Built for Durango

How do you respond when life doesn't go according to plan? In this week's conversation, Bob and DJ continue unpacking Saul's dramatic encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus, but the focus shifts from the disruption itself to our response when God interrupts our plans. Is our instinct to resist, defend, or explain away what's happening — or are we willing to pause long eno...

What if the moments that shake your life the most are actually God's invitation to something greater? In this message from Acts 9, Pastor DJ explores one of the Bible's most dramatic stories of transformation—the conversion of Saul on the road to Damascus. What begins as a confrontation becomes a calling, revealing that God often uses disruption not to destroy our story, but to redirect...

How do you tell the difference between healthy confidence and destructive pride? In this companion conversation, Bob and DJ unpack the story of Simon the Magician from Acts 8 and wrestle with one of the most personal questions of the Christian life: What happens when our identity becomes tied to our accomplishments, influence, or reputation? Bob shares candidly about his own lifelong struggle with...

In this message from Acts 8, Pastor DJ explores the story of Simon the Magician—a man who misunderstood the gospel because he viewed God's gifts through a transactional lens. Accustomed to earning influence, status, and admiration, Simon assumed the power of the Holy Spirit could be acquired the same way. Peter's response reveals a radically different vision of life with God: His greates...

In this companion conversation to Tommy’s sermon on Acts 8, Bob and Tommy unpack the challenge of identifying our modern-day “Samaria”—the people, places, and situations we may instinctively avoid, dismiss, or view as different from ourselves. Reflecting on Philip’s ministry among the Samaritans and Jesus’ encounter with the woman at the well, they explore how pride, cultural assumptions, and pers...

In this message from Acts 8, Tommy explores one of the most significant turning points in the early church as the gospel moves beyond Jerusalem and into Samaria — a place many faithful Jews would have preferred to avoid. Through the story of Philip’s ministry and Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman, Tommy challenges listeners to confront the barriers of pride, prejudice, and spiritual superi...

In Episode 17 of Built for Durango, Bob and DJ dig deeper into Stephen’s bold confrontation with the religious leaders in Acts 7 and the challenging theme of spiritual stubbornness. Reflecting on DJ’s recent sermon, the conversation explores the difference between grit and being “stiff-necked,” why surrender is often harder than determination, and how Stephen’s message was ultimately an invitation...

In this message from Acts 7, Pastor DJ explores Stephen’s final sermon before his martyrdom and the challenging accusation that sparked outrage among the religious leaders: “You stiff-necked people.” Drawing from his recent mission trip to Mexico, DJ reflects on the subtle ways pride, self-reliance, and fear can cause us to resist God’s leading, even when we believe we are serving Him. Tracing the...

In this episode of Built for Durango, Bob and Tommy reflect on Tommy’s recent sermon from Acts 7 and the sweeping biblical story behind Stephen’s defense before the religious leaders. The conversation explores how the themes of Eden, the temple, sacrifice, and God’s presence all point to Jesus as the fulfillment of Scripture. Tommy explains why blood in the Bible symbolizes life rather than death,...

Pastor Tommy continues the journey through Acts with a deep dive into Stephen’s powerful defense in Acts 7, unpacking the real purpose of the temple, sacrifice, and God’s presence.  What begins as a response to accusations against Stephen becomes a sweeping tour through the entire biblical story—from Eden to Moses, from the tabernacle to Jesus. Tommy argues that God was never primarily concerned w...

In this wide-ranging and deeply theological message, Tommy walks through Acts 6 by pulling a single thread—the temple—and tracing it across the entire story of Scripture.  What starts as a question about Stephen and early church conflict becomes something much bigger: a reframing of how we understand God’s presence. From Eden to the tabernacle, from Solomon’s temple to Jesus himself, Tommy shows t...

Bob and DJ wrestle with a tension most people feel but rarely say out loud: how do you live a good, comfortable life in a place like Durango while knowing there’s real suffering in the world?  Reflecting on the powerful message from India, this conversation doesn’t land in guilt — it lands in clarity. The takeaway is simple but demanding: you don’t have to fix everything, but you are responsible f...

