Damascus Road Community Church

Inviting others into genuine relationship and conversations can be intimidating. As we become vulnerable and open ourselves up to share our stories we can be tempted to become someone we are not. In a world where we are constantly told who we should be and what we should look like, God desires for you to be uniquely yourself! Join us this week as we discover how we can embrace who God made us to be as we endeavor to share our lives, stories, and faith with others.

“It’s so good to see you, we really need to get together sometime!”

“Sounds great – want to grab a coffee?”

“I’d love to do breakfast, or if your mornings are too busy maybe we could do lunch.”

“I’m in, but hey, we really do need to get the families together for dinner sometime…”

Doesn’t it seem like all our best social interactions happen over a meal? Have you ever noticed that the backdrop to many of the famous scenes in the bible is around the table or over a meal? If you could hear or smell the stories in the bible, many of them would sound like the clanging of dishes or the smell of roasted meat.

Join us this week as we explore the role of the table and the meal in our journey to open our porches, develop relationships, discover stories, and do life together.

What’s on your porch? Maybe there are flower pots, rocking chairs, and a welcome mat. Maybe there is an Amazon package or two. Or there could be a catchy “Welcome to my Porch” sign. Our porches are as different and unique as the people who occupy them. This week, as we continue our “Life on the Porch" series, we will be looking at how we each have unique and significant ways in which we can share who Jesus is. We will discover how the Holy Spirit can work through our individuality to connect God’s Story, Our Story, and the Story of Others. This allows God to create a New Story of New life in Christ.

Easter. True story...

Jesus died for our sins one dark Friday, and they buried him.

On Sunday, He was raised to life–resurrected from the dead!

The grave cave was empty–and hundreds of people saw Jesus alive again!

What’s more–He’s comin’ back for us–and we’ll live with Him forever!

IF this is a fake story–a fabrication, a legend–then we live and we die.

…But IF this is a True Story, then death is defeated,

and we’ve got the PERFECT ending to our story–through HIS story!

No more death, no more pain, no more tears–just joy!

Life forever with God through Christ!

Can you believe that we are just a little over a week away from Easter! Palm Sunday marks the last week of Jesus’ ministry while on earth. It’s during this week we see more clearly than ever that Christian faith involves trusting that at the center of the universe is a Being whose heart beats with an infinite love for His world, for you and me. 

The purpose of human existence is to receive this love that Jesus not only talked about but also consistently practiced in tangible, practical acts. His ultimate demonstration of this love culminated in his death on a Roman cross. 

This kind of love should not only impact our here-after, but also our here-now. In our humanity, it’s easy to forget. The ancient Corinthians did too. What’s God’s solution? Come find out as we talk about one of the most significant events during Holy Week and the apostle Paul’s counsel to an ancient people in 1 Corinthians 11:17- 34. 

All You Need Is Love!

The Beatles might have taken a look at 1 Corinthians 13 before they wrote the famous song “All You Need is Love.”

Unfortunately, many in Corinthian culture ascribed to the Tina Turner school of thought, “What’s Love Got To Do With It?”

Enough song references! 1 Corinthians 13 is known as the “Love Chapter” of the Bible, quoted most often at weddings. After addressing the challenges the Corinthian church is facing from external cultural influences and internal differences, The Apostle Paul gets to the heart of the matter, literally! The encouragement to the Corinthian church is to live out their faith and relationships in a love defined not by culture but by Christ.

Join us as we dive into 1 Corinthians 13 and see how we can elevate our love walk and allow the Love of Christ to redeem relationships and draw us closer into community.

Over the past few weeks we've heard a lot about what we do with our bodies - how what we do with our bodies impacts ourselves and others - for ill or for good.

This week we'll talk about a different kind of body - the Body of Christ - His church. But this will continue the logic of our previous talk about bodies: what we do with our individual bodies matters, because we are all part of Christ's body, and what we do individually impacts and contributes to the new life we share with each other in Christ.

Every single person - their gifts, experience, and unique qualities - are valued and needed! You matter and others matter!

Join us as we continue our 1 Corinthians series with a study of chapter 12.

FOOD FIGHT!!!

I’ve never been in an actual food fight, but I loved watching them in movies when I was a kid. It’s a hilarious and ridiculous visual when you see a bunch of people throwing mashed potatoes and pies, squirting ketchup and mustard, and making a mess of each other with their dinners.

This week we are going to focus in on 1 Corinthians 8-10, which could be described as Paul stepping in to settle the food fight that has broken out at the church in Corinth. Paul is going to walk into the mess and settle another division in the church through the lens of the Gospel.

Join us at the table this week as we see what the Cross has to do with an ancient Corinthian food fight.

Are you single? Married? Divorced? Widowed?

No matter how you answered that question, 1 Corinthians 7 has something to say about our relationships with others and our relationship with God. This is likely a passage you haven't heard in church before.

Let's explore it together as we strive to be a community that’s Undivided, marked by cross-shaped love.

So 1st Corinthians can get... kind of... AWKWARD... Paul gives the Corinthians a "sex talk” in 1 Corinthians 6:9-20. Yup - Paul goes there - but he doesn't throw a list of rules at them. Rather Paul steps in to contrast the use and abuse of the world's way with the love and dignity of God's design. He is blunt and honest with the Corinthians, but always with the intent to point them to Christ - in this case, with the fresh start in Christ - to guide them to see their bodies as sacred, with God present in them, and the Spirit working both in them and through them.

Paul took sexual ethics on for the good of the family, and we will follow his lead this Sunday to continue to grow together into the community that God created us to be!

Last week Michelle shared some really good advice with us that she gleaned from the apostle Paul’s introduction to the letter to the Corinthians; she said that if you have to deliver a hard word to someone it’s a really good idea to start with the positives before you get to the negatives.

That’s a good word for all of us.

But this week we will get to Paul’s hard word for the Corinthian church which is pretty dramatic. Paul starts chapter 3 by saying – and this is my paraphrase – “you guys are acting like a bunch of babies! Grow up, why don’t ya!” Seriously, that’s what he says; check it out for yourself. The apostle Paul uses the same insult that many of us have screamed in exasperation at an annoying sibling or immature friend. (I wonder if any of the Corinthian believers heard the letter and thought to themselves “I know you are but what am I?”)

But what in the world created this level of frustration for Paul? What drove him to be so harsh with a whole community of Jesus-followers?! And, here’s a scary thought: what would the apostle Paul say to us if he showed up to DRCC on Sunday morning?!

Join us this week as we continue our journey through the letter to the Corinthian church by focusing in on chapters 3 & 4 (for those that like to do homework and read the text ahead of time). This week we will add some color and background to Paul’s words and see if we can locate ourselves in the story of the Corinthian church.

Division? Partisanship? Power struggles?

Do these seem like new problems?

Well, they are not!

Living in community has always been a challenge from the very beginning (just read the family stories in Genesis!)

But when we are living in Christ Jesus - our whole attitude toward others should change. Yet this change doesn't come automatically, quickly, or easily to most of us.

Paul's letters to the Corinthian church show us the challenges - and the Christ-centered solutions - that come when a diverse group of people do life together. 

Join us as we kick off our new series, Undivided: A New Reality - a study of 1 Corinthians, which will take us through Holy Week.

What if you could have all of your debt taken away—canceled?

What if someone forgave all of the debt of every person in your family?

What if this person dealt with all of the debt in our community?

What if they could zero out the national debt?

What if they could wipe out the debt of every person who ever walked the earth?

How would we respond to that kind of gift?

Jesus has forgiven every debt - for every human - for all time! And we are to respond to this gift by following Jesus in forgiving as He forgave us!

So what does it look like to live a life that’s debt free?

Join us as we explore practical ways to share the freedom we have in Christ through actively extending forgiveness to others, just as Jesus has forgiven us!

There is a famous scene in the 1985 cult classic film Pee Wee’s Big Adventure, where Pee Wee is talking to a woman about her life’s dream of one day living in Paris. In the scene Simone hedges when Pee Wee encourages her to chase her dream, she responds with “I know you’re right, but…”

Pee Wee pushes back with “But what?! Everyone I know always has a big but. Come on Simone, let’s talk about your big but.” The audience can see what Pee Wee and Simone can’t, her terrifyingly large boyfriend begins to eavesdrop on their conversation but only catches the last sentence, just as Pee Wee is asking his girlfriend to talk about her big but.

