What has technology done to us, and how do we live differently? Pastor Chris continues our series "A Faith for Today" by considering our relationship to an ever-evolving landscape of technology and faith.

In this message from our A Faith for Today series, Pastor Ericka reflects on Jesus' instructions to the apostles in Matthew 10 and what they might teach us about following Jesus today. As Jesus sends his followers out to heal, serve, and share good news, he also invites them into a life of trust, hospitality, and mutual dependence. Through stories of lost sermons, pet scorpions, music, and everyday faith, this message explores what it means to cultivate a faith that can grow, adapt, and endure through every season of life. Faith was never meant to remain static. It is something we practice, experience, and return to again and again as God continues to shape us over time. Whether you're navigating uncertainty, carrying disappointment, or simply wondering what faith looks like in this season, this message is an invitation to trust that God is still at work.

You can read every book ever written about friendship and still not know how to be a friend. You can study grief without ever really understanding it. And you can know all the right things about Christianity without ever actually experiencing God. Pastor Chris is launching our summer series, A Faith for Today, where we explore why Christianity was never meant to be an ideology you study from a distance.

Pastor Chris invites us to show up as image bearers wherever we already are. Knowing the names of people who are struggling. Praying for your sick neighbor.

From the Tower of Babel to Pentecost, this message traces the arc of a God who doesn't abandon scattered people but keeps pulling them back together. Pastor Chris shares what's happening at The Hill, a building that Ecclesia is converting into affordable housing. The sermon moves into a guided spiritual formation practice that asks you to imagine exactly where you'll be at this time on Tuesday. Your work, your tasks, the people around you.

Mary Magdalene stood at an empty tomb, weeping, searching for someone who was already standing right beside her. In this message, Ericka Graham draws from John 20 to explore what it means to find resurrection hiding in plain sight, in the ordinary, in the everyday moments we're too busy or too grief-stricken to notice.

Mother’s Day carries many different emotions — celebration, grief, longing, joy, loss, gratitude, and everything in between. Ericka Graham reflects on motherhood, mercy, grief, community, and what it means to care for one another in a hurting world. Through stories of friendship, elephants protecting one another, and the parable of the prodigal son, Ericka invites us to consider how we might show up for others with compassion, presence, and care.

What if the version of Christianity you inherited was designed to help you get in and out without touching anything or anyone? In this message, Pastor Chris explores the doctrine of incarnation, not as a theological concept, but as the living foundation of what it means to follow Jesus.

What does it actually mean to be a neighbor? In this message from the More Than Belief series, Pastor Marcelo Robles, a 20-year ministry partner serving in the shantytowns of Buenos Aires, Argentina, brings a powerful reflection on Luke 10 and the parable of the Good Samaritan.

What does it actually mean to follow Jesus — not just believe, but live it out? In this message, we explore a challenging truth found in Isaiah and the teachings of Jesus: that faith cannot be separated from how we live, how we love, and how we respond to the needs around us. Through the images of salt and light, we’re invited into a kind of spirituality that is deeply present — rooted in real relationships, real pain, and real acts of justice and compassion.

What if the faith you inherited was incomplete? Not wrong, just missing something.

In this message, Pastor Chris kicks off a new series called More Than Belief, exploring what it means to have an embodied faith for everyday life. Drawing from James chapter 2 and the theology of Latin American scholar René Padilla, he challenges the idea that faith is simply about believing the right things or securing a spot in heaven. Jesus wasn't pointing people toward a distant destination. He was announcing a kingdom coming here, now, and inviting us into it.

Faith without action, James says, is like a body without breath. But the good news? You already have a gift, and when you use it, the whole community is better for it.

This Easter, we gathered across our community to celebrate the hope at the center of our faith — the resurrection of Jesus. In this gathering, you’ll hear stories from people in our community and a message from Pastor Chris reflecting on what it means to experience new life, even in the midst of ordinary and complicated circumstances.

