Nova Church Weekly Messages

 Jesus shares the Passover meal with his disciples.  He breaks bread and shares – and he tells them about his death.  But his disciples argue over who is greatest. “When Jesus wanted to explain the meaning of his death, he didn’t give his disciples a theological treatise – he gave them a meal" (N. T. Wright). Subversive Jesus: A Lenten Series Jesus flips tables and flips scripts. Our notions...

Jesus undermines the religious leaders by telling the Parable of the Wicked Tenants against them. (Luke 20:9-20, 21:37-38) Subversive Jesus: A Lenten Series Jesus flips tables and flips scripts. Our notions of where true life is found are also flipped upside down. During this season of Lent, let’s draw near to Jesus and allow him to challenge us, unsettle us, and invite us into new life. Let’s con...

Jesus clears and occupies the Temple, and the religious leaders confront him. (Luke 19:45-20:8) Subversive Jesus: A Lenten Series Jesus flips tables and flips scripts. Our notions of where true life is found are also flipped upside down. During this season of Lent, let’s draw near to Jesus and allow him to challenge us, unsettle us, and invite us into new life. Let’s consent to the subversive work...

Experience the poignant and powerful message of Ash Wednesday. Taylor Stamps shares a message from Joel 2:1-2, 12-17. The Christian calendar invites us to mark time by the life of Jesus.  The season of Lent will soon begin.  It’s a season of prayerful reflection as we pay attention to our own brokenness and need for Jesus.  The first day of Lent is called Ash Wednesday.  We start with a posture of...

Are you the One?  Our journey through the gospel of Luke leads us to the point. Jesus is the one who fulfills all of God’s promises and brings the restorative, healing presence of God into our lives and into our world. “Are You The One?” A six week series on life-changing encounters with Jesus the Messiah Are you the One? It’s the question on the mind of John the Baptist. And so he sends his disci...

Jesus heals a man with leprosy. What beautiful words of compassion as Jesus says, “I am willing.” This is One who ushers us into life with God. “Are you the One?” A six week series on life-changing encounters with Jesus the Messiah Are you the One? It’s the question on the mind of John the Baptist. And so he sends his disciples to ask Jesus himself. Are you the One to come or should we expect some...

Who is this man who, with authority, forgives sins?  What do we learn of Jesus as he heals a man who is paralyzed. “Are You The One?” A six week series on life-changing encounters with Jesus the Messiah Are you the One? It’s the question on the mind of John the Baptist. And so he sends his disciples to ask Jesus himself. Are you the One to come or should we expect someone else?  Are you the One? T...

Jesus comes proclaiming the good news of the Kingdom. And what do we see? What is the demonstration that the kingdom of God is now in our midst? Jesus is the healer who has come to bring restoration. “Are you the One?” A six week series on life-changing encounters with Jesus the Messiah Are you the One? It’s the question on the mind of John the Baptist. And so he sends his disciples to ask Jesus h...

What is the setting in which God comes to us? What is the correct context, proper pathway, the needed nexus of circumstances for us to experience God.  Maybe we just can’t imagine God coming into the mess that is our life. Into the mess that is our world.  What is the setting in which God comes to us? How does Christ enter in? Pastor Katie Fowler preaches during our Christmas Eve on Capitol Hill s...

New year, new you! That’s what the ads tell you. Is the new year just an invitation to a grand self-improvement project? And, therefore, another reason to beat yourself up for where you fall short? As we enter 2023, let's try a different starting point.  Let's find our identity, belonging, and purpose rooted in the love of Jesus. As we reflect on Jesus's baptism and remember our own...

Jesus proclaims good news to the poor. The year of Jubilee. Reading from the prophet Isaiah, Jesus proclaims he is the fulfillment of the prophet’s words. He is the anointed one. “Are you the One?” A six week series on life-changing encounters with Jesus the Messiah Are you the One? It’s the question on the mind of John the Baptist. And so he sends his disciples to ask Jesus himself. Are you the O...

God’s promises carry forward. Even when we turn aside or turn to human strategies to give us what only God can give us. God keeps his word in Christ. Main Passage: Isaiah 7:10-16 Gospel Reading: Matthew 1:18-25 The Beautiful One: Portraits of Jesus Beauty is hard to define.  But we know it when we see it. Our hearts long for beauty.  Join us for the four weeks of Advent as we consider the beauty o...

