August 9, 2025 strive4theprize

The Truth vs. the Lie

1 John 2:15-29

The Truth vs. the lie. Confessing Jesus as the Christ vs. denying Him. To confess is to believe, and only those who believe in Jesus have the promise of eternal life. Only they are children of God who do righteousness. Only they have the Spirit.

Jesus is coming back. No question about that. The only question is: will you be ready when He comes? Will you be prepared to welcome the King at His return, or will you shrink back in shame?

John makes it pretty clear in this letter…there are only two sides. Confessing vs. denying. Light vs. darkness. Truth vs. lie. Child of God vs. child of the devil. Which side are you on?

The good news is…you can be on the right side today. It’s as simple as recognizing that you are a sinner in need of a Savior. Believing that Jesus is the Savior that God promised. He lived a perfect life…He Himself walked in the light…He died a sacrificial death to pay the penalty for sin, and He was raised to life on the third day, conquering death so that your sins would be forgiven, that you would have eternal life, and that you would become a child of God. Then you, too, can walk in the light and have fellowship with the Father and the Son.

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This post is based on a sermon from our 1 John series, “Unshakeable.” Download the podcast at: Central Christian Church Main Service, or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, X or Threads: @ccclancaster. You can also download our Central Christian app in the iTunes App Store.

July 21, 2025 strive4theprize

Walk in the Light

1 John 2:1-14

John challenges his readers to walk in the light together, which includes loving one another…a we-thing, not just a me-thing…and is only possible when we have fellowship with the Father through faith in Jesus.

Jesus has made atonement for the sins of all those who have believed. Our slate is wiped clean. We are forgiven. We have both peace and fellowship with the Father. We are not who we used to be, but are now children of God. That’s good news.

More good news? If you have not yet trusted in Jesus, He has made that same atonement available to you. All can be saved, although not all will be. Only those who have trusted in Jesus. You can do that today. It’s as simple as recognizing that you are a sinner in need of a Savior. Believing that Jesus is the Savior that God promised. He lived a perfect life…He Himself walked in the light…He died a sacrificial death to pay the penalty for sin, and He was raised to life on the third day, conquering death so that your sins can be forgiven, that you can have eternal life, and that you can become a child of God. Then you, too, can walk in the light and have fellowship with the Father and the Son.

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February 3, 2025 strive4theprize

Everyday Disciple: The Golden Rule

Matthew 7.1-12

The way we judge others is a revealing measure of our progress in kingdom living. It is a good indication of whether or not we are treating others the way we want to be treated. Let’s be honest…how many of us have attempted the Golden Rule, only to find it frustratingly impossible? Maybe it’s because we’re too busy treating ourselves the way we want to be treated that we don’t have the time or the inclination to do the same for others.

But it is possible for those of us who have trusted in Jesus…kingdom citizens/everyday disciples…to treat others the way we want to be treated. It starts with simply recognizing that they are in need of the same mercy that we are. Just as the Father has been merciful to us, it’s extending that same mercy toward them. Just as the Father has loved us, so we too are to love others. Whether we think they deserve it or not. They probably don’t, but…neither do we. And the Father still loves us…He still shows us mercy. We’re to do the same.

But it is impossible to treat others the way we want to be treated without Jesus. He’s the one who gives us a new heart and true righteousness that allows us to love others the way that He loves. If you have not yet trusted in Jesus, it starts with recognizing that you are a sinner in need of a Savior…being poor in Spirit. Believing that Jesus is the Savior that God promised. He lived a perfect life, died a sacrificial death on your behalf, and was raised the third day conquering sin and death, so that by faith in Jesus you could have forgiveness of sins and eternal life. The kingdom of heaven…yours.

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This post is based on a sermon from our Everyday Disciple series: Songs of the Season. Download the podcast at: Central Christian Church Main Service, or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, X or Threads: @ccclancaster. You can also download our Central Christian app in the iTunes App Store.

October 21, 2024 strive4theprize

IMPACT Promise Week 3: Finish What You Start

2 Corinthians 8.8-15

Why be generous? Because of Jesus. Though He was rich, yet for our sake He became poor, so that we through His poverty might become rich. That’s God’s grace. That’s the gospel.

