Commons Church Podcast

We’ve all heard that the kingdom of God is like a mustard seed—small beginnings, big results. But what if that’s not actually the point?

In this message, we explore one of Jesus’ most familiar parables and uncover the twist we often miss. The kingdom of God doesn’t just grow—it shows up in unexpected places, disrupts our assumptions, and welcomes the people we might overlook.

Through the story of a healing on the Sabbath and a strange little seed planted in the wrong place, we’re invited to rethink what grace really looks like.

What if the kingdom isn’t about power or perfection… but presence, disruption, and radical inclusion?

📍Commons Church

📅 Part of our Parables of Grace series

#ParablesOfJesus #MustardSeed #Grace #Sermon #KingdomOfGod

What if prayer isn’t about convincing God to listen?

In Luke 11, Jesus tells a strange story about a neighbour who refuses to help in the middle of the night. At first glance, it sounds like a lesson about persistence—keep knocking until God finally answers. But a closer look reveals something deeper.

In this message from our Parables of Grace series, we explore the story often called The Unhelpful Friend and discover that Jesus isn’t teaching us to badger God into responding. Instead, he invites us into a posture of shameless audacity—standing before God without fear, calculation, or shame.

Prayer isn’t a transaction.
It’s an act of trust.

Join us as we explore:
• Why Jesus answers questions with stories
• Our human desire for predictable formulas in faith
• The difference between persistence and audacity in prayer
• What it means to approach God without shame

Scripture: Luke 11:1–8

If you’d like to learn more about Commons Church, visit:
https://commons.church

#prayer  #Luke11 #ParablesOfGrace #JesusTeaching #Faith

Unpack the profound challenge of limitless forgiveness in Jesus's Parable of the Unmerciful Servant (Matthew 18:21-35).

When Peter asks how many times he must forgive his brother, Jesus sets the bar: not seven times, but seventy-seven times—a hyperbolic instruction for no cap on forgiveness. This parable, the capstone of a teaching series on community dynamics, focuses on the vast contrast between the king’s audacious cancellation of an unpayable debt (a "gajillion dollars") and the first servant's brutal insistence on collecting a small one (two to three months wages).

This teaching exposes how difficult it is to resist exacting every claim we are owed. While the parable’s severe ending can be jarring, we look at the limits of the metaphor: Jesus is not formulating a theology of eternal retribution, but painting a picture of the self-chosen prison of unforgiveness. Unforgiveness can become the "debt that keeps us locked up".

Ultimately, the story reveals a king moved by splagxnizomai—a deep, guttural, overwhelming compassion. It reminds us that God, who acts an awful lot like Jesus, uses grace instead of punishment to change our hearts.

This is the third message in our "Parables of Grace" series. Catch up on the previous messages on the Good Samaritan and the Lost Sheep!

What did Jesus really mean when He said the shepherd leaves the 99 to find the one?

In this message from Luke 15:1–7, we explore the Parable of the Lost Sheep — one of the most well-known teachings of Jesus — and uncover the scandal, absurdity, and beauty of grace.

This isn’t just a comforting story about being rescued. It’s a disruptive story about a God whose love defies social norms, economic logic, and religious expectations.

In this sermon, we explore:

• Why the religious leaders were uncomfortable with Jesus
• The social pressure of belonging and “normal” faith
• The economics of grace (why leaving the 99 makes no sense)
• Whether we are the lost sheep… the 99… or invited to become like the shepherd
• What radical grace means in a polarized world

Jesus doesn’t offer a technical theological argument here.
He offers a story that forces us to ask:

👉 What is God actually like?
👉 Who gets left outside?
👉 And what if grace is far more unreasonable than we’re comfortable with?

Whether you’ve felt lost, left out, written off — or whether you’ve struggled with who belongs — this parable speaks directly to us.

Scripture: Luke 15:1–7
Series: Parables of Grace

—

If this message resonates with you, consider subscribing for more teachings exploring the radical grace and upside-down kingdom of Jesus.

#LostSheep #Luke15 #ParablesOfJesus #Grace #ChristianSermon #BibleTeaching #ChurchOnline #Jesus #Faith #RadicalGrace

In this first message of our Parables of Grace series, we revisit one of the most familiar stories Jesus ever told—the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25–37).

But what if we’ve been asking the wrong question?

When a lawyer asks Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?” he’s really asking where the line is—who qualifies for his time, compassion, and responsibility. Jesus responds with a story that doesn’t just redefine “neighbor.” It reframes the entire conversation.