The scene is hilarious and devolves into comedic brilliance.

Our message series on forgiveness these past few weeks has brought that scene to my mind a few times. We can all be like Simone, can’t we? Forgiveness may sound great in concept, it feels like something we should aspire to do, yet we have all had times in life when we know we should forgive someone for hurting us and we find ourselves hung up over a big BUT. Forgiveness can seem more like a dream than something we could actually do in real life.

“I would like to forgive BUT you don’t know how much pain they have caused.” Or “I would forgive BUT they haven’t apologized.”

Yet Jesus commands us to forgive – no if, and, or BUT.

Join us this week for week three of our Forgiveness series as we deal with the battle inside that each of us faces when it is time for us to forgive or seek forgiveness. This week we will talk about our big BUTs; I promise that you won’t want to miss it!

Forgiveness...

You can’t buy it...

You can’t earn it...

Paradoxically, forgiveness is costly yet free.

So who pays?

Here’s the truth...

"In Him (Christ), we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us..."

~Ephesians 1:7-8

"In turn, you and I are to forgive others as we have been forgiven..." ~Matthew 6:12

Join us this weekend as we explore the impact of forgiveness—God’s love poured out for you and me! 

At some point in our lives, we all want forgiveness.

At some point in our lives, we all find it hard to forgive.

How did Jesus do it?

How did He do justice to address the wrongs we do, yet simultaneously extend mercy to us?

In this series, we’ll plumb the depths of Christ’s outpouring of love for us, with awe at how His sacrifice on the cross is central to what the Bible says about forgiveness and how we are to forgive as we have been forgiven (Matthew 6:12).

So practically speaking, how do we go about this? Receiving forgiveness? Extending forgiveness?

We pray that you will join us as we resolve to follow the example of Jesus in forgiving others and seeking reconciliation.

Join us as we wrap up 2023 and our 6-week series, “Interrupted: Joy Broke In!” During our time together, we will reflect on the significance and relevance of what happened to Simeon and Anna in Luke 2:21-40. 

Their long-awaited encounter with Jesus in this passage has far greater implications for our lives today than we may realize. Let’s discern together what God may be trying to tell us as we head into 2024. Here’s one thing we know for sure, with Christ as our Lord and Savior, it won’t be business as usual.

What a journey we have been on this Advent season as we’ve spent time together in our Christmas series: “Interrupted: Joy Broke In!”

Each week has allowed us to experience the various characters of the Nativity story, God’s interruption in their lives, and their response to his revelation and invitation.

We’ve walked with Mary and the Shepherds, the Magi and Joseph as they each journeyed toward the manger. This week we will encounter Jesus, the baby who interrupted human history. As I read the Christmas story in Luke’s gospel, and then reread it, I kept hearing a question which had to have been in the minds of all the characters in the story, “Who is this baby?” Don’t miss God’s great ‘reveal’ this weekend as we come face-to-face with the baby who changed everything!

Joseph was a good man who was so excited to get married to the girl of his dreams. Then he got the news, the news that would be his worst nightmare—news that would be “Good News” to the whole world, but not for Joseph, or so he thought...

This news would change everything: his life, his reputation, the reputation of his wife, their marriage, his standing in the community, and his future.

How would he react to having his wedding plans interrupted?

After contemplating what to do, an angel appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

~Matthew 1:20&21

What does all this mean? How did he respond? How did this interruption change the world?

What can we learn from Joseph, Mary’s husband, that will help us navigate interruptions in our own lives and draw us deeper into the Christmas story, and closer to Jesus, our Savior and our Lord?

Join us this Sunday as we travel with Joseph on the next leg of our journey to Bethlehem and beyond with joyous anticipation of the coming of our King!

We three kings of orient are… bearing gifts we traverse afar… I’ve sang the song… I’ve watched the movie…

From an early age I believed there were three kings who saw a star and somehow knew something significant had happened. They set out on a two-year journey to see for themselves. Over the last month or so almost everything I thought I knew about this story has been disrupted!

But it isn’t just me…

It seems everyone in the story was disrupted… the Magi from the east, King Herod and all of Jerusalem, Mary and Joseph, and sadly all the mothers in Bethlehem.

Last week we saw the lowly shepherds showing up at the stable with nothing to offer but their worship. This week we see royalty from those scorned by God’s chosen offering Jesus extravagant gifts. What kind of king is this?

Kings from the east… evil King Herod… a baby King born in a stable… MAGI: Kingdoms disrupted!

As human beings it is very easy to fall into routines and habits that dictate the course of our days. We eat the same things for breakfast, drive to work by the same route, listen to the same radio station, check the same things on social media, work the same job, watch the same news, and follow the same nightly routine before bed. It works that way with our thought patterns too. Far more than we would like to admit, habits and routines (some conscious, but many sub-conscious) govern our day-to-day existence. This is nothing new, it is human nature and we have been this way since the beginning. 

But against the backdrop of our everyday life, the Christmas story returns to us every year and it beckons us to break from our routines and hear the news again - there is something much greater going on in the world! Something happened 2000 years ago and the world has not been the same since. We return to Christmas every year because it reminds us that the Creator became created, the founder became flesh, and the one who made time stepped into time for our sake.

Join us this week as we hear the message new again. On Sunday we will look at the shepherds, those in the middle of their everyday routine - just doing their jobs - when suddenly, their lives were interrupted and everything changed. 

The day of a momentous historic event often begins like any other - the bright, sunny morning of September 11, 2001; the quiet, mostly clear skies over Pearl Harbor on Dec 7, 1941; an early morning sunrise in Israel on October 7.

Individuals woke up and went about their lives thinking it was a day like any other - until it wasn’t. Disruptive interruptions to our lives rarely announce themselves in advance.

For a young teenage girl living in an unimportant village in a corner of the worlds most powerful empire, the day began like any other. She surely did not expect the angelic visitor, the momentous news that the messiah was come, the call to be at the center of history’s most important and disruptive event. 

But unlike many of history’s interruptions, this one would bring not tragedy and despair, but Joy. There would also be suffering and death, for sure. Yet this ultimate Interruption would be the inflection point that would turn history, empire, power, and human assumptions upside down.

Join us as we make the transition from Thanksgiving to Christmas, from gratitude for Gods recent gifts, to joy and remembrance of his greatest gift - himself. 

Our new series - Interrupted by Joy - will celebrate Immanuel, God With Us.

Did you know that gratitude expressed in community is a gateway to a life filled with joy and thanksgiving? This Sunday, we focus on Psalm 100, often titled A Psalm of Thanksgiving. This short Psalm of five verses is packed with practical ways for you and me to be filled with an attitude of gratitude.

Come discover distinct declarations, directives, and two motivations which the writer of this Psalm believes can change the way you view yourself, our world, and our God. Experience a shift. Gain an attitude of gratitude.

Come join us this Sunday as we explore the promise that Christ made to his disciples the very same night that he was betrayed and arrested. In John 14:18, Jesus comforts his disciples with these powerful words: “I will not leave you as orphans, I will come to you.” Apart from Christ, we are spiritual orphans, but in Christ, we have been adopted into God’s family. Together, we will take a closer look at Romans 8 and what all of this means for us and how we are to live in 2023.

DRCC will be joining churches throughout the world this weekend in celebrating Orphan Sunday, an opportunity to explore God’s heart for orphans and the role that the church is being called to play.

#Barriers. #Walls. #Hostility. 

Our world is filled with barriers and “walls of hostility,” of all kinds. #Religious. #Racial. #Personal. #Physical…. Plenty of barriers to go around. 

Recently, I was texting one of our senior leaders, and we both agreed that sometimes our barriers are sin and sometimes it’s us - feeling stuck in a wilderness of sorts – dysfunctional, emotional, spiritual, workplace… you name it. God feels absent. We feel stuck.  

Join Tina Buck and myself this weekend as we aim our compass at this important topic – Removing Barriers. Tina is a mental health professional, has a heart for discipleship, and leads our Rooted experience at Damascus Road. Together, we will take you with us on the last mile of our Living the Five journey. We can’t cover all the ground, but we will get you started! We will anchor in scripture, starting in Ephesians, where God tells us we can have peace - with him and others, because Jesus broke down “The Wall.” He can break down your walls too. Don’t miss this mile marker. It will point you to God’s specialty – Removing Barriers!