Being generous is a heart attitude. Not really something that’s easy to teach. It starts with the recognition of God’s grace…His generosity towards us. Those forgiven much, love much. Those forgiven little, love little. Truth is…we’ve all been forgiven much. And when that sinks in, we will do a much better job of loving. Loving God and loving others. We will simply be more generous. We will have an IMPACT mindset.

Everything we have, we’ve been given. It’s been entrusted to us. It all belongs to God. We are managers of His resources. And one day we will have to give an account…have we been generous with His stuff? Have we been generous with the money, time, relationships, etc…with the life He’s entrusted to us?

Another way to ask that is…what kind of IMPACT are you having right now for the kingdom? What kind of IMPACT would you like to have?

Let’s start today…sign up to be a part of our IMPACT Promise and say “yes” to the LORD.

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This post is based on a sermon from our IMPACT Promise series. Download the podcast at: Central Christian Church Main Service, or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, X or Threads: @ccclancaster. You can also download our Central Christian app in the iTunes App Store.

April 29, 2024 strive4theprize

Drawing Near to God

Hebrews 10.19-25

Because of Jesus we can draw near to God in full assurance of faith. Let that sink in for just a minute. Because of Jesus, we have full access to the Father. No longer is that access limited to one person, one time a year and only with the blood of bulls and goats. But because of Jesus’ once for all sacrifice of Himself for our sins, we need not fear but confidently step through the veil. Because of Jesus.

So let us do those things…provoke each other to love and good works, continually draw near to God, and hold fast our confession without wavering. May we be a light and a beacon of hope in this valley, as we anxiously await the return of our King. And may we do it together.

If you haven’t trusted in Jesus yet, please make today the day. It’s as simple as recognizing that you are a sinner in need of a Savior. Believing that Jesus is the Savior that God promised. He lived a perfect life. He died a sacrificial death on your behalf and was raised the third day conquering both sin and death, so that by faith in Jesus you can have forgiveness of sins and eternal life. You too will have the righteousness that comes from God through faith in Jesus.

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This post is based on a sermon from our Hebrews series. Download the podcast at: Central Christian Church Main Service, or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, X or Threads: @ccclancaster. You can also download our Central Christian app in the iTunes App Store.

April 15, 2024 strive4theprize

The Mediator of a New Covenant

Hebrews 9.15-28

Jesus is the Mediator of a New Covenant. A covenant that has been inaugurated with His own shed blood. A covenant by which He has put away sin for all time for those who believe in Him by the sacrifice of Himself.

Jesus has taken care of the sin problem. For everyone who believes. And because He’s taken care of the sin problem (the root), all our sins (fruit) are forgiven. That doesn’t give us an excuse to sin…it gives us confidence to live the life He’s called us to without guilt or shame.

Jesus is coming back. The King will return. What will you say when He asks you how you invested the life He entrusted you with? Will it be a time of celebration or a time of regret? Good news is…you still have time to turn it around if you need to. If you’re still here, then He still has work for you to do. It’s not too late.

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May 8, 2023 strive4theprize

Forgiveness

Luke 17.1-6

Jesus warns His followers about the sad reality that there will always be those who cause others to stumble…either by their words or actions…cause them to turn away from following Him. Don’t let it be you. For those who do fall into sin…confront, confess, forgive, repeat is our mantra. It won’t be easy…it requires faith and obedience. Faith because forgiveness is a supernatural act; obedience because it’s not an option.

Where are you struggling today? Are you making lifestyle choices that may be causing others to stumble, maybe even becoming a barrier to others coming to know Jesus? We are to live lives worthy of the calling…doesn’t mean that we’re perfect, but it means that we are choosing to love God more. More than our other relationships that may not be honoring to Him. More than our careers. More than our popularity. More than our stuff. It means saying “no” to the things that might trip others up.

Sometimes our forgiveness problem is a love problem. Remember…he who has been forgiven much loves much. Until we see ourselves as sinners who have been forgiven a tremendous debt, we, like Simon, are going to have a hard time loving others, much less forgiving.

And maybe you have yet to be forgiven yourself. Maybe you haven’t yet trusted in Jesus. Maybe you don’t think He can or will forgive you…like that woman. But that’s exactly why Jesus came…to save sinners. Sinners like you and me. You simply have to ask.

