Ethos Church

Many of us constantly battle with trying to live up to the expectations of others or trying to live up to my own unrealistic expectations. For others, we find ourselves wrestling with the lie of the expectations we think God has for us. If you battle with the pursuit of perfectionism you may even find yourself “almost” lying in order to show an image of yourself that’s not real. Or maybe you avoid...

For so many of us, work is a means to an end. Maybe that end is significance, power and authority, notoriety, money, opportunity, the weekend or vacation, rest, or play and leisure. Work can so easily become the thing we do to get what we really want. Work was never intended to be a means to an end, in fact, work is a part of the “end” in and of itself. Think about this; If Jesus came today, He co...

There are over 7.9 billion people on earth. Which is a number that most of us have a hard time wrapping our heads around but one of the striking things about humanity is how different we all are. Everyone is unique and diverse and yet, we are all called to rule, subdue, work, and take care of the earth but we each do that in a unique way. The term “vocation” comes from the Latin word, “vocatio”, w...

It seems that we often have to remind ourselves that the purpose of working is not about serving ourselves but rather serving God and others. There is a higher purpose to our labor, and that is to make Jesus known and reflect His character in all the work that we do. God created man with the ability and purpose to work. And when we view work through the lens of a gift from God; we will start to se...

What’s the first question we usually ask somebody when we meet them? “So, what do you do?” Which is essentially the same question as, “What are you giving your life to?” and “Do you like it?” The vast majority of our lives is spent working. The next largest slice of the pie is spent resting – the stuff we look forward to and savor. In church, we often spend most of our time teaching people how to...

A lot of us have trouble understanding why Jesus had to die for our sins not because we don’t understand God’s holiness, but we misunderstand our own level of depravity. In a world where so much sin is accepted and celebrated, it’s easy to believe that we aren’t “that bad.” Without the sacrifice of Jesus, we would be without hope and without forgiveness. Isaiah 64:6 says, “We are all infected and...

Our goal in life is not simply to follow Jesus but to become like Him. Therefore, He must increase and we must decrease (John 3:30). There are three promises we can make to help us be more like Jesus in our relationships. First, we can promise to respond with patience and love rather than to react out of emotion and impulse. Next, we can promise to focus on the good in people instead of focusing o...

In order for relationships to work, we must let the One who designed them define them. God wants our relationships to be healthy. Contrary to what we often see in the world, relationships are not disposable. They require commitment in order to work well. Making promises can assist us in staying committed to our relationships. There are four specific promises we can make to strengthen our relations...

Ethos is a life-giving community committed to keeping Jesus at its Center. We are on a mission to love all people in Jesus' name so that we may all Know God, Find Freedom, Discover Purpose, & Make a Difference. EthosOH.com Small Groups: EthosOH.com/Community ServeColumbus.org

The breath that is in your lungs, gives you the ability to live, to speak, and to enjoy your daily life. But the breath that is in you, since it is a gift from God, is meant for so much more. We are called to use the breath that God gave us, for His good and His glory. That means speaking life, speaking love, speaking encouragement, and letting our voices be used to draw people into Christ. What w...

For many Christians, Romans 8:28 is a “go-to” scripture in perilous times. Especially when we cannot explain “why” something bad has or currently is happening. The problem is, we often use this verse as a stoic blanket by saying, “Something bad has happened? Aww, that’s terrible. But wait! All things work together for good.” In many ways, with that being our complete understanding of Romans 8:28,...

In the book of John, the ninth chapter, Jesus’ disciples ask the standard question, not that different from the question many people ask today when bad things happen, “Who sinned?” But Jesus doesn’t look back to a hypothetical cause - He looks forward, to see what God is going to do about it. Meaning; what Jesus is going to do about it. So, He heals the man. As to communicate that this is the “now...

God is a loving Father, so why would the Bible talk about our need to fear God? In this message, Jordan tackles one of the most challenging truths of Scripture; that fear of God is necessary for real, authentic, friendship with God. We all have fears. In fact, right now is a very fearful time for us all. Too often, though, we have let fear rule our lives and stop us from taking a stand for what we...

In one of his more famous quotes, Martin Luther King Jr. said, “To be a Christian without prayer is no more possible than to be alive without breathing.” Prayer is an essential part of our faith in Jesus. We learn through the teachings of Jesus that we pray to God, in the name of Jesus. It is because of what Jesus has done on your behalf that you have access to God, as your father. To say that’s i...

A recent study revealed that 9 out of 10 Americans will pray at least one time this week. Yet, with all of that praying, prayer is still a mystery to so many of us. Philippians 4:6 tells us to, “be anxious for nothing but pray about everything”. It is one of the more famous bible verses but one of the most challenging too. How many of us can say that we “pray about everything”? If we are really ho...

There may not be an adequate way of truly explaining the importance of God’s word in our lives and what it does to us when we choose to live by it. It is an experience that changes us. Daily it is up to us to determine if the world or the Word will be the basis for how we live our lives. When we have an attitude that gratefully receives, humbly accepts, and intently embraces the truth of God’s Wor...

“The greatest issue facing the world today, with all its heart-breaking needs, is whether those who are identified as Christians will become disciples – students, apprentices, practitioners – of Jesus Christ. Steadily learning from Him how to live the life of the Kingdom of Heaven into every corner of human existence.” – Dallas Willard We hear the language, “follower of Jesus” all the time, but wh...

One theologian was asked, “If you could describe Jesus in one word, what would that be?” His reply, “Relaxed.” As we continue leaning into knowing God in a personal way, we cannot neglect the role that rest plays in our relationship with our Heavenly Father. Rest does not mean you don’t do anything; it means you learn to do the right things. In fact, for many of us, following Jesus may entail chan...

The beauty of the Bible is that it is literally God’s very words. When we pause and view this book as God actually speaking to us and revealing His wisdom and truth to us, it fully alters our approach and how we read and grasp it. This book now takes on a whole new identity to us. Hebrews 4:12 says that, “the word of God is living and active and full of power…” When we approach the Bible as living...

 

 

Continuing in our series “Christmas…more than just a nice story”, we dive into the hope the prophet Isaiah was pointing to in Isaiah 9:6. Isaiah describes the son to be born as, “Mighty God.” However, we learn that mighty looked a lot different than anyone expected. Jesus doesn’t impose His will and take over as many expected, instead He simply submitted to the will of the Father. This even result...

Christmas can be a very difficult season for many people. It can highlight the loss of a loved one, reawaken old family drama, or even make us painfully aware of our loneliness. But even in that darkness, we can have hope because Jesus is our Wonderful Counselor who guides us from a position of authority. It may feel intimidating to approach God with your problems. What if He ignores you? What if...

What if the uncertainty of life with the new coronavirus could be one of the best things to ever happen to our spiritual formation? What if, when we tell the story of our life in old age, and people ask what it was that made us who we are, we boldly answered, “living through 2020”? Control is often the issue underneath so many of the issues that block, hamper, or derail our spiritual formation int...

As we enter this week of Thanksgiving, we enter a time where we naturally pause and think about what we are thankful for. It is easy to rattle of the normal things like family, health, job, and friends, which are normally the things that first come to mind. But what if for a change we stop and reflect on who we are thankful to and not just on what we are thankful for?