Aspire Church Podcast

There are seasons of life when certain paths converge. While we are in high school or college, we may travel down the same path with a variety of people for a few years, but after graduation, our paths diverge and we go our separate ways. It’s not so much that we ever chose to leave our own path or to stop traveling together, as it is that our paths only happened to converge for a while before sep...

Some of the most popular events in the Summer Olympics are the relay races. In these races, the “hand off” is crucial. A dropped baton means all hope of a medal is lost. For more than 2,000 years, the church has successfully passed the baton from one generation of Jesus Followers to the next. Following in the steps of Jesus can be difficult without the benefit of someone a little farther down the...

What started in the Upper Room with a small handful of Jesus followers quickly turned into a movement with thousands of people. The eleven remaining Apostles found themselves in a leadership crisis as they were confronted with the demands of thousands of new believers. How they responded set an example that the church still follows today. Join us for part 3 of In His Steps as we discuss how a chur...

Everyone knows what you’re supposed to do when the shoe fits, but finding one that does can be a real problem. We are all looking for a perfect fit. The right spouse, the right profession, the right neighborhood. The desire to “fit” in points us to a deeper reality. We were designed by God for a purpose. Join us for part 2 of In His Steps, as we learn the secret to finding God’s purpose for your l...

When Jesus began His public ministry, He never once invited people to become “Christians.” In fact, Jesus never used that term to describe anyone. Instead, He issued a simple invitation to “Come, follow me.” With those three words, a global revolution was launched. One generation after another has heard and responded to the call of Jesus, not to simply believe a set of theological doctrines, or pr...

As Americans we treasure our freedom of speech. But what does that freedom mean for those who have surrendered their lives to Jesus Christ? Jesus said that “what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart.” That must mean that a heart fully surrendered to Christ will result in a tongue that has been pierced for His purposes. Join us for the final installment of the Tongue Tied series as we con...

Words are powerful. They have been used to influence the course of future events and to shape the perception of history. While human words may alter our perception of reality, only God’s word has the power to create it. In the third message of the Tongue Tied series, Pastor Gary Webber explores the beginning of the Genesis story to discover the danger of deceitful words and the power of knowing th...

The specific words we say are not the only challenge we face in taming our tongues. Many times, when we choose to speak, our attitude and our intended audience can have as great an impact as the specific words we use. In this message, Pastor Gary Webber explores what the Bible teaches us about the timing of our words, the tone of our words and the target of our words.

In part one of Tongue Tied, we consider the power of the human tongue and the challenges of taming it. In this sermon, Pastor Gary Webber introduces the 4:29 challenge as a way to be more intentional with the most dangerous part of the human anatomy.

Since the beginning of time the human race has been trying to find its way to God. Religion, nature, personal introspection and disciplines -- all of these and many more have proven helpful, but have ultimately fallen short. Jesus didn't recommend any of those things for those seeking God. Instead He made an incredibly radical claim about Himself when He said, “I am the way, the truth and the...

While Judas Iscariot is infamous for his betrayal of Jesus, he was not the only disciple that abandoned Jesus. In fact, disciples throughout history have abandoned God by worshiping idols of all kinds. Join us for the final message in the five-part series, Poured Out, as we consider how Peter and Judas both chose to worship something other than Jesus and how we often make the same choice today.

Many people have learned by experience that it is more blessed to give than to receive. But what happens when the shoe is on the other foot and the giver is the one who stands in need? For some people, it is far more difficult to receive help than it is to give it. However, the basic teachings of Jesus demonstrate that without a willingness to receive, we have nothing to give and are hopelessly lo...

Jesus said the first and greatest commandment is to love God with everything we have and all that we are. That is what it means to worship. Our mission is to worship, but our worship also has a mission. As we abandon ourselves to the purposes of God, a watching world is impacted. Join us for part three of Poured Out, as we consider what Jesus meant when He said that unless a seed dies, it remains...

The “herd mentality” is that phenomenon where people get swept up in the emotion of a crowd. We have all seen and maybe even experiences this. Perhaps it happened for you at a college football game or at a political rally. The herd mentality can have devastating effects like those seen in a riot or it can produce something beautiful, as it often does after a natural disaster when people rally toge...