Renew Communities Teaching Podcast

In the beginning of Haggai we see a people finally released from exile and returning back to their homeland. For decades they have longed for the chance to return to the Temple and experience communion with God again but when they get home they turn their attention to rebuilding their own homes instead. Haggai asks them what’s more important, their own personal homes or their allegiance to God.

Christmas Eve is the day we focus on the birth of Jesus. The idea that God would put on flesh and blood and move into the neighborhood should blow our minds. He wants to move in with us? This Christmas Eve we’ll tackle all the reasons our hearts say Jesus shouldn’t want to make His home with us and we’ll talk about how His presence deals with each of those issues directly.

Let’s face it. Most of us have felt trapped by 2020. It’s not only the pandemic - it’s everything! The question is how do you get unstuck so you can live the life you were made to live free of all the things that make us feel stuck.

If you’re like me when my house is messy my heart feels messy. Sometimes I’ve made the mess but most of the time it’s someone else and we all just wait to see who will make the first move to clean things up so our house can be a comforting place to live. In week 3 of our Home for Christmas series we’ll talk about how we clean up the mess of our lives so we can feel at home in our own skin or in ou...

Most of us have mental snapshots of a moment in our lives where we felt like we were right where we belonged. The embrace of a parent, the smile of a sibling, the laughter around the table. It’s how we know we belong. Christmas reminds us that God has invited us to join his family and he embraces us as his children. In week 2 we talk about what it means to belong to the family of God even in the m...

There’s something comforting about coming home. You’re supposed to feel safe, loved, cared for, rested and happy at home. When we face the tough times and the hard days we have a longing to get back home. That longing is about more than a physical location or a heart full of memories, that longing was built into us by God and we’re longing to be at home with Him. In week 1 of our home for Christma...

The way the world tells us to love ourselves is vastly different from the way God teaches us to love ourselves. In the final week of our “What Christians Do” series, we look at what God tells us is the greatest commandment and what it means to love ourselves.

We live in complex times which creates a need to find answers to complex questions. There is no shortage of people who are willing to direct our steps but the question is what do Christians do when we have big questions in our life? In this weeks teaching we discuss how seeking and knowing Jesus can help us filter things through his heart and teaching.

Have you ever thought about what the core of your worry or anxiety is? We generally can identify the symptoms but often we don't dig deep enough to find the cause which is almost always that we lack the ability to control what is happening in our world. In this week's teaching we discuss what Christians do with worry and anxiety and we learn what it means to relax in Jesus.

Every four years we get the opportunity to choose who we want to lead our country. This blessing seems to have turned into a curse lately as there is more division and dissension in our nation than at any time in recent memory. In our final look at “What Christians Do” with politics we take a look at how Jesus responded when “forced to choose” politically and we’ll work to follow Him as we do the...

These days our world is full of rumors and rumblings about all sorts of things. When we let our hearts be captured by these rumors and rumblings we can be lead into all sorts of interesting conclusions and allegiances. Our hearts are easily captured by these theories or ideas and we can find ourselves living from a place of fear, suspicion or even anger without even knowing for certain they’re tru...

Jesus lived in politically polarized times just like we did. He has a very direct warning for his followers about how they should engage and what they should do. In this week’s sermon we talk about how to be on guard and what happens if we don’t.

Part of loving God is trusting God with what God has entrusted to us. This is easier said than done. We most often live with a mindset that we need all we have and most often we need more! Whenever Jesus talked about money he works to redirect our focus from provisions to provider but it takes more than thinking about money the right way. What Christians do with their money opens the door to a gre...

What makes the two words "Follow Me" so intimidating for Christians to hear? What if Christ's command to follow me is actually to stay where you are? How would that change the way you live your life and the people you interact with?

The issues we are facing in 2020 are not unique or new; the weight is just magnifying the cracks or gaps in our lives. One of the greatest temptations at times like these is to focus our attention on other people’s cracks in character and judge their actions in comparison to our intentions. As Christians Jesus instructs us not to judge but his teaching in Matthew 7 takes the focus from what we’re...

Jesus proclaims that the kingdom of God is here! In this sermon, we explore how we can enter into and experience the kingdom, moment by moment.

We live in a time where there is no clear path forward. We are regularly wrestling through what the right decision is and what the right reason could be and more often than not we just don't know. The good news is the God of the universe cares about what's happening in your life and wants to direct your path through each decision you make in whatever direction He's leading. The key is learning to...