Damascus Road Community Church

Whenever you meet God, whenever you experience God, whenever you get a grip on who He really is, it changes you into a person of mission. Someone who becomes a person on a mission, on a mission to see others experience God’s love and Grace that comes through Jesus Christ. This weekend we listen to testimonies and a message about the lives changed in Nicaragua, Honduras, Germany, North Carolina and...

This week, we continue our annual tradition of celebrating our missions over two weekends. This weekend, we will focus on India and Africa and our work there. And we do this because no one else can save souls but Jesus, no one else can pay the price of our sins except Jesus, no one else can defeat death like Jesus, and no one else can bring hope like Jesus.

This week we come to The End of Us vs. Them? as we conclude our series looking at the biblical call to tear down the walls which divide us. We will look at 1 Corinthians 11-12 where Paul details how the church – made up of each and every one of us ¬– is the body of Christ. This body – us – in our life together and our witness to the world – is to be the visible image of Jesus in this world. How ar...

This week we will pick back up on the theme of Us vs. Them? by examining Jesus' call in Matthew 7 to be people that do not cast judgement on others. This instruction is so contrary to our natural tendencies and often feels impossible to put into practice in our day-to-day lives; yet Jesus stated it frankly and without any shred of ambiguity. Join us as we look at this instruction in the light of o...

Every person, regardless of their age, race, gender or background, is uniquely wired by God and wonderfully made for a purpose. We teach this in Children’s Ministry. Do we still believe this as adults? Come experience a unique and dynamic worship service as we not only recap what 200 children will have learned at this year’s Getting Connected Camp (July 31-Aug.4), but in doing so, you will be chal...

For three weeks we have considered the call of Jesus on us as His people to be ‘uniters,’ not dividers—to tear down walls of hostility through love. This week we turn to Ephesians 2:10-22, the Bible’s most extended celebration of this theme. It makes clear that we are not saved by our good works—but we are saved for good works; and these works “God prepared for us to do” all center around lives of...

Ephesians 2:11-22 is a careful reflection on how Jesus’ death on the Cross impacts the divisions we create and walls we erect between one another, between our group and the “other,” (over all kinds of differences, old animosities and unforgiven offenses) than Ephesians 2:11-22. Our third study together on Us vs Them?: Tearing Down the Dividing Walls digs into Ephesians 2 and related passages to un...

We all have to constantly decide how we view those who are not like us—the “others” around us. What do we do with people who hold to difference lifestyle preferences, politics, moral standards, religious beliefs? How do we relate to those whose views are polar opposite to ours? What value do we assign them and how does that value hold up if we think their presence may threaten our way of life? How...

On the Cross Jesus took the place of total exclusion—rejected and degraded and despised by Jew and Gentile. Forsaken by God. Isolation. Darkness. Jesus went to the depths of human sin to allow His saving embrace to reach around all people—anyone willing to open their arms to Him, to the depth of His love. The Bible says He did this: “to bring us together and make us one” John 11:52. This is the es...

When many think about grace they think of it as the vehicle for which we begin a personal connection with Jesus Christ. However, grace is also the source of strength that enables us to walk in the way of Jesus Christ. Join us this weekend to discover how grace fuels our path into a deeper relationship with Him.

Every time Jesus helped someone – it cost him! Often what it cost Him was His reputation… It drove His followers and supporters absolutely mad! Why did you have to forgive the prostitute? Why did you have to touch the leper? Why were you always hanging out in Galilee? Just when He was getting some positive press, He would go and hang out at a party of sinners… Sigh. This seems to be the way of Jes...

We continue our journey in the Way of Jesus by looking at the heart. The Bible has a lot to say about the human heart, which signifies not only the center of our spiritual activity, but every aspect of our life. What can happen if we fully grasp the meaning of living in a way where our hearts are wide-open to Jesus, recognizing His presence in the now, and living under His Lordship each day of our...

