Ashworth Church - West Des Moines

God is a Potter, skillfully shaping us and applying pressure when necessary to make our lives as beautiful as they can be. This snapshot of God reveals His creativity, intimacy, intentionality, and sovereignty. How is the Potter shaping your life?

We often picture God in warm, relational terms—a loving Father, a compassionate mother, a faithful friend. But throughout Scripture, another image appears again and again: God as a Rock. In this message, we explore what it means to call God our Rock—and why this ancient image still speaks powerfully into our modern lives. Drawing from the Psalms of David and Jesus’ own words, we see how God offers...

Why does thinking of God as a “judge” often make us uncomfortable? This important snapshot of God might not look like what we think it looks like. In Scripture, we find a Judge who is good—one who desires the restoration of all things, justice for the oppressed, and the final end to violence. God’s love and justice are not opposed to each other. They are intimately and integrally intertwined.

God is King. We find this “snapshot” of God all over Scripture, but do we treat God with the awe and reverence that should be bestowed upon the King of Kings? To see God as King is an invitation to submission and surrender with reverence and a healthy fear and awe of who God really is.

God is not a man. It’s a fact about God we often forget despite the many motherly and feminine portrayals of God we find in Scripture. When we avoid or omit these snapshots of God, we miss out on a God that loves and protects like a mother — with ferocity, compassion, and empathy.

The snapshots of God we find in Scripture provide glimpses of the complexity and beauty of our Creator, each portrayal or metaphor of God in the Bible revealing a unique aspect of His character. In this new sermon series, we begin by looking at God as Father. What we find in Scripture may surprise you. Jesus reveals the Father’s love as compelling rather than coercive, comforting rather than rigid...

This Pentecost Sunday, we remember and celebrate the day the Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus’ first followers, fulfilling His promise to send the Spirit as a helper and comforter. Reflect, learn, and worship with us as we grow in our understanding of the Holy Spirit and His role in our witness to the people around us.

In Acts 2, we find a body of believers devoted to the apostles’ teaching, each other, the breaking of bread, and prayer. In a world of consumption, do those characteristics still define the Church today? The Church does not exist for itself – it exists to advance God’s Kingdom on Earth and to reveal His love to people who are not yet part of it.

Sin is a universal experience. It’s rooted in our very being and a key component of God’s story with humanity. However, viewing the gospel as simply a “sin-management” tool reduces the power and truth of the Good News. Listen as Pastor Brent shares a fresh perspective on sin, helping us understand its role in our story and how Christ teaches us to approach it.

In spiritual formation, we trust in the slow work of God. It’s a process of being formed in the image of Christ for the sake of others, ultimately experiencing the fullness that He offers. Listen as Pastor Brent shares about the significance and beauty of being formed by Jesus daily.

We continue our Start Here series, focusing on the person and presence of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit isn’t an optional add-on to the Christian life—he’s essential. He’s not a distant force or mysterious vibe; he’s the personal, powerful presence of God at work in us and in the world. From the opening pages of Scripture to the birth of the Church at Pentecost, we see the Spirit bringing life,...

Listen as we continue our Start Here series, focusing on the ways the Bible teaches us to view God, ourselves, and the world around us. The Bible wasn’t written to form a new religion; it was written to help us know and understand God. In this beautiful, God-breathed set of books, we find the true story of God’s pursuit, interaction, and love for his world.

The foundation of a relationship with Jesus is faith. What does faith look like in daily life, though? Is it a belief, blind trust, or action? Learn more as Pastor Brent digs into what real faith looks like according to Scripture. It’s not about earning anything or proving yourself. It’s about giving up the idea that you can earn God’s favor and choosing to trust in what Jesus has done for you.

In Christianity, everything we do and say rises and falls on Jesus — who He was, what He did, and what we believe about Him. In this new series, we’ll go back to the basics. Who is Jesus? What does faith look like? How do we grow in our relationships with Jesus?

In Jesus’ final prayer before His arrest, He intercedes on the behalf of His followers — that’s us! — praying that we would be one just as He is one with the Father. The unity of the body of Christ is crucial to our witness, but that doesn’t mean we agree on every theological issue or tradition. Our unity ultimately comes from our unity with God.

As Jesus continues his prayer in John 17:6-19, we find a message specifically for His disciples. Here, Jesus encourages His early followers that they belong to God, to one another, and in the world but not of the world. Listen as Pastor Brent explores the power this exhortation still holds for Christ’s people today.

As Jesus turns from teaching to prayer in John 17, we see the defining moment of His mission unfold. The hour has come—everything in history has led to this point. Jesus’ life, prophecy, and God’s redemptive plan all converge as He prepares for the cross. But instead of seeking escape, he asks for one thing: glory—not through power, but through sacrifice.

In Jesus’ final moments with His disciples, He warns them of the difficulties to come. Following Jesus is not without cost, sacrifice, and even persecution for some across the world. What does it look like to follow Jesus when the world is against you?

In some of Jesus’ final words to His disciples in the book of John, He tells them to love each other. It feels like such a simple command, but it’s actually one of the hallmarks of a relationship with Jesus. Jesus’ love is sacrificial. It’s friendship, and it’s mission.

Faith isn’t about production. It’s about remaining with Jesus — abiding with the True Vine — as Jesus teaches His disciples in John 15. Listen as Pastor Brent explores this famous passage, encouraging us to rest in Jesus in order to bear much fruit.

As Jesus shares with His disciples in the book of John, it’s better for Him to go so Christ-followers have access to the Holy Spirit. But, who is the Holy Spirit, and what does He do? Listen as Pastor Brent shares about the Spirit of God living in and working with and through us!

In John 14, we read Jesus make some bold statements about His identity. When you see Jesus, you see God. Jesus actually reveals the Father to us, which begs the question: What will you do with Jesus?

Our new sermon series explores the farewell discourse of Jesus: His final teachings to the disciples before His eventual death and resurrection. Pastor Brent begins by exploring the Way. Jesus says He’s “the way and the truth and the life,” but what does that mean? As we learn more about the Way, we also learn what true trust in God looks like.

Family is a beautiful gift from God, but when we begin placing our families equal to or above God, we lose sight of the role God intended for family to have in our lives. As we conclude our Counterfeit Gods series, we take a look at the idolization of the American family. What if the solution to the idol of family is not thinking of our families less but integrating them into the Kingdom of God wi...

From the beginning of time, humans have confused humanity’s role with God’s role. We long to be in control of every aspect of our lives — our money, our families, our health, and our futures. In this message, Pastor Amy gives permission for you to be a child. More knowledge and control won’t quiet your soul, but trust in God will.