Audio Messages & Sermon Series - Crosswinds, Plainfield, IL

God’s word is full of rules or commands which are boundaries meant to protect our lives and relationships. They are there to protect our relationship with God and our relationship with each other. God did not need to break the rules and He did not need use His authority of Lord over and control others, instead He served and loved people with His authority.

What is the purpose of Christmas? Christmas means that there is truth — truth that everyone should believe. Jesus declared that He came as the key witness of this truth, and His followers testify to this truth, also. When Christ is in you, you will realize how much is at stake.

Maybe your sorrows feel especially heavy at this time of year. God has not abandoned you. Jesus understands what you are going through. With Christ in you, call on Jesus and take comfort in His nearness whenever you are hurting.

Jesus was not into commercialism, but somehow we have managed to commercialize His birth. How does a consumeristic approach to God kill worship? That's what this message is about as we "unwrap commercialism."

Christmas is ultimately about unwrapping God's gift of Jesus Christ to the world and Christ in you! In this message, Pastor John looks at how Jesus brings us the blessing of prayer to our heavenly Father.

Is artificial intelligence evil? That is the question Pastor Ken took on Sunday — and his answer was not a tech lecture. It was a walk through Matthew 15, where religious leaders confronted Jesus over something that looked scandalous on the surface: his disciples eating bread with unwashed hands. Jesus flipped the argument upside down. It is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth (Matthew 15:11). Mark 7:20-23 says it even more bluntly — evil comes from within, out of the heart.

The scripture is Philippians 4:14-23 — Paul's closing words to a church that had supported him while he sat in prison. On the surface, it sounds like a polite "thanks for the cash." But Paul does something remarkable with it. He borrows the language of a business ledger ("credited to your account," "paid in full," "well supplied") and turns it into a picture of friendship. These believers weren't patrons buying influence, and Paul wasn't a client on the payroll. They were partners in the gospel.

In Philippians 4:1–3, Paul urges believers to stand firm in the Lord and calls Euodia and Syntyche to agree in Him, teaching us that Christian unity is more important than winning every argument. Unity does not mean agreeing on everything, but choosing love, humility, forgiveness and the mission of the gospel over personal opinions and the need to be right.