GARDEN CHURCH Podcast: Recent Episodes
Garden Church
A Response to the Epidemic of Loneliness | Darren RouanzoinThis Sunday, Pastor Darren shared a message with us about the value, necessity and implications of Biblical Community. We learn about our responsibility in the alleviation of the worlds oldest problem, loneliness.
Celebrate with us this morning, because today brings a new reality: Jesus is risen, and he has been anointed as King over all the world.
Join us as we enter the story of the day that we have come to call, at least on this side of Easter: “Good Friday.” In less than 24 hours, the disciples’ world, and the whole world, would be flipped on its head.
Prayer was a key component of the life and ministry of Jesus. The question must then be asked, what is prayer? Pastor Darren gives us a deep dive into prayer in order to understand this crucial practice.
In our current cultural moment, making enemies seems to be natural. It is so easy to find camps where we huddle around things we like and demonize those who disagree with us. Pastor Darren introduces us to the story of the Good Samaritan, where the focus is not on the generosity of the Samaritan himself, but the identity of this lowly Samaritan.
In the story of Mary and Martha, the focus has been on the actions of the characters rather than the implications of Mary’s presence at the feet of Jesus. Listen as Pastor Amie walks us through the implications of Mary’s action and the Jesus’ response.
How do we hear God's voice? As we come to an end of our Present Future Church series, Pastor Darren wanted to address this crucial aspect of Christian life. We want to be people that hear and obey God's voice. In order to do that we need to learn how to hear the voice of God. Listen to the podcast to begin this journey of learning how to distinguish God's voice among the noise that we face day in and day out.
As we have gone through our series, Present Future Church, we talked about what needs to be present in the church now so that the church can benefit future generations. Primarily this includes a hunger for God's presence, holiness, and humility. Pastor Darren talks about a fourth primary characteristic that needs to mark the church, health, whole soul health.
Jesus went into the temple courts and drew a line in the sand, "my house will be a house of prayer." It is those words that Pastor Tyler Staton used to invite us into a pursuing prayer in a deep and intimate way with the Triune God. Listen to the podcast to learn about what it looks like to pursue prayer in our own lives.
We started our series, Present Future Church, talking about how do we stay hungry in pursuit of the presence of God when we are full and satisfied. This week we had our friend, Pastor Jonny Hughes, from Trinity Church Nottingham, come and invite us into the shameless audacity it takes to become people who are hungry for the presence of God. It will take those who have the courage to call God, "Father," to see the future church be brought into the present. Listen to the podcast to learn more.
How do we as a church be mindful of the present, while planning for the future? We need to be reminded of the past. The Israelites were constantly urged to remember where they came from. To do this, we need to become a church that is dependent on God's presence. Listen as Pastor Darren urges us to be hungry for God's presence, not only for ourselves but for the future church.
When the world tells us that our identity comes from what we do, where we come from, and what we can achieve, we turn to the scriptures to see how Paul helps redefine our source of identity. Pastor Michael Petrila finished our series on Identity. After weeks of finding out where identity came from and how it was disrupted, we landed on finding out "where we find true identity now." Listen to the podcast now!
As we jump into our third week of Identity, Bill takes us to the story of Jacob wrestling with God. In this story we see what it costs to find your identity. It costs everything on our end to receive the free gift of God's identity for us. Listen to the podcast to continue this journey on identity.
In our discussion on Identity, Pastor Bill walked us through what happened to the world when identity was lost. It is in this time we find the world currently, where identity is found in the things outside of us, and humanity has placed themselves higher than God.
One generally known but scarcely understood story involving Jesus turning water into wine. Though this may seem like a fun party trick from an external perspective. However, Pastor Darren, walked us through this story in order to show us the Gospel writer John's true intention writing this story. Join us as we take a deep dive into the unfamiliar territory of this "familiar" story.
God as Father can often be difficult to wrestle and understand. Especially when we reflect on our relationships to our earthly fathers. However, in light of Mother's Day, Pastor Bill walked us through the Scriptures to observe and meditate on the Motherhood, or motherly characteristics, of God. These observations are not for us to escape the image of God as Father, but this is an invitation for us to understand the Creator God, Yahweh, in his fullest.
In a culture that is marked by loneliness and individualism, Jesus offers a different way of living. Man was not created to be alone. As social beings, we create groups around self-interests, political ideologies, music tastes, etc. In that, Jesus radically redefines what community looks like. Through Jesus' life, he establishes a community of people who are not surrounded by internal self-interest but founded on Jesus Christ himself. It is this community where we are invited to die to self and live for God. Listen as Pastor Darren casts vision for what a Christ-centered church looks like, and where God's kingdom can flourish within that community.
Pastor Bill joined us and continued our conversation on the Kingdom of God. This Sunday, we were looking back when Jesus entered Jerusalem on a donkey, known as Palm Sunday. What did this entrance symbolize? We believe that Jesus was coming to teach us how to die. This is the way of the upside-down kingdom. To learn what this means, listen to our podcast!
Kingdom Culture is a series where we want to explore what it means to see our lives reflect God's Kingdom on Earth as it is in Heaven. A critical aspect of God's kingdom is generosity. The Kingdom of God is a generous kingdom. Pastor Darren spent some time reframing our idea of money, and what it means to be truly generous in God's kingdom.
Many have a skewed view of the familiar words from the New Testament, "repent and believe." In contrast, when Jesus said these words in Mark 1:15, his hearers had a clear and proper idea of what Jesus meant. The challenge for us is to get rid of our preconceptions in order to grasp the weight of the words of Jesus. Join us as Pastor Darren closes our 3 part sermon on Mark 1:15 in the midst of our Kingdom Culture series.
In Mark 1:15, Jesus starts proclaiming the good news of his arrival. There are three key phrases in his proclamation. The first statement was that "the time has come." This week Pastor Darren unpacked the second phrase, that the "kingdom of God has come near." What are the implications? How does this look like for us? What does the Kingdom of God have to do with salsa? Listen to this week's podcast to find out!