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This post is based on a sermon from our For Future Reference series. Download the podcast at: Central Christian Church Main Service, or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube or Twitter: @ccclancaster. You can also download our Central Christian app in the iTunes App Store.

April 26, 2021 strive4theprize

Second Chances

John 21.15-25

This particular story is unique to John. So why does he include it? In verse 14, John reminds us that this is the third time that Jesus has made Himself known to the disciples. The two previous times that Jesus showed up, He had a purpose in mind, right? Calming the fears and commissioning a group of the disciples, breathing on them the Holy Spirit and giving them life; and then a special encore presentation for Thomas. This episode also has a very focused purpose…the restoration of Peter. You see, after his denial, we as the readers are left wondering, “So whatever happened to Peter?”

Peter had blatantly denied and turned his back on Jesus. There was no getting around it. After all of the boasting, after all of the posturing, in the end he had failed miserably. And all of his closest friends knew it. Fear might have been involved, although given Peter’s boldness in confronting the soldiers that seems less likely. Frustration? Probably. Doubts? Sure. But Peter was supposed to be their fearless leader. Would he ever be useful again?

And now, miraculously Peter is given a second chance. Jesus shows up and takes him aside, and with the reminder of both his failure and his calling in mind, he’s given another opportunity to follow Jesus. But following Him this go round would not end well from an earthly standpoint. It would involve a cross. Given the last three years…knowing all that he had been through and would yet go through, would he still sign up? Knowing that the journey would be a lonely one, with no guarantees that anyone else would accompany him, would he still follow Jesus? Would you?

I don’t know about you, but I can’t remember a time I verbally denied Jesus. I can, though, remember plenty of times that I denied Him by my actions. It reminds me of my high school and college years. I had trusted in Jesus and even felt like He was calling me into ministry, but I was unwilling to give up the life I was pursuing at the time. I was afraid I might miss out on something, but it was just leading to greater heartache, shame, frustration, guilt, etc. It wasn’t “life”…not anything like the abundant life that Jesus talked about last week. But of course I wasn’t walking in obedience either. I wasn’t spending time in His Word or prayer, wasn’t spending time with other believers, really didn’t feel like I had much of a story to share. I wasn’t abiding and so for sure wasn’t bearing fruit. I was denying Jesus with all but my words. And yet He was so gracious and just kept pursuing me, until one day I came to the “aha” moment, and I stopped running from Him and started pursuing Him…and said “yes” to His “Follow Me.”

But what about you? How have you blown it? Have you come out the other side? What does life look like? What have you learned from it? How is it causing you to trust God more? The encouraging thing for me from Peter’s story is that Jesus makes a special trip to offer him his second chance. And not only a second chance, but also a bright new future chock full of opportunity to continue to pursue Jesus…and to fail, but also to change the world. He and this rag-tag group of Jesus-followers will take the Roman world by storm…not leading a military campaign, but waging spiritual warfare nonetheless. We are here today because of a guy like Peter.

It strikes me that Peter’s story would likely have had a very different ending had I been the one whom he had denied. And for some of us, we are in the position of being the betrayed. If that’s you, have you restored the one who failed you? Have you forgiven them? Any second chances? Would you trust them with an even greater level of responsibility? Or would you do what I can be so quick to do, and write them off?

Peter’s story is challenging: Do we believe that Jesus still can and wants to use us, no matter our failures? Are we willing to follow Him, no matter the cost? Will we forgive and restore others when they fail us?

My prayer is that you realize Jesus’ deep and abiding love for you, that you rest in His amazing grace, and that you show that same grace toward others this week.

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This post is based on a sermon from our John series. Download the podcast at: Central Christian Church Main Service, or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube or Twitter: @ccclancaster

December 16, 2019 strive4theprize

A New and Glorious Morn

Isaiah 7.10-17

Our world is not so different from Ahaz’s world. The threat of war and rumors of war abound. Fear is on the rise, and wickedness reigns throughout the land. If we are honest with ourselves, we too are tempted to make alliances…compromises to ensure our well-being. We put our trust in jobs or bank accounts or status or retirement plans or followers or people or you fill-in-the-blank to save us…anything other than the Lord. And being overwhelmed by the circumstances of life, we forget that Jesus promised that He would never leave us or forsake us.