This isn’t a typical sermon—it’s a firsthand look at what happens when faith moves beyond words and into action. Our special guests draw from years of ministry in India to bring a message about the reality of experiencing human brokenness face-to-face and witnessing the power of Jesus to restore, heal, and redeem.  Through raw and unforgettable stories—rescued children, impossible situations, and...

Bob and Brian don’t sidestep it — this is one of the hardest passages in the New Testament. In this episode, they dig into the story of Ananias and Sapphira and wrestle honestly with the tension it creates: a generous, Spirit-filled church colliding with deception, greed, and sudden death.  Rather than offering easy answers, the conversation leans into the deeper question: what is actually happeni...

In this sermon, Brian steps into one of the most difficult and unsettling passages in Acts—Ananias and Sapphira—and refuses to water it down. Instead, he tackles it head-on, asking what this story reveals about the kind of church Jesus is actually building. Set against the backdrop of a radically unified and generous early church, this moment exposes a sharp contrast: a community shaped by the Spi...

In this episode, Bob and DJ take the message of Acts straight into one of the most divided environments imaginable — a political conference — and wrestle with a hard, practical question: what does unity actually look like in the real world? Starting from Acts 4, they unpack how the early church built something powerful — not by avoiding differences, but by anchoring themselves in a shared mission...

This week’s sermon cuts through complexity and lands on something both simple and demanding: real faith is lived out in how we treat each other. Drawing from Acts 4, DJ paints a picture of the early church—not as a rulebook to follow, but as a compelling vision of what’s possible when people actually believe the message of Jesus. They were unified. They were generous. And because of that, their wi...

In this episode of Built for Durango , Bob and DJ take a hard look at what boldness actually means — and why most of us misunderstand it. Starting with Acts 4, they compare the raw, life-on-the-line courage of the early church with the far more subtle resistance Christians face today in places like Durango. The question on the table is direct: What does it look like to live boldly when the threat...

In this April 15 message, DJ turns to Acts 4 and asks a blunt, practical question: How do you stand in the face of rejection? Not in theory, but when resistance is real, when people push back, and when your sense of worth is tempted to rise and fall based on whether others accept you. Set against the backdrop of the church’s new property and growing vision to serve Durango for generations, DJ uses...

In this episode of Built for Durango , Bob and DJ dive into Acts chapter 4 and a question that hits close to home: what does it actually mean to live — and speak — in the name of Jesus? Fresh off the church’s first outdoor service at the new location, Bob comes in fired up, reflecting on a season of clarity, joy, and personal transformation. But that momentum leads to a deeper conversation. What’s...

In this episode of Built for Durango , Bob and DJ unpack one of the central tensions in following Jesus: is faith something we impose — or something we invite people into? Building off DJ’s recent sermon in Acts, the conversation centers on Peter’s message after the healing of the beggar and what it reveals about God’s heart. Bob frames the sermon as both a challenge to the church and an open invi...

In this sermon from Acts 3, Pastor DJ follows the healing at the Beautiful Gate into the public response that came next. A miracle had just taken place: a man crippled from birth was healed in the name of Jesus, and the crowd came running. What Peter does with that attention is the heart of this message. He refuses to make the moment about personal power, spiritual status, or religious formula, an...

In this episode of Built for Durango , Bob and Pastor Brian bring the story of Acts 3 — the healing of the beggar at the temple gate — down to street level. They begin with a relatable, human moment — parenting through a sick child — before stepping into one of the most powerful scenes in the early church. Peter and John don’t just perform a miracle; they stop, they see, and they respond. That mom...

In this sermon from Acts 3, Pastor Brian Firle follows the story of Peter and John meeting a man who had been crippled from birth and laid daily at the temple gate called Beautiful. What unfolds is more than a miracle story. It is a picture of how the risen Jesus continues His work through ordinary people filled with the Holy Spirit. Brian connects this moment to Pentecost and the larger movement...

In this episode of Built for Durango , Bob and Pastor DJ reflect on Acts, the heart of the early church, and what it means for Durango Vineyard as the congregation prepares to hold its first services in the new building on Easter Sunday. The conversation starts with a hard truth: for a lot of people, “church” has become a loaded word—tied to disappointment, narrowness, or cynicism. Bob speaks cand...