Gideon was a cowardly man, who was the weakest of his tribe. Yet, God used Gideon to conquer an army. How does that happen? It was through obedience. What can we learn through Gideon's transformation into obedience? Listen as Pastor Darren challenges us to push back against the idols in our lives that grasp for our obedience, and then turn our devotion to the God who does the impossible.
Humans were created with the image of God embedded within us. As image bearers, our jobs are to reflect God's image into the world. However, what happens when we place the focus of our image on something else? Listen as Sarah Deutscher speaks on the idol of image.
We had our friend Mark Sayers join us on Sunday, and he taught on the concept of God's temple. The temple was a focal point of the Old Testament, it was where God dwelled among his people. However, what happens when in the New Testament the temple changes from a physical building to God's people? Listen to both services to get a full picture of what the implications are for us.
This week, Pastor Bill continues the theme of 'learning to tell time' as he takes us to observe Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. In the Beatitudes, we find a list of who is qualified to enter the Kingdom of God, and its implications end up changing how we should see our place in our partnership with God. If the poor, meek, merciful, peacemakers, mournful, seekers of righteousness, pure in heart, and persecuted are welcome in God's Kingdom, then God's method of changing the world might be radically different than what we expect.
As we move into 2019, Pastor Bill urges us to make the most of the time that we have. Everyone in the world gets 24 hours per day, however, it seems like most people wish they had more time. What we need to learn is how to make the most of the time that we do have each day. We need to learn how to tell the time.
We ended our Advent series with a family Christmas service. Pastor Darren helped prepare our hearts in celebration of the coming of our king, Jesus. The Christmas season is coming to a close, but it is important to remind ourselves about why this day is so important. The coming of Jesus was the arrival of God with us. God put on flesh in order to live among us, to be with us, to bless us with his presence. The power of "with" changes what it means to be a follower of Jesus, and what it means for us to be family together.
Pastor Darren was convicted to share about the importance of giving. We as Garden Church value generosity and living a generous life. Generosity is not just surrounding money, but being generous in all avenues of life. This is apart of being a follower of Jesus and it is important to push into this against a culture that is focused on self. Listen to hear Pastor Darren's heart and his hope for how we may live generously as a church.
We had our friend Francis Chan come and continue our Advent series. As we are rethinking this Christmas season, we wanted to refocus and rethink how we prepare for Christmas day. Instead of going with the rhythms of culture, and even the culture of the church, we want to go with the rhythms of Jesus' heart. God was and is extravagantly generous, and we want to become people where generosity flows out of us freely. Listen to the podcast to learn more about what it would mean to live a generous life marked by the presence of God.
We had our friend Francis Chan come and continue our Advent series. As we are rethinking this Christmas season, we wanted to refocus and rethink how we prepare for Christmas day. Instead of going with the rhythms of culture, and even the culture of the church, we want to go with the rhythms of Jesus' heart. God was and is extravagantly generous, and we want to become people where generosity flows out of us freely. Listen to the podcast to learn more about what it would mean to live a generous life marked by the presence of God.
During this Advent season, we are trying to intentionally slow down and refocus our lives on Jesus. This week Pastor Darren talks about this weeks focus, being present, and how we can operate in a counter-cultural way this season.
Pastor Darren closed out our series, the Empowering Presence, by talking about how the Holy Spirit influences worship. We all worship in different ways and most times our worship is not directed towards God. We are meant to worship, and with the help of the Holy Spirit, we are able to become people that worship regularly and powerfully. Listen to learn how we can become a church that is marked by worship.
We are a church that wants to be marked by the presence of the Holy Spirit. Our sermon series, the Empowering Presence, has focused on all different parts on the theology of the Holy Spirit. This week, Pastor Bill wanted to talk about the less controversial topic, yet still confusing prophecy. Bill takes some intentional time to unpack and address how we view prophecy, and how we want to be vessels for God to speak through us. We hope that his sermon is helpful for you! Give it a listen.
Our series, the Empowering Presence, has kept its focus on the Holy Spirit and the misconceptions around the Holy Spirit. The gifts of the Spirit have also had some confusion around them, especially the gift of tongues. We had our friend John Mark Comer come and attempt to unpack the mystery around speaking in tongues, and why it is important to have a clear understanding of it.
The Holy Spirit is the primary vehicle where God's power is seen throughout the world. His Spirit empowers us to be with Jesus, to become like Jesus, and to do what Jesus did. Healing was seen all throughout Jesus' ministry through the Spirit, and that ministry continues in the book of Acts. It is Jesus' disciples that carry out his mission and continue doing the things that Jesus did, including healing. We believe that healing should happen regularly as you live out your life. Listen as pastor Darren invites us into a new journey of obedience and faith as we partner with the Holy Spirit in ministry.
Our current series, the Empowering Presence, is focused on the Holy Spirit. One of our primary goals was to clear up misconceptions about the Holy Spirit. It seems like most Christian traditions bring some unclear pictures and ideas about the Holy Spirit. We would like to invite you to listen to Pastor Darren, as he takes an intentional approach to revert some lies that we might believe about the Holy Spirit.
There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Yet, we all tend to have narratives that we believe and perceive about ourselves and others that say otherwise. These narratives model what Paul writes in Romans about the polarizing life that we live as Christians. We have to live either by the Spirit or by the flesh. We have to choose life or death. The only way to live this free life in Christ is by being filled with the Spirit and living the life that God designed for us to live in him. Listen as Pastor Bill slows down our Empowering Presence series in order to give us time to truly understand the Spirit and his role in giving us true life.
The Holy Spirit doesn't come to just be a marker of salvation. He comes in order to reorient our identities to the truth that we are in Christ. Through the Spirit, our whole lives are reconstructed, started with our identities. It is out of our identities that we live out of. When we live out of our proper identities in Christ, we then truly live out of the abundant inheritance that the kingdom of God offers. Listen as Pastor Darren leads us further into our series, the Empowering Presence.
Francis Chan referred to the Holy Spirit as the "forgotten God." As we continue through our series, the Empowering Presence, we wanted to do a survey of the Holy Spirit in order to introduce ourselves to the fullness of this person of God. Pastor Bill took us through the Old and New Testament to get an overarching idea of what role the Holy Spirit plays. This summary allows us to take our first steps into a healthy understanding of the wonder and majesty of the third person of the Trinity.
