Aspire Church Podcast

Many people assume that joy doesn’t come from serving but from being served. But the reality is that humans were designed to serve something. Whether it is power or wealth, pleasure, or fame, we all live our lives in service to someone or something. Join us for part three of the Summer Psalms Mixtape , where we will learn from Psalm 96 that joy comes from serving the One we were created to serve. 

The call to “be joyful” or “rejoice” is repeated more than 300 times in the Bible, making it one of the most repeated commands in all Scripture. But how are we supposed to be “joyful in all circumstances” when so many of them are bad? Does God cause or allow challenging circumstances to come into our lives, and if so, why? Join us for part 3 of the Summer Psalms Mixtape , where we will learn that...

The Psalms are the hymns of ancient Israel. Jesus and His disciples would have sung them in worship and as they traveled the dusty roads of ancient Palestine. Their words were even on the lips of Jesus as He hung on the cross. The lyrics that brought so much hope and joy to Jesus continue to inspire His followers today. Join us each Sunday in August as we listen to a mixtape of Psalms that call us...

Some Christians have been accused of being so heavenly-minded that they are no earthly good. Others seem to deny the reality of heaven and live as if this world is all there is. The Gospel is a guardrail preventing us from making either mistake. Join us for the final sermon in the Essentials series, where we will learn how our beliefs about the future shape our lives today.

The Church is always a work in progress. From the missteps and mistakes of Jesus’ disciples to the latest church scandal, humans have continuously brought our brokenness into the church. Yet, despite our failures, Jesus said He would build His church, and the gates of hell would not prevail against it. Join us for part 8 of Essentials to learn how the church is God’s plan and the front line of Hea...

We use the word “saved” to refer to everything from someone recovered in a heroic rescue operation to the money we save through a discount code. But when the Bible talks about being “saved,” what exactly does that mean? What are we saved from? Who saves us, and how do they do it? Join us for part 7 of Essentials , where we will learn that salvation is not about what we do but what Jesus has done.

What defines your value? Do you find value in your roles and responsibilities in your family or job? The human condition is tied to the value God has placed on us and the value we see in Jesus’ death on a cross. This death communicates to us the reality that we are infinitely valuable and devastatingly broken. The value you place on Jesus’ death affects the value you place on yourself and others a...

According to numerous studies, the single greatest predictor of spiritual transformation is the time a person spends reading their Bible. Still, a recent Lifeway Research study revealed that only 32% of Christians read their Bible daily. Join us for part 5 of Essentials, where we learn the secret to reading the Bible for spiritual transformation.  

We instinctively know that there is more to living than drawing in oxygen. What, exactly, is it that animates humans? What motivates us to search for truth and higher meaning? Join us for part four of Essentials as we explore what we believe about God, the Holy Spirit. 

Imagine that you have an ant problem in your yard (perhaps you don’t have to imagine this!) You go to the store and buy a product that is designed to fool the ants into thinking that it is delicious ant food when it is, in fact, poison. Now imagine an ant lover (do those exist?) who wants to save the ants from certain death. No matter what this ant lover does, he cannot communicate with the ants,...

A Pew Research study from 2008 revealed that nine out of ten Americans believe in God, but only a small majority believe in God as described in the Bible. How do we know there is a God, and even more importantly, how can we possibly know what He is like? Join us as we begin exploring the essential beliefs of Christianity by asking the question, God Who?

Complexity demands simplicity. When Google launched the world’s most complex web browser, they did so with a simple search bar on a blank screen. When Apple introduced the iPhone in 2007, a device more powerful than a supercomputer in the year 2000, it only had one button. And when the God of the Universe wanted to reveal Himself to His creation, He did so by taking on flesh and assuming the form...

Aspire Church welcomes our friends and special guests, Justin and Kendal Adamson. The Adamsons are NAMB church planters sent out by Aspire Church San Marco to start a new church in Queens, New York. The Adamsons have a heart for sharing the Gospel and are following His call to reach the nations by planting the New Song of Hope Church in one of the most ethnically diverse communities in the United...

