Posts from 2021
Joy/Rejoicing
Unless we’ve been startlingly entertained by a choir of angels overnight, I’m guessing our joy level is going to be low on the dipstick this Monday morning. Days are dark. “Covid” seems like it is every other word in the newscast. Winter weather is creeping lower on the weather map. And, dang it, our clothes are shrinking again. So what are we going to do about it? I suppose we could all do fifty jumping jacks while singing “Don’t Worry…
Support our Refugees
Afghan refugees are beginning to arrive to our city, and we are excited and honored to ease their transition to the U.S. by meeting tangible needs. We are sponsoring at least one family of four to six individuals who will arrive with virtually no furnishings to fill their home. Click here to view the list of items needed and to register to donate before January 3, 2022.
Mission: Christmas Cheer 2021
Mission: Christmas Cheer is an opportunity to give back during the holidays and keep Christ at the center of the season. We encourage you to get involved in one (or a few!) of the opportunities we have available this year. Hope Ministries Turkey Pickin’ Saturday, November 20 at 8:30 AM Hope Ministries: Bethel Mission (1310 6th Ave., Des Moines) For our 7th year in a row, we need 25 people to pick the meat off of 150 pre-cooked turkeys for…
Advent Christmas Blocks
We understand it can be so hard to have meaningful moments in the home at Christmas. Between all the presents and parties it can be hard to center your family on the reason for the season. We want to help you start – and finish – an Advent Resource this year! So we are offering this Christmas practice that helps kids—and parents!—anticipate the birth of Jesus, and not just presents. This practice is a tangible, Bible-based, 25-day guide to creating an exciting environment in…
Spiritual Drought
I don’t think it’s hyperbole to say that many of us are experiencing a spiritual drought. But how are we going to survive it? Let’s take a lesson from the woods…
06.29.21 Feed
ALL GOOD THINGS MUST COME TO AN END Today I announce that this will be the final edition of the Ashworth Feed. But do not fear, you won’t lose this great content you have come to love – we are simply going to consolidate emails and merge the Feed into the bottom of Wednesday’s weekly newsletter. That way, everyone will have access to these articles and not just a select few. Additionally, we are launching a new Facebook group for…
06.22.21 Feed
BAD NAMES Too often we allow situations around us to control our emotions, and then let that anger drive our thoughts and our actions. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus calls out this behavior and shows us how it is the condition of our heart and how we see people as less than God intended that allows us to name call and act badly. To explore Jesus’ teaching on anger, watch Pastor Amy’s message here. Controlling Anger Before it…
06.15.21 Feed
IT’S OK TO BE SALTY Recent slang has turned the word salty into a negative, but a couple millenia ago, being salty referred to the preserving, enriching qualities of salt. That’s why Jesus taught his disciples that rather than hiding off in a corner to hide from the evils of culture that they were supposed to be out and about in society seasoning, preserving, and enriching the world all around them, just like salt. That same instruction holds true for…
06.08.21 Feed
EVEN THE LOSERS Oftentimes the Beatitudes, the beginning of the famous Sermon on the Mount found in Matthew 5-7, are viewed as how Christians ought to live. But this then implies that Christians are supposed to be poor and mournful. Perhaps there is a different way to view this important passage of scripture. What if, instead of being the way those in the Kingdom should live, it is saying that EVEN THESE types of people are invited in? This is…
06.01.21 Feed
MORE THAN A BUILDING We don’t use the word temple often, but the truth is, we can unwittingly treat our church buildings like mini-temples if we don’t understand what a temple is. This past Sunday, Pastor Brent explained how the temple is the space where heaven meets earth. The space where that happened most perfectly was in the person of Jesus. And as a result of his life, death, and resurrection – we now have the Spirit of God inside…
05.25.21 Feed
WELCOME TO THE PRIESTHOOD Many people like to draw a line between the people (laity) and the priest or pastor (clergy). They imagine the church leader must be super sanctified and have a special relationship with God. And in the Old Testament of the Bible, that was true. If a commoner went into the Holy of Holies, he would die. But in the New Testament, we are told that we are now a holy priesthood – that is not just…
05.18.21 Feed
ONCE AND FOR ALL Everything must come to an end at some point. Seniors have to (get to) leave high school knowing they never have to go back. When people retire, they often look forward to that final day that marks never again having to get up for work at 6 AM. And as Christians, we remember the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross, thereby ending the sacrificial system so we don’t have to splatter blood around the walls of…