This week we will look at (potentially) the most intimidating of the five core practices that should be a part of every growing Christian’s life: Sharing Jesus. I know that for myself, the thought of sharing Jesus in the cultural context of North America these days seems like a sketchy idea or a set up for definite rejection.

We can often feel like our world today is suffering from opinion saturation and people are so ready to be combative any time you share your beliefs. Most of the time we’re not even sure how or where or with whom we might be safe to share Jesus and the good news of what He did.

But like so many things, I suspect we might be walking around with a slightly different understanding of what Jesus meant when he said to the apostles: "Go into all the world and make disciples." This week we are going to take another look at what it might mean for us to be the kind of people that are so at ease and so comfortable sharing Jesus that it becomes second nature to us – a part of our everyday life.

Think that sounds unlikely?

Come this week and see…

Get out and about to serve! Our Lord and Savior, Jesus, came to serve!

For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Mark 10:45

DRCC loves to serve! Why?

Because we, like many of the people who came before us that we encounter in the Bible, have encountered the living God, and are compelled to “get out” there and serve others!

When we realize how much God loves us, and we see His glory, we are filled with joy and we are overflowing with God’s love and we share it with others in actionable ways, loving our families and our neighbors—whether they are around the block or around the world.

Through our service to one another, our relationships with one another and with our Creator grow deeper and stronger. We enjoy the fruit of the rhythm of service!

So join us as we worship together and “get out” there and serve together!

Don’t you love the scene in "The Chosen" where Peter and Andrew have been fishing all night and in spite of their best efforts they catch nothing? All seems lost… Peter has no future… no hope… until he encounters Jesus.

What if Peter and Andrew didn’t have a small group? The catch would have been lost… their boat would have sunk… the miracle would have been wasted.

Being intentional to have the rhythm of regularly gathering with others, opening God’s Word, learning to hear His voice and each telling our story before it becomes our secret… THAT is Abundant Life!

Join us this Sunday as we continue the adventure of learning to "Live the Five!"

Want to become rich? No, I’m not talking about stock-picking tips, real estate investment or crypto currency trends. Join us this Sunday in person or online as we unpack how generosity leads to a truly rich and satisfying life. Life with purpose, on purpose.

Every day, circumstances occur that we could describe as life changing. The birth of a child, the start of a new career and the passing of a loved one are just a few of the many events that can have significant impact on us. A single moment has the power to change our lives forever.

This Sunday, we continue our “Living the Five” series and discover how the power of a moment in prayer can change our lives forever! We know that “Every time we pray, something happens!” We will unpack some of the “What” that takes place when we pray, and tear down the barriers that can make prayer such a challenge.

Come join me as we share a moment that may just change our lives forever!

We live in a world filled with endless distractions and constant busyness - texts, email, social media, podcasts, our favorite streaming platform, school and events, work – these are not bad things, many of them are or can be good things. It’s just that they’re not always the best things to help us step into Jesus’ abundant, overflowing life. 

Speaking of wanting to live a better quality of life, have you ever heard of the Blue Zones? These are places in the world where people routinely live healthy, purpose-filled lives well into their 90’s and many past 100 years of age. Much of what they do is captured in the essence of ‘Living the Five.’ It’s what the Creator made us for. 

Come embark on a transformative journey where we connect with others, with God, and find your purpose – what the Okinawans call their “Ikigai” and the Nicoyans call their “plan de vida.”

Do you feel life is a great adventure or a great adversity? Does life feel chaotic and out of control, like you’re riding one of those wooden rodeo bulls in a made for TV movie? Having the right outlook can make all the difference. Proverbs 29:18 states, "Without Divine guidance, people’s lives run wild." Would you like to catch a glimpse of God’s vision and desire for your life?

We invite you to join us as together we discover what God is up to in our community and where we are going. Together, we’ll set out on a transformative journey, experiencing the abundant life God has in store for us as we discover life with purpose. On purpose.

Join us for "Get Out of the Boat" as we explore Matthew 14:22-33. Peter followed Jesus out of the comfort of the boat into the dangerous waters. But he started to sink when he took his eyes off of Jesus, distracted by fear of the wind. What step of faith is God calling you to make today? And are there any fears standing in your way? We look forward to seeing you, as we individually and collectively discern where God may be calling us in this new and exciting season.

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 1 Peter 2:9

Chosen... As the Israelites were chosen, as the disciples were chosen, and as Jesus expanded His ministry to include the gentiles—the Samaritans, the Greeks, people of all nations, YOU too are CHOSEN! You are chosen to be part of God’s Holy Nation!

I’m so pumped to be part of the biggest nation on earth with you—the Kingdom of God! So come celebrate with us this Sunday—let’s join together to PRAISE Him and celebrate what He had done and what He is doing in DRCC missions across the globe as we simultaneously look forward to what God is going to do in the coming year! Is it your turn to go? I’m praying for God’s calling on YOUR life—whether you’re called to serve alongside one of our international or local mission partners or in the context of your job, school, or neighborhood—we’re all called to love like extravagantly like Christ loves us!

We have been on a journey this summer through the hit series "The Chosen" and we will be finishing it off this weekend as we look at the story of the Woman at the Well - one of Jesus’ more well-known scenes. Throughout this series we have witnessed a Jesus that has called all types of unlikely characters to join His kingdom and His community; if we are placing ourselves in the story we should have had plenty of opportunity to find bits and pieces of ourselves up to this point. 

But this week, Jesus is going to take it one step further and He is going to thoroughly break the bounds of all reason and convention - this week, He is going through Samaria. 

We will be digging into this story and trying to figure out what it might mean for us today. We will climb the heights of Mt. Gerizim and see if we can get a fresh vision for our future as individuals and as a community that has been Chosen by Jesus to testify to what we have seen and heard.

Join us as we explore the timeless and powerful words of John 3:1-21, the conversation that Jesus had with Nicodemus at night. This passage inspired an entire scene in Episode 7, Season 1 of The Chosen. 

Whether you have been walking with God for a while, are new to the faith, or are seeking what you believe, there is a message for everyone this weekend as we wrestle with Jesus’ audacious claim in John 3:3 that “no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.” What did this mean for Nicodemus back then and what does it mean for us today?

The addiction recovery community tells each other the key to sobriety is to change the people, places and things in your life. Do you have a band of brothers or sisters you can call at 3am? The Outcast, the Invalid & the Traitor had experienced a lifetime of pain, rejection and despair. Jesus enters their story and everything changes. Jesus touches the untouchable… heals the incurable… and forgives the unforgivable.

This week I will be preaching on my favorite story in the Bible… the paralyzed man who is carried to Jesus by his four best friends. Who in your life needs you to carry them to Jesus? Do you need to be carried? The Indescribable happens when Jesus enters your story.

This week we will be watching Episode 5 of the Chosen and talking about the story from John 2 where Jesus attends a wedding and the unthinkable happens – the bartender runs out of wine while the party is in full swing. I believe this is what would be described in today’s terms as an "epic fail" (forgive me if the term is outdated, Urban Dictionary doesn’t have a thesaurus function). Jesus steps in and saves the party by turning jars and jars of water into a ridiculous amount of wine – and the party goes on!

I grew up in a denomination that frowned super hard on drinking and as a result I might win an award for hearing some of the funnier explanations of this biblical story – this includes one speaker that said that Jesus could have turned the water into wine but it would not have been intoxicating because it had no time to ferment and become alcoholic. It’s funny the boxes we put God in when we believe people’s external actions are more important than their inner attitudes.

It’s for that reason that I went a long time before I really dug into this story to find out what it truly has to say to us today. This week we are going to try to peel back any of the assumptions that we might have held about this story and genuinely dig in to read it for all it’s worth.

Do you ever feel like you can't keep up? Like the demands of life are overwhelming you and you don't have the answers? This is not a new problem!

As we will see in this weeks' episode of The Chosen, Peter has some real challenges that are about to overwhelm him. Until he gets a big surprise!

Jesus is full of surprises. Not easy answers. Not quick answers. But surprises. And one essential command - Follow Me!

Join us for week 3 of our series looking at the story of Jesus - in scripture and as portrayed in The Chosen.

In Matthew 18 Jesus tells His disciples that unless they change and become like little children, they will never enter the kingdom of heaven. What in the world does that mean? I’ve met a lot of little children and almost none of them appeared to be super well behaved or even all that godly. I’ve met a baby or two that appeared angelic while they slept but that sleep was generally the calm before the storm. I’ve met a lot of middle schoolers and, well, let’s just say there are few that Jesus would exhort you to emulate. So what on earth did He mean when he said that we ought to change and become like little children?

Did Jesus have in mind some ancient version of the 90’s cult classic Billy Madison where Adam Sandler tries to prove to his dad that he’s good enough to inherit the family business by repeating 1st through 12th grade as a grown man? Somehow I doubt it, though they are both Jewish… hmmm.

Anyway, join us as we continue our journey through the TV series The Chosen as we look at episode three, Jesus Loves The Little Children.

This Saturday night, 7 pm, we kick-off our Summer at the Movies series; featuring The Chosen. Each Sunday morning, between now and August 20th, we will take an episode, dive into the world behind the Biblical text, its primary Biblical characters, and the text itself. I believe The Chosen helps to put skin on the Bible characters, allowing us to enter their world, and seeing that Jesus is just as relevant today as He was then. It gets us in touch with our own story, if we permit it to do so.

Our Saturday launch kicks off with episodes 2 & 3. Take time to watch episode 1 at home (warning parents, E-1 can be a little scary for some).

Join me this weekend as I recap episode 1 (kid-friendly), I Have Called You By Name, and then launch us into episode 2, Shabbat, contrasting the characters of Nicodemus and Mary Magdalene, in light of the question: Fence-sitter or Follower?

Dear Friends and Family,

When I posed the question, “What is the definition of freedom?” to ChaptGPT, my ChatBox app responded with the following: “Freedom is the state of being able to act, speak, or think without being restrained by external forces or influences….”

A bit startling! But that was the opening line.

What is true freedom? How do we know? Do teens and young adults in the US feel free today? When you look at statistics across the board, the numbers indicate that many do not feel like they are experiencing true freedom - young and old alike.

I invite you to join me this weekend, when Elders Eric Closs, Brian Deyaert, and I change things up. We will deliver a three-part message on “True Freedom,” with each segment linked by worship through praise.

Did you know that there are over 31,000 verses in the entire Bible? Many of them point to Jesus and our need for Him.

For this weekend, we will be focusing on John 1:1-18. For it is in these 18 verses of scripture that we learn A LOT about who Jesus really is and about who we can be in relation to Him. Not only do these 18 verses set the stage for the rest of the gospel of John, but they help us have a better understanding of the world in which we live.

Come join us this weekend as we unpack the depth and breadth of Jesus’ life, how that can shape our identity, and what it means to live as people of grace and truth in a world that can be lacking in both.

Dear Friends and Family,

In our culture we ask how a God who is loving and who teaches us to turn the other cheek, how that God can also ultimately find some of us guilty and sentence us to hell? However, in more traditional societies, turning the other cheek makes absolutely no sense while the doctrine of a God of judgement presents no trouble at all.

In Christianity God is both a God of love and justice. How is that possible? Join us as we wrestle with that question as we conclude our 6-week series, "The Reason for God," searching for belief in an age of skepticism.

...and by the way…

What does this have to do with Father’s Day? I’m glad you asked!

I’m going to use a well-known story found in Luke 15 about a father with two sons… the younger son comes to his dad one day and says, "Give me my inheritance." The father does and the young son heads out to live life on his own terms while the other son stays and continues to slave away on the farm. The day finally comes when the younger son realizes how badly he has blown it and he comes home with his hat in his hand. The father runs to meet him, embraces him, arranges a welcome home feast and invites both sons to come and celebrate. Sadly, the story ends with the elder brother brooding outside the house, unwilling to go in… while the younger brother who arrived famished and broken, runs to find his place at the table. Both sons had an invitation to the feast… only one goes in. The answer doesn’t lie blowing in the wind… it comes with learning once and for all… WHO'S YOUR DAD?

We will be welcoming the Waterboyz for Jesus 100MAN Choir to lead us in worship so be ready for an unforgettable Father’s Day celebration at Damascus Road Community Church!

Why is the church responsible for so much injustice? Why are Christians such hypocrites? These two related questions have been raised by many skeptics and detractors.

Those questions, by the way, were not charges hurled at Christianity in the New Testament or the early centuries of the church. But after 2000 years of church history, spanning countless individuals, countries, and cultural contexts, we do have to deal with the fact that there have been times when “the church” seems to be linked with injustice and hypocrisy, rather than God’s justice and love.

The question is whether injustice is a “feature” or a “bug” in religion in general (as some atheists have charged) or in the Christian faith and the church in particular. And whether a life truly lived in union with Christ leads to more or less justice.

Join me this week as we take an honest look at this question addressed by Tim Keller in The Reason for God.

Dear Friends and Family,

A person not a program.

A story not a system.

A movement not a set of morals.

This week we will continue our series on "The Reason for God," where we have wrestled with roadblocks and barriers to faith. Our focus this week will be to clear up exactly what it means to be a Christian. We will be doing what the Apostle Peter, writing to the far-flung churches of the first century, instructed believers to do when he said: “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.”

Last week we looked at a barrier to faith but this week we will look at the message of Jesus – the Gospel – and we will try to understand how it is different from “religion.” We will be looking at the very core, the center – the sum and substance – of our faith. If someone is wrestling with faith, we want to make very clear what that faith is and what it means to believe, because it is often not what you would expect. We will be working through chapter 11 of The Reason for God titled: Religion and the Gospel (for those of you that like to do your homework ahead of time.)

If you are unsure about what you believe or know someone who is wrestling with the claims of Christianity, this would be a great week to show up and think with us.

Dear Friends and Family,

When questions come up in life, where do you go to find the answers? If you’re anything like me, first turn is probably to Google. That works out well many questions in life– how tall was the tallest man ever? Robert Wadlow (1918-1940) stood at 8’11” and is the tallest person recorded in history.

Boom! Google for the win!

That’s great for many questions but Dr. Google has left me an anxious mess every time I have turned to it with medical questions – it always seems to think I have weeks-to-months to live. Worse than that, if you ask Google what your purpose is, why you’re here, what’s the meaning of life, or if there is a god, you will get the algorithm’s best attempt to match the relevance of your search terms with content that it has crawled for on the world wide web, your assumed meaning and intent, your geographic location, and the freshness and popularity of the content it is going to offer you.

Most of us instinctively know that some questions are too big and too important to leave to a search engine algorithm.

So where do you turn when it comes to the big questions of life? This week we will look at the Bible and try to determine why it has become such a popular place for people to turn when searching for answers to life’s biggest questions. We will talk about whether it is reliable and what sorts of questions it can help us answer. We will take an honest look at a common objection to the claims of Christianity – “You can’t take the Bible literally.” Join us as we jump in and wrestle honestly with this serious roadblock to faith for so many.

Dear Friends and Family,

It’s for FREEDOM that CHRIST set us FREE! Galatians 5:1

Every person and culture has to decide right and wrong for themselves. Which creates spaces with a lot of rules. Which creates a lot of people who want to be rule breakers. When God created the world there was only one rule. The one rule was God’s way of giving people the choice of making Him the authority in their lives. The tangible way God did that was by telling people not to eat the fruit of one particular tree. But at the heart of that rule was the heart of the people that rule was given to. Would they submit to God’s authority, or would they choose to be their own authority?

God is all about freedom and knew that we could never be truly free without Him. We tend to think of freedom as being independent from any restrictions, but the truth is we need restrictions to be truly free.

Join us for part 2 in our series “The Reason for God” entitled: Why are there so many rules. We will look at where true freedom really comes from and how we can live in that freedom that Christ provides in the here and the now as well as forever. Living life to the fullest!

“Mama – tell me a story about when you were a little girl.” Or “Mama – tell me about the day I was born.” 

Every mom and every parent has heard some version of this question. Children love stories – about animals and children and kings and princesses and monsters - and especially stories about themselves and their parents. 

We are story-telling creatures. For thousands of years, even before writing was invented, humans told stories. Stories about how the world began, about how it will end. Stories about the gods who must mysteriously control the rain, and the sunrise, and the plants that sprouted out of the ground. Stories about themselves – their tribe, their people, their origins, their purpose.

All of us have a big story – a meta-narrative – some vision of reality and our place in it that we implicitly live by – the frame on which we weave together the disparate facts of our lives, of history, of science, of pain and loss and joy and love. We weave all of this together into a story – either consciously or unconsciously. If all our facts and perceptions are right and true and good, we get a good story – a story that “works” – a story that meshes well with reality. The more of our facts and perceptions that are mistaken, or false, or painful – the less well our story will “work.” We will find ourselves getting nasty surprises and unexpected outcomes when our assumptions about the story we are living in turn out to be false.

This week we begin a new 6-part series, based on Tim Keller’s book “The Reason for God.” We will look at some of the big questions that many people ask as they are trying to understand the big story they are living in, their story, and how both of those stories mesh and make sense.

“What Story Are You Living In?”

I hope you’ll join us this weekend as I introduce this series that our teaching team will share, look at the big question of “Can there really be just one true religion?” and end with the good, true story God tells through his son Jesus.

Dear Friends and Family,

Why on earth did Dr. Luke devote so much space at the end of his book of Acts to a voyage, a storm, a shipwreck, and a snakebite? Is he a trusted reporter of the early church and the ancient events portrayed in Acts? Take time prior to this Sunday to read or listen to Acts 27:1-28:31. I think you will be impressed at the precision, accuracy, and vividness of his narrative. Hint: Pay attention to the pronouns he uses in the story. Some scholars say there is no better detailed record of the working of an ancient ship in all of classical literature.

Luke’s account even out does the vivid descriptions of Homer in the Odyssey and in the Old Testament book of Jonah! Ask most people about the way Luke ends the book of Acts, they’ll say, “That’s no way to make the NY Times Best Seller list!”

Does any of this make sense? I think you will marvel at the answers and application for us today!

Join us as we dive into Acts chapter 9 and the story of Saul’s conversion on the road to Damascus. This is one of the most powerful and riveting stories of life-transformation in the whole Bible! As Saul encountered the risen Christ, his life was forever changed. His zeal for the law was transformed into a passion for the gospel. His hatred of Christians was transformed into a love for all people. And his pride and self-righteousness were transformed into a humble dependence on the power of the Holy Spirit.

WE can learn a lot from the story of Saul’s conversion. It has life-changing implications for EVERYONE.

Come and hear how this story relates to our history as a church, where we are today, and where we are heading. 

The Wild Ride continues as we look back at the book of Acts and how it is changing our future! This Sunday we will ride the DeLorean back to the beginning of the early Christian church as we first take a deep look at who the Holy Spirit is and the power it gives to those who have it, and secondly the life change and unbelievable unity that the Holy Spirit brings to people from every culture, race, political view, and tongue as they put the resurrected Christ above everything else!

The Book of Acts takes us on a journey of explosive growth and discipleship as the first Christians experience the power of the Holy Spirit released first with the disciples and then through churches in local communities just like ours! Come join us as we this Sunday as we worship and learn more about the living God who loves us so much He gave His Son to save us!

You couldn't miss it when you walked in the room… Some would say it smelled earthy. Frankly, it just stank of body odor and worse. Peter had no doubt stepped in it again. 

Each man in the room was wondering where the servant was who was going to wash their feet. After all, they were certainly too important to even consider stepping up!

Just when the tension in the room reached a breaking point, in walked Jesus. Instantly, He saw what was happening and without breaking stride, He walked over to the jar of water, took off His outer coat, wrapped a towel around His waist, poured water into a basin and knelt down, “Judas, can I wash your feet?" Master?

Knowing that God had put everything under His power, that He had come from God and was returning to God Jesus got on His knees and served.

So, why serve? Because Jesus did! Because when we serve in Jesus name it sucks the cynicism out of a lost and dying world.

This Sunday we are holding our annual Local Missions Fair. Our Local Missions team along with our 13 ministry partners will be offering you opportunities to serve those hurting and hopeless in our community as the hands and feet of Jesus. An unexpected thing happens when we serve…

Sunday we will go "Back to the Future" as we dive into the book of Acts in this very special, interactive message series.

There is one word that keeps showing up to describe people’s reaction to Jesus – they were amazed! They were amazed at His words, His actions, and His approach to life and offer of forgiveness to all who would come to Him. Then the unthinkable happened one Friday. Jesus was crucified, hope was lost, and the disciples were confused, scattered, and afraid. But everything changed again on an early Sunday morning, when the disciples looked inside an empty tomb. The most amazing thing happened - the stone was moved, the darkness was lifted, and Jesus had risen from the dead.

Join us this Easter weekend as we look at this amazing news with fresh eyes and discover how through the resurrection of Christ, each one of us is continually being offered the same amazing opportunity that invites us into a changed life full of love, joy, peace, and hope.

Dear Friends and Family,

When Jesus comes to town, the most unexpected things happen. You never know where He’s going to go. You never know what He’s going to do, and there is always an unexpected turn of events. This Sunday marks a very important day on the calendar in the life of the global Christian church! It’s the first day of Holy Week, also known as Palm Sunday, which commemorates the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem — an event mentioned in all four of the gospels in the Bible. It’s the only day Jesus ever rode into town, and even before He arrived, He started doing and saying the most unexpected things! Who is this guy? He raises the dead. Gives sight to the blind, and rearranges the furniture (so to speak) in the temple of God. Who does He think He is, the owner?

Come and enter into a part of the greatest story every told. Experience some of the events leading up to the triumphal procession, the procession itself; and some of what follows.

Dear Family and Friends,

It hardly seems possible that I preached my first sermon at our church in 2001. I hope you can join us this Sunday as I will be preaching my last sermon at DRCC. While Erika and I feel deep sadness, sadness isn’t the only emotion we feel. We are grateful for the many kingdom stories we have been privileged to be a part of. I am grateful to have the opportunity to speak to you one last time on Sunday to share my heart with you—to convey both my gratitude to you and to encourage you to stay rooted in Jesus. I am praying God’s grace and wisdom on you and our leaders and I am praying for DRCC to experience greater kingdom victories in the future.

Just because a storm comes doesn't mean we aren't going to get to our destination. What we can count on is Jesus will show up in the storm and be enough to get us through!

Dear Family and Friends,

Many of us wrestle with the gap between feeling like we are not enough and our dreams, between who we are and who God says we are meant to be. So many times we feel like we have messed things up, or, in some ways, have not measured up, so we end up asking, “Why Me?”. We are not alone in this; Moses, Gideon, Elijah, Jeremiah, and Peter all felt this way, that they were not enough, asking “Why Me?”. And guess what? They weren’t. But with God in the fire with them they were used to change the world. And God can be in the fire with us. With Him, it can change our world!

So, Join us for part 2 of our series “WHY” as we talk about how you and I are not enough, but with God in the fire with us, we are. And just like the Bible heroes, God will use us to do amazing things, in the here and the now, regardless of your age or previous mistakes! It’s never too late to live out your calling!

Dear Family and Friends,

This week kicks off our new Why? series. Any of us who have been around a three-year-old are very familiar with this question! Sunday, we start with, Why Pray?

Over the next five weeks, we will look at the why question from five different angles that will help each of us take our next right step in our walk with Jesus. Come listen, learn and experience God as we seek to help you answer your why, in light of God’s “whys”, illuminated by the Bible.

Dear Family and Friends,

This Sunday, we will conclude our series on the book of Judges by taking a closer look at the life of Samson. By many accounts, he is the worst of all the judges. His life is full of deception and scandal, and his moral failures are too many to count.

A man chosen by God to deliver the Israelites from the Philistines… but yet he made a series of foolish choices with real life consequences. Four times across three chapters we are told that the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon Samson. But yet, he forgot where his true strength came from. 

It’s tempting to read the story of Samson and think, what an idiot! But if we’re honest, there are several elements to his life and story that can become all too familiar if we really pay attention to what is happening behind the scenes. Together, we will wrestle with several questions based on lessons from the life of Samson. Come and learn more about how the life of a Tragic Hero relates to our story in 2023. 

Dear Family and Friends,

Over the past several weeks, we have been looking at some of the stories in Judges of people who God used to rescue and bring relief to Israel in times of oppression. We've already seen that God doesn't choose leaders based on human calculations - and that is good news for all of us. In fact, the further we get into the Judges, the clearer we see that the real hero is God - and he can call up and empower and work through anyone. 

Join us this week as we look at the story of Jephthah - a man who God works through to rescue Israel, even though he has some serious flaws. And we will see that God is moving his story forward, remaining faithful to his people, even when there is a lot of confusion and chaos. Because God's story is ultimately about his faithfulness to us - a faithfulness and commitment that has been there from the very beginning.

