Posts from 2021 (Page 2)
05.11.21 Feed
OUT WITH THE OLD, IN WITH THE NEW Most people like new things. New car, new couches in the living room, new kitchen remodel. But at other times, we remain nostalgic, hanging on to the way things used to be. Sometimes as followers of Jesus, we end up hanging on to the way things really used to be – like pre-Jesus times! Even though we live in a New Covenant defined by the grace and love of Jesus, we live…
05.04.21 Feed
WORK IT We spend too much of our lives at our jobs for it to be a meaningless passage of time with no redeemable purpose. Conversely, while your job has significance, it is not your identity or your calling. Like we discussed on Sunday in the message Beyond Work, we need to find a middle ground. If you’re struggling with the job you work, recognize that God has wired you for a special purpose and look for the ways in…
04.27.21 Feed
YOU’RE #2! We live in a world where most people are looking out for #1 – themselves! We want to fight to protect our rights, our money, our way of life. But Jesus tells us to deny ourselves and follow him. And sometimes our agenda and his overlap. But other times they are at odds with one another. The question then becomes, who will you follow? Your own heart and desires? Or Jesus? Choosing who to follow is much easier…
04.20.21 Feed
BE. OUR. GUEST. BE OUR GUEST, PUT OUR SERVICE TO THE TEST I hope you now have that famous song from Beauty and the Beast in mind. That scene from the movie fully encapsulates how most people envision hospitality. But as we discussed in our message Sunday, hospitality is more than sharing a meal, it is sharing a life. God has swung the doors of his home wide open and Jesus has invited us inside to join him for a…
04.13.21 Feed
FOLLOW THE LEADER Do you remember the simple children’s game Follow the Leader where one person was the leader and everyone just imitated whatever that person was doing? It was like Simon says for beginners. In the same way, Jesus made evangelism for beginners just like Follow the Leader. We follow Jesus. We encourage others to follow us. Everyone should be imitating the faith-filled life of somebody further ahead on the faith journey and hopefully has somebody behind them who…
04.06.21 Feed
DON’T BECOME COMPLACENT In the midst of the ongoing pandemic, much ink has been spent warning about a 4th wave if we become complacent and let our guard down on all the COVID protocols. But I’m not here to write about masks, actually I’m talking about the days after Easter. You see, our Christian tradition is to put all our focus on Lent, Holy Week, Good Friday, and the crescendo of it all – Easter Sunday. But then come’s Monday,…
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,…