Epiclesis

Best selling author Rod Dreher was the guest on this Sunday morning and shared the poignant story of how a reading of Dante's Divine Comedy renewed his faith and restored a broken family relationship. Join him for a compelling account of love, forgiveness, and restoration.

You are not alone. Christian dissidents may feel lonely, but they are never alone. There is a great cloud of witnesses, the Bible promises. Pastor Chris takes a look at several encouraging places in Scripture that remind us that “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”

Power is powerful, and the world is intoxicated with it. And for no other reason than that, we must be terribly careful how we handle it. Turns out the struggle for power and misunderstanding the nature of God's Kingdom is something that's been going on since Jesus' time on earth. Join us as we continue our series on what it means to be a Christian dissident. Along the way, Pastor Chris also gave some examples of turning points in recent Christian history when believers were tempted to use the tactics and tools of the world to try and advance the Kingdom.

What is soft totalitarianism? Dr. Ellen Koehler was in the studio to talk about an upcoming retreat, "Live Not By Lies," with author Rod Dreher, and gave some surprising insights into that intriguing question. Join us for a conversation about what it means to be a Christian dissident and how we can identify some of the ways that soft totalitarianism creeps into everyday life.

Worry will strangle you! Do you know about the roots of the word "worry"-- and did you know that there is a biblical antidote? Join biblical prayer counselor Brenda Zamorano and Pastor Chris as they have a conversation about the strangling effects of worry in our lives.

How do you be a Christian dissident? It may seem to some as if those are conflicting ideas. Pastor Chris began a short series of sermons looking at what it means to sit apart and how we can be encouraged by what we've been given in Christ. In some ways, the fact that we are Christians means that we are already dissidents. How? Join us!

On this Sunday we explore James 5:13-20 where we are instructed to participate actively in prayer, praise, accountability and fellowship. But… fear, worry and the chaos of life often disrupt our ability to stay in this zone. Thankfully, the Bible provides practical “spiritual life hacks” that enable us consistently to be salt and light to a broken world.

In this final installment of a series, Pastor Chris walked the congregation through a focused, intentional time of naming and getting rid of fears. The congregation had a special guided litany, a supplement to their morning worship liturgy, that we want to make available to you, too. Take some time to listen to the first three in the series of fear sermons, then use this podcast recording to confess and get rid of your own fears.

Here is the print-ready booklet version of the litany (Print front and back and use landscape setting). And here is a one-page-at-a-time view (use portrait setting).

Biblical Prayer Counselor Brenda Zamorano was the guest on this edition of Ancient-Future Faith to talk about fears. What are you afraid of? And where does fear come from, anyway? Join Brenda and Pastor Chris as they talk about the Goliaths that we all face and how to kill them-- all with the help of the person and work of the Holy Spirit.

Part three of our short series on fear took a close look at Sarai and Abram. Is it possible that fear can sometimes mask itself as righteous? It is possible that we can do something, or approach something, in a way that seems noble but that is actually fear-based or fearful. Sarai was not able to have children, and God had made some promises about that. So Sarai took matters into her own hands. Were her actions noble, or fearful? Join Pastor Chris for a lesson from the life of Sarai.