In this talk, Ryan walks us through a candid, personal, and theologically deep meditation on Paul's words in Romans 5. The invitation is to consider the ways in which hope is a uniquely Christian virtue, especially in the midst of suffering. 

Ryan does uses a slideshow for verses, questions, and reflection on some pieces of art. Check out the slideshow here if you want to follow along :)

Table Talks are extended evenings of stories and theology. Our community hosts these with internal and external voices to focus on specific conversations. We eat food and let the night's topic breathe by offering extended space for conversation afterward. 

In this recording, we hear from a pioneer and our dear friend Hugh Halter. Hugh has been pushing boundaries and prophetically challenging the church to see things in different ways for almost 40 years. To learn more about his current work visit his Brave Cties Website or check out his two most recent books: Brave Cities and Righteous Brood.

Table Talks are extended evenings of stories and theology. Our community hosts these with internal and external voices to really focus on a specific conversation and then let the topic breathe by offering extended space for dialogue and more conversation afterward. 

In this recording, we hear from a true Father in the Faith named Jon Petersen. Jon has given the majority of his life to missions and cultivating healthy discipleship communities. He leads a ministry to develop leaders to have a Kingdom mindset in all vocational callings. Learn more about him and his work at the City Table Podcast (Apple / Spotify). Further, please pray and ask the Lord if you should get involved in this work by making a one-time or ongoing contribution to Jon's ministry. You can click here to donate. 

In these recording, we had a panel of people answer the question "Why and how has the Church been valuable for you and your discipleship to Jesus?" Then, Dave offers an explanation of the church exploring 5 dimensions or levels of the church. The model is illustrated by the stories and based on our dear friend Jared Mackey's work over at The Sacred Grace.

In August we recenter on the mission and vision for our church family. One of the core values we have is participation. The mission and vision of Coram Deo is empowering the members to be taking risks and living out their sense of mission and vision. This week we did a prayerful reflection activity called a "Story Lab Exercise." You can find the Companion Worksheet (here) or on our website under the Practices Tab (here). 

In this message, Matt wraps up our series on Practices. Over the last handful of months, we have slowly been introducing the core practices that makeup Coram Deo's communal Rule of Life: Prayer, Community, Fasting, Giving, Sabbath, and Scripture. You will be inspired and challenged to fall back in love with the Bible and the story it tells after listening to Matt's stories and reflections.

In this teaching, Dave takes a break from our series of practices to give a Missions update and call us back to the "why" of practices. As our community seeks to remove the secular and sacred divide in our lives we must not forget the call to a consecrated life. It is the deeper motive and why behind what we do that makes something sacred. Dave tells some stories that highlight our need for consecration whether we are receiving income for our ministry work or trying to live missional in our vocational life.

In this month's practice, Dave introduces a biblical and theological foundation for Sabbath as Stopping, Resting, Delighting, and Worshiping. He then offers some challenges as to why we desperately need this practice and tips on how to start. Check out the practices tab for more resources that influenced this teaching and could help your engagement with it.

This month we had our dear friend Ken Janke as a guest teacher. Ken is a legend and a deep well of hope for many networks of people around the globe. Most recently he settled down in Castle Rock to partner with his best friend Jon Petersen in a ministry called City Table (Check out their Podcast). Through this work, they seek to support leaders as they try to think holistically about loving their cities. In this teaching, Ken speaks on the deep correlation between generosity and grace. He ends with some practices of generosity that you could try implementing. The final few minutes of audio were unfortunately ruined so his talk ends rather abruptly. My apologies! We need some more competent tech support over here ;)

In this second message on Fasting David invites us to reflect on the "why" behind the practice. Often Fasting is seen as a means to an end, an intense practice to get God to move or get a breakthrough. David argues that Fasting is not primarily causal, but rather a natural response to encountering a Sacred Moment. For further study on this idea check out Scott Mcknight's book Fasting.