Cascade Church Portland

Kurt Kroon covers the culminating action of the story of Esther and we communally wonder about the role of violence in the ancient world and our world today. 

Kurt Kroon continues our exploration of the book of Esther with a focus on Haman and the ways that power corrupts him. 

Scott Erickson is interviewed by Kurt Kroon about his new book "In the Low". They talk about depression, the avoidance that can exist within some Christian circles and helpful tools when we need to not feel all alone. 

Brian Recker visits and talks about how Hell has been utilized culturally today and the disconnects from the source material in the scriptures. This is part of his newly released book "Hell Bent", which you can purchase here.

Kurt Kroon talks through the rising tension in the story of Esther culminating in the big "for such a time as this" line. We take a look at what that looked like for Mordecai to deliver, Esther to receive and what that could mean for us today. 

Kurt Kroon teaches about the "ewww gross" beauty pageant of King Ahasuerus, Portland protesters in inflatable costumes and confuses Benny Hill and Benny Hinn

Kurt Kroon starts off a brand new series on the book of Esther and what creative protest can look like. The invitation is to rebel well and stand with the marginalized and oppressed as a pathway to our collective healing. 

Scott Erickson leads us through a conversation about Zacchaeus, NPC's, Death and UAP's. This all helps us move our framework of faith from seeing the world as a simple fantasy to a complex reality. 

Kurt Kroon shares about the ways that religion can be a crutch and how it can be a healing. A Karl Marx quote and a Jesus healing story frame this exploration. 

Kurt Kroon continues the What is Faith For? by discussing our relationship to the Christian scriptures and the ways we've tried to pull out a few verses to follow instead of letting the whole of the scriptures shape us into people of wisdom.

Kurt Kroon kicks off a new series looking at the containers that are holding our reimagined theologies and how they need the same reimagining. This week looks at how we can use faith as a mechanism of control in the world and how that will ultimately let us down. 

Sarah Swartzendruber finishes up our message series on the core values of Cascade with a discussion around intentionality, which we define as engaging in relationships a step beyond what is known or comfortable.

A party celebrating 10 years of Cascade Church existing. Kicked off by a prayer and check-in from Scott Erickson and a co-taught message from co-pastors Sarah Swartzendruber and Kurt Kroon. Come for the memories, stay for the places yet to go!

Kurt Kroon continues the series on Cascade's core values by looking at Advocacy, which is defined as fighting injustices by partnering with those treated insignificantly by individuals, systems or indifference.

Kurt Kroon shares about the Cascade Core Value of diversity by looking at our definition and reflecting on Paul's metaphor of the body of Christ as an instructive model for how diversity can function. 

Kurt Kroon talks through our 5 core values starting with prayer. This unusual look through the lens of the Genesis story of Jacob (mistakenly identified as 27 instead of 28) exposes the ways in which prayer can help us commune with the unknown parts of ourselves and God. 

Kurt Kroon shares about a dominant theme in the life of Jesus. This thread from Genesis to Revelation ties together a picture of God's invitation to co-creation and mutual participation that is the Kingdom of God. 

July is Disability Pride month, where we look to celebrate and recognize the contributions of folks with disabilities to our world while also acknowledging the ways our society disables folks with poor access and design. This interview with Rob Schellert reflects on the unique ways the Christian Church intersects with the disabled community. 

Harriet Congdon finishes up our series on Resilience with a keen insight from the story of Abraham, Hagar & Sarah while tying together all the previous messages on resilience. 

Ian Durias shares this week as we continue our series on Resilience by talking about the ways we love ourselves and how we categorize our shortcomings as screw-ups, weaknesses or growth opportunities.  

Chelsea Gerlach shares about a resilience that uses curiosity to better inform itself in addition to finding enjoyment in the midst of difficult journeys. 

Sarah Swartzendruber shares about resilience as a learning space that is difficult to stay in and nobody would choose that has a way of working something out in us. Listen as we talk about how to stay in that learning space even when we don't want to as we look at the disciples' journey of resilience. 

Kurt Kroon looks at Daniel 3 and how resistance can look in the face of fear-based and oppressive kingdoms. 

Kurt Kroon takes a look at the dividing path moments in our lives that invite us into a practice of resilience. 

Scott Erickson, Sarah Swartzendruber, Ian Durias and Kurt Kroon chat about the summer '25 message series on Resilience and how the Teaching Team works and collaborates on series just like this one!