Ethos Church

The Kingdom of Heaven Among Us

It is not up to us to build the kingdom, but we can build for the kingdom. As resurrection people who know that heaven and earth overlap, we can become agents of God’s beauty in a world that needs a song, a beautiful painting, a new dance, or a heart-touching poem. We can also stand for justice in a world where injustice seems to have a vise grip on so many people.

The resurrection of Jesus does not move us to a passive and sedentary life of waiting for God to show up some day in the dis- tant future. The hope of the resurrection inspires and empowers Christians to stand strong, work hard, pray more fervently, and live with compassion. As the power of the resurrection fills our hearts, homes, and churches, we stand firm, we let nothing move us, we always give ourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because we know our labor is not in vain!

Luke 17:20-21 (NIV)- One day the Pharisees asked Jesus, “When will the Kingdom of God come?” Jesus replied, “The Kingdom of God can’t be detected by visible signs. You won’t be able to say, ‘Here it is!’ or ‘It’s over there!’ For the Kingdom of God is already among you.”

Ethos is a life-giving community committed to keeping Jesus at its Center. We are on a mission to love all people in Jesus' name so that we may all Know God, Find Freedom, Discover Purpose, & Make a Difference.

EthosOH.com

Small Groups: EthosOH.com/Community

ServeColumbus.org

Paradise, Heaven, Resurrection, & Rapture

Heaven will not be a boring place, off in distant space, where we play harps, sit on clouds, and sing the same stanza of the same song forever. Heaven is God’s space, filled with peace, justice, and beauty. Heaven and earth are overlapping realities, and the resurrection of Jesus has connected these two spheres more closely than we know. If we pay close attention, we will see that heaven and earth are overlapping today. One of the ways God brings his kingdom, “on earth as it is in heaven,” is through his people.

Mark 1:15 (NLT) - ""The time promised by God has come at last!" he announced. "The Kingdom of God is near! Repent of your sins and believe the Good News!""

Ethos is a life-giving community committed to keeping Jesus at its Center. We are on a mission to love all people in Jesus' name so that we may all Know God, Find Freedom, Discover Purpose, & Make a Difference.

EthosOH.com

Small Groups: EthosOH.com/Community

ServeColumbus.org

Christians have a hope that enables us to face anything. There’s an “unsinkableness” about us. There’s a stubborn buoyancy about us. You sink a Christian and they keep coming back up. No matter how much of the world seems to be on top of them. This is not the same as optimism. As a matter of fact, Christians have a hope that enables them to stop denying how much life stinks. There’s a tremendous amount of dysfunction that occurs because we just can’t bear to admit how horrible life is - how painful it is. Yet, biblical hope enables us to be more fiercely realistic than anybody else yet still joyfully consumed. The Apostle Paul says the reason we have this hope is because of the defeat of death.

1 Thessalonians 4:13-14 (NLT) - And now, dear brothers and sisters, we want you to know what will happen to the believers who have died so you will not grieve like people who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and was raised to life again, we also believe that when Jesus returns, God will bring back with him the believers who have died.

Ethos is a life-giving community committed to keeping Jesus at its Center. We are on a mission to love all people in Jesus' name so that we may all Know God, Find Freedom, Discover Purpose, & Make a Difference.

EthosOH.com

Small Groups: EthosOH.com/Community

ServeColumbus.org

As we read Colossians 4, we are encouraged to embrace the power of prayer and to live in Christ-centered community. We are reminded to devote ourselves to prayer, and through prayer, we can experience God's guidance and strength in our lives. Paul also emphasizes the importance of wisdom in our interactions with those who we interact with every day, making the most of every opportunity to share the gospel with grace and love. As we live out our lives in prayer and wisdom, we get to be a light, impacting our world, and making Christ known.

Colossians 4:2-4 (NLT) – “Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart. Pray for us, too, that God will give us many opportunities to speak about his mysterious plan concerning Christ. That is why I am here in chains.Pray that I will proclaim this message as clearly as I should.”

Ethos is a life-giving community committed to keeping Jesus at its Center. We are on a mission to love all people in Jesus' name so that we may all Know God, Find Freedom, Discover Purpose, & Make a Difference.

EthosOH.com

Small Groups: EthosOH.com/Community

ServeColumbus.org

Following Jesus in a Post-Roe World

Within the beauty of humanity, the image and likeness of Christ is stamped on every single one of us. Regardless of where we may differ, may we remember Christ’s unwavering love, compassion, and grace; striving to emulate and to live like the One who is our ultimate example of justice and sacrifice. In seeking to live out the image of God we become vessels of His light in a world in need of His love.

Micah 6:8 (ESV) – “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”

Ethos is a life-giving community committed to keeping Jesus at its Center. We are on a mission to love all people in Jesus' name so that we may all Know God, Find Freedom, Discover Purpose, & Make a Difference.

EthosOH.com

Small Groups: EthosOH.com/Community

ServeColumbus.org

Teaching. Maturity. Spiritual Circumcision

The apostle Paul writes in Colossians 1:28, “So we tell others about Christ, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all the wisdom God has given us. We want to present them to God, perfect in their relationship to Christ.” Paul establishes that his goal for preaching and teaching is to “present everyone perfect in Christ.” The Greek idea of perfection as something without a flaw has influenced our understanding of the term in today. Consequently, for most, perfection is some impossible ideal that no one will ever attain. But the biblical vision is something was “perfect” if it’s contributing to its purpose. That what we’re after here, contributing to the purpose God created us for.

Colossians 1:28 (NLT) – “So we tell others about Christ, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all the wisdom God has given us. We want to present them to God, perfect in their relationship to Christ.”

Ethos is a life-giving community committed to keeping Jesus at its Center. We are on a mission to love all people in Jesus' name so that we may all Know God, Find Freedom, Discover Purpose, & Make a Difference.

EthosOH.com

Small Groups: EthosOH.com/Community

ServeColumbus.org

The Awe and Supremacy of Jesus Christ

In Colossians 1, we read how Christ is the image of God. And we are called to recognize Jesus as not only the Lord of Creation but also the head of the Church who is guiding us in our journey of faith. We are reminded of Jesus’ sacrifice of dying on the cross for us and how this is a beautiful act of reconciliation and an act of bringing peace between us and God. As we read Colossians 1, we are drawn to centering our lives on Christ and acknowledging His power and authority over our lives.

"For through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see — such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world.Everything was created through him and for him."

Colossians 1:16 (NLT) 

Ethos is a life-giving community committed to keeping Jesus at its Center. We are on a mission to love all people in Jesus' name so that we may all Know God, Find Freedom, Discover Purpose, & Make a Difference.

EthosOH.com

Small Groups: EthosOH.com/Community

ServeColumbus.org

Church: A Countercultural Community

The church has often pursued relevance at the expense of reverence. However, the church was meant to be a counterculture, where “life to the full” is visible and welcomed to all.

The church’s countercultural identity can be further categorized in several ways:

A commitment to pursuing holiness – only made possible through the blood of Jesus and by the power of the Holy Spirit – is a critical mark of the countercultural church.

John 17:18,23 (NLT) - Just as you sent me into the world, I am sending them into the world... I am in them and you are in me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me. 

Ethos is a life-giving community committed to keeping Jesus at its Center. We are on a mission to love all people in Jesus' name so that we may all Know God, Find Freedom, Discover Purpose, & Make a Difference.

EthosOH.com

Small Groups: EthosOH.com/Community

ServeColumbus.org

God’s goal for every church is that the Holy Spirit would be the animating force behind all that we do; that every Christian community would be characterized by dependance upon the presence and the power of the Holy Spirit. Taking our cues from 1 Thessalonians 1:4-10, we see that a Spirit-filled community should be characterized by:

1)   Supernatural Power

2)   Abiding Love

3)   Evangelistic Urgency

4)   Biblical Truth

5)   Passionate Worship

Ethos is a life-giving community committed to keeping Jesus at its Center. Our vision is to be with Jesus, become like Jesus, and do what Jesus did so that we may love all people in Jesus' name. 

Ethos is a life-giving community committed to keeping Jesus at its Center. We are on a mission to love all people in Jesus' name so that we may all Know God, Find Freedom, Discover Purpose, & Make a Difference.

EthosOH.com

Small Groups: EthosOH.com/Community

ServeColumbus.org

Barriers and Bridges to True Community

Expectations, Self-Protection, and Masks are barriers that become silent killers to true community.

“A spiritual community, a church, is full of broken people who turn their chairs toward each other because they know they cannot make it alone. These broken people journey together with their wounds and worries and washouts visible, but are able to see beyond the brokenness to something alive and good, something whole.” Larry Crabb

We all fall short of the glory of God. But, may we spur one another toward love and compassion. May we encourage one another by engaging in the Stepping Stones to True Community:  Forgiveness, Gratitude, and the willingness to choose others in love, maturity, and sacrifice.

Philippians 2:3-4 - Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourself, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interest of others

Ethos is a life-giving community committed to keeping Jesus at its Center. We are on a mission to love all people in Jesus' name so that we may all Know God, Find Freedom, Discover Purpose, & Make a Difference.

EthosOH.com

Small Groups: EthosOH.com/Community

ServeColumbus.org