Everyone wants to be an influencer it seems. Maybe we can learn from the greatest Influencer the world has known. His influence has nothing to do with marketing or style or getting people to buy stuff. Rather his influence led people to abandon their old life and their old way of evaluating what’s valuable. And He invites us to influence others lik…

When I was in middle school, all the kids identified with one of two distinct groups. You were either a “head banger” or you were a “yo boy or yo girl.” To identify with one group or the other came with a whole list of activities, music, clothing that were associated with each group. The "bangers" skateboarded, listened to grunge music, wore JNCO j…

We continue our “Kingdom Come” series this weekend as we look to answer the question: “WHY AM I HERE?” So often, we ask ourselves questions about life and its meaning. Given the circumstances and situations we face today, we can develop legitimate feelings of confusion, doubt, and anxiety. Could this be due to viewing our lives and existence from t…

Have you ever woken up, maybe when you were on vacation, and it took you awhile to figure out where you were? Or, have you ever thought you knew where you were but then looked around and found you were in a completely different location than you thought? The technical term for these feelings is “disorientation,” and we have all experienced them at …

Jake and Elwood knocked on the door and said: “We are on a mission from God” in the classic film “The Blues Brothers." They really weren’t, but those who have experienced God are. Why? Because the reality of meeting God changes you into a person of mission: one who is willing to leave what is comfortable in order to love and serve others. As you ta…

I saw a guy at a coffee shop last week wearing a shirt that said "What is your WHY?" I have been thinking about that question a lot ever since. I'd like to make that a two-part question: "What is your WHAT?" and then, "What is your WHY?" Serving is my WHAT... but that isn't my WHY… Would you join me in reading Isaiah 58:6-12 every day between now a…

Indescribable. Devastating. Unbelievable. If you have watched any news recently, you have likely heard these adjectives employed in attempt to capture the effect Hurricane Helene had on communities across the southeastern United States. Many prayed to be spared from the disaster, but the reality is that storms happen. Storms large and small are a f…

Do you ever wish others could see the world as clearly as you do? If only other people could see where they mess up, surely the world would be a better place. Sound familiar? There is little we love more as a society than pointing out where others are wrong; and Christians are no exception. Call it accountability, helping a struggling friend, or ev…

Ever heard the quote “you can’t take it with you?” This can have two meanings and presents us with two options: consume and accumulate as much as possible now while you can OR consume and accumulate no more than you need because abundant, eternal life isn’t found in the abundance of stuff. How do we live in a way where our money and possessions don…

The center of the Sermon on the Mount is The Lord’s Prayer - a prayer still prayed daily by Christians all over the world. It’s more than a few familiar stanzas to hurriedly rehearse. In fact - it summarizes and empowers Jesus’s teaching. It has shaped Christian hearts and minds for 2000 years - and it has the power to do the same for us today. Joi…

Does your life make for great theater? “All the world’s a stage” according to Jaques in Shakespeare’s As You Like It. Regardless of whether or not you consider yourself a “performer,” you don’t have to put on “an act” to earn the applause of Christ. No matter what “stage” of life you are in, Jesus wants to be your secret “Audience of One.” Join us …

In Jesus' most iconic sermon, he drops a truth bomb on his audience, declaring, “You’ve heard it said… but I say to you…” What’s Jesus saying? Today he might have said it like this, "You think you know, but let me tell you the real deal.” Life in His Kingdom is a game-changer. It's not just surface-level, it's a deep dive into the core of our being…

Jesus has this way of turning our culture inside out and society upside down. He has this way of doing and saying things, and even blessing people, that is counter-cultural and revolutionary. It doesn’t always make sense to us. This Sunday kicks off our Inside-Out, Sermon On The Mount, 7-week Fall series, along with our new LifeGroups launch. Toget…

Come join us as we wrap up the Chosen series with a focus on Jesus’ words in Matthew 5:13-16. As followers of Christ, we are called to be “salt” and “light” in this world. What exactly does this mean and is it possible? Together, let’s explore what Jesus meant when He first issued this challenge to His disciples and the vision that He is holding ou…

Imagine you are one of the disciples who did life with Jesus each and every day. You saw Him turn water into wine and feed thousands. You were there when He healed the woman with the issue of blood. You witnessed Him eat with sinners, inviting them into new life and relationship with Him. You were there with a front row seat to the raising from the…

Most of us have a funny relationship with freedom and control, don’t we? We love the idea of freedom for ourselves and wouldn’t hesitate to say: “I don’t need anyone telling me how to live my life!” But we’re also very quick to fight against what we believe is wrong. We often try to control the behavior of others, especially when we think it will a…

Life can be going well when suddenly… A chance encounter; an unguarded moment; a painful betrayal... and all seems lost! Mary Magdalene has one of those days and suddenly finds herself walking down steps into a dark and dimly-lit past. Jesus tells a story in Luke 15 about a lost sheep and how the shepherd drops everything and runs to rescue... our …

