Forefront Podcast

Rev. Venida opens up Forefront’s new sermon series with a spotlight on women - women who are courageous and unyielding - women who persevere and refuse to be silent. Women who have for centuries, and will continue to, used their voices and God-given gifting to help transform and liberate lives. Rev. Venida encourages us to learn from their stories and use our voices as well.

Benny frames prayer through the mystery of language, interrogates the power of language, and surrenders that language is actually nothing! Weaving together Old and New Testament stories, he rethinks the story of the Tower of Babel and shares about the new language his brother and he are creating.

Our Prayer Changes Sermon Series continues with a focus on The Atmosphere. Rev. Venida invites us to reflect on how prayer can change not just us, or our path, but it can also change the atmosphere. She will offer ways our presence can transform the environment around us to create spaces of edification, fulfillment and healing.

In this second week of the Prayer Changes Sermon Series, Rev. Venida shares statistics and examples related to the spiritual discipline of prayer. She invites us to consider the expansiveness of prayer, something that opens us up to more of God’s greatness, beauty, and love where it changes the path that we think we are on, to a shift in perspective and purpose giving us renewed hope.

In the second week of our series on Prayer, Rev. Josh proposes that prayer changes us! He does this by asking questions like, what’s the purpose of prayer? Can we change God’s mind or convince God to do something? Or is prayer the tool God uses to change our mind or hearts? How can we reconstruct a new vision of prayer in our reconstruction process?

Thinking leads to action, so prayer will not only change my thinking but my living. But how do I face where my heart has turned to stone, the truth of harm I have participated in? The surprising, overwhelming mercy of God literally forgets what we have done, freeing us to risk praying anew, and seeking repair.

Remember the all-church survey? Well, 60% of you said that when choosing a church to connect with that community was the most important thing to you! I talk to Forefronters all the time who say they were struggling to find community in the city, so they darkened our doors in search! Making friends as an adult is so challenging and maintaining friendships in the city only adds to the challenge. Thi...

In the last week of our sacraments series, Rev. Josh will share about the evolution of communion and diversity of how its observed in different traditions. But more than that, he paints a picture of Communion being a historically subversive act that transcends time. Sometimes the most radical act of Christian obedience is to share a meal with someone new or different than us and this is what is at...

In this 6th message of the Sacraments of the Church sermon series, Rev. Venida preaches on the sacrament of Confession including its origin, how it is embraced today, and how a practice that has been used as a tactic to exert power and harm others has also been used to share one’s truth and connect more authentically with God, self and others. All this and more…

"Defend the weak and the fatherless; uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed." “Whoever oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God.” "But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.’" These are...

Did you grow up in a tradition where you went through confirmation? If not, what sort of initiation or religious educational process did your tradition embody? Rev. Josh shares about the sacrament of confirmation, where an adolescent or adult, confirms their baptismal vows and publicly affirms their faith after having gone through confirmation classes where they learn about Christian history, beli...

Rev. Josh explores the history, theology, and modern-day implications of the sacrament of anointing the sick. This sacrament started as a counter-cultural practice of extending love and grace to hurting and forgotten people in a Roman culture where the sick or sinners were isolated from the community. What if we embodied the spirit of this sacrament by showing up and acknowledging we often can’t t...

Rev. Josh explores the history, impact and modern day relevance of the sacrament of Holy Orders. What if part of ushering in the next 500 years of Christianity means we commit to expanding holy orders to all? What if it means having a healthy respect for pastors while equally valuing the voices and giftings of everyone at Forefront? What might this type of church look like?

Our Sacraments Sermon Series begins with a spotlight on marriage. Rev. Venida talks about the history of marriage, how it has evolved over time, and how we can reposition our ideas about marriage to further incorporate Jesus’s words to love God, ourselves, and others. This can start with marriage partners focusing on the love they have for each other, and then extending that love to intentionally...

The last time you heard Jonathan Williams on this podcast, he was lead pastor of Forefront Church; now, he's just a dad who raised two kids in the church trying to offer some sage advice to a new dad grappling with questions about raising kids in the church. For many of us who grew up in the church, what we were raised to believe went out the window a long time ago, so despite what we may say, do,...

Kai Ngu speaks on a parable of Jesus on farmers and seeds, and the Hebrew Bible to show us how our Scriptures encourage us to relate to nature - land, animals, plants, stars - as persons and beings full of agency, emotion, and willpower. Understanding this animistic, and arguably indigenous, paradigm is essential towards building an anti-capitalist, anti-colonial ethos.

Mary Obasi explores why it is hard to change even when our circumstances have in the parable of "The Rich Man and Lazarus".

God has lavishly showered on us messages of abundance and hope. Unfortunately, the cares of this world can sometimes be overwhelming and cause us to fall into despair and doubt who we are and our purpose in life. In a continuation of The Parables sermon series, Rev. Venida reminds us of the importance of investing and nurturing those things, again and again, that will allow us to constantly bear g...

Sometimes we're met with moments that speak to our character and defines us as individuals. Then there are moments that show the light within us! In this exciting sermon, Preacher bootcamp alum, Theon Freeman explores the Parable of the Lamp and what it looks like to discover God's light.

Rev. Josh queers the parable of the shepherd and the sheep in John 10 by connecting how we can often be led astray like new sheep to believe dehumanizing theologies. However, we can attune our ears to the tender and loving voice of The Good Shepherd who leads us to greener pastures amidst confusion and disillusionment.

Rev. Venida continues our sermon series with the Parable of the Unjust Judge. This sermon allows us to reflect upon who the heartfelt pleas for justice all around us and how we can answer the call.

Jesus proclaimed that his liberation was tied with the liberation of the least of these because he was the least of these. And if Jesus, God made flesh, was the least of these, then certainly we are too. And so when we feed the hungry, we are feeding Jesus and ourselves. When we set the prisoner free, we are setting Jesus free and setting ourselves free. Maybe that is what it means to be the Body...

Rev. Josh makes modern-day connections to our lives from the parable of the wheat and the weeds. He highlights some of the people in his life who felt like a weed, or perhaps not the people as much as the beliefs they held that seemed to get in his way or take nutrients from his life. He shared how he is often tempted to pluck them, shame them, and cast them aside. As we start PRIDE, might we give...

There is a freedom that comes with the realization that you are not who the world says you are -- but there is also destabilization. Like many of you, Austen grew up in a church environment that had narrow views on what men and women look like and how to interpret the whole "created in His image" thing. When he realized that his gender identity didn't sync up with either his birth certificate or w...

The Pentecost Sunday sermon allows us to consider living life more abundantly through the power of the Holy Spirit. It allows us to think critically about the “what do you do?” question, and consider reframing the answer with a response, other than a job title, that is affirming and encouraging.