afterWord with Pastor Kent

In this short wrap-up from Pastor Kent Dresdow, the afterWord podcast closes out its first year of conversations and announces a summer break. Lord willing, a new season is planned to return in late summer or early fall. Kent looks back with gratitude over 52 episodes recorded with Executive Pastor Matt Rehrer and Executive Pastor Jeremy Pray, alongside staff interviews from across NorthCreek's mi...

Pastor Kent Dresdow and Executive Pastor Matt Rehrer continue their conversation on singleness in the Christian life, picking up where Part 1 left off. They address the remaining listener questions head-on: why singleness rarely surfaces explicitly in expository preaching (and why that's not a slight), whether contentment means surrendering the desire to be married, and how to hold unmet longing w...

Pastor Kent Dresdow and Executive Pastor Matt Rehrer take up a listener question submitted at NorthCreek's Great Family Gathering — a layered, honest inquiry about the place of single adults in the church. Drawing from 1 Corinthians 7, they address whether singleness is treated as a holding pattern until marriage, how the church attempts to create genuine community for singles across all life stag...

In this episode of afterWord, Pastor Kent Dresdow sits down with Executive Pastor Matt Rehrer and Pastor Jeremy Pray to reflect on 2 Corinthians 4:7–12 — a passage that surfaced during a recent staff and elders retreat. Drawing on a message from Pastor Dave Harvey, the conversation centers on the "clay pot" image Paul uses to describe the relationship between ordinary human vessels and t...

Pastor Kent Dresdow sits down with Adam Chiappelone, NorthCreek's Director of College and Singles, for a wide-ranging conversation about the church's ministry to young adults. Adam shares his own story — from a near-fatal fall at Yosemite that God used to arrest his attention, to his training at Talbot and Master's Seminary, to nearly two decades of shepherding college students and sin...

Pastor Kent Dresdow, Executive Pastor Matt Rehrer, and Pastor Jeremy Pray return to the topic of Christian giving with a set of practical questions left over from Part 1. The conversation moves from biblical principles to everyday application — wrestling with where giving should be directed, how the local church functions as the primary channel for generosity, what role parachurch ministries play,...

In this episode of afterWord, Pastor Kent Dresdow, Executive Pastor Matt Rehrer, and Pastor Jeremy Pray open a conversation that rarely gets a full hearing: what does Scripture actually say about Christian giving? Beginning with the admission that the topic often goes unaddressed, the three work through key passages including 1 Corinthians 16:2, 2 Corinthians 8–9, Philippians 4:10–20, and a brief...

In this episode of afterWord, Pastor Kent Dresdow is joined by Executive Pastors Matt Rehrer and Jeremy Pray to discuss the "third W" of the church's mission: walking in love. After several intense deep dives into topics like fear and idolatry, the team explores the practical philosophy of how believers move from being a face in a crowd to being an integral part of the body of Christ. The conversa...

In this second part of a two-episode conversation, Pastor Kent Dresdow continues his discussion with Executive Pastors Matt Rehrer and Jeremy Pray on the intersection of fear, faith, and the recurring temptation of idolatry. Picking up from their study of Isaiah 43 and 44, the pastors explore the nature of fear, distinguishing between physiological reactions to crisis and the spiritual responses t...

In this episode of afterWord, Pastor Kent Dresdow is joined by Executive Pastors Matt Rehrer and Jeremy Pray to reflect on a recent sermon from Isaiah 43:1–7. Nearly one year into the podcast, the conversation centers on why this specific passage—preached as the "next up" in a long-running expository series—struck such a profound chord with the congregation. The hosts explore how the sov...

How should believers read and apply Old Testament stories without making themselves the hero or over-spiritualizing the historical details? In this episode of afterWord, Pastor Kent Dresdow sits down with Executive Pastors Matt Rehrer and Jeremy Pray to debrief a recent expository preaching workshop hosted for 90 men across the greater Bay Area. While reflecting on the encouragement of studying Ol...

What are you actually saying when you tell someone "I forgive you"? It doesn't mean you'll forget it. It doesn't mean the consequences disappear. What it does mean is that you're sending the offense away — you're not going to bring it up to them, bring it up to others, or let it sit and breed bitterness in your own heart. And beyond that, biblical forgiveness (the Gre...

