Church At The Well Podcast

Resisting Politics of Fear While our partisan politics often rely on paralyzing fear that casts out love, the Gospel truth we’re invited to live is perfect love that casts out fear. In this sermon, Adam explores how we can engage the political process while resisting the politics of fear. 

"How do you know that you've developed a disordered attachment with politics?" After looking at an example of disordered attachment in the book of Exodus, Adam invites us to consider this question and more in this week's sermon - the second in our "God, Politics, and the Church" series. 

Seven Marks of Faithfulness to Jesus in a Politically Hostile World As we approach the national election, many may be wondering, How can followers of Jesus navigate the raging political storms of our day? In the first sermon of a series called God, Politics, and the Church, Adam offers seven marks of faithfulness to Jesus in a politically hostile world, reminding us that, as an alternative community, the church does not fit tidily into a political party or ideology, but ultimately confounds the left, the right, and even the center, living from a different center - the center of God's life through Jesus.

When the Jewish people returned from exile to rebuild the temple, they hit a wall of discouragement and shifted their focus from God to themselves, neglecting the temple and focusing on their own houses. In this sermon, Adam invites us to consider our ways just as the prophet Haggai invited the Jewish people to do in their time, trusting that God is with us and strengthening us as we roll up our sleeves and focus on him.

As we follow Jesus, it's not unlikely that we will face seasons and changes that feel like they require much more than we have in our own strength. Thankfully, Jesus promises his disciples the gift of his Spirit for moments just like this. This week, we take a look at two stories from the book of Acts that show the Spirit showing up for people in need of words, wisdom, and direction. 

Jesus invites us to ask the Father for what we need, assuring us the Father delights in giving good gifts to his children when they ask. In this sermon, featuring a guest interview with Rick Pacukonas, we explore Jesus’s invitation to ask, several ways of thinking that can get in the way of asking, how God might be at work in our lives when we must wait, and why we can ultimately have hope even when our prayers go unanswered. 

Welcome back! This week, Adam shares four questions to consider while searching for the right home church. 

Sabbath is meant to be a blessing, not a burden, but we may hold assumptions about Sabbath that weigh it down and hinder us from receiving the gift of Sabbath rest God longs to give. In this audio reflection, Abby offers three approaches to thinking about Sabbath that will help us ponder and practice Sabbath with fresh perspective.

In a society that values excessive work and honors extreme productivity, the practice of Sabbath is quite counter-cultural. Yet, Sabbath remains a remarkable invitation from God to stop, rest, worship, and delight. This week, ahead of our Summer Sabbath series, Adam shares some of the dangers of living a "hurry-sick" life, and invites us to consider how God might be inviting us to engage Him in Sabbath. 

Our culture is saturated with cynicism, and the church is not immune to it, but Jesus calls us to a different way. In this sermon, Ian examines several powerful moments in Jesus’ life and ministry when he resisted cynicism and concludes with three spiritual practices that can help us counter cynicism.

Joy does not depend on the elimination of suffering because it transcends suffering and can even co-exist with suffering. In this sermon, Adam offers a biblical definition of joy, shares a story about the co-existence of joy and pain in his own life, and offers a concrete practice that has helped him cultivate joy.

Josh Riggs, pastor of Church at Prison, shares the story of his surprising calling to work with inmates in Vermont prisons and gives us a glimpse of the heart of God for people the world considers unapproachable.

How is kindness different from niceness? In this sermon, Abby offers a biblical definition of kindness, teases out what we can learn about kindness from the story of David and Mephibosheth, shares a story from her own life about experiencing kindness, and looks at three kindness killers.

When the Holy Spirit produces fruit in us, it’s not just for our sake, but also the sake of others. In this sermon, Jordan defines faithfulness, explores this theme in Scripture, and shares what God has taught him about faithfulness in the context of his own backyard.   

When we think of gentleness, weakness or timidity may come to mind, but the biblical understanding of gentleness is quite different. In this sermon, Adam shares a biblical definition of gentleness, paints a picture of gentleness from the Old and New Testaments, shares a story of being the recipient of others’ gentleness, and offers two practical ways we can be cultivating gentleness in our lives with the help of the Holy Spirit.

How can self-control be a fruit of the Spirit if it’s called self-control? In this sermon, Adam defines self-control as aligning our will with God’s will, clarifies some common misconceptions around it, and offers five practical ways in which we can collaborate with the Spirit to cultivate self-control in our lives.

The peace God grows in us as we learn to walk in the Spirit is actually three kinds of peace: peace with God, the peace of God, and peace with others. In this sermon, Adam names three common villains that steal our peace and shares two stories of his own recent encounters with these villains as well as some practical handles for when we face them ourselves.

Tov -       When God formed creation, he called it good; goodness is our original identity. In this sermon, Abby explores the relationship between good deeds and grace, what it looks like to lean on the Spirit in doing good, and how thinking about goodness in terms of beauty can help motivate us to say "yes" to the good works God has prepared for us to walk in.

When we are walking with Christ, we will increasingly be characterized by patience, a fruit of the Spirit. But how do we till the ground of our hearts and minds to cooperate with the Spirit? Today, Adam kicks off a new sermon series on the fruit of Spirit and shares how awareness of God's patience toward us can help us grow in this area of our lives.

When Jesus appeared to his disciples in the days following the resurrection, it was in his glorified body. What will our resurrected bodies be like? In this sermon, Adam explores the implications of Jesus’ resurrection for our future physical being, drawing on Paul’s imagery of the sun, moon, and stars.