Dear Family and Friends,

This Sunday, we will continue our series through the book of Judges by looking at the story of a very unlikely hero, Gideon. When God calls him to accomplish something great and amazing, Gideon reminds God of his inadequacies. When God calls him by a new name, Gideon struggles to see himself as God sees him. When God calls him to fight a great battle, Gideon wonders about the great odds against him. Gideon’s story reminds us that our God is bigger than our fears, our problems, our worries, and our failures. He is bigger than our sin and shame. He knows all about the Midianites in our lives. He knows the losses we have faced and the guilt and regret we carry, and yet, He offers us a better story, a better dream, a better task, a better life and best of all, a better understanding of His plan, His purpose, and His presence than we have ever known. God is with us. You are not alone.

You will want to read Gideon’s story especially if you are facing long odds in any area of your life. Take about fifteen minutes this week and read or listen to Gideon’s story in Judges 6-8.

Dear Family and Friends,

We continue our series on the book of Judges this Sunday, looking at the powerful story of Deborah, a remarkable leader God raised up who was not just a judge, but a prophet and a woman. Way back around 1200 BC, God was sending a powerful message when He chose a woman to serve in a position of national leadership. We’ll meet a colorful cast of characters – Deborah, Barak, Sisera, Jael, and Heber. What can we learn from them? What does the Bible teach us about God and women? How does God view the abuse of women? What kind of people does God use to accomplish His purposes? We will answer these questions and more as we discover God’s vision for the kind of kingdom He wants to build on earth. I am dedicating this weekend’s message to all the women in our community. Men, bring your wives, sisters, daughters and friends as we listen and learn from the lives of two remarkable women in Judges 4 & 5.

Dear Family and Friends,

We will be launching a new sermon series this weekend on the book of Judges titled Unlikely Heroes. The book of Judges has been described as one of the most thrilling, colorful, and disturbing books of the Bible. It has themes of great faith, lies, political intrigue, violence, idolatry, power, uncommon heroism, love and death. More than anything, it portrays God’s repeated faithfulness even though God’s people repeatedly rebelled against Him and failed Him. While these things happened a long time ago, their stories are in the Bible because we may not be all that different from them! This season, we will learn about how God raised some ordinary, unlikely heroes to lead and guide His people during turbulent seasons. Join us as we seek to discern God’s calling upon us as flawed, everyday people to step into freedom from the negative cycles in our lives, in our families, and in our culture. We just have to make sure we are listening, we are available, and we are willing to be used by God. 

We conclude our series Unstuck this week. Many of us often get stuck facing moments in our lives when our spirits are crushed. These moments can sap hope, kill dreams, and rob us of the life we were meant to live. God, in reality, has great concern and compassion for those whose spirits are crushed. He wants to speak life into us and lighten our burden. Join us this weekend as we dig into Scripture and take the next step to getting unstuck.

Dear Family and Friends,

We will continue our series Unstuck this Sunday, living out what Scripture tells us in Galatians 5:1 – “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.” I have invited a dear friend of mine, Theresa Noye, to bring the message this weekend. Theresa is one of the most uplifting people I know. She has spoken extensively on multicultural issues, special needs, and how we can all live out our God-given potential. We will honor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. this weekend, as well as celebrate our Haven Special Needs Ministry.

Is there an area in your life where you feel stuck and can’t seem to move forward? Cluttered calendar, same old routines, relational breakdown, malaise, and meaningless rhythms? You are not alone. A nationwide survey revealed that a large segment of the American population feels stuck—stuck in routine, relationships, finances, job, career, or spiritual walk. Over half admitted they feel they are living some version of the 1993 classic film, Groundhog Day.

Over three weeks, we will look at biblical examples and solutions from God’s Word to help us experience freedom and the abundant life Jesus promises us. We will discover ways we can become unstuck and thrive this year. The first step is to acknowledge we are stuck and ask for help. What happens next?

Dear Family and Friends,

Happy New Year! A new year brings a sense of anticipation. We dream a bit, we hope, we make resolutions. Join us this Sunday, January 1st, as we look at God’s faithfulness in the past and offer the coming year to Him in what will be a special worship service as we look at a memorable story from the Old Testament with powerful lessons on how to step into the future with God. Change can sometimes be hard, but a new year offers us a new opportunity to live the flourishing life Jesus promised us. After the last three years, a fresh start has never been so welcome!

Dear Family and Friends,

Scripture tells us, on that first Christmas Day, God came to be with us! If you have ever felt lonely or isolated or left out or betrayed, you will want to meet Jesus. He is not somewhere else in the universe, beyond the galaxies—distant, disengaged, disavowed—but here on earth, dwelling among us. This is God in flesh—breathing, talking, walking, eating, sleeping, laughing, weeping, experiencing pain, sorrow, rejection, friendship, and betrayal. Join us for one of four identical Christmas services as we look at the Christmas story afresh and stand before the manger with an awe-inspiring wonder – this is Immanuel, God with us!

“Then pealed the bells more loud and deep;

‘God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;

  The Wrong shall fail;

  The Right prevail;

With peace on earth, good-will to men.’”

So ends, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s poem, Christmas Bells, written at a dark period in his own life, and the life of America – written in a time when his own personal darkness reflected the darkness around him and threatened to overwhelm him. The last two verses are a contrast, a portrayal of two different paths for dealing with the darkness: fear or faith, despair or hope, hate or love. 

Wrong and Right, War and Peace, Darkness and Light are ever locked in battle in our world, and in our own lives. And in every age and any circumstance, we have the choice as to which path we will pursue in response to this battle. Join us this week as we finish our exploration of Wadsworth’s poem – which ends with the clear choice of faith, hope, and love. 

We continue our Christmas series, “I Heard the Bells.” It is the title of a Christmas carol written by one of the greatest American poets, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. This week, we will dig a little deeper into parts of his life that felt dark and hopeless. His world was not unlike ours. Hope, peace, and joy seem to be in short supply these days. Hope has been replaced by weariness, peace has been overcome by stress, and joy has been overwhelmed by anxiety. The Christmas story in Scripture reorients our internal compass, from a life of darkness to light, offering us genuine joy and meaning. Join us as we retell the Jesus story, rediscovering how to be people of light walking in the land of deep darkness.

The movie "I Heard the Bells" is based on the life of one of the greatest American poets, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. He had achieved considerable success in his lifetime when tragedy struck. Facing intense personal heartbreak in the middle of the bloodiest war in American history, his life was overcome with grief, disillusionment, and a deep sense of hopelessness. How do you find hope and healing when everything has fallen apart? Then one day, through the darkness came the sound of church bells ringing in celebration of the Christmas season. And he picked up his pen once more and wrote the carol, "I Heard the Bells." Join us as we hear the Jesus story afresh, looking at the life of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and discover how God is bringing hope, peace, and joy into our broken world.

401 years ago New England colonists and Native Americans sat down together to celebrate a Harvest Festival of thanks. Both cultures had traditions of giving thanks to God for the provisions in their lives. While Thanksgiving would not become an official American holiday for more than 200 years, the inspiration of that moment of fellowship and thanksgiving has reverberated down through our collective memory. Fellowship and thanks have sadly been too often absent in our history, but each year, we have an opportunity to renew commitments to acknowledge our dependence upon the generosity of God and our obligation to share that with whatever humans God has brought close to us.

On Thanksgiving Day, all of us will sit down with family and friends to give thanks for God's blessings and provisions. As Dr. Wang reminded us last Sunday, as he shared the pictures of relief work in Ukraine, many will mark this Holiday in fear and need. Our world is always this mix of joyful gratefulness for the goodness of God and sorrowful intercession for those who have been robbed of their share of God's bounty in our sinful world.

Thanksgiving is a day for Thanks, and as we do that, let's lift up the needs of our world to the Lord and ask Him to point us to opportunities to share and bless as we move into the holiday season.

We continue on to week 7 of our series, Immerse, where we are immersing ourselves in the words of the New Testament. This week’s readings will take us through the book of Hebrews. Although we do not know who wrote the book and when exactly it was written, Hebrews calls us to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus and to not give up in the face of hardship and persecution. The book is a wild ride of sorts, taking us from a discussion about angels, to Abraham and Melchizedek and other figures in the Old Testament, to a description of the furniture in the tabernacle, to multiple and repeated discussions about blood and sacrifice. Some would argue these aren’t exactly hot topics for Christians today. But there’s more! Join us this weekend as we dig deep into a book of the New Testament many Christians in our day find strange and difficult, but I would argue it has a fascinating and powerful message for our times.

