MissionLife

As we explore our vision statement of being "Alive together in the warmth of Jesus Christ", we begin a sermon series about the book of Philippians.

Our Vision Statement is “Alive together in the warmth of Jesus Christ.” Our culture values independence and looking after yourself and your immediate family. God calls us to focus not just on our individual families, but He calls us to love and care for others. He calls us the body of Christ and desires for us to be one as He is one. He calls us to a unity of divine measure which can only be expla...

Pastor Craig interviews Pastor Nathan & Jade to introduce them to the congregation.

It's tough to find a conclusion without a destination. Unfortunately, much of our movement in life is without a final "amen", the last goal toward which we are aiming. In this episode, we're talking about movement without a destination and the power of a great amen to guide us. This is the ending.

After returning from my trip to the States, I took some time to reflect on how it all made me feel. In conversations with my wife, I realized that there are some powerful ideas we've been battling with over the past few years. We were blindsided by a duty to measure things that shouldn't be measured. And yet, the measurement is a common part of the missionary life. Together, let's stand before the...

This is the third and final installment of a series on boldness and fear. The first two episodes looked at the concept from cause (episode 43) to response (episode 44). In this concluding episode, I've taken all the material from the podcasts, refined it and slimmed it down and preached it. This message titled "Pleading with Paul", was shared at Community Church in Newark, Ohio.

Fear isn't the end. It's actually a great place to start! In this episode, we are taking everything we learned from the previous (part one) and adding a bicycle face, Agabus and some old-timey music. It's a recipe for boldness in the neighborhood!

Do you like scary movies? I remember watching them when I was younger but sometime since then I've lost all interest. What is fear, though? What causes it? Is all fear the same? A lot of our missional ideas hit a brick wall called fear. In this episode, we are going to explore the causes and types of fear with the goal of punching the thing in the teeth. It's part one of a two-part episode on bold...

Do you have someone(s) in your neighborhood that drain you? You hate to say it, but, they are kind of a parasite. They just take. Missional living doesn't ignore or reject these kinds of people even though it can be hard to know what to do. Why are they that way? What is a healthy response? In this episode, we're looking to Coastal Redwood trees, Carole King's living room and Dennis the Menace to...

Why do we think we have to be able to defend the Christian faith before we can be missional in our communities? Neighboring doesn't require scholarly prowess...it just requires an ear and a little time. Rather than arming yourself with all the theological arguments to go nose to nose with someone, why not begin with questions? In this episode, we're giving up on the battle of wits and moving into...

Mind your own business. Don't tell me how to parent. What's true for you isn't necessarily true for me. Plus a hundred more statements that all sound the same. It's a separation of our agreed adherence to ultimate or absolute truth. One of the results of increasing individualization is increasing subjectivity of truth in unified agreement, adherence and practice. In order to protect our "liberty",...

Few people know the empathy of Jesus like Simon Peter. At a time in our country when coldness, harshness and aggression dominate the public forum, the empathy of Christ speaks of forgiveness, softness and second chances. From the mouth of Simon comes poignant and timely story, one we should all take to heart. Empathy in our communities is the key to something fresh and meaningful. Often times, emp...

Recently, I was reading about swarms (seriously) and I started thinking about how they are different from crowds. People in groups behave in interesting ways. Then I started thinking about my favorite group...the Church. Is the Church a crowd? Is the Church a swarm? Jesus called us a flock. Is a flock the same thing as a swarm? In this episode, I'm delving into the fascinating world of swarms and...

We're taking a break! MissionLife Podcast is napping until September while Nathan works on a few other things. Come see him at Fairmount Family Camp in Fairmount, IN between July 21st and 28th. This episode is the sermon version of #36 Imagine. Enjoy! We'll see you in a few months!

"I think people just need to see faith lived." This statement from guest Lenny Luchetti became the central focus of our conversation. In this episode, Luchetti and I are discussing the sermon of our lives as an important expression of the missional life. What does your life preach to those around you? Luchetti's newest book "Preaching with Empathy" will be the guide for today's conversation. And,...

Recently, Nathan preached a sermon out of Luke 8 from the perspective of Legion. Jesus' missionary journey across the Sea of Galilee for this one man resulted not only in healing but a missionary call. As a result of the incredible deliverance of Legion, he was sent as a missionary to the Greeks of the Decapolis. Listen as Legion tells his story. A note about the recording: The sermon was preached...

I've done a lot of things over the years that you might call "missional". You probably have done those kinds of things too. Soup kitchens. Neighborhood cleanups. Volunteering. Short-term trips overseas. While those things (and others) all feel pretty missional...they aren't. At least, they might not be. Missions isn't what we do, it's who we are. In this episode, I'm interviewing Aron Kirk, lead p...

Willy Wonka is bonkers. Who comes up with this stuff? I like to think I'm creative but the idea of a chocolate river and trees made out of candy is just crazy! It seems like nonsense until it occurs to me that I get it. I know what a river is. I know what chocolate is. Chocolate river! And then I wonder if I can imagine up things like chocolate rivers...what can imagine about you? What kind of cra...

How do you want to worship? In this episode, we are looking for new ideas. When someone comes into our lives, they bring with them their own preferences and desires. As a result, they will want to live out Christianity a little bit differently than you. And so, we're talking about vacancy. The process of stepping back and giving someone else a little space to express and worship. And it happens wh...

What makes a good first impression? How long does a first impression matter? The answer might surprise you! In this episode, we are looking at the power of the first impression and some ideas about how we might improve ours and ignore theirs. That's right! Ignore it! The first impressions we receive might actually work to...well, just listen.

What do I do when missional living threatens to take me deep into someone's problems? If I say "yes" to this...where does it end? Missional living can be a rabbit hole into their tangeled knots and messy issues that never ends! The question is: how deep should we go? When do we say "no"? The answer might surprise you.