Who is the Holy Spirit? What does he do? Why do we need him? There is a lot of mystery around God, but even more so when it comes to the Holy Spirit. We started a new series that is all about the Holy Spirit. Listen as Pastor Darren lays out the vision of what it would look like for us to be a churched fully filled, driven, and influenced by the Holy Spirit.
Jesus shows us how to love. As we wrap up our series on Emotional Healthy Spirituality, Pastor Bill urges us to lean into Jesus model in love. Christians are called to look like little Christ's and part of that is shaping the way that we interact with ourselves and each other. Jesus shows us the risk and the weight of truly loving one another. Jesus' words were, "by this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another" (John 13:35). Listen as we try to understand what this exactly look like.
Gief and loss are normal in a broken world. We cannot expect to travel through our lives without experiencing hurt. Jesus acknowledges that, and even teaches us how to handle the emotions when dealing with grief and loss. Listen as Bill Dogterom helps us address our emotions, and how to give them to Jesus in order to live fully transformed lives.
There is a heaviness in the air at Garden Church, and it has been felt in our relationships, workplaces, and our homes. Pastor Darren took a break from our Emotionally Healthy Church series to address the spiritual warfare that our church has been feeling. There is a lot of uncertainty when it comes to the spiritual battles that we are constantly facing, and we are thankful for our Pastor equipping us to move on and fight!
What happens when we believe that we can transform lives, renew cities, preach the gospel, bring forth the kingdom, reign in heaven on earth on our own? Disaster. When left to our own devices humanity can and will run itself into the ground. It is because on our own we aren't enough. You are not enough, but Jesus is. How can we learn to root our identities in Christ, so that we may bring life? Listen as our friend, Megan Fate Marshman, walks us through the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand and how Jesus teaches us to lean into him when we don't have enough.
No one is perfect. While most people believe that, we still put on a perfect version of ourselves out into the world so that people can't see our flaws. However, just because we avoid our brokenness doesn't mean it stops existing. It is our brokenness that will corrupt us from the inside out unless it's brought to light so that it may be exposed. Pastor Bill continues our Emotionally Healthy Spirituality series by teaching us the necessity of "living in brokenness and vulnerability," in order to live a life that thrives through the boasting of weaknesses.
Pastor Bill continues our series "Emotionally Healthy Spirituality" by talking about "generational sins." It doesn't matter if we come from a healthy or a dysfunctional family, but we adopt sins from our families. Jesus gives a model on how to be emotionally healthy apart from our family of origin, but it doesn't come from ignoring our upbringing, but allowing God to redeem it.
We are not just a body, nor are we just a spirit. We are souls, a product of both spirit and body. Each soul is made of five parts: spiritual, social, intellectual, physical, and emotional. This is a core understanding as Pastor Bill begins our newest series, Practicing the Way of Jesus: Emotionally Healthy Spirituality, which focuses on the emotional aspect of being truly human. As he pulls from Pete Scazerro's book Emotionally Healthy Spirituality, Bill teaches us the necessity of truly dealing with our emotions and the journey of connecting them to our behavior. Once we look beneath the surface, we can then take the next step in our discipleship with Jesus.
How does it look like for disciples of Jesus to live in the 21st century? We can easily burn out trying to keep up with the Joneses and lose our identities as children of God in the midst of it. Guest Speaker, Dave Lomas, teaches us how we can match our hearts and minds to Jesus by just leaning back. This is a key journey for us to take so that we can take the essential steps to be with Jesus, to become like Jesus, and do what Jesus did.
t is getting more and more difficult to be a follower of Jesus in our current culture. The system that we are currently living in is designed for disciples to fail. If left unchecked, we can easily get overwhelmed and discouraged to even continue down the path to holiness, spiritual maturity, and purity. Listen as Pastor Darren gives us a call to respond to this time by praying and fasting.
Out of all of Jesus' ministry, the disciples asked Jesus to teach them one thing, "teach us to pray." The church has identified this teaching as the Lord's Prayer. Pastor Darren began an analysis of the Lord's Prayer last week and was joined by Michael Petrila this week as they co-taught the rest of the Lord's Prayer. We learned why it is so important to adopt the template that Jesus lays out, and how it not only forms our prayer life but it forms our spiritual journey with God.
Pastor Darren continues our series Practicing the Way of Jesus: Prayer by dissecting the Lord’s Prayer. The more we understand the template of the Lord’s Prayer, the more vibrant our prayer lives will be. Join us as we dive into prayer, in order to get to know the heart of the Father.
For Father's Day we had our friend Pastor Chris Weinand speak on the role of a father in a child's life. Children experience the truth of the Lord's Prayer and the picture of the Father in heaven by the reality experienced by a father's parenting. This is also a call for us to reshape and acknowledge the false realities we may have experience from the parenting that we have received. As we pray the Lord's Prayer, let us reshape our view of the Father, and reshape our parenting as mothers and fathers.
We are entering back into our Practicing the Way of Jesus series, and we are starting with the discipline of prayer. However, before we start dissecting the why and how we pray, Pastor Bill answered one of the primary questions about prayer, "what about unanswered prayer?" We may get constantly discouraged about prayer because of prayers that do not get answered, but the truth is that our prayers do get answered just not how we usually expect them to.
This Sunday we had a guest speaker, Todd Proctor, who led us through Acts. Todd observed three stories of how God works through the church in unexpected people, in unexpected ways, in unexpected places. This is crucial because the stories in Acts are precursors to the stories that we are now invited to participate in, presently.
Though there are many Mary’s mentioned and named throughout the New Testament, the story of Mary Magdalene is a powerful one. While there is mystery and rumors surrounding this character, we can glean truth from the scriptures about Mary’s character. Pastor Bill introduces us to the woman who led the female disciples that funded Jesus’ ministry, the woman who stayed at Jesus’ feet as he was being crucified, and the woman who encounters Jesus’ outside the empty tomb. Listen to find out what happened to this woman to love Jesus and the gospel above her own life.