Our journey through Immerse (New Testament) will take us through the book of Matthew next week. As we learned earlier in the series, the four Gospel accounts provide a rich and unified picture of Jesus. Matthew is perhaps the strangest choice for a Gospel writer. A tax collector by profession, Jewish by birth, Roman by employment, yet called by Jesus to be a disciple. He offers a deeply textured picture of Christ. He depicts the story of Jesus as something new that is rooted in the old. He begins with a royal genealogy and then presents the Gospel in a brilliantly structured way to help build a bridge connecting the story of Jesus with the Hebrew Bible’s story of salvation and the promise of a coming King. Join us this weekend as we learn how to read, understand, and interpret the good news of Jesus according to Matthew.

We continue our journey immersed in the New Testament this week in the gospel according to Mark. I have invited a college friend of mine to share what it means to take the gospel and live it out in a way that impacts our world. Shane Claiborne and I first met at Eastern University in the nineties, shortly before he left for Calcutta to intern with Mother Teresa. Shane is the founder of The Simple Way and has written several bestselling books and has been featured in numerous magazines and television programs and is usually booked out for years. Erika and I had the privilege of visiting with him and his wife Katie last week. In what will forever be for Erika and me a memorable walk with them down the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia, we saw the scope of The Simple Way and Shane and Katie’s work among the poorest neighborhoods in America. I kept thinking of Isaiah 9:2, John 1:5, and James 1:27. We walked away encouraged and inspired. I am looking forward to hosting this very special couple and dear friends this weekend – don’t miss it!

Welcome to week 4 in our Immerse series. I cannot wait to be together this weekend as we will look together at how we as Christians can have joy by living life as a living sacrifice, lived out in surprising ways! We will find all of this in the letters of the Apostle Paul, especially Romans (particularly Romans 12), written to the early church. Letters that were written to the first ever Christian churches, churches that he helped start on mission trips. Paul experienced and lived this kind of life! Believe it or not a life you and I can live out today!

You are invited to the feast! The king carefully prepared his guest list, making certain that all the right people were invited. No expense was spared; this was going to be a wedding celebration that would be talked about for a long, long time. The responses began to trickle in… “Sorry, can't make it, we have tickets to the game that day”… “Wish we could, but my daughter has a cheerleading competition that day”… Each excuse seemed even more inadequate than the one before…
So, the king did a very unexpected thing… He sent his messengers out into the city and invited all of the hurting, struggling and hungry folk to the party… and they all came! There was still room, so the king sent his messengers back out. This time they went into the countryside… the highways and the byways… They invited all those who worked from sunup to sundown… struggling to put food on the table for their children… turns out they all had completely empty social calendars… Nothing and no one would keep any of these invited guests from coming. This week we are talking about how we can invite the hurting, hopeless, and helpless to the Kingdom feast here in Frederick.

We continue our journey immersed in the New Testament this weekend with a very special guest. I have invited a longtime and dear friend, Dr Joseph Modica to come and minister to us. He is a New Testament scholar, author, and has served as professor at Eastern University for decades. I will be interviewing him and we will glean insights from him about the New Testament and how we are to live with Jesus as Lord. Dr Modica sees himself primarily as a pastor-scholar: someone who attempts to model a robust gospel, an ecumenical spirit, a generous orthodoxy, a formative hospitality and respectful conversations. Erika and I have deep affection for him and he was a huge support to me during a particularly hard time in my life. I am sure you’ll enjoy getting to know him and you won’t want to miss what he has to say.

This weekend, we will dive into the New Testament story and read it together in a fresh way. As you have likely heard by now, we will go through a new Bible experience called Immerse (Messiah). The Immerse Bible is designed to help communities experience the Bible together in a unique and powerful way. We will read it each week, listen to the sermons, and gather in book club style discussion time in small groups where we can share what stands out to us, what seems confusing, and how what we read can change the way we live. These warm and inviting group experiences set the table for authentic community interaction around the text. You’ll find details on this, how to join a group if you are not in one, and how to get a hold of the Immerse reading plan at damascus.com/immerse. I’ll share the vision behind this and some key things to look out for as we embark on this adventure this weekend. Don’t miss it!

Headlines have named the past 2+ years many things, including The Great Resignation, The Great Reshuffle and the Great Reset. We were all forced to scale back, reassess and re-prioritize in response to a rapidly changing context. Naturally, this has also applied to our life together as a community. While our mission remains unchanged, our methods must adapt to an ever-changing world.
 
Don’t miss this Sunday as we unveil our plans for the future. For the first time we will be showing a digital tour of the renovated west wing of the building. God is up to something new in our midst and He’s using us, His Church, to be ambassadors of hope and healing to a hurting and seeking world.

Our mission is to proclaim Christ and present everyone mature in Him (Colossians 2:28-29). Damascus Road is not just a church with a location. We are an unstoppable movement of God’s people on mission, part of Jesus’ plan to bring transformation and healing to our communities. Healing in us. Healing through us. Healed people heal people. Our leaders have spent many months praying and discussing on four important ways we will live out our God-given vision that we pray just opens the tap and releases God’s redemptive and healing power all over our region and beyond. My biggest prayer is that none of us will miss out on what God has planned for us in this next stretch, which I believe is “immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever” (Ephesians 3:20-21). Amen!

Uncertainty. Unprecedented. Unpredictable.

All of these words have been (over)used to describe this current season of our lives. We struggle to find meaning in the ordinary, peace in the busyness, and the fullness of life when life itself seems to have been upended. While we can all learn from the past, Scripture insists our destiny in Christ is to display God’s workmanship in us. It happens when we open ourselves to the Master Artist doing His work unhindered on the canvas of our souls. And the church, our church, is meant to be like an art gallery, a collection of hundreds of God’s masterpieces, working in tandem, like a tapestry of great, beautiful, and awe-inspiring design, bringing hope and healing to a hurting and needy world.

Join us this weekend as we launch into a three-week series called HEAL, where we will look at God’s calling and vision for us as a church for the next five years. Imagine what would happen if we took the gospel and become the church in our neighborhoods, workplaces, and schools as God’s agents of healing through Christ working in and through us!

Join us for a special weekend led by some of our elders, trustees, staff, and other leaders for a weekend of worship, scripture readings, and prayer. The Bible tells us God’s house shall be called a house of prayer (Isaiah 56:7), we are to pray continually (1 Thess 5:17), where two or three are gathered, there Jesus is (Matt 18:20), if we ask anything according to God’s will, He hears us (1 John 5:14), and that in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, we should present our requests to God (Phil 4:6). Jesus prayed often and in all kinds of circumstances. He healed people through prayer. The Holy Spirit came upon Him as He was praying. In His moments of crises, He prayed. We will do this together and then commit to a life of worship, scripture reading, and prayer. These are crucial disciplines to experiencing the abundant and flourishing life Jesus promises us.

And let me remind you one more time, every time you pray, something happens!

Over the last several months, our elders have been reading through NT Wright’s book, The Day the Revolution Began. Last week, we discussed chapter 12 where we dug into how God wants us to be fully functioning, God-reflecting human beings, and that Jesus came to bring us back into and be part of the new creation not just as beneficiaries, but as active participants. One way we do this is through our missions. We have a Damascus Road tradition of celebrating all of our missions the last two weeks in August each year. Last weekend, Pastor Roger gave us a fantastic report from Honduras, Nicaragua, and Johnstown, PA while challenging us to live out our God-given mission. This weekend, we will celebrate our missions in India, Germany, and Africa. Don’t miss it!

A 18 year old girl named Valery from Tegucigalpa Honduras joined our mission Honduras team this summer. After 4 days with our team she said to me “A few years ago I read a book that talked about a time when some teenagers were Christians. But I thought they were extinct! The love and grace I have experienced has shown me that teenage Christians still exist! And that Jesus is not extinct!”

This is just one of the many God stories that will be shared this Sunday as we celebrate a Jesus who is not extinct but alive and well! A Jesus who is still changing lives all over the world and in our backyard! A Jesus who came to serve and not to be served (Matthew 20:28).