He was exhausted. The disciples? They were comfy around the campfire, until tensions arose after a long and exhausting day. Now they were waiting on Jesus. The conversation is being driven by four brothers whom Jesus recently called to join him in full time ministry. They are core members of his small group (Matthew 4:18-22). What starts out as fun…

The Beatles once sang “All the lonely people, where do they all come from? All the lonely people, where do they all belong?” One of the greatest desires of the human heart is finding a place where we belong – a place to fit in – in a world that can, at times, feel lonely and unfamiliar. In fact, of all the topics that singers and songwriters mine f…

Last year, we journeyed through scripture (inspired by Season 1 of The Chosen) and this year we will pick up where we left off with Season 2. From James and John wanting to call down fire on the Samaritans to the breaking of the Sabbath laws, see the adventure of the four gospels come to life. Together, we will explore the parable of the Lost Sheep…

Come join us this Sunday as we wrap up the "Between the Lines," series with a focus on the Book of Isaiah. Our key passage of scripture will be Isaiah 52:13- 53:12. Referred to as the gospel of Isaiah, this is one of the clearest references to Jesus Christ in the entire Old Testament. Written 700 years before Jesus showed up, the prophet Isaiah for…

Most of us contain multitudes – human beings are complicated and often confusing. Once when asked to “just be yourself,” Bob Dylan responded with: “no problem, but which self do you want me to be?” Many of us can relate to this because we can be one way in one situation but completely different in another. We’re all a complicated mix. Our temptatio…

The book of Ruth is a pretty wild story… A young woman with her whole life in front of her, leaves everything familiar and goes to a place she's never been, with her mother-in-law no less. The story includes famine, loss of loved ones, unexpected kindness of strangers, a dramatic rescue, and a surprise ending - and Jesus has His fingerprints all ov…

This week we will take on the book of Job, which inevitably leads us to the challenging subject of suffering. We’ll take a look at how Job endures suffering, how we can support others in their suffering, and how those who are afflicted can find hope in Jesus. Come discover Jesus in the book of Job this Sunday!…

Join us as we continue the Jesus in the Old Testament series with a focus on the book of Joshua. Our key passage of scripture will be Joshua 2:1-21. We would encourage you to read this ahead of time and ask yourself, “What does a prostitute and a scarlet cord have to do with Jesus? And how does this relate to our lives today?” Come find out as we e…

Following our 1st Corinthians sermon series, Damascus Road is offering a late Spring class exploring key themes in 1st Corinthians. This class will be co-taught by DRCC’s retired Founding Pastor, Richard Fredericks, PhD, and Teaching Team Pastor, Michelle Rader, M.A. They will explore in greater depth some of the rich themes of 1st Corinthians, esp…

I had a friend who dreamed for years about building his dream house. I would stop by to visit him and he would have the plans spread out on the kitchen table… All the attention to detail… The fixtures in the bathroom… The size of the windows… Which direction should the house face to get the morning sun… should I build a one car garage or a two car?…

Following our 1st Corinthians sermon series, Damascus Road is offering a late Spring class exploring key themes in 1st Corinthians. This class will be co-taught by DRCC’s retired Founding Pastor, Richard Fredericks, PhD, and Teaching Team Pastor, Michelle Rader, M.A. They will explore in greater depth some of the rich themes of 1st Corinthians, esp…

What word or idea do you most associate with the Old Testament? Scary? Ancient? Violent? Exciting? Weird? Lots of laws? Puzzling? Jewish scripture? God's story? Don't know where to start? The Old Testament is much longer and older than the New Testament. It has even more genres and authors and speaks from and to a wider variety of cultures and time…

Following our 1st Corinthians sermon series, Damascus Road is offering a late Spring class exploring key themes in 1st Corinthians. This class will be co-taught by DRCC’s retired Founding Pastor, Richard Fredericks, PhD, and Teaching Team Pastor, Michelle Rader, M.A. They will explore in greater depth some of the rich themes of 1st Corinthians, esp…

“I wonder what sort of tale we have fallen into” Frodo Baggins For the last five years we bumped into each other on the way to work or while walking our dogs. There was always the friendly "hi, how are you", nothing more. Recently we invited them over for a meal. The following Monday Sherresa & I happened to be going to work at the same time, and w…

Following our 1st Corinthians sermon series, Damascus Road is offering a late Spring class exploring key themes in 1st Corinthians. This class will be co-taught by DRCC’s retired Founding Pastor, Richard Fredericks, PhD, and Teaching Team Pastor, Michelle Rader, M.A. They will explore in greater depth some of the rich themes of 1st Corinthians, esp…

Inviting others into genuine relationship and conversations can be intimidating. As we become vulnerable and open ourselves up to share our stories we can be tempted to become someone we are not. In a world where we are constantly told who we should be and what we should look like, God desires for you to be uniquely yourself! Join us this week as w…

Following our 1st Corinthians sermon series, Damascus Road is offering a late Spring class exploring key themes in 1st Corinthians. This class will be co-taught by DRCC’s retired Founding Pastor, Richard Fredericks, PhD, and Teaching Team Pastor, Michelle Rader, M.A. They will explore in greater depth some of the rich themes of 1st Corinthians, esp…