This sermon explores:

What Jesus meant by “eternal life” (and why it’s not just about life after death)

How status, identity, and tribal thinking shrink our world

Why the priest and Levite aren’t villains—but mirrors

How grace begins when we expand our definition of who belongs

The Good Samaritan isn’t just about helping someone in a ditch. It’s about waking up to the kind of life that “outruns death”—the life of the age to come—starting right now.

If you’ve ever wondered where you draw the line around compassion… this story invites you to move it.

—

📖 Scripture: Luke 10:25–37
⛪ Commons Church | Calgary
🔔 Subscribe for more teaching from our Parables of Grace series

What if the “battle” you’re facing isn’t against the people you think it is?

In this final message of our If/Then series through Ephesians, we unpack Paul’s famous “armour of God” passage — and discover it’s far less about spiritual aggression and far more about communal resilience, subversive grace, and the way of peace.

If Christ reigns… then how should we live?

Together we explore:

Why unity is central to the Christian life

How Jesus redefines victory and power

What Paul really means by “our struggle is not against flesh and blood”

Why the armour of God is about peace, not culture wars

How community protects us from both chaos and deception

This isn’t a call to weaponize your faith.
It’s an invitation to reimagine strength, rethink your enemies, and rediscover the kind of victory that looks like love.

Because if Jesus wins through self-giving grace…
then everything changes.

—

📖 Text: Ephesians 4–6
⛪ Commons Church | Calgary
🔔 Subscribe for more conversations about faith, culture, and the way of Jesus

What does it actually look like to follow Jesus in everyday life?

In this message from our If/Then series through Ephesians, we turn to the second half of Paul’s letter—where belief turns into practice. Using the image of a “masterclass,” we explore how Paul invites followers of Jesus to learn Christ: to put off old patterns shaped by power, status, and exploitation, and to put on a new way of being marked by humility, gentleness, patience, and love.

This teaching wrestles honestly with cultural pressure, sexual ethics, speech, and formation—while holding out a hopeful vision of transformation. Paul’s call is not about moralism, but about waking up to the light of Christ and learning to live as people who reflect that light in the world.

📖 Scripture: Ephesians 4–5
✨ Themes: formation, humility, community, sexuality, waking up, spiritual growth

What if a single word could change everything?

In Ephesians 2, the apostle Paul pivots from humanity’s brokenness to God’s radical grace with one of the most important conjunctions in Scripture: “But God.” In this teaching, we explore how Paul uses language, metaphor, and imagination to describe what God has done in Jesus—and what that means for how we live together now.

We reflect on:

• Why Paul begins with an honest picture of human failure
• How “but because of God’s great love” reshapes faith from transaction to grace
• What it means to be God’s handiwork—a kind of divine poem
• The walls of hostility we build, defend, and carry
• How Jesus creates one new humanity marked by peace
• Why Paul’s primary metaphor for the church is not an army or fortress, but a home

This message invites us to consider how Christian community can become a living sign of God’s creativity, welcome, and reconciliation—for the good of the world.

📖 Scripture: Ephesians 2
📍 Commons Church
🔔 Subscribe for more teachings and reflections

#Ephesians #ButGod #Grace #ChristianCommunity #FaithAndLife

Paul’s letter to the Ephesians is built around one powerful structure: if / then.
If God is already at work healing the world in Christ—if grace, not violence, is the true power shaping history—then how should we live?
In this message, we begin a four-week journey through Ephesians by sitting in the if:a bold vision of Jesus, a high Christology, and a radical redefinition of chosen, predestined, grace, and peace. Set against the backdrop of the Roman Empire’s gospel of “victory, then peace,” Paul announces an alternative good news—one where peace is already possible because of God’s self-giving love in Christ.
This sermon explores:
* The if/then structure of Ephesians
* What “chosen” and “predestined” actually mean (and what they don’t)
* Why Paul’s greeting “grace and peace” is deeply political
* How the church becomes a small working model of new creation
* What it means to live ahead of the curve of God’s healing work in the world
📖 Text: Ephesians 1🎙️ Series: If / Then📍 Commons Church, Calgary

What does creativity look like in our relationships—not in art or technology, but in the way we show up for one another?

In this sermon, we explore Mark 2 and the unforgettable story of five friends who refuse to accept the status quo. When a crowd blocks the way to Jesus, they climb a roof, tear it open, and lower their friend down—revealing a bold, relational creativity that leads to forgiveness, healing, and transformation.

This message invites us to:

• Rethink creativity as a shared, relational act
• See friendship as a form of faith
• Embrace risk, repair, and imagination in how we love others

Creativity resists conformity. And sometimes, love looks like digging through a roof.