Caroline Owens is on the leadership team of Christ the Reconciler, a community of followers of Jesus seeking to live out John 17. She prepared this teaching for the first retreat back at CTR after a year-long pause because of the coronavirus. The teaching was given on April 17, 2021.

After she taught, we realized that not only was this a powerful stand-alone prophetic message to our community and the church in the US and around the globe, but it also was a gift from the Holy Spirit - the first teaching in a new series, “Foundations of Community.”

Caroline has been married to her husband Phillip for over 30 years. They have six children. Caroline is a Roman Catholic who has taken vows as a lay Dominican - the "Order of Preachers." Preach it, Caroline!

If you prefer to watch while you listen, and see the Scriptures that Caroline references, we encourage you to use the Youtube video below.

The 2nd teaching in the “Foundations of Community” series, following Caroline’s teaching on The Accuser of the Brethren. Amy & Caroline work together to further unpack the ways in which we invite the Accuser into our minds, our lives, and the church - and how to instead welcome the Advocate, the Holy Spirit!

Teaching given at Christ the Reconciler on 15 May 2021.

We also have the teaching on video, if you prefer to watch it.

The third in our Foundation of Community series is, like the fourth, brought to us by Merisha Janke, our friend from Help for All Nations. Merisha speaks from her experience growing up in the Lüdenscheid community in Germany. She focuses on confession one to another as a crucial part of living in the light, and the power of the cross to deliver us from all hidden sin.

Teaching given on June 19, 2021, at Christ the Reconciler.

The teaching is also available on YouTube:

Merisha Janke of Help for All Nations was invited by Pastor John McComb to give the sermon on Palm Sunday 2021 (March 28). She entitled her talk "The Gift of Repentance."

Merisha invited Thomas Cogdell to give a brief testimony at the end, about both personal and identificational repentance.

Since Merisha’s talk wasn’t at CTR, we asked her and also Pastor John for permission to include it in this series because the talk was excellent, and Repentance is a key building block for community. They graciously gave permission to do so.

If you are on Facebook and prefer to watch a video, it is available by clicking on the image below. Note that the video is of the entire service, the sermon starts at about 0:50 minutes in.

In the 5th teaching of our Foundations of Community series, Amy follows on Merisha’s teachings on repentance and confession, with a teaching on forgiveness. How does forgiveness work in God’s court of justice, in heaven? How do we “justify the wicked” and “condemn the righteous”, without realizing it?

Teaching given at the Christ the Reconciler retreat on 21 August 2021, which was held at Hope Chapel.

If you prefer video, the teaching is also available on YouTube:

The first five teachings of the Foundations of Community series give insight into our renunciations as a community. This teaching begins the second half of the series, which focuses on what we are committing to. The first commitment is to Prayer.

Teaching given by Thomas Cogdell for the CTR Retreat (via Zoom) on 18 September 2021.

It’s a fairly complex teaching, so watching it on video is helpful, because the slides show the points that Thomas is making … even though unfortunately the top of Thomas’ head was cut off by the camera!

In the 7th teaching of our Foundations of Community series, we continue the second half of the series, which focuses on the commitments to action. The second commitment is Reconciliation. Thomas talks about keys to reconciliation, and how we live out John 17 through reconciliation at CTR.

Teaching recorded for the retreat at Christ the Reconciler on 12 November 2021.

Or, if you prefer video, here you go:

In the 8th teaching of our Foundations of Community series, we continue the second half of the series, which focuses on the commitments to action.

The third commitment is to Formation. After a brief intro by Thomas, Amy talks about why we need formation, how formation works, and what we should do as a community regarding formation.

Teaching recorded for the retreat at Christ the Reconciler on 12 February 2022.

Or, if you prefer to watch so you can follow along with the points and scriptures referenced:

In the 9th teaching of our Foundations of Community series, we continue the second half of the series, which focuses on the commitments to action.

The fourth commitment is to Hospitality. After a brief intro by Thomas, John Michael & Diane draw from decades of experience offering hospitality to others, to encourage us to "take it to the next level" in the hospitality we offer within and as a community.

Teaching recorded for the retreat at Christ the Reconciler on 10 May 2022 (with the introduction recorded a few days later because Thomas forgot to push the "record" button during the actual retreat).

If you prefer to watch on video, here’s the YouTube version:

We conclude the Foundations of Community with this, the 10th teaching of our series. It also completes the second half of the series, which focuses on the commitments to action. The fifth and final commitment is to Work.

Phillip Owens imparts to us his high value and immense capacity for work, explaining that it comes from God and is for God. Thomas wraps up by grounding our understanding of work in Jesus' report to his Father, John 17:4.

Teaching recorded for the retreat at Christ the Reconciler on 10 May 2022.

If you prefer to watch the teaching, and follow along with scripture slides, it’s also on YouTube: