Happy Christmas from Courage Church!
Read moreResurrection
In Luke 23 Jesus says "that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations" - and most of us read that as "guilt" when really, we should read it as hope.
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if these were silent
If we won't proclaim the gospel, then the stones will.
Read moreDetroit Rock City
Pastor Chilly Chilton, the founding Pastor of Courage Church, joined us for one last sermon before he leaves to go and plant Revolution Youth Ministry in Burlington, VT.
Read moreFaith that Can't Sit Still
Pastor Kevin, lead pastor of Mount Hope Church in Lansing, MI, gives a powerful message about faith.
Read morePaint the World with Love
The world is watching how the church will continue to respond to the issue of racism that is so evident in our world today.
Read moreThe Original Discipler
Pastor Austin builds the case for why John the Baptist gives us the best example for the way we should make disciples.
Read moreImpartation
In his first Sunday visiting us at Courage Church, Pastor Brad Reed (lead Pastor of the New York Dream Center and one of the overseers/pastors of Jacob and Dawn Bender) talks about impartation, and about building the church on a firm foundation.
Read moreThe Reconciliation Table
Courage Church 12 Year Anniversary Service
title: The Reconciliation Table
date: October 9, 2016
teacher: Jacob Bender
scriptures: 2 Corinthians 5:16-21, Psalm 23, Genesis 31, Luke 15:22-24, Luke 14 (The Great Banquet).
is not this the fast I choose?
title: Is not this the fast I choose?
teacher: Jacob Bender
date: September 11, 2016
scriptures: Isaiah 58:1-12, Hebrew 4:15-16, Matthew 25, Jeremiah 29,
This message was given on the 15 year anniversary of September 11.
Change
title: Change
teacher: Austin Young
date: September 4, 2016
Dry Bones
title: Dry Bones
teacher: Dawn Bender
date: August 28, 2016
Fierce Love (Of a Mother)
title: Fierce Love (of a Mother)
date: May 8, 2016
teacher: Dawn Bender
Simple not easy
title: Simple not easy
teacher: Austin Young
date: December 27, 2015
Created to be creative
teacher: Chilly Chilton
date: October 11, 2015
Founding Pastor Chilly Chilton returns to help us celebrate our 11 year anniversary!
An Introduction to Discipleship
Title: An Introduction to Discipleship
Teacher: Jacob Bender
Key Verses: Matthew 28:18-20, Luke 6:40, Luke 9:57-62, Luke 9:23
The last thing that Jesus said to his disciples before his ascension was:
“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” -Matthew 28:19-20.
And as overwhelmed as I feel like I would have been, had I been there, and suddenly realized that I was being entrusted with taking the steps to carry on the legacy of Jesus, who had just changed the world… I often overlook the fact that Jesus had spent the last three years teaching his disciples how to do this. Showing them what it tangibly looks like. Training them. He gave them a commission that he fully believed that they were capable of carrying out!
In the first century, students who would want to become the disciple of a Rabbi would have to go through a grueling process. Even after memorizing word for word all of the Hebrew scriptures (the Old Testament), many would still be sent home to learn the family business after applying to study under a Rabbi, if that Rabbi did not think that they could do what the Rabbi did. The Rabbi’s, they looked for the best of the best, the ones that the Rabbi believed had what to takes to actually be LIKE them… and everyone else would be sent home.
But then comes Jesus, and he starts building his ministry with a bunch of outcast and misfit disciples… 12 guys who didn’t make the cut. 12 guys who had already stepped into the family business and other marketplace jobs because they realized that the reality of actually becoming the disciple of a Rabbi was virtually non-existent…
And so Rabbi Jesus looks at these guys, and he says “Come, Follow Me!” Essentially saying “I believe that you have what it takes to do what I do…” and his band of misfits are the ones who went on to change the world. Who went on to have a greater impact than any other Rabbi’s best disciples…
Because Jesus was never looking for the best.
Jesus was looking for followers who were all in.
Writing your own biography
DATE: Jun 21, 2015
TEACHING: Austin Young
TITLE: Writing Your Own Biography
The Mothers, The Midwives, and the Man with no name
Date: May 10, 2015
Teacher: Jacob Bender
Title: The Mothers, the Midwives, and the Man with no name
scriptures: Exodus 1, Exodus 2, James 1:2-4, Leviticus 18:12, Hebrews 11:24, Luke 9:28-36
“Mom’s, you are like Jesus”
Come and See
Date: May 3, 2015
Teacher: Jacob Bender
Title: Come and See
scriptures: Isaiah 61:1-2, John 1:43-46, Genesis 33, 2 Corinthians 5:17-19, Luke 4:16-21, John 12:47-48, 2 Corinthians 6:2
“optimum remedium contra opiniones praeconceptas”
Bengel in his commentary of the conversation recorded in John 1:43-46 between Philip and Nathaniel, uses this latin phrase to describe Philips response to Nathaniel’s question “Can anything good come from Nazareth?”
It means “The best remedy against a pre-conceived opinion.” The only remedy to a pre-conceived opinion is to show him something different.
Well, we have only been here, living in Detroit for a few days now, so we don’t want to pretend like we know everything about this city yet, but one thing is for sure. We live in a place that has a lot of pre-conceived opinions formed against it.
It kind of sounds like the church.
People who draw conclusions about the church based on past experiences, probably in most cases justified. About the way someone treated them in the “name of Jesus” – someone who didn’t act like Jesus but did so while claiming to represent Jesus. And I think that its time that those people “come and see” – but when they do come and see, will they see anything different than what they saw in the past? Will we be any different than the pre-conceived opinions that they have already formulated in their minds? What will they see?
By the grace of God, when they do come and see, I want them to see Jesus.
I want them to see a place that is all about restoring them back to Jesus.
A place that is all about reconciliation.