If God has forgiven us vertically in Christ, what does that mean for how we forgive each other horizontally — in marriage, in parenting, in the church? In this episode, the guys pick up where Part 1 left off and get practical. They walk through the biblical basis for horizontal forgiveness, drawing from Ephesians 4:32, Matthew 18, Luke 7, and the Lord's Prayer in Matthew 6 — showing that forgi...

What does it look like to faithfully lead and disciple women within the local church? In this episode of afterWord, Pastor Kent Dresdow sits down with Laurie Agnello and Katie Willis, the co-directors of women's ministries at NorthCreek Church. Together, they share their personal backgrounds, their unique paths into leadership, and how their complementary gifts serve the body of Christ. The co...

What happens when a believer stays silent about their sin? In this episode of afterWord, Pastor Kent Dresdow is joined by Executive Pastors Matt Rehrer and Jeremy Pray to introduce NorthCreek’s memory verse for the year: Psalm 32. While the church recently finished memorizing the book of Titus, the pastors explain that this Psalm offers a more attainable but deeply profound focus on the “joy of fo...

In this second part of a two-part series, Pastor Kent Dresdow, Matt Rehrer, and Jeremy Pray continue their conversation on how to maintain biblical friendships with the opposite sex, shifting the focus from general principles to specific guardrails. While the previous episode established the biblical call to treat one another with pure affection, this discussion tackles the internal and external w...

How should Christian men and women relate to one another within the church? In this episode of afterWord, Pastor Kent Dresdow is joined by Executive Pastors Matt Rehrer and Jeremy Pray to answer a thoughtful question from a church member regarding the boundaries and biblical nature of friendships between the opposite sex. While modern culture often sexualizes these interactions, the Bible calls be...

In this episode of afterWord, Pastor Kent Dresdow provides a special mid-sabbatical update, sitting down with Executive Pastors Matt Rehrer and Jeremy Pray to discuss the progress of his time away. While Kent is currently in a season of rest, he shares how the Lord has been strengthening him through a lack of daily ministry obligations and a focus on "purposeful rest".The conversation ex...

What does it look like to leverage art, stewardship, and technical skill for the sake of the Gospel? In this episode of afterWord, Pastor Kent Dresdow sits down with Brent Moutier, NorthCreek’s Director of Operations, to discuss the intersection of campus stewardship and creative outreach. Brent shares his personal testimony, tracing his journey from the film industry in Los Angeles to overseeing...

In this special anniversary episode of afterWord, Pastor Kent Dresdow sits down with a panel of "senior saints"—longtime members who have witnessed God’s work at NorthCreek for decades. Dubbing themselves survivors of the "Stone Age" (a nod to the church's first shepherd, Pastor Mel Stone), these guests share heartwarming and humorous stories of the church's early days,...

What does it look like for a local church to remain faithful for seven decades? In this episode of afterWord, Pastor Kent Dresdow joins Executive Pastors Matt Rehrer and Jeremy Pray to reflect on NorthCreek Church’s 70th anniversary. While the campus has transformed from open walnut orchards to a built-out ministry hub, the conversation focuses on the spiritual trajectory of the church—from its pl...

In this New Year’s episode of afterWord, Pastor Kent Dresdow is joined by Executive Pastors Matt Rehrer and Jeremy Pray to discuss the spiritual trajectory of 2026. The conversation begins with a lighthearted look at personal hobbies—from dirt biking and water sports to reading and writing—serving as a bridge to explore the deep, biblical concept of "delight" found in the Psalms. The pas...

How do we balance fun and faithfulness when discipling the next generation? On this episode of afterWord, Pastor Kent Dresdow and Pastor Matt Rehrer are joined by their friend and co-laborer, Student Ministries Director Zack Harris. Zack opens up about his upbringing in Santa Clarita, his unique conversion story that moved from a fear of God’s wrath to an affection for the beauty of the gospel, an...

How do we find fresh awe and curiosity in the familiar Christmas story? This episode of the afterWord podcast provides a deeper dive into the recent sermon on Luke 1:26-38, the biblical account of the Annunciation. Pastor Kent Dresdow, with Executive Pastors Matt Rehrer and Jeremy Pray, explores the profound theological and practical questions surrounding the angel Gabriel’s visit to Mary. The con...

What does a 4th-century church council have to do with Christmas in 2025? In this episode of afterWord, Pastor Kent Dresdow sits down with Executive Pastor Matt Rehrer to reflect on the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea—and why it still matters every time we celebrate the birth of Christ. Fresh from a pastors’ conference in Istanbul (historic Constantinople), Kent shares how walking thr...