Canyon Ridge Christian Church Podcast

Imagine you're being introduced to someone - a new job, a new friend, etc. How would you like to be introduced? First impressions are important, especially because no one wants to be misjudged or misunderstood. But, they're only the beginning, because the truth is that everyone wants to be known and loved still. This same thing is true of God. Theologian A.W. Tozer famously said, "W...

The reality of life is that hard things happen — over the course of this year, you will experience both opportunities and challenges. As the year goes on, how do you remain rooted in God? Stay calm. Stay connected. Stay the course. Staying calm is all about how you show up, staying connected is about who you show up with, and staying the course is about where you are going. As you look back on how...

With springtime around the corner, it's about time to start planting the garden - fruit trees, herbs, plants, and flowers of all kinds! This garden metaphor is helpful in understanding living rooted with God. Even Jesus uses the parable of the sower in Matthew 13 to help you better understand who you are in him. Here's the reality: Jesus wants life with you and your life to count for som...

The Bible is like a beautiful library, full of different genres and unending stories of truth and wisdom. The Psalms is a book of prayer full of truth about God's character, rich with imagery that invites your intention and imagination. The poetry of Psalms invites you to sit with God's Word, to linger longer at an unhurried pace. As you read, what stands out to you? What do you imagine?...

C.S. Lewis says, "Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance, the only thing it cannot be is moderately important." This week, as you read through the book of Colossians, ask yourself, "have I joined Jesus?" If or when you acknowledge the truth of Scripture, things change - YOU change! This is about a life-changing decision made when you sa...

There's something about birthdays and anniversaries that are worth celebrating. These days are your chance to look back, look around, and look ahead with gratitude, hope, and expectation. The story of Canyon Ridge is one of sharing the hope of Jesus to everyone, everywhere, every day. Celebrate three decades of stories about how Canyon Ridge's people experience God's faithfulness an...

What does home mean to you? Home is where your stuff is, where you rest, where your people are, and where you can be you. Home is where the big and mundane moments happen, from milestone celebrations to daily chores. For spiritual life, sometimes it feels like a vacation rental. You like visiting once in a while, and when you do, you have meaningful experiences. But, when you're ready to head...

Life is full of opportunities and challenges, and everyone wants the strength to meet both with unwavering confidence. With a checklist of goals and hopes for the new year, the things that get unaccounted for are often unexpected turns along the way. How can you be sure that when those come your way, you'll remain strong in who you are? God invites you to rely on his strength with his people,...

At this point, it's highly likely you've rung in the new year and written down some new year's resolutions multiple times now. And by now, you're probably accustomed to cultural cliches like "new year, new me" or the sarcastic commitments to resolutions that you expect to fizzle out by February. So, maybe it's worth pausing to be intentionally curious so you may...

You know how at every family reunion is the infamous kids' table? And maybe you have a memory of finally getting old enough to sit at the adult table only to remain at the kids' table for another year. Here's the thing, though - it's the kids' table that always seems to have an extra seat. If your life was a table, who gets a seat? When you look at the life of Jesus, you c...

Have you ever had a costly meal? How do you define costly? Perhaps costly is different for everyone. But, everyone can take a costly step in pursuit of living hospitably in such a way that points to the unreasonable hospitality of Jesus. The Gospel story is a story of unreasonable hospitality - that God would send his beloved son to an inhospitable earth to make space for all people to come alive...

Today's culture is where moving faster means getting more done, where busy is a badge of honor, and an internal sense of speed keeps people running without taking a breath. Can you relate? In a season of holidays and festivities, on top of the normal day-to-day run of errands and kid drop-offs and work and school, the pace is not the first thing most people think of adjusting. This is what ma...

Hospitality is all about food…until it isn’t. Hospitality is shared space, welcoming people to come as they are in a tangible, experiential way. Jesus demonstrated this in both offering and receiving hospitality for all people. Luke 19:1-10 is a story about hospitality between Jesus and a man named Zacchaeus, which allowed for a man who was lost in the ways of the world to be found in the truth of...

How do you become a person who...looks back, looks around, and looks ahead at who God was, is, and will always be? By embodying what you have been taught, keeping at it, staying the course, and walking daily. Look at Jesus. The most compelling thing about Jesus is not only his remarkable teaching, but that his life was a testimony of his teaching. In other words, he taught with his life. When you...

How do you become a person who...looks back, looks around, and looks ahead at who God was, is, and will always be? By embodying what you have been taught, keeping at it, staying the course, and walking daily. Look at Jesus. The most compelling thing about Jesus is not only his remarkable teaching, but that his life was a testimony of his teaching. In other words, he taught with his life. When you...

God always has more in mind for you! Where you've been and are now isn't all there is. Followers of Jesus want to become people who step confidently into all that God has ahead. In other words, people who try. But trying will feel uncomfortable, unfamiliar, and risky. Think back on the moments when you experienced progress or growth - those shaping moments were probably challenging! God...

Imagine you were to write a book of who you're becoming, made up of the absolute most important learnings of your life and waypoints of achievement and loss. Somehow, you have become who you are today. And if you were to capture it in a book, whose names would go in the acknowledgments? In other words, who are the people without whom your book would not come to be? When you think about who yo...

Has anyone ever made assumptions about you? Did this make you feel more or less inclined to have a connection with that person?  We have all made assumptions at some point, even if we didn't mean to. When we choose to have a posture of curiosity, it lets us lead with exploration instead of assumption. Embracing others with curiosity rather than assumption allows the people of God to stand out...

Everyone is becoming someone, whether by accident or on purpose. “Who am I becoming?” This is a real question that most of us have asked at some point in our lives. Life events shape and affect us, but they don’t tell the whole story - nor do our circumstances, accomplishments, choices, or failures. God has made people to be “ever-becoming,” and in doing so, invites his people to look back, look a...

Partnerships are all around - marriages, families, neighbors, coworkers. Everyone wants great partners in life, especially when life gets hard! Hardship is an opportunity to form and forge strong partnerships, especially for people going in the direction of Jesus! When people partner together in Jesus’ direction, partnerships have the opportunity to endure challenges together, deepen in disagreeme...

Don't you want to live a life of meaning? Everyone is going somewhere in life, and if you want to live intentionally, you need people who will partner with you to point you in the right direction. God has incredible plans for your life! He also has people who will help you live into those plans! So who are you listening to God with and for? We are ALL becoming someone. Whether by plan or by a...

Everyone wants someone committed to them and their thriving. Don't you? When people partner together in Jesus' direction, celebrating, encouraging, challenging, and supporting one another happens. There is so much joy in partnering with God and his people! In the New Testament, Paul and Barnabas were two unlikely people who partnered with God and with one another. The example of Paul and...

Everyone has a next move. That means you and the people around you! Do you want a life of purpose and joy, full of deepening and transformational relationships? Then you need good people who will go with you to create the best life possible! God created you for partnership with others to be able to realize all the good he has in your life. Look at the people around you and say, “Let’s go!”