This week, Pastor Darren teaches out of Luke 4:14-21. This text deals with Jesus proclaiming the Year of Jubilee, and what was God's socio-economic and political vision for his people. Through Jesus, a new reality breaks through for the poor, oppressed, and outcast here and now. We are invited to join Jesus in bringing this upside-down kingdom through our lives. We see this reality through the story of the rich young ruler and the blind beggar contrasted with the most controversial story of Zaccheus.
As Peter was walking by the gate called Beautiful, he encountered a lame man who was asking for money. Peter offered to heal the man, and he began to walk. Acts then continues to cover stories of Peter and the rest of the Apostles doing what Jesus did. However, Peter didn't begin with these highlights of success. Pastor Darren walks us through Peter's rough and bumpy discipleship with Jesus and offers us a model of what we can expect in our own walks with God.
What happens when a ceremonial unclean leper that has been ostracized and rejected his whole life encounters Jesus? The law and the system are turned upon their head by the Way of Jesus. God breaks systems that oppress and reject, all in pursuit of love. That is God's heart, and in Jesus' interaction with the Leper we see God's love put on display.
Encounter is a series about what happens when ordinary people experience and extraordinary God. This week Pastor Darren shared his story about how his 9-week healing process of two torn ligaments was cut short by a miraculous healing. This story was a precursor to the Encounter story that the paralytic man and his friends had with Jesus. Listen this week as we hold on to the truth that God wants to give us faith that is renewed every day as we continually encounter God through our everyday ordinary lives.
In our year-long series, Practicing the Way of Jesus, we are taking a break post-Easter to focus on the person of Jesus and what it means to encounter him. Pastor Bill helped start off this mini-series properly entitled Encounter: When Ordinary People Experience an Extraordinary God. We began by walking with the disciple known as Doubting Thomas. Bill helped us understand what it means to walk with Jesus in the midst of doubt, skepticism, and confusion while being moved in faithfulness.
Three days later after the death of Jesus, we have a plot twist in history, he is resurrected. With this resurrection Jesus brings the hope of new life because what took place on the cross was proved true. Listen as Pastor Darren guides us in understanding what is the good news that Jesus proclaimed with his life, death, and resurrection.
In order to understand the significance of Jesus’ death on the cross, we must understand the Gospel. The Gospel is good news for all who hear, and the faith of Christianity hinges on what took place on the cross. It all starts in the Garden of Eden, and that is where Michael Petrila leads us in our reflection of Good Friday.
On Palm Sunday, Jesus came in on a donkey completely subverting the perspectives of his disciples and followers. When they wanted a conquering king that would overthrow Rome, Jesus let everyone down by coming in God’s way. Pastor Bill, teaches us how Jesus will constantly let us down if we hold on to our perspectives of God’s plan for the world. In order to properly align ourselves with the subversive reality of Jesus, we must let go of our plans.
We are continuing with our focus on the spiritual discipline of 'fasting'. Pastor Bill helped clear the foggy nature of this discipline, by defining what it is and what it isn't. Fasting is a way that realigns, clarifies, and centers our minds and souls to God. Listen this week as we learn how this discipline has given prominent figures throughout scripture guidance in walking in step with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
"Appetites are not the driver for behavior." Continuing with our discussion on Fasting, Pastor Bill walks us through how fasting equips us to fight Satan and the flesh. We revisit Matthew 4, as Jesus is in the wilderness, assessing how he is not at his weakest, but because of the discipline of fasting, Jesus was at his strongest. Join us as we learn to join in the fight against spiritual warfare through the discipline of fasting.
In Matthew 4, Jesus is taken by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness where Jesus is tempted by Satan. By analyzing how Satan attacks Jesus, we are able to know how he also attacks us. Guest teacher Listen, as guest teacher Chris Weinand helps us understand the tactics of Satan and how we as the church can stand against his advances.
Fasting is a discipline that invites humanity to pray with our bodies. It also is an avenue where we can stand in solidarity with the poor. Pastor Darren leads us through Isaiah 58, as we understand how we can intentionally fast to relate to those who are poor and marginalized in our world. Join the Garden as we learn how to stand against oppression and stand for justice, one meal at a time.
Once confronted by Jezebel, Elijah is sent into an escape from his homeland. During this time, God turned Elijah's escape and turned it into an encounter with God. Pastor Bill, walks us through this story of Elijah going to Mt. Herman and the lesson he learned about the power of silence. It is here where we are invited to join Elijah to listen to the sound of silence and find God speaking in the midst of it.
In the wilderness away from people, work, traffic, music, television, and all other distractions, we find silence. For most, if not all of humanity, silence can seem to be violent to our souls. However, upon examining the lifestyle of Jesus we find that he found strength in silence and solitude. It seems that when Jesus was away from everything that the world deems important, he was able to find communion with the Father. Listen as Pastor Darren invites us into our first Spiritual Discipline as we learn to live like Jesus, Silence + Solitude.
While community, practice, and teaching may all help with transformation, they are not the primary source of transformation. The final step of transformation changes when our environment is changed and replaced with the Holy Spirit. It is the Spirit that comes in and uses our community, our practices, and teachings to transform and strengthen our will. Listen as Pastor Darren helps us understand, fully, how we can change into Christ-likeness.
The Way of Jesus, or the Way of the Cross, is not a way to be taken lightly. As Bonhoeffer said, "When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die." How do we live a life marked by carrying our cross, self-denial, and death? Pastor Bill Dogeterom helps us walk through this paradigm and what it means for us in the midst of our everyday ordinary lives.
Discipleship needs to be done in community. Especially, during our current age where communities can be found through social media, blogs, and websites. Authentic community that builds, sustains, exposes, challenges, and forms us into Christlikeness is found in the church. Listen as our guest speaker, Megan Fate Marshman helps continue our Practicing the Way of Jesus series, and helps us understand the role of community in our relationship to each other and God.
Doing something is different than wanting to do something. I order to live a life in the way of Jesus, we have to reshape the way we do life. This includes the way that we incorporate practices of Jesus. These practices take many shapes and forms but ultimately are rooted in the person of Jesus. Listen, as Pastor Darren walks us deeper into Intentional Spiritual Formation, as we discuss the importance of, practices.
