Vision For Life

Autumn, Kimiko, and Caitlyn discuss how God has chosen to use written words, recorded and preserved in the Bible, as one of the primary means of revealing himself to us. We read the Bible to learn who God is, who we are, and to understand his created world and his kingdom. However, reading the Bible is not simply an educational exercise nor purely an emotional experience. Interacting with the writ...

Every week, in the various expressions of Fellowship Denver, we appeal to the Bible. In our kids classrooms, youth ministry, Bible studies, small groups, and Sunday morning services, we state that the Bible is the primary basis for our teaching and discussion. Reading and studying scripture is also central to our individual discipleship. Engaging scripture grows our love of God, helps us understan...

Work - paid and unpaid - is how we spend the bulk of our time. God intended it to be so. He created man and woman to work and keep the earth. Because God created work, it has meaning and fits into a bigger story of what God is doing in us and in the world. We don’t need to “bring” meaning to our work or “add” meaning to our work. It already has meaning. We just need to discover it. Autumn and Hunt...

"We were created for God's glory" is one of those sayings that sounds true, but can quickly turn vague. What does it actually look like to live for God's glory? On this week's episode, Autumn and Hunter discuss how "God's glory" should actually play out in our lives. They also discuss a listener-submitted question: If God created this world for his glory, why does he allow so much evil and sufferi...

The doctrine of the Trinity has to do with the identity of God and our knowing God as he is. Understanding the Trinity is a way in which we understand God’s existential nature. However, we often deal with the doctrine of the Trinity as if it is an intellectual problem to be solved or an oddity to be explained away, rather than as a certainty that makes our God entirely unique, beautiful, and inter...

On this week's episode, Autumn and Hunter continue the conversation about the New City Catechism and how it gives us vision for life. Today's subject: the catechism starts with questions and confessions about God - who He is, what He's like. At first blush, this can seem like a philosophical exercise. But there's actually more going on than we might realize. When we read God's revelation about him...

This episode is the second in a series introducing our yearlong focus on the New City Catechism. Autumn and Hunter discuss this question: What if you've experienced "external authorities" as heavy-handed? Last week, we discussed the benefits of submitting to something outside yourself. But, what if you've tried that and it wore you down? Many who grew up in rigid religious environments have seen a...

In 2021 our preaching calendar is being shaped by the New City Catechism, so to kick off the podcast year, Autumn and Hunter ask this question: How can learning a catechism make you happy? It's a counter-intuitive question because a catechism, at first blush, can appear somewhat dry. It's a series of short questions and answers that cover the foundations of the Christian faith. Many of us would ad...

We are joined today by Sam, a clinical mental health counselor and member of Fellowship Denver, to discuss the meeting point of theology and mental health. Our view of God and humanity deeply impacts and shapes our own psychological health. Both religion and culture often tell us, in various ways, that genuinely loving presence - God’s or other’s - will likely be withheld from us if we are not des...

Sometimes our felt needs drive us to seek escape or equilibrium via means that are appealing but ultimately unfulfilling, and many times even damaging. Drugs, alcohol, pornography, self-deprecation, self-aggrandizing, “fitting in,” consumerism - and the list goes on and on - hold out the promise of meaning, escape, relief, or happiness. And they often deliver a temporary, fleeting version of those...

God’s incredibly intricate design of the human mind, body, and heart includes adaptation and regulation. As we move in and out of various environments and seasons of life we respond physiologically to the difficulties and benefits we encounter in each linear movement. In seasons of loss or disruptive, difficult environments our physiological responsiveness may produce melancholy, anxiety, or depre...

Past experiences or seasons of loss are often heightened during the holiday season. And now, due to the pandemic, we’re all processing loss to some degree. Loss results in grief, and we can either recognize the grief and weight we are carrying or we can attempt to deal with it in some other way. We may look for ways to “check out” from life - mindlessly watching Netflix, online shopping, doing wha...

The pandemic has created a new reality marked by grief and loss. We are collectively grieving the world we once knew - the loss of routine, work, school, relationships, and normalcy. Many are grieving additional acute losses experienced in the distant or recent past. Acute losses come in many forms - loss of loved ones, loss of life and health, miscarriage, an injustice committed against you - and...

The holiday season can be stressful. Add in a pandemic, divisive political environment, and fewer daylight hours, and you’ve found a recipe guaranteed to produce stress, anxiety, or despondence. During times of prolonged stress or anxiety our physiological survival response mechanisms work harder, overriding the emotional decision-making centers in our brains that allow us to make healthy relation...

Last fall the pastors at Fellowship Denver encouraged the whole church - kids, students, and adults - to ask, “What does God want to do in and through me? What does God want to do in and through us?” We’ve heard many first-hand accounts of God’s faithful cultivation of the hearts of people in our church family as they open themselves to these questions.  How does this good work of the Holy Spirit...

The gospel of Jesus can take on different cultural clothing and styles without changing its core nature–a pattern that started in Acts and continues today. On this week's episode, we discuss questions like: How can I know the difference between what is "gospel" and what is "culture?" How does this concept help us when we are wrestling with doubts or questions based on our church upbringing?

This week Autumn is joined by Katie, a long-time Fellowship Denver member who works as a community organizer for a grassroots not-for-profit lobbying organization in Colorado. Katie grants us an inside look at how anecdotal evidence in a particular community catalyzes what then becomes data-driven lobbying efforts that wind up as bills being introduced to the legislature. Katie and Autumn also con...

We conclude our class on Politics by looking at big trends that are shaping American politics right now and asking: How does the gospel of Jesus speak in a unique way to these tensions? First, we see that America was founded on principles of liberty, protected by the rule of law (aka "classical liberalism"). Today, the stability of this liberal order is being stressed by illiberal forces on both t...