"Loose ends. That’s the difference between fiction and reality — some would say. And some would say that we love stories precisely because they are ways we try to make sense of our scattered, fragmented lives. But does this desire—for our lives to make sense, for things to hold together—actually point us to something true about reality and our own lives. Can the loose threads of our lives act...

Hope breaks through. From what appears cut off, finished, a shoot grows. The stump is not the end of the story. God is not done.  The Just One, the Righteous One, Jesus comes to right all wrongs.  We desperately need the Messiah to come! What in your life feels like a dead-end, beyond hope? Jesus is there, ready to meet you. Main Passage: Isaiah 11:1-10 Gospel Reading: Mark 5:35-43 The Beautiful O...

The mountain is a word picture referring to God’s presence dwelling with his creation, among his people.  In Jesus this prophetic image has been fulfilled: God has come to dwell among us. “The word became flesh and blood and moved into the neighborhood” (John 1:14a, MSG). Jesus draws us in. The nations stream to him, and he brings justice and peace to the nations. Passage: Isaiah 2:1-5 Gospel Read...

How do we actually learn and grow?  “Embodied experiments of trust [practices] are concrete ways to let go of control and open our lives up to deeper participation in God’s life, reducing the resistance to God’s grace flowing in and through our lives.” - Matt Tebbe and Ben Sternke Join us for an 8-week series exploring 8 “discipleship axioms” from the book Having the Mind of Christ by Matt Tebbe a...

To make the love of God the very center of our being and discipleship means we have to pay attention to power dynamics in our world.  This includes the power dynamics we participate in as well. “God’s love in Jesus enacted justice in the face of injustice, empowerment in the face of powerlessness, honor for those who had been shamed and marginalized.  What does it look like to live our lives looki...

Good news: God cares about it more than we do.  About what?  All of it! We can rest in God’s care and commitment to us and towards us.  God is faithful!  God will do it! “If God cares about (all of it) more than we do, then we learn how to consent to God’s activity, rather than attempt to exercise control or produce desired outcomes…  You don’t have to convince God to help you grow as a disciple o...

In the Christian scriptures, human beings are always trying to “hustle God”—always hiding, pretending, flattering, or working the angles.  But God is committed to getting people to get real with him.  God is so real that he only meets you where you really are. Join us for an 8-week series exploring 8 “discipleship axioms” from the book Having the Mind of Christ by Matt Tebbe and Ben Sternke. These...

Jesus says, “If you’ve seen me you’ve seen the Father.” The visible image of the invisible God. Sometimes we struggle to understand what God is like— how God thinks of us or treats us in our worst moments and on our really bad days. God is like Jesus. Join us for an 8-week series exploring 8 “discipleship axioms” from the book Having the Mind of Christ by Matt Tebbe and Ben Sternke. These axioms h...

Where is God?  Sometimes we talk like God “showed up,” as if God were absent from that place before that moment.  Sometimes we say, “God did something,” as if God hadn’t been working there all along.  God is always present and at work.  Our job is to learn to wake up to God’s presence, just like Jacob: “Surely God’s presence is in the place and I didn’t know it!” Join us for an 8-week series explo...

The goal of discipleship is communion-in-love—oneness with God and one another.  God’s love is the center of the Christian story.  It’s the center of the cosmos.  Is God’s love the center of your identity? Join us for an 8-week series exploring 8 “discipleship axioms” from the book Having the Mind of Christ by Matt Tebbe and Ben Sternke. These axioms help open our eyes to the reality of God’s work...

Jesus invites us to enjoy life with God, an invitation that he calls us to extends to others.  This is our shared mission as a church – and you have a vital part to play. Learn more about Nova Church at https://novadenver.org/

What would it look to commit to each other and to God’s mission together?  It’s countercultural to commit.  To go all in on something together. It requires trust, vulnerability, and courage.  And it is worth it. Learn more about Nova Church at https://novadenver.org/

What is Jesus up to in us and in our world?  In a word: renewal.  Jesus, who is making all things new, is working for transformation. Pastor Katie shares what the transforming presence of Jesus look like, naming five signs to look for: community, beauty, justice, wholeness, and worship. Jesus brings renewal.  We join in. Learn more about Nova Church at https://novadenver.org/