Aspire Church Podcast

Paul was not only a prolific church planter and evangelist, he invested deeply in the lives of younger men whom he would put in charge as pastors of the churches he was planting. The church in America is facing a crisis of leadership. Only three out of ten pastors will “finish well,” meaning that seven will wither burn out or fail out of ministry prior to retirement age. Clearly, we need individua...

The road of life is full of unexpected twists and turns. How we respond to those unforeseen detours says a lot about our faith. The Apostle Paul’s journey was certainly full of a lot of unanticipated diversions. Beginning with the Road to Damascus, Paul was constantly changing course, but rather than growing discouraged, Paul’s faith seemed to deepen with each change. What did Paul know that we ne...

Do you ever feel like someone keeps moving the goal post? You thought you understood what you had to do, how far you had to go, how much you had to pay, only to discover that more was required? Many of the early Gentiles Christians must have felt this way. Paul had told them that Jesus had accomplished everything required for their salvation. But other religious leaders came along and told them th...

Throughout time and in every culture, there is evidence that humans have always sought out heroes. From the mythical gods of the Greeks and the Romans to the sports and entertainment stars of modern America, people are constantly seeking and making heroes to worship. In part four of Journey to the Ends of the Earth we see this principle at work as a crowd of gentiles try to make Paul and Barnabas...

The church in Antioch was the first church to give Paul a significant leadership position, it was also the church that sent Paul on his first missionary journey, a journey that would lead to churches springing up throughout the entire Roman Empire. This was a church that truly changed the world! Join us for week three of Journey to the Ends of the Earth as Pastor Gary explores six characteristics...

Other than Jesus Himself, there has been no more influential person in the development of the Christian faith than the Apostle Paul. He authored a majority of the books that make up the New Testament, carried the Gospel throughout Asia and into Europe, defined and defended a new understanding of God’s covenant, and built the framework for Christian theology. But a closer look at Paul also reveals...

The #metoo movement has impacted every arena of our society from entertainment to government and everything in between. The church has not escaped scrutiny as some have used religion as a weapon to control and manipulate women for their own selfish motives. But Jesus and the early church were radical in their understanding of the value and equality of women in first century Rome. Join us as Pastor...

Every transition in life requires a certain amount of change: when we finish school and start our career or move from single life to marriage or from a childless existence to parenthood. Nothing will ever be the same again. There is no turning back. And yet, old habits die hard. But if we are going to thrive through all the changes of life, we must embrace the sacrifice each new reality requires,...

It has been said that 11 o’clock on Sunday morning is the most segregated hour in America. But if the message of the Gospel is love and reconciliation, why do our churches not reflect greater diversity? In Part four of Breakout, Pastor Gary Lee Webber looks at three specific forms of discrimination and how the Gospel can break us out of each of them.

When was the last time you found yourself disgusted? Maybe it was something you saw on television, or something you found rotting in the fridge, or the smell coming from your son’s gym bag. Disgust is a natural reaction designed to keep us from things which might be potentially dangerous to our well-being, but the disgust response can also be triggered by things we find morally repulsive. During J...

Westerners are addicted to “quick and convenient.” We don't like to wait and we don't want to expend any extraneous effort or money unless it will make our life more comfortable, and yes, convenient! The Bible is a record of people whose lives were interrupted by God. While the stories are all different, one thing they have in common is how inconvenient it was for these men and women to...

We live in a consumer driven society. What once defined our understanding of economics and commerce, now describes how many people understand the church. For some, church is a place we go to get our spiritual needs met. We come hoping to have our tank filled so we can make it through another week. If a church fails to meet our needs, we may begin “shopping” for one that will. Join us for part one...

There are places we want to go and places we must go. We want to go on vacation; we must go to the dentist. We want to go to the movies or a sporting event; we must go to school or work. Whether it is a “want to” or a “must” go place, technology allows us to type in the destination and our phones will tell us how to get there. That’s exactly how many of us approach prayer. We enter a question or l...

Mobile devices can warn drivers about everything from road debris to major highway construction. When activated and acted on, drivers can potentially save time by following the directions offered by their “smart” device. Then there are those people who assume their device is smarter than it actually is, and end up in a ditch off the side of a road. Unlike modern technology, however, God offers dir...

When you put an address into your favorite mapping software, you should get a clear picture of your desired destination, but if you want to go there, you’ll need to provide your current location. Fortunately (or maybe not), our “smart” devices frequently know where we are even when we do not! It’s difficult to chart a course if you do not know where you are beginning the journey. A journey to inti...

The opening section of the book of Acts ends with a disturbing picture of a discipleship. Stephen was one of the first leaders in the early church. He had all the characteristics and practiced all the habits of a fully devoted follower of Jesus and yet, he found himself the target of violent opposition from religious people. Join us for the final message in The Disciple’s Journey where we learn th...

We are in a spiritual battle. Our enemy wants us to give up on our journey to a closer relationship with Jesus. As we continue to follow Jesus, He provides power for us through the Spirit, through our fellow travelers, and through our practice of the historic spiritual disciplines. As Richard Foster writes, these spiritual disciplines “allow us to place ourselves before God so that He can transfor...

In an increasingly materialistic culture which offers multiple superficial solutions to our longing for a genuine relationship with God, the words of one of Christ’s first disciples calls us to a Deeper Journey with Christ. The apostle Peter called the early Christians to that journey which included sacrifice and discipline. We are called to that same obedience to Jesus and as we grow in our relat...

After we have surrendered to Jesus Christ and have begun our journey of faithfulness, there will be times of doubt and even failures – just review the apostle Peter’s own story. However, as Robert Mulholland notes, we are following the One whose grace can redeem our detours and can free us from the crippling bondages of our prior journey. God provides grace for the journey and He will restore us a...

Jesus called the disciples to follow Him and then commissioned them to go and make other disciples. From Jesus’ first invitation to “come, follow me,” throughout the centuries and across the planet, there has been a continual succession of faithful disciples echoing Jesus’ invitation. Disciples make disciples. Join us for part five of The Disciple’s Journey where we discover how the first Church g...