Ethos Church

Over the past few weeks, we have been unpacking God’s vision for everything that has been entrusted to us so that we may become more like Jesus in generosity and stewardship. As we conclude our series, we need to remember three overarching truths that are near to the heart of God and at the core of why Ethos exists. People matter, God is bigger, and prayer is powerful. Stewardship is more than jus...

Many of us constantly battle with trying to live up to the expectations of others. Or trying to live up to your own unrealistic expectations which is emotionally painful. Many of us experience pain and keep it hidden or run from it altogether. But nothing is wasted on God. Even in seasons of pain, God is still near and wants to use it for a greater good. In this teaching, we will identify the prob...

Generosity without stewardship is irresponsible. Stewardship without generosity is selfish. God’s heart is that we grow to become a generous giver and a wise steward because what we do with our money is evidence of what’s most important to us. Many times, we give money in response to a felt need or in response to a tragedy—it’s emotional and the results are measurable. But in addition to that, wha...

Following Jesus will eventually lead you to recognizing the foundation of ownership. God owns everything in the world, but He appoints us as stewards to wisely manage it. Everything we have is God’s. We get to enjoy what He sends us, but we do not permanently own these things. When God prompts us to share, we are not to grieve our loss. His principle of stewardship enables us to be generous as we...

“For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. … God did this to demonstrate his rig...

As we continue our series on the Beatitudes, Jordan preached on Christ’s blessing over those who are persecuted. As we look back on church history and consider the global persecution of our brothers and sisters in other countries, we see countless examples of this. But in our modern, American context, we see a perhaps more subtle version of persecutions. Jesus confirms in this passage that we will...

This Sunday, Westin and Jensen taught us how to make peace in our relationships (Matthew 5:9). God’s idea of peace is not the absence of conflict, but the enjoyment of all things good. Because of this, we must recognize that tension is inevitable, and it is how we handle that tension that will determine the depth of our relationships. Some may keep peace, other force peace, but God desires us to m...

This Sunday, Pastor Jordan preached about how to cultivate a pure heart (Matthew 5:8). Purity of heart is the radical reorientation of our entire lives to focus solely on God’s will and His goodness. Purity means leveraging our desires for His kingdom’s purpose and allowing God’s will on earth to be the single driving force of every decision that we make. Purity is not restrictive and condemning b...

This week, Brian Johnson taught on the fifth of the nine Beatitudes: “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy” (Matthew 5:7 NIV). Mercy is “a loving response prompted by the misery or helplessness of another; generous in doing deeds of deliverance to those in need.” We are quick to call out and even cancel those who offend us. We have become great judges of others’ sin (but great la...

The kingdom of God comes to those who hunger and thirst for Biblical righteousness, which embodies both the private and the public, both righteousness in you and justice pursued by you. This vision of righteousness brings about the healing and renewal we so desperately need. We see examples of this righteousness in Amos 2:7, where Amos speaks out against sexual immorality AND oppression, and in Ja...

“Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth” (Matthew 5:5 NIV). In this beatitude, Jesus presents us with a paradox, that we are most powerful when we are meek. This idea is challenging because we tend to think of meekness as weakness. But meekness is not the absence of strength; it is strength under control. It is not laziness or cowardice; it is surrender to God. There is no one on ea...

This week, Pastor Jordan taught on the second of the nine Beatitudes: “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” (Matthew 5:4 NIV). While it does not make logical sense that those who are experiencing deep sadness would also be ‘blessed’; there is blessing to be found in difficult times, because we can experience the provision, purpose, and presence of God. Psalm 34:18 (NIV) tells...

The concept of poverty of spirit allows us to continue building a strong foundation in our faith. In our everyday lives, we often allow material abundance to feed into our pride, obstructing our acknowledgment of our spiritual bankruptcy. The inevitable self-righteous path we follow shifts the focus away from God's grace and we begin to believe we have single-handedly earned all our wealth. This n...

People often look at happy images of marriages on social media and say, “I want that,” but they don’t really know what “that” is. The real secret to a great marriage goes far deeper than just a hashtag. “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” -Matthew 6:21 (NIV)- Ethos is a life-giving community committed to keeping Jesus at its Center. We are on a mission to love all people i...

Jordan dives into what the Scriptures have to say about singleness. Often there is an assumption that you will grow in love with someone, marry, and have children. When that assumption is delayed, you may become discouraged or at worst identify as incompetent or unlovable. We see that there is a purpose to singleness. The goal of this teaching is to reveal God’s plan for both the gift and calling...

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

Sometimes, the past does not stay in the past. We end up carrying painful moments with us, allowing them to weigh us down. When we hold on to those painful moments and difficult mistakes, it not only weighs us down, but it drastically changes how we live out our day to day lives. It steals away from our potential to be our best selves. But you don’t have to keep holding on to the pain from your pa...

We tend to minimize how negative words affect us and others, but words have more power than we know. As we walk out our faith journey, it’s critical for us to recognize four practical truths about our words and how they influence our relationships.  We also need to allow God to change our hearts. When we surrender our hearts and lives to God, He will empower us to change our words. But the on...

Jesus’ vision for the church is a people united under Him. It cannot be overstated the mission of Jesus to unite the people of God in healthy relationship. But that’s no easy task and it requires something of you. In fact, Healthy relationships begin with you. Don’t confuse healthy with convenient. Don’t confuse healthy with easy. Healthy relationships require a healthy amount of work. But the goo...

Before we write out our goals, we should begin in the heart. The temptation for Christians is to make our plans and add a dollop of Jesus on top, rather than allowing him to form in us the desires and motivations to do his work. So, whether or not we’re making concrete goals or more abstract ones, whether we’re writing down resolutions or foregoing them altogether, here are a few questions to cons...

Advent is as much about looking back as it is looking ahead—back to Christ’s incarnation, ahead to His return. Hebrews 9:28 tells us, “So Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.” The Christmas message when stripped of its cultural overtones and traditions is relatively simple: God...

Names are important and they can reveal a lot about us. Even more so, the names given to Jesus reveal the embodiment of who He is. In Isaiah 9:6-7, when Isaiah says that Jesus is our Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace, we begin to get a greater glimpse of how Jesus is the perfection of everything we have ever wanted. Calling Jesus “the Everlasting Father” may...

As we enter the Christmas season, it’s possible to miss some of the greatest things in your life because your heart is not tuned to look for them. God’s gift to us at the first Christmas was unexpected, but if you knew what you were looking for, and you recognized majesty when you saw it, it wasn’t disappointing. Pastor Jordan tells the story of Anna and Simeon, two of the first people to meet Jes...

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

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