Multiple ancient texts tell us that forty days after Jesus was raised from the dead, He ascended into heaven. But what exactly does that mean? If Jesus was victorious over sin, death, and the grave, why wouldn’t He have stayed with His followers in Jerusalem? Indeed, it would have been easier to convince a skeptical work of the truth of the resurrection if Jesus’ physical body was still walking ar...

Aspire welcomes our special guest, Bob Bumgarner. Bob currently serves as the Lead Missional Strategist of First Coast Churches (formerly known as Jacksonville Baptist Association). He has served as a Replant Pastor, Executive Pastor, and the Church Development Division Director of the Florida Baptist Convention. His passion is coaching churches to discover and do what God has called them to do wh...

The word “aspire” means to seek to attain or accomplish a particular goal. Some people aspire to achieve power; some strive for wealth or fame. The apostle Paul’s greatest aspiration was to know Christ and the power of His resurrection. What is your greatest aspiration? Join us for a message exploring our church’s aspirations. 

Luke wasn’t one of Jesus’ twelve apostles. Nor was he among the larger multitude who witnessed Jesus’ life and ministry. He wasn’t even Jewish. Luke was a gentile and therefore considered an outsider. Yet this outsider came to believe in Jesus and contributed more pages to the New Testament than anyone else. Luke’s two volumes, the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts, comprise 26% of the New Testa...

Civil rights leader and Baptist preacher Benjamin Mays said, “The tragedy of life is often not in our failure, but rather in our complacency; not in our doing too much, but rather in our doing too little; not in our living above our ability, but rather in our living below our capacities.” Jesus warned His disciples against complacency, saying, “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptat...

Our greatest disappointments in life happen when our greatest hopes are unfulfilled. The closer we come to accomplishing our goals, the harder it is when we fail. It’s tough to endure a losing season, but losing the championship in overtime is devastating. Two thousand years ago, Jesus’ earliest followers had suffered the devastating disappointment of His arrest and crucifixion. This loss was so g...

The foundation for the Christian faith is not a philosophy or set of theological principles. The core of our faith doesn’t reside in a moral code or a series of ancient teachings. Even though Christians have shared convictions, theology, ethics, and a clear set of teachings, none of these define the essence of our faith. The truth and reliability of Christianity hinge on a single, verifiable histo...

The first “Choose Your Own Adventure” book was published in 1979. These books allowed readers to make important decisions for the story’s main character, and based on those decisions, there could be any number of outcomes to the story. As Luke tells the story of Jesus’ crucifixion, he introduces several key figures and the choices they faced on that fateful day. Join us for part 4 of The Joy Set B...

We’ve all had to deal with them: those people who enjoy being critical about everything and everyone. People who are never satisfied and are constantly adversarial. You probably already have someone in mind. And while I may not know who that person is, I’m confident I know who it’s not. YOU. Hardly anyone believes himself to be too critical or adversarial. Throughout His ministry, and especially o...

Perhaps the most surprising and puzzling of the seven deadly sins is the sin of acedia or slothfulness. We rarely hear the first word and often associate the second with slow-moving mammals living in South America’s rainforests. But as Jesus neared the cross and intensified His warnings to the disciples, this deadly sin is one to which He repeatedly referred. Join us for part two of The Joy Set Be...

In the hours leading up to His crucifixion, Jesus endured terrible suffering. He was abandoned by His friends, betrayed by one of His closest associates, falsely accused, and wrongfully convicted. After this, He was stripped, beaten, mocked, nailed to a Roman cross, and left to die. Even after almost 2,000 years, these well-documented historical events are still shocking. But what is perhaps more...

People love a good conspiracy theory. Rumors of war and destruction have been passed around as long as there have been those willing to listen. People in first-century Jerusalem were certainly no exception. With political tensions rising and Roman soldiers standing guard, there was no shortage of prophets and prognosticators predicting open conflict between the Jews and the Romans. Jesus’ disciple...