It's one thing to accept a supporting role. It's another thing to embrace it. guest preacher Tyshawn Gardner, looks to John the Baptist, a man with every credential to be the headliner, who chose to point away from himself instead. Through the stories of a college football recruiting trip, Andre Agassi living out his father's dream, and a Super Bowl moment most people forgot, we're reminded that the most significant thing you can do is find your role in something bigger than yourself and play it well.

We are a community full of people with different cultures, contexts, stages of life, personalities, vocations, religious backgrounds, and capacities. As we all enter into Lent in our own unique ways, our pastoral staff is inviting us to join together in one Community Spiritual Practice—the Examen—to learn, practice, and grow deeper in with God. You can pray the Examen on your own, as a family, or with a small group.

What if God's interruptions are actually invitations? In this message, Ericka explores the story of Abraham and Isaac through the lens of emotionally healthy spirituality and discovers that the most disruptive moments in our lives are often the most sacred ones. From the Ignatian Examen prayer to the ancient Jewish Midrash about Abraham smashing his father's idols, this sermon traces a through-line from Abraham's radical break with the gods of his culture to the cross of Christ. What old story do you need to put down? Whether you're carrying guilt you can't shake, patterns of self-punishment you can't break, or a picture of God you no longer believe in, this message is an invitation to receive something better.

Faith isn't about having all the answers. It's about taking the next step even when you can't see the road. In this message, Pastor Chris draws from the story of Abraham to explore what it looks like to trust God through fear, uncertainty, and the mistakes we'd rather not admit. Through stories of migrant brothers and sisters walking thousands of miles toward hope, and the raw vulnerability that happens when we finally share who we really are, we're reminded that God doesn't call the fearless. He walks with the afraid. Whatever season you're in, the invitation is simple: just keep walking.

In this message from our Lenten series on emotionally healthy spirituality, we explore the life of David through the lens of five hard spiritual truths: life is hard, you are not in control, your life is not about you, you are not that important, and you will die. These are not slogans for coffee mugs. They are the deep realities that shape mature faith.

David teaches us how to name what is real, process pain instead of projecting strength, embrace confession, reject entitlement, and cultivate gratitude. Even in failure, David shows us the path back to God through repentance and honesty.

Lent isn’t about giving something up. It’s about becoming someone new. As we begin this Lenten journey, we’re exploring what it means to develop an emotionally healthy spirituality — because, as we’re reminded: “You can’t be spiritually mature while remaining emotionally immature.” Through the story of King Saul, we see what happens when insecurity, fear, ego, and unmanaged emotion go unchecked. Saul had power, success, wealth — and no real health. No real friends. No inner stability.

Welcome to The Ecclesia Podcast, a place where we share stories and conversations about what it means to live in a holistic, Christian, missional community. In this episode, Pastor Chris, Pastor Rylea, and Pastor Ericka preview our upcoming Lent series on Emotionally Healthy Spirituality and explore why emotional maturity and spiritual maturity cannot be separated.

We talk about the ways unexamined anger, insecurity, and repeated patterns can quietly shape our faith and why Lent offers a unique opportunity to slow down, reflect, and grow. What does it mean to stop being a “one-year Christian 22 times”? How does faith evolve over time? And what role do practices like the Prayer of Examen and a Rule of Life play in real spiritual transformation?

This conversation is an invitation to honest self-examination, deeper formation, and a season of growth together.

Thank you for listening to The Ecclesia Podcast. Don't forget to subscribe to our channel for more thought-provoking conversations about what it means to live in holistic, Christian community.

As we head into Lent, we are invited to slow down, create space, and listen. In this message, we reflect on the Transfiguration in Matthew 17, the wisdom of Fred Rogers, and the tension between mountaintop moments and valley realities.

We talk about why we are so tempted to stay on the mountain, why Jesus leads us back down into real life, and how prayer and fasting reshape our desires and our direction. Through stories of faith, failure, joy, and loss, this sermon explores what it means to stop climbing the wrong ladders and start listening to Jesus.