Canyon Ridge Christian Church Podcast

Have you ever thought about prayer as a way to love others? Theologian and author Richard Foster says, "If we truly love people, we will desire for them far more than it is within our power to give them, and this will lead us to prayer: Intercession is a way of loving others." Loving others like Jesus may involve more than praying for them, but it will never involve less. Therefore, pray...

What are you asking for right now? Health, relationship, accomplishment, stability? Central to the Lord's Prayer in Luke 11:2-4 is a posture and practice of asking. Asking is how you learn to know that God is trustworthy, present, and with you in all things. Jesus invites you to ask for things as big as God's Kingdom come and will be done, and for things as small as the ordinary details,...

Communication is the key to any partnership. Does it feel difficult to find a quiet moment to pause and be during life's rush? Look at the life of Jesus! He took time to take a breather and find His center. He knew that was where God's voice emerged. Recognizing and knowing God's voice is vital to truly understanding His character and undeniable love. Take a pause this week, and rej...

Have you ever asked, "How do I talk to God?" What about "How do I hear from him?" In every relationship, communication is foundational! Especially your relationship with God! Followers of Jesus know the best things only happen when God is involved through extraordinary prayer. Every culture has prayed on occasion, somehow… to someone or something. Your connection with God and e...

Did you know that you do not actually learn from experiences? You learn from reflecting on experience! Taking time to reflect on your experiences helps unlock everything that happened and retain cherished memories while shaping our minds to see beyond the ordinary. Take time to reflect and learn how to embrace all you've heard about polarities in this series and discover how those beautiful t...

It’s not hard to see when people miss living out either compassion or justice when it comes to any major issue or injustice in the world. What’s hard is seeing people live into the tension of both compassion and justice in light of Jesus.  Jesus always invites his people to follow his lead and life in engaging with others meaningfully, personally, and intentionally by navigating both Biblical comp...

Imagine this scenario: your friend comes to you and presents an issue. What do you do? Your extreme options are to either take on their challenge as if it were your own, or to run in the other direction without offering much support. Notice the tension here - you are connected to them, but you are not them.  This week's polarity is on being connected to and distinct from. This is a Biblical i...

Do you know people who are all grace or all truth? God knows that people need to know his truth to see things as they actually are, but he also knows that people need grace. Romans 3:23-24 says, "For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God's glorious standard. Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penal...

Does it ever feel like you must do a bunch of good things to earn your salvation? The Bible is full of commands to do what's right. It's also full of reassurance that faith is all you need to be right with God. It can be confusing! Just look at how the Apostle Paul emphasizes faith, and James emphasizes works! You might think these ideas appear to be in conflict, but when you really expl...

What is your view of God? Getting curious about the fullness and the reality of God shapes the way you relate to God, yourself, and others. You need to know God, but more than that, God wants you to know him! When God is only your friend, your friendship can diminish appreciation and awareness of the holiness of God, missing the new and miraculous things he is up to. When God is only majestic and...

If you had to pick one, would you choose planning or flexibility? You should plan because it sets you in a direction and helps you prioritize and achieve goals, but you shouldn't only plan because it can make you miss opportunities and overthink! And you should be flexible because new possibilities emerge, but you shouldn't only be flexible because you can be unprepared for opportunities...

Culture loves self-care, and everyone is trying to sell you the next best self-care item or experience. How does this play into your life? Mark 8:34-38 says, "If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, y...

If you had to choose one, would you choose activity or rest? Jesus invites you to the best of both! Looking at the history of God's people, it's clear to see God invites his people into an intentional, life-changing rhythm of rest and activity. Join the conversation to explore why activity and rest are important, and to reflect and refresh your own rhythms!

You make decisions every day! What to eat, what to wear, how to respond, etc. Sometimes, either/or simply won't do; you need the best of both. Think about it! Is it better to inhale or exhale? Is activity better or rest? Consistency or change? These are not problems to be solved but rather tensions to manage.  In the complexities of life, either/or makes things simple for you to choose, but t...

Money is a fundamental part of life; that's Jesus talked so much about it. He assumed giving was a part of how his followers would live and saw it as a spiritual practice beyond any religious obligation. He taught that giving shapes your heart, points the people around toward Jesus, and changes the world in His name. It is not always easy, but it always points your heart in Jesus' direct...

A disciple is one who learns from and takes on the way of life of another. Everyone is being discipled by someone or something. Think about it - who do you act like, think like, sound like? A disciple of Jesus loves God like Jesus, loves others like Jesus, and makes disciples like Jesus. Some followers of Jesus will say, “I’m not a disciple-maker.” The truth is, you embody some way of life so that...

John 13:35 says, “Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.” How do you practice loving like Jesus? John Mark Comer said, “If you want to experience the life of Jesus, you have to adopt the lifestyle of Jesus.” Watch this message for 3 key ways to become more loving like Jesus! Take some time to reflect on who needs to experience the life-changing love of Jesus t...

What comes to mind when you hear the word "repentance?" Author Sarah Bessey says, "Repentance is an invitation to a beautiful, life-giving, reorientation towards God’s good path of flourishing with ourselves, our neighbors, and our world." Is that what came to mind?  With Jesus, everything changes. Repentance is an invitation to change the way you live and act like something di...

Think about a new career path or interest you begin to pursue - things change. When there is a change in identity, there must be a change in habits. Theologian N.T. Wright says, “Where a new world is born, a new way of life goes with it.” He’s not the only one who has noticed this about humans; it’s all throughout Scripture. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “Anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new p...

Everyone has a story - you have a story! The greatest story of all is what people all over the world celebrate on Easter. 1 John 4:9-10 says, “God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love - not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.” God showed...

The world loves transformation - to change or optimize something. Lots of things can motivate you to change, be it shame, guilt, peer pressure, even a motivational speech. Those things will transform you in a way or for a time, but nothing can transform you like God can transform you. Romans 2:4 says, “Don’t you see how wonderfully kind, tolerant, and patient God is with you? Does this mean nothin...

Have you ever heard of the parable of the blind men and the elephant? It's a story about blind men encountering, learning, and imagining an elephant for themselves and one another. Their discovery, however, is only in part, like the tusk, the tail, or the trunk. Like the elephant, one of your attributes can never amount to who you entirely are. So, how much more is this true of God? To really...

Are there people in your life that as you get to know who they are, you just want to know more? Your relationship with God can be like that! There are a lot of other voices in culture, family, friendships that tell you who God is, who God loves, who God shouldn't love. But what does God say about himself and his love? Luke 15 is a familiar story to many called the Prodigal Son. It's a po...

Think about how you build trust with people. There are 3 things people look for when it comes to trusting someone: competence, motivation, and reliability. When it comes to trusting God, learn to listen, do, watch, and repeat. What do you and the people around you hear what God is saying? What are you or the people around you going to do because of it? And, what do you see change because of it? Wa...

Some people met God as a kid in church, some are meeting God for the first time, and many are somewhere in between. Wherever you are on the journey, there's room for everyone! Over the centuries, people have abandoned their faith over the question: How can God be good when the world is full of bad things and people? In other words, how do you know God is good? God doesn't want his goodne...