Renew Communities Teaching Podcast

As the threat of sickness spread throughout our world last year the one thing we were told we could do was create a bubble to keep ourselves, our families, and others safe. It’s not long before bubbles become barriers and barriers become walls meant to keep others away and to keep us safe. The problem with these walls is what you do with them after. Many of us chose to live with unnecessary walls...

Everyone agrees that our world is more divided than ever. But if you ask them why you’ll find there’s little to no agreement. Though, the one thing we can all agree on is it’s somebody else’s fault! In week 3 we explore the core element of what divides us, what role we each play in that division and the steps we can take to end the division.

You don’t go through challenging times without picking up some baggage. The circumstances you fight through, the losses you suffer, the relationships that come to an end, the opportunities missed - all of these are bags we carry through from our last mess to the next one. In week 3 we work through how to appropriately unpack the baggage we’ve been hauling around what happens when we don’t.

When tensions are high relationships are fragile. In the last year, it has felt like so much is riding on every single moment. In moments like these, we can either inflict or receive the most pain from the people we’re closest to. Most of the time we can name the hurt, identify the culprit, analyze the circumstances and address the pain but none of that is cleaning up the mess the broken relations...

Your story is uniquely yours! Just because it’s your story doesn’t mean it’s only meant for you. God wants to use your story to help others with similar stories understand how they fit in God’s big story. In the final week of our series Finding Your Place, we talk about what it looks like to tell your story in a way that introduces others to God!

Have you ever thought about how unique the things you care about are? Nobody has the same combination of passions that you do. What if God gave you those passions to direct your heart on mission? In week 3 of our series, we’ll talk about how your passions can point you towards the mission God has for you!

God has given you specific gifts and abilities through the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit! In week 2 we’ll discuss how you’re gifted, how to identify your gift and how to begin using your gift to accomplish God’s mission in the world!

Our God’s on a mission. He is working to restore all that was lost at the fall. Paul tells us that if you are in Christ you’ve been made new but he also says that Jesus has give the ministry of reconciliation to us. We have been given the charge to join God on His mission! The mission of Jesus is more than just service projects and good deeds, it’s the opportunity to introduce our friends and neig...

Jesus is “The Christ” which means “the anointed one.” As the Messiah Jesus was “annointed’ to fulfill God’s mission and purpose. Watch or listen as we discuss what it means for Jesus to be the Christ and how “beholding him” in this way should shape our life.

There’s a reason that the author of Hebrews tells us to fix our eyes on Jesus. It’s been said that “You become what you behold” and so how we focus on Jesus can bring significant transformation to our lives! In week 4 we’ll talk about how we can fix our eyes on Jesus and we’ll practice beholding him together.

There's an obvious spiritual impact that comes from the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ but it goes far beyond the personal implications that we often focus on. There has been a spiritual battle raging throughout human history but Jesus’ resurrection results in the ultimate victory. In week 3 of our series we talk through this cosmic battle and what the victory of God means for us in our ev...

In Philipians 3 Paul talks about a desire to know Jesus, but he talks about knowing him in a way we most often don’t think about. Paul doesn’t just want to know the resurrection power of Jesus but he wants to participate with Jesus in His suffering and death. Through the Lenten season we are reminded of the intense physical suffering that Jesus endured but what if there was a way that we could con...

The Christian's practice of eating the “Lord’s Supper” dates back to the night of the last supper. We were given this meal as a way to remember, or to focus our attention on, the body and blood of Jesus. In the first week of Lent, we will speak of its importance, how participating in it together can usher us into communion with Him and why beholding Jesus as He is should be so important for us as...

What is celebrated gets repeated and what is glorified gets our allegiance. In our final week of Bridging the Gap, we take a look at what we're celebrating and glorifying, how it's impacting our lives, and what kind of revisions God is calling us to make so that we celebrate and glorify Him!

One of the most powerful statements that Jesus makes in the gospels is "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me." The strength of this statement is stunning for those of us living in a "post-truth" society. In week 3 of our Bridging the Gap series, we talk about how we got here, the toll a lack of truth takes on our lives, and the one revision we MUST...

When we live with the end in mind it makes us think through every decision we make along the way. Peter is inviting us to live our daily lives with a focus on eternity because he believes it will transform the way we live our lives and encourage us to invite others into God’s family. In week 2 of our Bridging the Gap series, we take a look at how this can bring personal revision and how an awarene...

Far too often we miss the point and purpose of life. The good news is that your purpose in life is connected to God’s purpose in this world and when we can see where we fit it helps us see how we should live our lives. Peter tells us that Jesus is coming back but before He does God wants to save as many people as possible! In week one of our Bridge the Gap series, we’ll look at how God’s long-term...

In the last part of Haggai we are reminded that our obedience and our faithfulness can go viral and we have a choice to make about what we spread throughout our world.

2020 has shaken us in many ways. Normal life, whatever that means, is gone. Many things look completely different than they did in 2019. Our relationships, our jobs, our world, even our faith. We are going to take a look at the Book of Haggai to explore what it looks like to rebuild our lives when our lives and the world are in disorder.