We as humans are constantly being formed by the world around us. If we are not careful, we will be shaped to look more like the culture of the world, while thinking we are moving more towards Christ-likeness. Listen as Pastor Darren helps us set up a paradigm that will help us live lives of intentional spiritual formation. This will be our foundation to practice the way of Jesus, by being with Jesus, becoming like Jesus, and doing what Jesus did.
With the start of each new year, there comes an overarching sense of reflection of the past year, and the hopeful planning of the year to come. Pastor Bill walks us through his reflection of becoming more like Jesus, and why because God is always there in the midst of victories and failures we are called to tune our hearts to him and his voice. Listen as we start this new year off with a new sense of our place in the relationship between Creator and creation.
Christmas has become so familiar to us. However, when we take a closer look at the Christmas story, we realize that Jesus' birth is anything but familiar. Join us as Pastor Darren helps reintroduce us to the Christmas story, as the radical arrival of the Messiah, Jesus.
"I have to get to this meeting. I have to make sure I can post this. I have to make sure I have time for my family, friends, and myself." Our culture is constantly moving us into a space that is marked by hurry, and it is stretching us thin and wearing us out. In order to thrive in the midst of the 21st century, we need to adopt the lifestyle and pace of our God and Rabbi, Jesus. Listen as Pastor Darren walks us through practical steps in living an unhurried life.
John Rinehart joins us in his second message at Garden Church on the practicals of generosity. In order to live a life that is rooted in the generous God of the Bible, we need to make drastic shifts in our day to day. We do not want to be people marked by how much we earn, but by how much we give. Join us in learning practical ways to implement a generous lifestyle.
Because YAHWEH is so generous and loving, his people should be just as generous and loving. God has been so good since the beginning of creation, the redemption of His people, and the continual outpouring of His Spirit. Once we truly understand this about God, we can then live out a radically different life marked by generosity. Listen as our guest speaker, John Rinehart, walks us through the 'Theology of Generosity'.
In order to be a redemptive presence in today's world, followers of Jesus have to go deeper. It takes more than just being with Jesus and becoming like him, we are also called to do the things that Jesus did. We are a living and breathing representation of Jesus' ministry in the 21st century America, meaning we are to be continuing his ministry here and now. Join us as Pastor Darren lays out this final overview of our Practicing the Way of Jesus series.
A product of being with Jesus, is becoming like Jesus. Pastor Darren describes how we need to reshape the environments that we are in to make sure the product is Christ-likeness. Listen with us as we continue to radically reshape our lives in order to take part in Jesus' upside-down kingdom.
During a power outage Pastor Darren did an impromptu sermon all around the Hebrew word Selah. We constantly need holy pauses to reflect and contemplate how God is working in us, where is God taking us, and who is God forming us to be? Listen as we refocus Garden Church through this Selah.
During a power outage Pastor Darren did an impromptu sermon all around the Hebrew word Selah. We constantly need holy pauses to reflect and contemplate how God is working in us, where is God taking us, and who is God forming us to be? Listen as we refocus Garden Church through this Selah.
Pastor Darren begins our series Practicing the Way of Jesus as we look to the first principle of discipleship, to be with Jesus. Currently, we are constantly pulled in multiple directions every day, work, family, friends, the gym, and Netflix. When can we have time to be with Jesus? In order to live the life that Jesus calls us into, we also need to adopt the lifestyle of Jesus. This means a radical reshaping of how we spend our time, primarily how we spend time with God.
Discipleship to Jesus is more than just attending a Sunday service. True Discipleship is marked by accepting the call to be with Jesus, to be like Jesus, and to do what Jesus did. Pastor John Mark Comer of Bridgetown Church in Portland, Oregon helps us end our "Garden Church" series as we transition into a year-long series entitled "Practicing the Way of Jesus."
Our current age is plagued by the lie that "material things will make you happy, and the more you have will only make you even happier." This idea is completely foreign to Jesus and should be alien to his followers. Pastor Darren walks us through the value of Simplicity as a way of life that should be prevailing in our church, a life marked my simple living so that we may live abundantly generous lives that reign in Heaven on Earth.
What is God's primary way of moving forward the Kingdom? Generosity. God is a generous God that models giving wholeheartedly. Pastor Darren continues our value series, Garden Church, with the introduction of our fifth value - A life committed to extravagant generosity. Join us as we walk through this value together in order to bring God's generous love in our every day lives.
We as Garden Church want to live a life moved by compassion. Pastor Bill helps us wrestle with the difficulty of living a compassionate lifestyle in our modern age. Where the world, culture, friends, and even family are so inward focused, how can we possibly begin to take a step for those who are "others" to us? Listen and learn how we can invite those who are "other" to us, into the present Trinitarian reality that we are all invited into.
In Romans 12:1-2, Paul urges the church to offer their lives as living sacrifices to God, which is pleasing to God. However, in order to live a life pleasing to God, it needs to be filled with God and dedicated to God. This can only happen when the Holy Spirit invades our lives, our everyday and normal lives. Our guest, Alan Scott, guides us in our third value "being empowered by the Holy Spirit," and shows us how God can break out of the holy and extraordinary and break into the plain and mundane.
In Romans 12:1-2, Paul urges the church to offer their lives as living sacrifices to God, which is pleasing to God. However, in order to live a life pleasing to God, it needs to be filled with God and dedicated to God. This can only happen when the Holy Spirit invades our lives, our everyday and normal lives. Our guest, Alan Scott, guides us in our third value "being empowered by the Holy Spirit," and shows us how God can break out of the holy and extraordinary and break into the plain and mundane.
As we continue in our Value Series, Garden Church, Pastor Darren walks us through our second value - A Life Rooted in the Scriptures. The Bible has been ignored, abused, misread, and misused by people outside and within the Church. We want to create a culture that values the Scriptures and properly handles them, while also having our lives firmly rooted in its teachings.
With the launch of house churches, Pastor Darren led us into the start of a new sermon series, Garden Church: Essentials for Kingdom Life. This series' intention is to go over our values as a church, and how these values are what we believe every Christian should embody at Garden Church. The first value is, a life shared with loving family. The church is a family founded on the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus that thrives together. Followers of Jesus are not meant to live in isolation, for life, reprove, and growth cannot happen in solidarity.
