. And thankfully, we can know God fully and personally because of Jesus Christ. This weekend, we kicked off our Letter of Love message series in 1 John 1: 1–4.

This weekend, we wrapped up our All In message series with All In For Jesus. Pastor Joe gave us some good news, some bad news, and some big news from Matthew 5. The things of this world—relationships, friendships, lives—all pull apart from each other and God when they are left alone. But we are reminded of the good news: Jesus brought the salt that the world so desperately needs to preserve those relationships and the light to bring truth and love. We do not have a God who is a cosmic killjoy, but a God who loves us, pursues us, waits for us, and gives us Jesus.

This weekend, Pastor Joe taught us about being all in with each other and reminded us of our critical need not only for God, but also for each other—we have a deep need for belonging and in that need, God gave us a way to recognize where we belong.

In this week's message, ALL IN: With Jesus, we read Mark 4:35-41 as we learn something unique about storms, something amazing about Jesus, and what it looks like to traverse storms with Jesus.

Jesus Christ sees you, knows the real you, and has opened his arms wide on the cross to receive you and love you. This weekend, we finished our series on Famous Stories of Love in John 1 with the story of Jesus calling Nathaniel. We were reminded that we cannot love God or others if we are not first loved by him, but that in Jesus Christ we are fully known and fully loved—our true fullness and acceptance comes from no other place than him. If there was ever a time to talk more, live more, be more about love, now is the time.

Sometimes in the middle of a story, it’s easy to doubt that God loves us. We often think that God’s love should fit into our timing and plans, but God knows exactly what we need, and our hard seasons are just the middle of the story. This weekend, Pastor Joe continued our message series with the story of Lazarus in John 11 and reminded us that whatever we go through, if we know Jesus, it’s the middle of the story. Your story ends well because you are part of the greatest story ever.

This weekend, Pastor Zach gave a new perspective on God’s love through the story of the Rich Young Ruler in Mark 10. In our culture, love is often synonymous with affirmation. Yet, we are reminded in Jesus that real love is about someone caring enough to tell us the truth, and to risk whatever it takes to speak honestly. God invites us to see that his love is enough to tell you the truth and to risk what it takes. His love enables you to trust him, even when what he says is difficult to hear. His love reminds us that nothing is impossible with God.

This weekend, Pastor Zach continued our series on Famous Stories of Love with the story of Jesus Healing a Paralytic in Mark 2. We learned how we often try and define what it means for God to love us, that if he loved us, he would give us what we want. But God's love is so much greater than we can comprehend and he gives us the best gift: forgiveness for our sins. May this message help you reflect on the generous love of God and remind you that he loves us too much to give us too little.

This weekend Pastor Joe continued the story of the Prodigal Son found in Luke 15. We learned why we love the stuff God gives us more than we love him, and how that leaves us empty and alone. The good news is we can come back to our senses and into a relationship with God by realizing how good he is, how much we’ve sinned against him, and that we need to stop making excuses for why we ran away. May this message remind you to trust in Jesus to lead you back to the Father to experience the amazing love he’s waiting to unleash on you.

This weekend Pastor Joe took us through the story of the Prodigal Son found in Luke 15. We learned why we love the stuff God gives us more than we love him, and how that leaves us empty and alone. The good news is we can come back to our senses and into a relationship with God by realizing how good he is, how much we’ve sinned against him, and that we need to stop making excuses for why we ran away. May this message remind you to trust in Jesus to lead you back to the Father to experience the amazing love he’s waiting to unleash on you.

This weekend Pastor Zach continued our message series with the parables Jesus told about the Lost Sheep and the Lost Coin. We learned how far someone will go to find what they’ve lost shows just how much they value it. These stories illustrate the depth of Jesus’ love for you: he gave his very life to offer you forgiveness and mercy that would lead you back from a lost life to one reunited with God.

This weekend Pastor Zach used the story of Nicodemus, the Pharisee known for visiting Jesus under cover of night, to show us that God loves difficult people – even those who are hard to teach or don’t want to risk their reputations by associating with him. After his loving encounter with Jesus, Nicodemus went from a man hiding in the shadows to living boldly for Christ, where all could see his affection for his Savior. What would your life look like if you really believed that God loves every version of you – even the most challenging one?

The love stories in the Bible are full of very real and raw portrayals of people. No sugar coating here—we see the good, the bad, and the ugly. This weekend, Pastor Joe showed us how the story of Peter, arguably the most powerful and prominent disciple, was no different. The good news is if someone can mess up as badly as he did, but still be loved by God, we can have hope too! May this message remind you that in your ugliest of moments where it’s hard to even love yourself, Jesus loves you at your best AND your worst, because to him, love always matters most.

This weekend we continued our new message series, Famous Stories of Love, with the parable of the Good Samaritan from Luke 10. It's a familiar tale, but this time we looked at this story from a new perspective. There's plenty to learn from the Samaritan on how to be a good neighbor, but Pastor Zach showed us what we can learn from identifying with the man who was mugged and left for dead, with nothing to offer, and yet was still loved beyond measure.

From cover to cover, the Bible is a story of God's love for you, but woven throughout are enchanting true tales of people who have found remarkable ways to love God and others, sometimes against all odds and always at great cost. These stories will fill your heart with gratitude for God's great love for you and inspire you to find bold ways to share his love with those around you. This weekend, Pastor Joe launched a series with the story of The Sinful Woman, found in Luke 7.