ReNew Ames Messages

Speakers: Aaron Vis and Tony Vis In part two of The Sage And The Son, Tony and Aaron answer more of the submitted questions from back in May.

Again, kind of an odd little episode in the life of Jesus. To what shall I compare this generation. Then he tells a weird little story about children playing in the marketplace, and doesn't really explain it, which leaves room for us to play and figure it out. Here's the gist: the people have become impossible to satisfy. John is too serious. Jesus is too joyful. John is too conservative. Jesus is...

We're going to start off talking about Christian coffee mugs. Have you noticed that most that fit this criterion are pretty specific types of Bible verses? Yeah, there are definitely some passages that don't end up on a mug, or a t-shirt. Like the passage we're reading today. Some of the things Jesus says here are hard to digest. They don't necessarily fit the image we have of a gentle prophet and...

Speaker: Bev Modlin Scripture: John 9:1-41 https://www.bible.com/events/49623691

Today we're slowly walking through the calling of Matthew. Jesus saw Matthew at the tax collector's booth; we have to understand some of tax collector culture to grasp why Matthew would have had a negative reputation amongst his people. He's basically an IRS agent working in collaboration with the Roman empire to extort money from his own people. So yeah, he wasn't liked. Yet Jesus calls him anywa...

It's Trinity Sunday! We're starting off with a VERY brief history lesson with an introduction to the Nicene Creed. Yes, I'm even going to quote from the creed. We're going old school. The creed clearly clears things up. Yeah, no. We all still have questions. All of these analogies seem to fall short. Maybe the Trinity is better NOT explained; maybe it's better if we experience the Trinity. Think a...

In this second iteration of Aaron and Tony chatting about faith and living a life that reflects Jesus, folks submitted questions and they answered them, mostly off the cuff. There are still more questions that didn't get answered this time around, so be on the lookout for another Sunday like this in the near future to finish up the list, if everything works out!

We continue on in the Farewell Discourses. This time, we finish with the prayer Jesus prays at the end of his long, difficult discussion with his disciples, before he says goodbye. We'll begin by remembering, again, the context. It's remarkable that Jesus intercedes with the Father on our behalf. I love the idea that God cares about my little life and loves me enough to talk to the Father about me...

If you love me, you will obey my commandments. We often hear this and we think of a rule book. We think obligation. We think the worst of religion. Most of us grew up hearing these words. But what did Jesus mean? If we flip back a chapter, John tells us. "I give you a new commandment - as I have loved you, so you should love one another." It's the only commandment given by Jesus in John's story ab...

Do not let your hearts be troubled. Jesus has just told his followers that he's leaving and that they can't come with him. Their world is unravelling, it feels like the ground is shifting underneath their feet. Yeah, we know what that's like. Emotionally, culturally, and spiritually. Look at the state of reality right now. We're living in "troubled" times, of course our hearts are troubled. Jesus...

Speaker: Suzanne Vogel Scripture: Matthew 8:1-17 http://bible.com/events/49600674

This week, we're talking about the Road to Emmaus story. Again, we're gonna walk slowly through the story. We pick up where the last one ended. The two disciples are walking, talking about what had happened. Seems like they're just as confused and perplexed as the women and Peter. They're wondering out loud with one another. Then Jesus shows up; they don't know it's him. He asks them what they're...

*Please note that, for the sake of an audio medium, this Sunday's message has been edited down to remove the minutes of no talking while folks participated in the workshop at their tables. To see Sarah's slides and examples of the practices she detailed here, see the video on our YouTube channel, ReNew Ames, under the April 12th date.* Speaker: Sarah Fleming http://bible.com/events/49593888

It's Easter Sunday. I'll start off by talking about how it's very early in the morning. It's the in-between time - the time when one thing has come to an end but the next thing hasn't fully begun. They bring spices to anoint the body, because that's what you do. This is where we're breaking down their relationship with Jesus: what he meant, what they had hoped he'd be. But his life was cut short....

Not a traditional sermon. No main ideas, no three points and a poem. Just a retelling of the story with some comments and questions. I'll give you just a few of the highlights. What if Judas isn't a monster? What if he's a mirror? How often do we trade what's really important in this life for something that's much smaller? The meal: Jesus becomes the host, even when his betrayal is set in motion....

Let's start off by talking about how reality works. You eat right, you exercise, you get stronger and healthy. When you don't, well, you kinda go backwards. This is like what Paul is explaining here. He talks about sharing in Christ's suffering and then sharing in his glory. (Glory here is not heaven, glory here is sharing in Christ's humanity; becoming fully human, becoming what human beings were...

All nations have mythic stories about the first great leaders. Let's think for a moment about George Washington, with this story that we grow up hearing about him chopping down that cherry tree and then owning up to it. "I cannot tell a lie." Truth or myth, we hold onto the story as a picture of who we expect a good leader to become. That's this story for Ancient Israel. So we're just gonna walk t...

Jesus heals a blind man. We'll begin by talking about miracles. John's favorite thing to call a miracle is a sign. Signs are always pointing beyond themselves. The sign is never the point. So here we're retelling the story. Everyone in it is preoccupied with the sign (the blind man can see!). The Pharisees are especially preoccupied with the sign. Blindness in this story seems to have nothing to d...

We're starting by talking a little about Billy Sunday. For people who were here in 2020 for the first version of this sermon, they might remember this. So to keep setting us up here, Jesus met Nicodemus in the middle of the night, which gives us John 3:16 - the verse everyone quotes and loves. It's been called the "gospel in miniature." However, I don't like the way it's been used. It's been used...

Yeah, Romans. We don't actually land here too often at ReNew. We'll start with One. Because that's where Paul starts. One moment. One decision. One human being. Adam. Through one, sin enters, fracture enters, death enters. From one to many. So it seems like we're not talking about personal failure here. We're talking about something larger. More like a current - a flow - a ripple that keeps rippli...

This is a special, different kind of conversation. Most of you know and love Tony, Aaron's dad, and have been blessed by his ministry and friendship and love. Aaron sat down with Tony to talk about end of life and hospice, and how their family is working together to process and prepare for death. Speakers: Aaron Vis and Tony Vis

Speaker: Suzanne Vogel Scripture: Matthew 5:17-48 http://bible.com/events/49559836

We're dealing with the second half of the Beatitudes today. First a brief recap of where we were last week, and then jumping right into the rest of it. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. This is not at all how the world works. But when mercy is shown, it has the power to transform. Not only the one being shown mercy, but the one who is merciful. This is how we start making a b...

Continuing on after Jesus started doing his thing around Galilee. The crowds gathered around Jesus. These people were hurting - they were the "least of these," as Jesus says in other places. He looks at this crowd and says they are blessed. We'll talk about what that word "blessed" means - and meant in their context. Calling that crowd - full of THOSE people - it didn't make sense for them to be c...

We're going to do it again. We'll walk slowly through the story and see what happens. Jesus leaves Nazareth. He leaves home. Why would he leave his home and his family? Well, Matthew tells us at the beginning. He heard that John was in prison. John was a peaceful protestor out in the wilderness calling people to repent, to rethink their allegiance to the authoritarian powers of the state and of re...