As Pastor Darren closes our vision series, Bring Life. He discusses what he wants Garden Church to be known for, Power + Love. We believe that in order to be a church who makes a lasting impact on the city, that church needs to be marked by unconditional love, and God's unmistakable power. This is the way that the early church operated, and this is the way that we want to bring life into Long Beach.
We experience warfare on two fronts. The first comes from the flesh, or our sinful nature. The second comes from legalism and making our faith influenced by culture. Pastor Darren helps us discern these two realities that oppose our Discipleship to Jesus, and helps us navigate past these two strongholds. Join us as we finish our Battle Ready series in the book of Galatians.
God has authority over everything, everywhere, and everyone. This includes that which we call, the demonic. However, we as followers of Jesus have also been given authority from God, thus giving us the power against the demonic. Pastor Darren walks us through the story of the man possessed by 'Legion', and then teaches us how we can learn to live lives worthy of opposition.
The ministry of Jesus can be summarized to the forgiveness of sins, the healing of the sick, and the deliverance of evil spirits. While for most followers of Jesus focus on the precious two aspects of Jesus' ministry, Pastor Darren helped us see how important it is to develop a Spiritual Warfare Worldview. Listen and learn how wherever we go, we are to continue Jesus' ministry today.
The Renaissance, Reformation, and Enlightenment have all been necessary periods for our culture to transform, mature, and adapt; but is it the same for our faith? During the most recent centuries our culture, within the church and outside of the church, seem to be more focused on the physically tangible and have forgotten about the spiritual world that we cannot see. Pastor Darren helped us kick off our new four week series, Battle Ready: preparing for spiritual warfare, in order to help reshape and reform our worldview of the universe around us.
The American dream may define most of our every day lives. However, our guest Bonnie Lewis was able to prophetically attack the American dream and reveal to us, that it is not a big enough dream for God. Our God gives us a new identity and a new purpose every day. As we live in God's reality, we are able to truly understand that our work is for his glory, and not for our titles. We will truly find purpose when our work doesn't define us, but our place in God's kingdom.
The Church is called to live as a redemptive presence in the world; partnering with God in the reconciliation and renewal of all things. But how does this actually happen? The Apostle Paul insists it's through the power of the Holy Spirit filling individual followers of Jesus and empowering local communities of faith. He insists we as followers are to "be continually filled" with the presence of God in our everyday ordinary life. Pastor Darren continues our series through Ephesians showing how the connection between being Spirit-Filled and the renewal of all things.
In a world marked by the oppression of others, within the God design structure of marriage we find the Gospel. Pastor Bill helps walk us through the dynamic of marriage and how followers of Jesus can fully glorify God, empower each other, and witness to the world.
As a triune God, Yahweh reveals himself as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. He yearns for us to have a deep and true relationship with him, but a crucial part of any relationship is truly knowing one another. John Peters helped us truly know and begin to understand God as 'Father'. In order to do that, we have to be willing to let go of lies about God and accept the truths about him. This is how we are able to have a loving and lasting with God as our 'Father'.
Our Pastor and Friend, John Peters, continued with us in our series through Ephesians - Artisan Faith. The truest, most authentic, rawest form of church is 'supernatural'. Each local church is filled with humans from all sorts of ethnic, financial, and even educational background. With all of these opposing opinions and life experiences, only God can get them to be on the same page. This is why Paul calls the church to "be filled with the Holy Spirit." It is only though God's Spirit that we may unite and reflect the church as it was intended.
Followers of Jesus often fall into common traps that have plagued the church from its foundation. These include the traps of complacency to the traps of legalism, but where are we called to live? Paul writes to the letter of the Ephesians about living lives defined by wisdom. Pastor Jon helps us navigate what a life marked by wisdom looks like and how that impacts every aspect of our lives.
How do we remain faithful followers of Jesus in the midst of a culture that has blinded us? Guest speaker, Chris Weinand, took us through Ephesians 4:1-16 to answer that questions. We can go against the culture around us and into the culture that Jesus lays out by Celebrating our Captivity and Embracing our Togetherness. First, we are captive to God and his will for the church. Second, we are to be fully immersed in the community known as the body of Christ.
Paul had his finger on the pulse of his culture, and he knew how drastically different the lives of Christ's followers were to be compared to culture. Three issues that Paul addresses specifically in the letter to the Ephesians are sex, greed, and idolatry. As we continue our study through Ephesians, we take a step back and try to find the pulse of our current culture, so that we can choose to go against it in order to pursue a more vibrant relationship with Jesus.
The Apostle Paul reveals that the church is the primary vehicle by which God’s master plan of the reconciliation is fulfilled. As God works in this world to redeem and unite all things back to himself, Jesus gives gifts to his followers to equip and empower the church to fulfill it’s mission in the world. Jesus gives us gifts, he gives gifts to be given away and calls all of his followers into full time ministry.
Dallas Willard said, “The greatest issue facing the world today, with all its heartbreaking needs, is whether those who… are identified as “Christians” will become disciples - students, apprentices, practitioners - of Jesus Christ, steadily learning from him how to live the life of the Kingdom of the Heavens into every corner of human existence." Practicing the way of Jesus is an invitation to be an apprentice of Jesus, to learn to be with him, become like him and do what he did. This is the call for the church; this is the call for all who come to follow Jesus today.
Of all the prayers the Apostle Paul could have prayed for the church in Ephesians, he prays for the church to experience the love of Christ in greater ways through the power of the Holy Spirit. For Paul, living from the experience of God’s love is fundamental to life change and transformation. What we learn from Paul is not only how to pray from a place of intimacy and abundance but also how to live out our Christian faith from the source of God’s love.
