Forest City Church Podcast

Forest City Church Christmas Snow Show

Today's podcast is the Good News digital Christmas experience from Forest City Church. There are Forest City Worship songs, the Christmas story read by Eric Parks, a teaching by Steve Carter, and Silent Night. Enjoy.

Sound of the Season - Part 4 - Love - Chad Bruegman

On today's Podcast, Teaching Pastor Chad Bruegman has Part Four of the series, Sounds of the Season. The message title is Love.

Sounds of the Season - Part 3 - Joy - Eric Parks

Today, Eric Parks has Part Three of the Sounds of the Season series with a message titled Joy.

Sounds of the Season - Part 2 - Hope - Chad Bruegman

On today's Podcast, Teaching Pastor Chad Bruegman has Part Two of the series, Sounds of the Season. The message title is Hope.

Sounds of the Season - Part 1 - Peace - Trevor McDonald

Today, Campus Pastor Trevor McDonald has Part One of the new series, Sounds of the Season. The message title is Peace.

 

 

Baptism - November 2022 - Chad Bruegman

Today's message by Teaching Pastor Chad Bruegman is all about baptism at Forest City Church.

7th Floor Devotional Day 14: ”Let’s Set a New Old Kind of Table...Together”

DEVOTIONAL DAY 14 - “Let’s Set a New Old Kind of Table… Together.”

Perhaps you remember family dinners at your grandparents' house like I do. The table was always set with the best silverware and Sunday dishes. It was a long table because we had a lot of people sitting around it. A special time with great food, friendly conversation, and the one "sure" event in our week. 

But, although a very fond memory, when we talk about setting a new old kind of table together, it is not about the silverware or the dishes. It is about getting back to the type of radical hospitality that Jesus modeled and called us to, where extraordinary effort and emphasis are placed on making people feel welcome. Where our culture overflows with acceptance, is filled with generous grace, and is beautifully diverse around the person of Jesus Christ. What if we intentionally began to set a new old kind of table like that together? 

It is so simple and profound and beautiful, and here is the cool thing: Every single one of us can do it! This is not a ministry reserved for those who have some kind of special training. It is what each of us is called and invited to. It is the people of God being the people of God and welcoming others into His family: Friends, neighbors; misfits; the marginalized; those like us, and those not like us. It is His new family - beautiful, messy, in process, broken, needy, unique, but all centered around Jesus!

At Forest City Church, we say that we have long tables and low walls. Long tables because we will always put another leaf in the table for the next person that wants to join us. Low walls as we make it easy for people to find their family among us. We won't put up barriers to people coming. Instead, we will introduce them to Jesus and a new family and encourage them and one another in our spiritual journey.

This is an invitation for you to join us in setting new old kinds of tables together. A culture of radical hospitality where anyone and everyone can find a home, a family, and a Savior. A place where Jesus is at the center and His Spirit pervades our relationships. It is where we grow in Him and create a home for the next one who needs a seat at the table. The table is His. We simply set the table. 

So here is the prayer for today: God, you have been so good to us all through this time of devotion and learning. Would you never allow us to forget what seventh-floor community is and how we can participate in it. It is your Gospel, and we get to play a part in making radical hospitality normal! Lead us in this transformative journey of building new old kinds of tables centered around your person. In Jesus' name. Amen.

7th FloorDevotional Day 13: ”Jesus and the Gospel above All Else”

DEVOTIONAL DAY 13 - “Jesus and the Gospel above All Else.”

Remember, seventh-floor culture is a culture of radical hospitality where there is extraordinary effort and emphasis placed on making people feel welcome. It is hospitality that overflows with acceptance, is filled with generous grace, and is beautifully diverse around the person of Jesus Christ.

Why is this so rare today? I suspect it is because we have often substituted less critical issues at the expense of more important ones. Indeed, within the Christian community, we have allowed our politics, for instance, to color our whole worldview. In doing so, we have elevated our political views above our vision for Jesus and the Gospel, dividing us from fellow believers. And the same can be said for cultural issues. 

Here is something to consider. Neither Jesus nor Paul said almost anything about politics. Instead, Jesus said much about himself, the Father, and the Kingdom of God that He ushered in. His focus was on the Gospel and what God was up to in our world. The same was true with Paul. In fact, he was unequivocal that our focus needed to be on what was essential to God's work and not on those things that would divide His people. 

