Posts from March 2021
03.30.21 Feed
GET THE WORD OUT It’s important for Christians to focus on their inward life with Jesus. But we can never stop there. This past Sunday, we looked at how we have to go BEYOND an individual faith of just me and Jesus and invite others to experience the banquet God is preparing for us all. And there’s no better time to be talking with people than now. With Easter this Sunday, most people are more receptive to talk about Jesus…
03.23.21 Feed
WHAT MAKES US DISTINCT If you missed this past Sunday’s message, I encourage you to check it out as we took the time to move beyond the essentials of our beliefs and into the non-essentials that are distinctives of who we are as a church. What we keep saying each week is that on each of our distinctives, there are wonderful Christians who respect and study the Bible but come away with opposite views on these issues. It simply shows…
Coming Soon! Ashworth Learning Center
A few weeks ago, we announced that as part of an effort to be more intentional about meeting the needs in our community, we established the Ashworth Community Development Corporation, a nonprofit with the express intent of providing programs, offering services, and engaging in other activities that promote and support low and medium-income individuals in West Des Moines. To listen to a conversation between Pastor Brent and Pastor Ryan on this, click here. Our first initiative is the Ashworth Learning…
03.16.21 Feed
THE B-I-B-L-E, YES, THAT’S THE BOOK FOR ME If you grew up in church, it is likely you sang this song many times. Often, we find ourselves in a love/hate relationship with the Bible. At times we read it and feel encouraged as if the words were jumping off the page at us and guiding our steps as we live. And at other times, we feel the guilt of not picking it up because it just doesn’t seem to resonate…
Transgender Church Plant
In 2019, as part of our Missions Emphasis month, we sponsored a chapel plus community hall in India – India’s first chapel catering to the needs of the trans community. The project experienced delays due to the pandemic but was inaugurated around Christmas 2020. The transgender community in India is much different than the western community. While western ideas of sexuality and gender have become popular in recent years, this community is comprised exclusively of men opting to become women.…
Gospel in Color
Unfortunately, while God created a world full of beauty and diversity, we have allowed sin to stain our understanding of a person’s value based on the color of their skin. While some of us would like to think racism isn’t a big issue in our community or in 2021, too much has occurred for us to still believe that to be true. That’s why we are excited to be offering this important curriculum, “The Gospel in Color,” to our kids,…
03.09.21 Feed
GHOST STORIES Teens love to watch movies about paranormal activity and frighten their friends with scary ghost stories. It’s surprising then, that Christians have labeled the presence of God in our very lives with this same title – the Holy Ghost! Perhaps that’s why we’re not as comfortable with the workings of the Spirit as I think Jesus wanted for us. But this week’s message challenges us to step into our relationship with Holy Spirit and to trust God to…
03.02.21 Feed
SAVED… FROM WHAT? The common expression Christians use to describe their decision to follow Jesus by telling others they are “Saved” has deep roots in the Bible but fails to connect with those outside our own faith. All through scripture we see Jesus as the hero, the Savior, the Messiah who comes to rescue his people from their sin, death, and more specifically, from the flames of Hell. Unfortunately, this story seems to be uncompelling to the watching world who…