Matthew 4:17,23
Mark 1:14-15
Exodus 19:4-6
Isaiah 2:2-4
Isaiah 11:1-3, 6-9
Isaiah 26:19
Jeremiah 31:1, 31-34
Ezekiel 36:24-27
Daniel 2:44
Zechariah 14:1
Joel 2:28-29
Luke’s narrative tells the story of Jesus, the man who is God and His mission in the world. We will discover a new way to live offered by Jesus, a way that challenges other systems and powers, world-views and paradigms, a way that totally reorients our existence around the unfolding story of God and His love for this world. Luke is writing to give us an account about what actually happened he is careful, detailed and intentional as an expert storyteller. He doesn’t just want you to know what happened in the story of Jesus, he wants you to know what it means. Luke begins his Gospel not as the beginning to a new story, but as the continuation to a long story of God and Jesus is revealed in the birth narrative as the fulfillment of Israel and all of the Old Testament promises.
What does it look like to live open to what God is doing at any moment? What is God inviting you into? How might you say yes to him and what he has for your life? There’s a rule in improv that applies to general living, it’s the number one rule to a successful improvisation scene- JUST SAY YES. Say yes, go with it, whatever opportunities, whatever is introduced, just go with it. So much of life with God is about saying yes to what he presents to you. Saying yes to Jesus will open up doors for new possibilities, even if those new possibilities are not what was hoped for, or expected.
Jesus calls us to become disciples. We are to follow Jesus with our lives fully- to prefer him over anyone or thing in our life.
We all have expectations formed by our own desires, experiences, and culture. When those expectations become the framework by which we see God, our love for Him can turn to frustration and even rejection. In the story of the ten minas, Jesus reframes the false expectations placed on him by those who want Him to do their will, namely overthrow Rome. Instead, he tells a story of a nobleman who leaves to receive the authority for His kingdom and entrusts His money with ten servants. Those that know Him know what to do and experience incredible returns on their hard work and investment. But one servant chooses to use an excuse of bad expectations to not have to work. He shows that he does not know the nobleman and joins the fate of the citizens who hate the nobleman. This story was and is a clear statement that we cannot fit Jesus into our expectations, but can have our expectations shaped by knowing and serving Him. The fruit is incredible return for His kingdom, and the joy that comes with serving Him.
Invite the untouchables to the dinner table. Resurrection of the righteous is the reward.
When we pray, it is a cry to our Kingdom. Have shameless audacity towards prayer, keep praying In our asking, we become trained to ask only to have us do what our Father is doing. Lead your life through scripture.
We are all 4 different seeds at some point, but more one than the others eventually
We often get distracted by worries- we must have Faith
Persevere- Push yourself to make the hard decisions
Sometimes it's not the extraordinary that isn't hard, it's the ordinary everyday stuff Let your light shine Our job is to sew
Fully embrace Extend yourself Accept sinners Touch the untouchable Have grace
What does it look like in your life to love Him?
What does it mean to be a disciple? -To follow Jesus actively moving from one place to another. What are you doing to become a disciple? In what ways could you reframe your life to reflect Jesus more? What are you willing to step into? Being busy is our new laziness
The Garden is a safe place for all types of people to feel safe when they are weak, sick, and hurt to come and be healed.
Jesus is intentional to where He goes and what he does. When Jesus comes, everyone pays, even if a debt that is owed to is now let go. We are invited to Be open to the Messiah that does what I need, not what i want.
Testimonies from: John P., Jaquie C & Wendy C., Sara Britt, Alex & Odwa, Jim H, Peter S
The best way to prepare for what's to come, is to anchor yourself in the word with God. How you respond to a situation, determines if it is a test or a temptation.
Part 4 of the Luke Series. This conversation takes a closer look at the narrative of Jesus directly following his birth story. Luke continues to highlight the important themes of the poor, faithful devotion to God and the divisive nature Jesus' ministry and message.
Continuing our study through the gospel of Luke, we discover God blessing and using the most unlikely person because of her willingness to participate in God's plans.
Make A Budget- Anything you buy on sale with a credit card after the first month is no longer on sale. Practice Simplicity Invite God into Every Conversation about money. Spend less than what you make.
Money is a gage- where is your heart? The Heavens' 1) Space around us 2)Universe 3)Where God Dwells Focusing on food (temp needs) than you will also be temp. "It's like carpeting your tent." Be responsible, and give, to people with no strings attached
Challenge yourself to live as close to Jesus Christ as possible. Suffering happens as The Word spreads. Give (time, energy, & resources) to people you know and don't know. It doesn't take money to be wealthy. You can have lots of money and be poor. Money and generosity are two different things.
Money is not the problem, it is a marker. It's what the money represents that is the issue. The best way to push back is to loosen up on that what has a tight hold. We are built to give because it is what works.
Marriage is symbolic. God wants us to receive Him. He has done everything for us. God is key.
If you base success on the other person, you will fail. Sex doesn't make you a woman, but it can make you a baby. Her love is a ceramic seal that when broken, is noticeable. Don't awaken love until you are ready for it. Are you a person who can follow your word?
3 Types of Love: Raya- Love through friendship- foundational Ahava- Most profound love- leads to commitment Dode- reserved for marriage- physical love
He honors her no. So important to know how to resolve conflicts. Conflict usually comes from fear. Revenge says a lot about the person not the person who hurt you.
Lust is being owned by something you can’t conceive being content without. Freedom isn’t being able to have whatever you crave. Freedom is going without whatever you crave and being fine with it.
!)Sex is romantic 2)Sex is life giving 3)Sex is sensual 4)Sex is holy 5)Sex is responsive 6)Sex is "oneness" Learn what makes your partner happy. Sex outside the marriage is counterfeit, the only real sex is inside a marriage.
There are narrow parameters where sexuality is good. Outside those parameters it goes terribly wrong. Resist the pervasive culture that adults have sex. Our primary identity is, first, a disciple of God, not single or married. How sexual you are and how young you were when you became sexual, determines future sexual patterns.
Be Holy Pure and Blameless The Songs of Solomon are over 3,000 years old. There are 3 characters- Beloved- She Lover- he, the man friends- daughters, community
Have you ever felt in over your head?
When you say, "Yes," to God your life changes.
Many times we are the answer to our own prayers.
He uses ordinary people to do extraordinary things.
This is the final sermon in the series, "Becoming Fully Alive." Darren discusses our anxieties and fears which stem from our choice between God and Money or Mammon.
