Damascus Road Community Church

Travel today to the “Old City” of Jerusalem and you still find, just outside the Eastern Wall of the Temple Mount, across the narrow Kidron Valley—an ancient grove of olive trees. Gethsemane. The name means “olive press,”—the huge stone press used to crush the oil from ‘ready for harvest,’ olives. Here, in the deep of night, Jesus and eleven disciples arrived from an upper room and a Passover meal...

Over the last seven weeks we have listened in as Jesus talked about two different ambitions (to be honored by men or by God); two different treasures (stuff in this life or impact for eternity) and two different kinds of righteousness (my own or His). Now we come to the end of His message and Jesus brings all His earlier teaching down to one choice—again with two options. He will hit it again and...

Q&A from Part 8 on Eschatology.

In the eighth episode of our series The Jesus Ted Talk, we are studying just one verse—Matthew 7:12. This has come to be known as the Golden Rule. Jesus brilliantly summarizes His sermon into one single principle of application. He bookends His sermon by referring to the Law and the Prophets. What does this mean? Does this principle really work? How can we put it into practice in our day?

This is Part 7 of Richard's Why Believe in Christianity class. Richard talks about what the Church is, and why it is so important.

Q&A from Part 7 of Why Believe in Christianity class.

Jesus makes an extraordinary claim in Matthew 7:7-11 about the power of prayer. We will explore His words in these verses in the seventh part of our series The Jesus Ted Talk. Truth is, most of us struggle when it comes to prayer. If you have ever been dissatisfied with your prayer life, felt guilty about not praying enough, confused about why God doesn’t always answer your prayers, wonder if pray...

Q&A from Part 6 of Why Believe In Christianity.

Pastor Richard Fredericks teaches on DRCC's Core Belief #5.

In part 6 of our series The Jesus Ted Talk, we look at the words of Jesus on worry. Worry can suck the life out of us. It makes us say prayers of little faith, worship without joy, and live without hope. Worry and anxiety makes us fearful, they suffocate any sense of gratitude, kill dreams, and rob us of the life we were meant to live. Maybe worry and anxiety are very real for you. Jesus, in reali...

Q&A after Part 5 Teaching.

This weekend’s Ted Talk is on “Jesus’ Prayers—and Ours.” In keeping with the series, we will look Jesus’ model prayer within the context of His overall goals in the Sermon on the Mount; and within Matthew’s overall presentation of Jesus as the fulfillment of “all that the prophets have spoken.” Our key focus is on prayer as friendship with God, the God who knows us inside and out.

Q&A after teaching 4.

"You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Love your neighbor’ and hate your enemy. But I say, love your enemies!” We often find things in the bible that are hard to understand - difficult to wrap our minds around - but not this week; this week we will explore a command of Jesus that is very easy to understand but very hard to actually put into practice: the command to turn the othe...

This weekend we will continue our series on the Sermon on the Mount by looking at Matthew 5:17-32, especially Jesus assertion that he came to “fulfill” the “law and the prophets.” We will look at what Jesus meant by “fulfill” – his radical claim to be the surprise “ending” or completion of the Story of Israel. And we will look at how Jesus teaches us to re-read that story – told in the Old Testame...

Q&A from session 3a.

Is there a God? Yes or No? Either way you answer, this question helps shapes the rest of what you believe.

Let's take a look at Matthew 5:13-16 and explore the world behind the text. Jesus spoke these words to a specific group of people in a specific culture at a specific time. And the world behind the words of Jesus goes all the way back to Genesis 12:2-3 when God blessed Abraham and made a promise that through him all the people of the earth will be blessed. There is also a reference to a “covenant o...

Session 2 Q & A time with Pastor Richard Fredericks and Elder Michelle Rader.

Pastor Richard Fredericks unpacks why we can believe there is a God.

Jesus proclaimed the gospel by announcing the coming of the Kingdom of God (Matthew 4:17). And then in the Sermon on the Mount (the teaching of Jesus found in Matthew chapters 5-7), Jesus used word pictures and real life analogies to illustrate what life looks like for someone who is part of His kingdom. Jesus was not establishing a new form of rules-based religion. Rather, He described His kingdo...

This is a Question and Answer time after the teaching time for Part 1- Why Believe in the Bible.