We wrap up our series on Summer at the Movies this week. Join our church community in one of our Sunday worship services where we will look at the movie and discover the greater truth of God’s Kingdom coming in our midst. We’ve been looking at how movies give us a way to discerningly use terms and stories of our age to talk about God and the greater truth of His Story. The movie echoes the spiritual truth that God has gifted each of us uniquely and created us to be a masterpiece! Too often, we shrink back when confronted with that idea. I am too young, I am too old, I am too inadequate, I am not brave enough, good enough, smart enough, I have too much baggage, I am buried in guilt and shame, I am broken…the list is endless. But these are false messages hiding the truth about you. It’s hidden. But it doesn’t have to be. Let’s embark on a journey this weekend to see what this masterpiece looks like.

Fred Rogers was for decades an American cultural icon, with his children's television show, "Mr. Roger's Neighborhood". An ordained minister, his Christian faith was the driving force of his life and "way of being." He viewed his television show as a ministry and both in his talks to children as well as his many relationships with a wide variety of people, always strived to treat everyone of every age with honesty, kindness, grace, and respect. These themes come through brilliantly in the movie and remind us of the power and attraction that comes from a life well-lived on behalf of others. We could use more people like Fred Rogers in public life today.

We are looking at how movies give us a way to discerningly use terms and stories of our age to talk about God and the greater truth of His Story. The apostle Paul did something similar in Acts 17 when he used terms and a story line that were familiar to the people in Athens so that he could help them understand the bigger God story and the good news of Jesus.

Join us for week one of Summer at the Movies. We will look at how popular stories in our culture help us better understand God’s Big Story. We will do so with movie clips, theme, and inspiring messages. Invite someone to come with you and watch How to Train Your Dragon on our lawn this Saturday at 7:30 pm (movie is free with snacks available for purchase). And then join the community in one of our Sunday worship services where we will look at the movie and discover the greater truth of God’s Kingdom coming in our midst. In this movie, watch how two groups that formerly had nothing in common clash and then come together. Jesus is everywhere, even in many of our stories. We will dig a little deeper and see how this story gives us a chance to look at Jesus, our world, and life itself through fresh eyes.

Imagine you are destitute, hungry, abandoned, ostracized, and cast out of the town you live in right now. Then imagine circumstances worsen! There is a famine, you are starving, a foreign power invades your city, and you enter into what looks and feels like a scene out of a dystopian movie. Things look hopeless, but then an extraordinary thing happens. You stumble across a pile of extremely valuable treasure. We are talking great food, clothes, gold, silver, the works. It is way more than you can ever use in a lifetime. This is incredible news in a time of mass starvation and extreme suffering. What do you do? That is the question we’ll tackle this Sunday as we look at a somewhat obscure and yet fascinating story from Scripture that teaches us what we are to do as recipients of some truly incredibly fabulous news.

We will wrap up our series this week on the parables by looking at the short, but powerful story of The Midnight Visitor. It is also one of the most misunderstood parables of Jesus and has often been interpreted in a way that profoundly distorts our view of God. This Sunday, we will sit at the feet of Jesus and listen to this story afresh and rekindle our vision and passion for the one thing you and I will not regret on our death beds—the one thing that will keep the mighty stream of God’s Spirit and power at work in us; the one thing that will keep our commitment to unity above any pull toward division, dissension, or a coldness of heart; the one thing that Martin Luther once said, leads to “a climbing up of the heart unto God.” Join us this weekend as we unpack one of the most intriguing stories of Jesus. I am praying each of us will walk away having both humbly learned from Jesus and deeply encouraged by Him.

Over the last several weeks we have examined parables from the greatest storyteller this world has ever seen. Jesus used these parables to help us understand God and his kingdom better.
 
This week we will be examining the short, yet profound parable of The Lost Sheep - a story that so beautifully encapsulates The Good Shepherd’s pursuit after his lost sheep.
 
God’s willingness to risk it all by leaving behind the ninety-nine to go after the one that is lost illustrates the depth that God loves his sheep; no matter where they’ve been.
 
Restoration, recovery, protection, joy, and peace can all be found when we stop running and allow God to be our shepherd.

What do you do when you read a passage of scripture that confuses (or worse yet, disturbs) you? Traditionally there are three options:
1. Ignore the passage all together and focus on others 
2. Try to qualify or contextualize the passage to soften it or make it more palatable
OR
3. Dig in deep and try to figure out what it’s really saying and why 
 
This week we will be tackling the Parable of the Shrewd Manager and it is historically a parable that has elicited either option 1 or 2. We, of course, will take option 3 and try to find out what on earth this passage means and why on earth Jesus, through Luke, thought it was important to include in scripture.

Come join us this Sunday as we celebrate Father’s Day, Kids Camp, and dive into the parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32). As He often did, Jesus used this parable to challenge the religious establishment of His own day. However, it’s also a challenge to all of us today, calling us to examine our own hearts and homes, and to reflect on the extravagant love of God. God is on the move at DRCC – don’t miss the party on Sunday!

We have many questions. The disciples had many questions too. Jesus has answers. Often in the form of parables - stories with intent. Is your life filled with worry? Jesus tells a story which poses the question, “which of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life” (Luke 12:25-31)? But he doesn’t stop there.
Do current events have you stressed out? Do you wonder what’s going to happen next? Perhaps like the disciples you’d like to privately seek out Jesus and fire a bunch of questions at him about signs of the times, His return, and the end of the world? (Matthew 24:3).
Most of us are familiar with Aesop’s fables, like the “Tortoise and the Hare” or even secular parables, like Hans Christian Anderson’s, “The Emperor’s New Clothes.” But while fables can hand you a moral – a rule of behavior which is woven into the story and secular parables can hand you traditional folk wisdom; neither of these can give you insights into the Kingdom of God from an up close and personal perspective. Nor can they help you catch a glimpse of the time of the end or even what happens at the end of all time – from an authoritative source.
Want to know who God is and how He acts toward humanity? Look to the parables of Jesus. Want to see what humanity is and how humanity should and may become from God’s perspective? Only Jesus the master storyteller can reveal that. This week we continue our series, Parables – The Stories of Jesus. Come, listen, and catch a glimpse of those getting ready to step into eternity “When the Son of Man comes in His glory . . .. (Matthew 25:31).

Jesus told a lot of stories - parables - to illustrate and illuminate the reality of the Kingdom of God. A new reality was breaking in and he chose not flowery or philosophical descriptions of this new reality, but stories - kings, servants, fathers, children, widows, rich, poor - characters from all walks of life. And these characters bring to life the character of this new kingdom.

This week starts a 6-week series on the parables of Jesus. Join us this Sunday as we look at the parable of The Unforgiving Servant - a story that illustrates the lavish grace of God in contrast to the human propensity for stinginess and self-righteousness.

The grace and forgiveness of God is always wider, deeper, and more generous than anything we can imagine.

Dear Family and Friends,

In talking to other pastor friends, it struck us just how many conflicts we have all had to sift through in these last three years. To be sure, disagreements and conflicts are a staple of any relationship or community, but the pace, frequency, and sheer number of things people debated over (and divided over) accelerated in this season. We often think of the early church as a place where everyone got along and it was all one big happy family. Scripture paints a different picture. In fact, very early on, the church grappled with some serious issues (see Acts 5 & 6 for example). This weekend, we will conclude our Game Change series by looking at some key principles the early church leaders adopted in handling serious conflicts. It was a game changer. I am praying each of us will walk away both humbly learning from them and deeply encouraged by their example.

I look forward to seeing you in person or online this Sunday!

“Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.” ~1 Peter 4:10

God gave you your gifts and talents for a reason and He delights in seeing you use them.

In most sports, there is that feeling you get… like when you “barrel up” and hit a baseball on the sweet spot of your bat, and the ball soars over the fence, and you know the bat was used exactly how it should be used. When you helped someone in need and what they needed is something that you are gifted at! You Walk away feeling a pure joy spoken of in scripture! Always be watchful for that same feeling. When you find yourself in the middle of a task, hobby, a job, or serving and notice that same satisfaction, know that you have found the point where your God-given talents align with the tasks He has laid before you. 

When you approach the point where your gifts and calling intersect, you have found your sweet spot. Living like God has created you to live!

This Sunday is part 2 in our Game Changer series entitled “Living in your Calling”. We will look at how being obedient and humble before God will have you living out your created calling. Living a life that you were meant to live. A life not without problems or pain yes, but more than that, a life filled with joy, intimacy, contentment, and fulfillment. A life that could change everything!