Aspire Church Podcast

Generosity was a defining characteristic of first century disciples. In his history of the early church, Luke describes how Christians shared their possessions so that there was no need among them. That kind of generosity attracted the attention and favor of the entire city. What would happen if believers today displayed that kind of generosity? Join us for part four of The Disciple’s Journey wher...

The success and growth of the first church was not generated through extravagant programs held in state-of-the-art facilities. Their accomplishments were not the result of powerful, influential leaders. In fact, the early church had almost nothing we consider essential for the church today. All they had is all that Jesus promised them: power from the Holy Spirit. The disciples were dependent on Go...

When the church was born, the first disciples didn't have copies of the Bible (the New Testament didn't even exist yet!) They didn't have buildings or programs, in fact, they had almost nothing that we would consider indispensable today. So how did they go from being a handful of rag tag fisherman to leaders of a global movement? The answer is through the Power of the Holy Spirit an...

As Jesus was preparing to ascend to heaven, He instructed His disciples to wait on the Holy Spirit. At first, they took that direction literally as they passively stood around looking into the sky. But after reaching the upper room, they became impatient and began planning. Many of us vacillate between passivity and impatience when we are called to wait on the Lord. Join us for part on of the seri...

Jesus’ invitation to discipleship is a call to follow Him. While believing in Jesus is important, following Him is always the standard for a true disciple. In fact, the Bible does not leave room for believing in Jesus apart from obediently following Him. That sounds simple, but it is not easy. Join us for the first message in our year long Journey to Discipleship. In this message, Pastor Gary Webb...

Every year we set aside December 25 to remember and celebrate the arrival of Jesus, the Son of God, Savior of the world. Even people who do not regularly attend church or read their Bibles find the familiarity of the Christmas story a source of joy each December. But what if the Christmas story was only the beginning of the story? What if Jesus’ arrival was only the first of many? Join us on Chris...

Christmas is the annual celebration of the birth of Jesus. But there is no evidence the early church ever celebrated Jesus’ birth. Instead, the early disciples lived in eager anticipation of His second coming. Every time the early church got together, it was with the expectation that today could be the day when Jesus returned. Advent is a season of reflecting on our need for a Savior and how God m...

When we think about the arrival of Jesus our thoughts turn to the past (Bethlehem) or the future (His return). There is, however, a present reality to consider. After Jesus was arrested and crucified, He was placed in a borrowed tomb. His followers and His detractors thought it was over. Clearly this was not the world’s long-awaited Messiah. But three days later, Jesus rose from the grave and appe...

If you have lived your entire life expecting God to send a conquering king to overthrow the most powerful empire known to man, you would probably not look for a baby born to an unwed, homeless, teenage refugee. But that is exactly how God chose to make His entrance into our world. The arrival of the Messiah was not what anyone expected and so most people missed it. Join us for part two of Arrival...

A longing is a yearning or a desire for something one does not have. Everyone has longings. We long for companionship. We long for a way of life. We long for health, more money, a second chance. And then there are the longings we cannot define. Longings that nothing in this world can ever seem to finally nor fully satisfy. The Old Testament is filled with the longings of a people who had been sepa...

At Southside, we believe our sending capacity is more important than our seating capacity. This means, among other things, that we do not measure our success by how many people sit in our worship services, but by how many people leave our worship services to live out the Gospel through word and deed. Jesus told His disciples to “Go and make disciples.” A fundamental part of our worship service is...

Communion. The Lord’s Supper. The Eucharist. Mass. While it goes by many names, every Christian tradition includes a symbolic meal involving bread and wine or their equivalent substitutes. Where did this ancient tradition come from? What does it mean? Why do Christians around the world still do it? Join us for part 5 of BECAUSE as we consider why we eat the bread and drink the wine in worship.

There are only a few places where people sing together and everyone is expected to participate. The Birthday Song at a birthday party, Take Me Out to the Ball Game during the seventh inning stretch, and in church. Some people love to sing, others dread it, so why do we always do it in church? Are we singing for our own benefit and enjoyment or is there something more going on when we lift our voic...

An often-repeated criticism of the church is that, "They are always asking for money!" While there are examples of financial abuse by churches, there is also an important spiritual connection between our money and our spiritual health. In fact, Jesus talked about money more than He talked about heaven and hell combined! Join us for week 3 of BECAUSE where we explore the basic concepts of...

The Bible is the best-selling book of all times. It is read, respected, revered, and reviled by people from every nation. Each Sunday, the stories, teachings, and history as recorded in this collection of ancient writings shapes not only the preaching, but the entire worship services of millions of churches. From the lyrics we sing to the creeds we believe; the Bible is the central source of autho...

More than a religious ritual, baptism is a beautiful symbol of a person’s faith in Jesus Christ. Baptism is also a sign of what a believer is becoming as he or she follows Jesus from death to life. Finally, baptism is a seal of belonging. Like a wedding ring, baptism is a visible reminder that this person belongs to Christ and is a part of His Church. In part one of BECAUSE, Pastor Gary explains w...

When Jesus commanded us to love our enemies, He was extending an invitation to live out the reality of the Gospel. We are never more like God than when we love our enemies, after all, it was when we were God’s enemies that He loved us and sent Jesus to die in our place. Join us for the final message of Love Well, as we consider the cost, the power and the standard for loving your enemy well.

When Jesus gave the command to “Love God and love your neighbor,” some in the crowd questioned how Jesus intended us to define “neighbor.” Was it based on geography, ethnicity, religious similarities, or was Jesus talking about something else? In part six of LOVE WELL, Gary explores the familiar parable Jesus told to answer the question, “Who is my neighbor,” and how Jesus’ answer actually cuts to...

Most people know John 3:16, but not as many people are familiar with 1 John 3:16, “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down His life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.” This verse isn’t simply referring to our biological siblings. It is a call for every Christian to love his or her fellow believer enough to die for them. This is a call to Love...

"Family" is the laboratory where a child first learns what it means to be loved and how to love in return. Unfortunately, as a result of sin and brokenness, what we learn from our families is sometimes not the love described in the Bible, but a broken facsimile. To love our family well means breaking broken patterns of generational sin. That can only be done when we are willing to love w...

Take a listen to this flashback message! Our “As Good As It Gets” message will be posted soon! The most intimate of all human relationships is the bond between a husband and wife. That makes marriage the most fulfilling, and potentially, damaging of all relationships. When God created man in His image, He said it was not good for him to be alone. So, God instituted the marriage relationship. But f...

When we talk about love, we could mean a variety of things. For example, we say we love our family, and then declare that we love Italian food! Clearly, we do not mean the same thing. The Bible uses a variety of words to describe the various kinds of love we experience. John gave us the most basic definition when he said, "God is love". Paul gave a longer definition that we often hear at...

When asked to summarize the law, Jesus responded with two simple commands: Love God and love people. Simple ... but not easy. Jesus’ command to love is not a flippant invitation to warm fuzzy emotions, but a difficult, sometimes dangerous proposition. How we love God has a direct impact on our capacity to love others. How we love others, is the most accurate reflection of how we truly love God. Fr...