Downtown Church: Memphis, TN

Main Idea: God uses difficult situations in our lives to reveal His power & to deepen our faith. 1. God wants to increase your trust in Him by showing you His glory and power.   “You and I cannot possibly comprehend why God allows things into our lives that cause us to cast ourselves on him, to come to the end of our own strength so that we don't rely on ourselves. Sometimes the very thin...

Today's Scripture: John 10:22-42 ESV The Jews are predisposed to hate Jesus because they are dead set against being sheep. Religion is a way to make self the shepherd and God your sheep.  “I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.” (John 10:9) Main Idea: Jesus calls us into the kind of oneness with God He enjoys. “My sheep hear my voice,...

Today's Scripture: John 10:1-21 ESV “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before t...

See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. All who have this hope in him pur...

Big Idea: Jesus reveals divinity through signs and wonder so that we will know & proclaim Him. Scene One: We must be certain of our proclamation vv.13-17 Scene Two: We must count the cost of following Christ vv. 18-23 Scene Three: We called to be worshipers & witnesses of God (not merely thinkers of God) vv.24-34 Scene Four: We are to live free from all guilt vv.35-41 And I will lead the b...

Today's Scripture (John 9:1-12) 9  As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. 2  And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3  Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. 4  We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is co...

Today's Scripture John 8:42-59 “You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires.” (John 8:44) The Principle is this: you do what your father says.  Main idea: Relationship with your spiritual father either produces good or evil in and through your life depending upon if that spiritual father is the devil or God! So, the question is, “Who’s your daddy?”  I....

Main Idea: Jesus shows us that freedom is found when we hold on to and surrender to His Word as Truth. Today's Scripture John 8:31-41 ESV 31  So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32  and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” 33  They answered him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been en...

Main Idea: We desperately need The Light of the World to rescue us from darkness Today's Scripture: I Am the Light of the World (John 8: 12-30) Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” So the Pharisees said to him, “You are bearing witness about yourself; your testimony is not true.” Jesus answe...

Today's Scripture - John 8:1-11 Main Idea: God in His Grace, is not waiting to condemn. He is longing to set you free to live a life of freedom, prosperity, and victory.  1. God’s grace doesn’t lead us to judge others but reveals to us our faults.  2. God’s grace teaches us what God is really like.  3. God’s grace teaches us how to change. 

Today's Scripture: John 7:37-52 Reference (Ex 17:1b-6) “With joy (we) will draw water from the wells of salvation,” (Isaiah 12:3) “Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” ( John 7:38 ) “…these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” (John 20:3...

“For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day (6:38-40).” “It is the S...

Today, Pastors Richard Rieves, Artez Henderson, Sirgregory Thornton, and Worship Director Adrianna Steele discuss the racial and political divide in the church.

Today, Pastors Artez Henderson and  Sirgregory discuss the truthfulness and relevancy of the Bible in our lives today.

Main idea: Our soul’s hunger is only satisfied by trusting Jesus- the bread of life. Today's Scripture: John 6:22-71 1. Jesus warns us against chasing the temporal “bread” of life . “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not work for the food that perishes” John 6:26-27 2.  Jesus invites us to consu...

Today's Scripture: John 6:1-21 Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand 6  After this Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias. 2  And a large crowd was following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick. 3  Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. 4  Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews,...

The quote is from"Why The Past 10 Years of American Life Have Been Uniquely Stupid: It’s not just a phase," The Atlantic, April 2022. Data Points on Millennial Trust from (The Deloitte Global Millennial Survey 2019) I. Jesus wants to give you life, not control you.  “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet...

In today's episode, Pastor Richard Rieves, Assistant Pastor Artez Henderson, and Youth Pastor SirGregory Thornton discuss the death, burial, and resurrection of our savior as we celebrate this Easter Season.

Public Spectacle or Personal Encounter Luke 24:13-35 “…these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them.” (Luke 24:11) Jesus is more concerned about personal encounters than public spectacles. ‬‬‬‬‬‬ Jesus is more interested in showing up to and for you than showing out for fame.  I. Jesus will meet you on your road to nowhere.  “And they stood still, looking sad.”...

In today's episode, Youth Pastor SirGregory Thornton, Assistant Pastor Artez Henderson, and  Worship and Creative Director Adrianna Steele discuss Good Friday as we celebrate this Easter Season.

“Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where he was, he should let them know, so that they might arrest him.” (John 11:57) I. We all want a King.  II. Jesus is a King who is free to die.  “…unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone....” (John 12: 24a) “…who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despisin...

In today's episode, Adrianna Steele, Pastor Richard Rieves, Assistant Pastor Artez Henderson, and Children's Director Rebecca Rhodes discuss Palm Sunday as we celebrate this Easter Season.

Today's Scripture: John 5:1-30 (NIV) Jesus comes after people who’re looking for help in all the wrong places… Jesus warns us not to let anything keep us from missing out on him in the end Jesus wants us to know him for who he is… Jesus wants us to know who he is so that we can share in his life now and share in his life forever What does this mean for us today? The Nicene Creed We believe in one...

Today, Adrianna Steele, Artez Henderson and Richard Rieves interview DC Member Whitney Hale about her experience as a woman working in Marketing.

Main idea: Jesus demonstrates great works so that we might trust in Him alone! 1. Faith in Jesus is evident by taking a desperate posture. So he came again to Cana in Galilee, where he had made the water wine. And at Capernaum there was an official whose son was ill. When this man heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went to him and asked him to come down and heal his son, for he wa...