If we want to overflow with acceptance, it will mean that we are intentionally open to the views of others. Generous grace means that we will extend understanding and compassion to those who have very different backgrounds and experiences than we have. And a commitment to diversity will always test our ability to be flexible, open, and teachable by those whose story is not ours. 

In each of these instances, we have a choice. Do we put our preferences, politics, or worldview first, or do we choose to prioritize the people we are with as Jesus did? His conversations were never around secondary things but always around primary things, namely what it meant to follow Him. He would not get pulled into secondary discussions even with the Pharisees who tried to trip Him up. For Jesus and the New Testament writers, the Gospel and people took precedence over other issues. 

Again, Paul's words to us in Ephesians 4:1-6. "I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all." These are the essential things. Let's focus on these and allow the other things to sort themselves out as we build a church of radical hospitality.

Our prayer for today: Dear God, thank you for your example through the person of Jesus. We pray today that your Spirit would help us to keep the main things the main things, forever holding peace and unity in the faith as priorities in our lives. In Jesus' name, Amen.

7th Floor Devotional Day 12: ”Reconciliation and Unity”

DEVOTIONAL DAY 12 - “Reconciliation and Unity.”

Let's be candid. Diversity may be beautiful, but it is not always easy. For example, suppose you come from a large family like I do. In that case, you realize how challenging it can be to navigate all the different perspectives and personalities in your family. Throw in ethnic and cultural differences, and you have a real challenge. 

What is the secret to making diversity work in the church? Remember what Paul said in Ephesians 2. In His death, Jesus came to create a new humanity and a new family around the person of Jesus Himself. 

This is not about simply being accommodating to those different from us. Instead, it is a willingness to be in a relationship with people and, through the relationship, to be changed along with them into something new, more beautiful than we could have imagined. This is what the Holy Spirit does as He knits us together in relationship and fellowship with other believers who are different from us. 

In His High Priestly prayer in John 17:23, Jesus says that through our unity, the world will know that He was sent by the Father and is one with the Father. The proof of His divinity would be the unity of His people. 

This takes work. Paul told the Ephesians what it would take for this "new humanity,” this "new family" to be successful. "As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all." 

One of my life's great blessings has been working with people from over 60 nations (T.J Addington). In that process, I have learned the richness of each of those different cultures and perspectives. Each of those relationships has changed me in some way. That is what Jesus wants for us as we build a new community of beautiful diversity around the person of Jesus Christ. 

So here is your prayer for today: Thank you, Jesus, for the blessing of diverse communities and mindsets. Please, equip us for the challenge of intentional diversification. Go before us. In Jesus' name, Amen.

7th Floor Devotional Day 11: ”Beautiful Diversity”

DEVOTIONAL DAY 11 - “Beautiful Diversity.”

We live in an increasingly polarized world. We are divided by everything from tribes, politics, race, social groups, and even our football teams. 

But into these divisions comes Jesus and the seventh-floor! Seventh-floor culture is a culture of radical hospitality where there is extraordinary effort and emphasis placed on making people feel welcome - all people. It is hospitality that overflows with acceptance, is filled with generous grace, and is beautifully diverse around the person of Jesus Christ. Why? Because Jesus died to make it possible for us to be at peace with God and at peace with one another. 

Look back at the ancient world! They were divided as well; Jews were separated from Gentiles, slaves from free, men from women, and the list goes on. But Jesus came to destroy that animosity and hostility. "His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility" (Ephesians 2:17)."

Did you catch what Paul said? The purpose of Jesus was to create in himself one new humanity where peace reigns and hostility is put to death. This is Seventh-floor culture where all are welcome and have a seat at the table no matter their story, ethnicity, social class, or background. A new family rooted in Jesus is created, making us one through the cross. 

In His family, diversity is intentionally cultivated because it is in our coming together that you and I are changed. Together, we become greater through Jesus and our relationship. This is our new humanity, our new family that Jesus died for. So, at Forest City Church, we embrace the whole family of God. He cared enough to give His life for that family, so we will spare no effort to make that family a reality. And, we won't be satisfied until our congregations look like the communities we live in: Beautifully diverse.

So here is the prayer for today: Heavenly Father, we pray that our church would reflect the beautiful cities it serves. And that no walls of division would stand to divide your people from one another. In Jesus' name, Amen.