Stand and Step Out for you cause- Jesus.
Have passion and feel the burden of and for your cause.
We all have a purpose- a Divine Cause. We must GO and DO what God expects
You do not have to earn your salvation. Be healed and go and do the good works of Him. Society has taught us to focus on ourselves- this is our FLESH. We should not value ourself more than others.
We must question our motive, is it coming from Love or Seeking Approval? As a church, we need to be ONE whole not 400 individuals. God provides comfort through Love. He wants us to experience tenderness, likemindedness, and compassion with and for one another.
4 Steps To Forgiveness 1) Pain-where is it? 2) Invite Jesus into the pain 3)Ritual of Release- release all involved 4) Recalibration-realing yourself with Christ our Savior
Family and parenting is difficult, but we are designed to do this. The family relationship is made by design from God to define us. relationship.
What is important in life? Align and calibrate yourself with Him. Circumstances make a difference in our life. "My grace is enough for you."
An idol is the perversion of a good thing. It makes you feel 10 ft tall. It demands sacrifice. We develop a philosophy to justify it. It kills you.
What are your idols?
Loving yourself must be rooted through God. 5 Emotions- 2 positive- love & joy 3 protector- Fear-Sadness-Anger
Partner with God to be the best person we can be. God Created us, humans, separately than anything else To love yourself and rest in your Identity is a main goal.
What type of God do you worship? Over 600 laws- in all- we are to love others the way we love God and ourselves. Matthew 11:28-30
Loving yourself is a bridge to not hurting others We need to be loved by God in-order to love others God trusts us, all we have to do is show up We are not defined by what we DO
Bill poses the question, "Is the resurrection meant for more than our physical bodies?"
The Garden community is urged to recall "what we are here for" and to stay true to God's call for us as disciples.
Newest member of the Garden Staff, Peter DeSoto shares his personal story and encourages the Garden community to move from fear to faith in Jesus.
Jesus confronts the Pharisees on the difference between following religious rules and worshipping God from the heart.
Spoken on Easter 2013, this message discusses the implications of Jesus' resurrection as witnessed through stories in the Garden community.
Friend of the Garden, Chris Weinand speaks from Genesis 1 encouraging the community to follow God's great plan.
Guest speaker John Peters delivers the final teaching in the series on the book of Ephesians in which Paul addresses spiritual warfare and the armor of God.
Paul continues to address the implications of following Christ in relationships between parents and children as well as in the workplace.
Paul focuses in on mutual submission in the context of relationships as a larger reflection of Christ and His Bride, the Church.
We continue our series exploring Paul's letter to the Ephesians where he admonishes them to be filled with the Holy Spirit and live by that power.
A continuation of the Ephesians series in which Paul challenges those who follow Jesus to live in a manner that reflects their identity as children of the light.
Paul admonishes the disciples in Ephesus to put off the ways of their former life and to put on the new ways of righteousness that reflect their identity in Christ.
As the Garden community is in physical transition between permanent gathering places, they are encouraged to look to the past and hold fast to that which God has called them as they move into the next season.
Paul describes God's strategy of building up the church, namely through the gift of apostles, prophets, evangelists, and pastor/teachers.
Paul invites us to live out of who we are, that is, what God says about us. Are you a surfer, or do you just own a board?
On Sunday, Bill concluded our series "Caesars of Xmas." Celebration is fundamental to life lived under God.
This Sunday, we addressed the issue of consumerism in our advent series "Caesars of Xmas."
This Sunday, we explored how the "caesar" of busyness affects our lives, most notably in social media.
How do you celebrate Christmas? Is your life marked by busyness, distractions, or the need to find the perfect gift? For this year's advent season, we are challenging the ways we celebrate Christmas.
This Sunday, Bill spoke on how pain and suffering increases our capacity for love through Christ.
Our friend Chris Wienand continued our series in Ephesians by addressing a theology of suffering, the beauty of the church, and God's forgiveness
On Sunday we read Paul's words - who we were before Christ, and who we are now in light of Christ. This has massive implications for what it means to be in community
We have been walking through the book of Ephesians. This Sunday, Darren highlighted Paul's prayer to the church at Ephesus.
Today we began a new series on the book of Ephesians, and Darren gave an introduction and overview of the book.
This week, Jeremy reminded us of how we need to realign our identities by what God says about us.
What is the Garden church about? Through the month of September, we will be talking about our values as a church, and how everyone is invited to play a part. This past Sunday, we talked about the church.
What is the garden church about? Through the month of September, we will be talking about our values as a church, and how everyone is invited to play a part. This Sunday, we talked about discipleship and mission.
What is the garden church about? Through the month of September, we will be talking about our values as a church, and how everyone is invited to play a part. This Sunday, we talked about the kingdom of God.
This Sunday, we looked back over the 2011-2012 fiscal year to celebrate what God has done in our community. Darren followed up the review with a sermon on the importance of generosity.
Every so often we pause and tell stories to remind us of what God is up to in our community.
What does it mean to "pray pain" instead of praying through pain? Also, missionary Chris Lichti is interviewed.
This is the first message in our series "Transformational Practices" which looks in detail at some of the classic spiritual disciplines.
The Christian life is not meant to be lived alone. We need to live together as a "resurrection community."
A family discussion on where we've been, the Church's mission, and the road that lies ahead.
"What are you giving to God?" Exploring 'The Messiah Is God' concept and references to the Old Testament. Jesus condemns 'Giving to God to Be Seen' and points us towards 'True Giving'.
The Saturday morning session on our discussion of the Holy Spirit at this year's Empowered Conference.
By looking through the book of Acts, we discover stories of ordinary people doing extraordinary things.
Jesus didn't come to place a bandaid on your otherwise sinful life. He came to transform you from the inside out.
This week we finished our series "Designed: Life + Relationships" by looking at singleness through the lens of Scripture and how it is treated in the church.
What went wrong in our story? Exploring the nature of relationships through the Genesis 3 narrative.
The 7th in our Series, Sermon On The Mount. PLEASE NOTE: This is the first sermon from the series that we have uploaded onto sermon.net