“It’s so good to see you, we really need to get together sometime!” “Sounds great – want to grab a coffee?” “I’d love to do breakfast, or if your mornings are too busy maybe we could do lunch.” “I’m in, but hey, we really do need to get the families together for dinner sometime…” Doesn’t it seem like all our best social interactions happen over a m…

Following our 1st Corinthians sermon series, Damascus Road is offering a late Spring class exploring key themes in 1st Corinthians. This class will be co-taught by DRCC’s retired Founding Pastor, Richard Fredericks, PhD, and Teaching Team Pastor, Michelle Rader, M.A. They will explore in greater depth some of the rich themes of 1st Corinthians, esp…

What’s on your porch? Maybe there are flower pots, rocking chairs, and a welcome mat. Maybe there is an Amazon package or two. Or there could be a catchy “Welcome to my Porch” sign. Our porches are as different and unique as the people who occupy them. This week, as we continue our “Life on the Porch" series, we will be looking at how we each have …

Following our 1st Corinthians sermon series, Damascus Road is offering a late Spring class exploring key themes in 1st Corinthians. This class will be co-taught by DRCC’s retired Founding Pastor, Richard Fredericks, PhD, and Teaching Team Pastor, Michelle Rader, M.A. They will explore in greater depth some of the rich themes of 1st Corinthians, esp…

Easter. True story... Jesus died for our sins one dark Friday, and they buried him. On Sunday, He was raised to life–resurrected from the dead! The grave cave was empty–and hundreds of people saw Jesus alive again! What’s more–He’s comin’ back for us–and we’ll live with Him forever! IF this is a fake story–a fabrication, a legend–then we live and w…

Can you believe that we are just a little over a week away from Easter! Palm Sunday marks the last week of Jesus’ ministry while on earth. It’s during this week we see more clearly than ever that Christian faith involves trusting that at the center of the universe is a Being whose heart beats with an infinite love for His world, for you and me. The…

All You Need Is Love! The Beatles might have taken a look at 1 Corinthians 13 before they wrote the famous song “All You Need is Love.” Unfortunately, many in Corinthian culture ascribed to the Tina Turner school of thought, “What’s Love Got To Do With It?” Enough song references! 1 Corinthians 13 is known as the “Love Chapter” of the Bible, quoted…

Over the past few weeks we've heard a lot about what we do with our bodies - how what we do with our bodies impacts ourselves and others - for ill or for good. This week we'll talk about a different kind of body - the Body of Christ - His church. But this will continue the logic of our previous talk about bodies: what we do with our individual bodi…

FOOD FIGHT!!! I’ve never been in an actual food fight, but I loved watching them in movies when I was a kid. It’s a hilarious and ridiculous visual when you see a bunch of people throwing mashed potatoes and pies, squirting ketchup and mustard, and making a mess of each other with their dinners. This week we are going to focus in on 1 Corinthians 8…

Are you single? Married? Divorced? Widowed? No matter how you answered that question, 1 Corinthians 7 has something to say about our relationships with others and our relationship with God. This is likely a passage you haven't heard in church before. Let's explore it together as we strive to be a community that’s Undivided, marked by cross-shaped l…

So 1st Corinthians can get... kind of... AWKWARD... Paul gives the Corinthians a "sex talk” in 1 Corinthians 6:9-20. Yup - Paul goes there - but he doesn't throw a list of rules at them. Rather Paul steps in to contrast the use and abuse of the world's way with the love and dignity of God's design. He is blunt and honest with the Corinthians, but a…

Last week Michelle shared some really good advice with us that she gleaned from the apostle Paul’s introduction to the letter to the Corinthians; she said that if you have to deliver a hard word to someone it’s a really good idea to start with the positives before you get to the negatives. That’s a good word for all of us. But this week we will get…

Division? Partisanship? Power struggles? Do these seem like new problems? Well, they are not! Living in community has always been a challenge from the very beginning (just read the family stories in Genesis!) But when we are living in Christ Jesus - our whole attitude toward others should change. Yet this change doesn't come automatically, quickly,…

What if you could have all of your debt taken away—canceled? What if someone forgave all of the debt of every person in your family? What if this person dealt with all of the debt in our community? What if they could zero out the national debt? What if they could wipe out the debt of every person who ever walked the earth? How would we respond to t…

There is a famous scene in the 1985 cult classic film Pee Wee’s Big Adventure, where Pee Wee is talking to a woman about her life’s dream of one day living in Paris. In the scene Simone hedges when Pee Wee encourages her to chase her dream, she responds with “I know you’re right, but…” Pee Wee pushes back with “But what?! Everyone I know always has…

Forgiveness... You can’t buy it... You can’t earn it... Paradoxically, forgiveness is costly yet free. So who pays? Here’s the truth... "In Him (Christ), we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us..." ~Ephesians 1:7-8 "In turn, you and I are to forgive others as…