Sermons – Christ Church Vienna

*Unfortunately, the main Audio Recording was corrupted so sound quality for this sermon recording is poor. At the Baptism of Jesus, God the Father declares him to be “My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” This affirmation of Jesus’s Identity inaugurates and confirms him to the chosen servant. His identity reveals, leads to and drives his missional calling and vocation. Download "Matthew 3 | Jesus’s Identity & Yours"

Instead of looking inward to as we re-orient in the New Year, Paul in Ephesians 1 encourages us to look to God’s promises and all that God has done for us in Christ. Download "Christmas 2 | Ephesians 1 – A New Year"

The birth of Christ re-imagined and told from the perspective of “Benjamin” the Inn Keeper in Bethlehem. Download "Christmas 1 | Luke 2"

Christmas causes us to want to be home for the holidays. But no Christmas tradition and no home can satisfy the depths of our eternal longing for Home, because we are alienated from God. But the Good Tidings of the Angels to the shepherds is that on Christmas God left his home to enter ours and offer us forgiveness, salvation and welcome to his family and to the eternal home we truly desire. Download "Christmas Eve | Luke 2"

Prepare the way of the Lord, Isaiah declares. But how? To prepare you need to know what you are expecting. Our expectations–what we are looking for in life and from God–affect our ability to receive what God is offering. Download "Advent 4 | Isaiah 40 – Lessons & Carols"

“As you go,” the Lord instructs through Isaiah. God plans to bring his kingdom like waters and blossoms in the dessert and he invites his people to anticipate and participate in faith, not just to wait around. Download "Advent 3 | Isaiah 35"

The Christmas season rarely lives up to our expectations. This is because, as Isaiah reveals, what we are really longing for is heaven and shalom. And what we truly need is the knowledge of God, the justice of the judge and the hope of the Messiah. Advent is a season to live into that points us to these deeper needs and wants and can shape our year round lives. Download "Advent 2 | Isaiah 11"

Isaiah calls Israel to trust Yahweh and not the power of the nations, to live in true wisdom not in human and to walk in the Light in the midst of a dark world. Isaiah is the backdrop and message of Advent and the longing of God to come and right all wrongs. Download "Advent 1 | Isaiah 1 & 2"

Our view of where life is going (its’ ends) has profound impacts on our attitude & actions in the present. The Resurrection calls us to a life of Joy, Purpose and Hope–impacting our work and relationships and approach to every experience. Download "1 Corinthians 15 | The Resurrection & Living into Community"

Paul confronts the disunity caused by members of the Corinthian church who thought their gift of speaking in tongues made them spiritually superior. Paul says he would rather speak prophetic message – intelligible words – than in tongues because what matters is loving others and building up the church community. Download "1 Corinthians 14 | Gifts & Building Up the Community"

In the famous “Love” passage in 1 Corinthians, Paul poetically exclaims the highest calling of love–a challenge and calling to the Corinthians to turn from their divisions and live for love of one another. All of us long for love and the God of love–we are made to know and live in both. Download "1 Corinthians 13 | Love & Community"

In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul is correcting division in the church based on expressions of giftings from the Spirit that caused some to view themselves as superior. All have the same Spirit, who gifts all in different ways, but no part is more important in the Body of Christ–in Christ, all are equal. Rather the greatest gift and highest calling is to love one another. Download "1 Corinthians 12 | Gifts, Parts & the Body of Christ"

1 Corinthians 11 & Matthew 5 On the 8th Anniversary of CCV, Johnny Kurcina looks at Paul & Jesus’ vision for the people of God and applies it Christ Church Vienna and its identity and calling as a church community. Download "1 Corinthians 11 | Calling & Community–CCV Anniversary"

Paul addresses the issue of meat sacrificed to idols and calls on the “strong” of conscience to constrain their rights and freedoms out of loving concern for the “weak” in the church. Christians are to willingly give up what is theirs for the sake of others and the gospel. Download "1 Corinthians 8-10 | Rights & Community"

In 1 Corinthians 7, Paul addresses singles and married people, calling them to faithfulness to their current station in life and devotion and service to the Lord. The way he elevates singleness challenges the modern church’s emphasis on nuclear families and calls us to find ways to cultivate deeper friendships and extended family community in our church. Download "1 Corinthians 7 | Singleness, Marriage & Community"

In 1 Corinthians 7, Paul addresses singles and married people, calling them to faithfulness to their current station in life and devotion and service to the Lord. The way he elevates singleness challenges the modern church’s emphasis on nuclear families and calls us to find ways to cultivate deeper friendships and extended family community in our church. Download "1 Corinthians 7 | Singleness, Marriage & Community"

Isaiah 6:1-8 & Luke 22:44-49 How do we keep the gospel fire burning? A renewed vision of the greatness of Christ, a renewed compassion for the lost and a renewed readiness for the gospel. Using Isaiah’s vision and calling in Isaiah 6, The Rev. Lewis Lew, Assoc. Dir. of Missions for the Diocese of Singapore and Dean of the Anglican Church of Nepal, invites us to be compelled by Christ, the world and the gospel to respond to God’s call with: “Here I am, Send Me!” Download "Keep the Gospel Fire Burning"

1 Corinthians 6:12-20 Sex is an issue that the church has handled poorly, and many have been hurt. But sex is an issue about which Christianity is clear.  So  how do we decide what is good and right and true with regards to our sexuality? Paul calls the church in Corinth to turn from sexual immorality–which he grounds in Creation design, the Incarnation’s elevation of the body, and the already but not yet Kingdom of God that is our calling and destiny. Download "1 Corinthians 6 | Sexuality & Calling to Community"

Victor Boutros, co-founder of the Human Trafficking Institute, shares about the evil of modern day slavery, the fight to end it globally, and God’s heart for the poor and oppressed. Download "Freedom Sunday 2019"

The Corinthian church has broken into factions–seeking honor and status by their associations and exclusions. Paul admonishes them for thinking humanly and following the culture to achieve status, rather than letting the cross of Christ be the source of their worth and the foundation for their community. Download "1 Corinthians 3 & 4 | Divisions and Community"