Posts by Ryan Lenerz (Page 2)
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…
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…
Peanut Butter Drive
At Ashworth we strive to make an impact in our community and this year we want to do that by stocking the shelves of the Des Moines Area Religious Council (DMARC) food pantry with Peanut Butter. Through COVID, peanut butter has become a popular item and so the price has increased to $1.50 a jar or $18 a case (12 jars). While the price has increased, so has the need. That’s why this year we want to purchase an entire…
02.23.21 Feed
NOBODY PUTS JESUS IN A CORNER Whether you are a Christian or not, the universal impact he made on this earth requires every single person who hears his name to make a decision. Who is he? And if he is who he says he is, what are you going to do about it yourself? This is the crux of the Christian faith. Without Jesus, we have no Christ, no Christianity, and no good news. All too often we think of…
02.16.21 Feed
MADE TO BE LIKE GOD I assume God hates the cold too, afterall, we are made in his image! This past Sunday’s message, which covered hell while most churches used Valentine’s day as an opportunity to preach on Love, showed us the full scope of what it means to be human. We learned about the incredible potential we have as God’s pinnacle of creation who are made to be like him, but unfortunately made a mess of ourselves as we…