Forgiveness is a central part of our faith. Jesus frequently declared "your sins are forgiven" and also called his followers to forgive. We are all incredibly grateful when our own trespasses are forgiven but forgiving those who trespass against us can be more challenging. This week we will look at these twin sides to the coin of forgiveness - what we have been forgiven and the call to forgive. Th...

Last weekend, we talked about practicing the presence of God as the foundation to our current series, The Way of Jesus. If you missed it, here’s a link to the podcast. This weekend, we will look at Status. Our world defines a successful life in terms of power, prestige and possessions. Jesus had a whole different take on this and calls His people to a risky, sometimes demanding, often counter-cult...

We are about to embark on a brand new sermon series: ‘The Way of Jesus’. We will walk closely with Jesus via Scripture in intentional discovery and learning and stretching and growing by following a Lord who calls us to a risky, sometimes demanding, often counter-cultural way of life. This weekend we look at living in recognition of God’s presence AKA how to live a joyful, abundant, overflowing, p...

Legacy. Six letters. One powerful statement. Or, perhaps a question: What will I pass down to the next generation? If my legacy is built on what I live out today, I must determine what is a worthwhile, daily investment of my time, resources, and abilities. Consider David, Daniel, Esther, Matthew, Paul, Mary, and Peter. What was the game changer in each of their stories? What empowered these flawed...

Remember Bruce Springsteen’s song “Glory Days”? It recounts stories of people looking back with longing at the glory days of the past. Have you had a relationship with God marked by excitement early on, giving way to questioning and disillusionment later? James 5:17 says “Elijah was a man just like me”. If that’s true, that we could be just like Elijah, then the possibilities of experiencing God’s...

What if I told you your soul comes equipped with a homing device, pulsating with a signal that aims to direct your life toward something? Maybe you have the sense of being unmoored in the sea of change our world is going through. Maybe the current circumstances of your life have rocked your story and you are looking for a great next chapter. Maybe you hunger for a world birthed anew that is not th...

It heals. It gives sight to the blind. He alone is the Cure-Giver. By the victory of the cross He demolished sin and death’s destructive reign over our minds. The final revelation of His presence will complete the renewal of all things in our body and in our world… undoing the impact of sin on us and the earth. That is our hope, “the blessed hope” (Titus 2:13). We live in the time in-between, wher...

Easter (the celebration of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead) however vaguely understood, still symbolizes hope, in particular hope beyond death and over death. New life. Even people on the outer periphery (or even completely outside) of life in the Christian community, once a year are drawn in to Easter. The hope of life beyond the grave has this powerful gravitational pull. And it should. But wh...

The buzz of the people, the flashing of the cameras, the shrieks of the fans, the crowds pressing in as the Hollywood star steps onto the red carpet. You’ve seen that movie! That’s pretty much what happens on Palm Sunday. People are wave and scream and press in close to Jesus. What happens next is a remarkable set of events that will go on to change the world. And in the events of that week our cu...

She was overlooked and judged by everyone. Her whole life was spent in the shadows, hiding in plain view. Everyone knew her as the lady of ill-repute, most didn’t even bother to get to know her name. Most of the men knew where she lived but would never admit it. Have you met her? What could she possibly teach us about serving from an overflow? What overflow? Her life was a tragedy, a waste, a mist...

Lord Acton hit the nail on the head: “Power corrupts…and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Moses was right in Deuteronomy 8, when he explained why the LORD often has to hold back from blessing us the way He desires: “You may well say to yourself, ‘My power and the strength of my hands have produced this prosperity for me… then your heart will become proud and you will forget the LORD your God!”...

In comfortable, consumer-oriented North America, land of individualistic self-fulfillment and endless upward mobility, the Biblical perspective on suffering is out of sync. This weekend we will explore the “Why?” question in the lives of some of God’s greatest champions of faith, when He did not rescue them from suffering or hardship. Especially, of course, His Son. We will wrestle with making cha...