Inevitably God brings us into crisis…illness, death of a loved one, loss of a job, broken relationships, dashed hopes, forgotten dreams. Sooner or later we all have to answer the question: If I put my trust in God, will He save me? Does He really love me, and does He really care about me and my circumstances? Our answer is either a confident “yes” or a wavering “I’m not sure.” Is God “the LORD God” (Yahweh Elohim), the covenant-making, covenant-keeping God who is intimately involved in His creation (Genesis 2-3) who knows me and loves me and cares about me, or is He “God” (Elohim), the God who is out there, too big and too busy to be bothered with me, who only is looking out for His own interests according to the serpent in Genesis 3? And just as folks in Isaiah’s day found out…when God’s people don’t trust Him as they should, they pay a price for it. If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all (cf. Isaiah 7.9b). But God’s grace always has the last word—His grace triumphs over our failure. God, the LORD God, is present in our crises. If we will trust Him, He will save us. If we refuse Him, He will discipline us. But know this…He delights to save us.

Are you making alliances or compromises to save yourself, or are you trusting God? Your level of worry/fear/discontentment vs. contentment/joy/rest is a good indicator. The more you trust in God, the more the fruits of the Spirit will abound. The more you trust yourself…not so much.

Jesus says, “Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.” The secret to experiencing the life that God has saved us for starts with believing that He loves us…really loves us…and resting in His love. And to do that, we have to do what He says, knowing that what He commands is for our good as His children, then we can experience both the life and the fullness of joy He intended for us…we might call it a new and glorious morn.

There is a haunting Christmas carol that says, “O come, O come, Emmanuel, And ransom captive Israel, That mourns in lonely exile here, Until the Son of God appear…Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.” The music to this carol is written in a minor key…or so they tell me. Can joy be found in a minor key? Can there be joy in difficult circumstances? The answer is a resounding “yes” if we remember Immanuel…that God is with us and is for us, and if we remember that He has an eternal home waiting for us.

Even though Ahaz is a wicked king, God graciously invites him to trust in Him. If you have not yet trusted in Jesus as your Savior, then God offers the same gracious invitation to you. He wants you to trust Him, then you too can experience a new and glorious morn…the joy that only Jesus can bring, knowing that He is with you always. But don’t wait. The time is short. Just as God is with those of us who have trusted in Him for salvation, so He is also with those who refuse Him for judgment.

May you experience a new and glorious morn this Christmas season, Immanuel…God with us, and may you trust Him fully in all of life’s circumstances.

Join us next week as we continue our Advent story with…Fall on Your Knees.

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This post is based on our Advent Series, The Thrill of Hope. Download the podcast at: Central Christian Church Main Service, or follow us on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter: @ccclancaster

April 3, 2017 strive4theprize

Unworthy Servants

Luke 17.1-10

Jesus warns His followers about the sad reality that there will always be those who cause others to stumble…that either by their words or actions cause others to turn away from following Jesus. Don’t let it be you. For those who do fall into sin…confront, confess, forgive, repeat is our mantra. It won’t be easy…it requires faith and obedience. Faith because forgiveness is a supernatural act; obedience because it’s not an option. We are faithful and obedient slaves doing only what the Master commands.

Maybe your struggle’s on the other side…forgiving those who have caused you to stumble or have wronged you in some way. That’s a tough one. It’s hard to confront those who hurt us…especially in a loving way. And it’s even harder to forgive those who hurt us, especially when we begin trying to evaluate whether or not they really mean “I’m sorry” when they say it. And when they do it over and over…forget about it. But forgiveness is not an option for those who have been forgiven by God. It’s also not something we have to do or can do in our own power. Only God can give us the ability to forgive. We are called to a radical kind of forgiveness…a lavish forgiveness that reflects the Father’s love for us. So if that’s you today, ask God to help you forgive your friend or neighbor, your classmate or teammate, your co-worker, your spouse, your parents or your children. The main issue isn’t faith but obedience.

We are all called to be faithful and obedient servants, humbly obeying the command of our Master as a willing duty of delight and not as if for a reward. The awesome thing is, when we are faithful and obedient, though we don’t deserve it, He showers His affection on us and serves us at the great banqueting table in the kingdom.

Until next time…stay salty.

This post is based on a sermon from our series in the book of Luke. Download the podcast at: Central Christian Church Main Service, or follow us on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter: @ccclancaster

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