Coram Deo Denver

In this talk, Ryan walks us through a candid, personal, and theologically deep meditation on Paul's words in Romans 5. The invitation is to consider the ways in which hope is a uniquely Christian virtue, especially in the midst of suffering.    Ryan does uses a slideshow for verses, questions, and reflection on some pieces of art. Check out the slideshow here if you want to follow along :)

Table Talks are extended evenings of stories and theology. Our community hosts these with internal and external voices to focus on specific conversations. We eat food and let the night's topic breathe by offering extended space for conversation afterward.  In this recording, we hear from a pioneer and our dear friend Hugh Halter. Hugh has been pushing boundaries and prophetically challenging the church to see things in different ways for almost 40 years. To learn more about his current work visit his Brave Cties Website or check out his two most recent books: Brave Cities and Righteous Brood.

Table Talks are extended evenings of stories and theology. Our community hosts these with internal and external voices to really focus on a specific conversation and then let the topic breathe by offering extended space for dialogue and more conversation afterward.  In this recording, we hear from a true Father in the Faith named Jon Petersen. Jon has given the majority of his life to missions and cultivating healthy discipleship communities. He leads a ministry to develop leaders to have a Kingdom mindset in all vocational callings. Learn more about him and his work at the City Table Podcast (Apple / Spotify). Further, please pray and ask the Lord if you should get involved in this work by making a one-time or ongoing contribution to Jon's ministry. You can click here to donate. 

In these recording, we had a panel of people answer the question "Why and how has the Church been valuable for you and your discipleship to Jesus?" Then, Dave offers an explanation of the church exploring 5 dimensions or levels of the church. The model is illustrated by the stories and based on our dear friend Jared Mackey's work over at The Sacred Grace.

In August we recenter on the mission and vision for our church family. One of the core values we have is participation. The mission and vision of Coram Deo is empowering the members to be taking risks and living out their sense of mission and vision. This week we did a prayerful reflection activity called a "Story Lab Exercise." You can find the Companion Worksheet (here) or on our website under the Practices Tab (here). 

In this message, Matt wraps up our series on Practices. Over the last handful of months, we have slowly been introducing the core practices that makeup Coram Deo's communal Rule of Life: Prayer, Community, Fasting, Giving, Sabbath, and Scripture. You will be inspired and challenged to fall back in love with the Bible and the story it tells after listening to Matt's stories and reflections.

In this teaching, Dave takes a break from our series of practices to give a Missions update and call us back to the "why" of practices. As our community seeks to remove the secular and sacred divide in our lives we must not forget the call to a consecrated life. It is the deeper motive and why behind what we do that makes something sacred. Dave tells some stories that highlight our need for consecration whether we are receiving income for our ministry work or trying to live missional in our vocational life.

In this month's practice, Dave introduces a biblical and theological foundation for Sabbath as Stopping, Resting, Delighting, and Worshiping. He then offers some challenges as to why we desperately need this practice and tips on how to start. Check out the practices tab for more resources that influenced this teaching and could help your engagement with it.

This month we had our dear friend Ken Janke as a guest teacher. Ken is a legend and a deep well of hope for many networks of people around the globe. Most recently he settled down in Castle Rock to partner with his best friend Jon Petersen in a ministry called City Table (Check out their Podcast). Through this work, they seek to support leaders as they try to think holistically about loving their cities. In this teaching, Ken speaks on the deep correlation between generosity and grace. He ends with some practices of generosity that you could try implementing. The final few minutes of audio were unfortunately ruined so his talk ends rather abruptly. My apologies! We need some more competent tech support over here ;)

In this second message on Fasting David invites us to reflect on the "why" behind the practice. Often Fasting is seen as a means to an end, an intense practice to get God to move or get a breakthrough. David argues that Fasting is not primarily causal, but rather a natural response to encountering a Sacred Moment. For further study on this idea check out Scott Mcknight's book Fasting. 

In this message, David focuses on Matthew Chapter 6 from the heart of the Sermon on the Mount. He challenges us to see that fasting was a normative part of Christian life until the mid-17th century. Not coincidentally this was also a time period that saw the rise of rationalism and an increasing emphasis on the disembodied aspects of the faith. He closes with a story about the foundational place neediness has in our receptivity to and pursuit of Jesus. 

In this teaching, Matt tells some stories and reviews some Scriptures highlighting the power of family to shape us. He provides some deep thoughts for you to reflect on the life of Jesus and our lifestyles as disciples of Jesus.

In this short teaching, Dave introduces our second practice of Weekly Community. We are in a season of exploring six foundational practices that Jesus assumes his followers have integrated into their lives. Prayer and Community are foundational practices because they both invite us to present our authentic selves so that God can transform us.

In this short message, Matt invites us into the season of Advent reminding us of the posture of (1) Remembrance, (2) Hope for the future, and (3) living in the present.

In this message, Dave draws from a scene in Acts 20 where Paul is depicted giving his final goodbyes to his friends from the Church in Ephesus. It is a scene charged with prayer, family, and a sense of mission. He kicks off by reflecting on Church as an identity that defines our shared biblical anthropology. Then he reflects on the three aspects of (1) Prayerful (2) Family (3) on Mission that we use to define church. 

In this message, Matt reflects on the definition of a Disciple as someone who is trying to be with Jesus, become like Jesus, and do what Jesus did. He reflects on these phrases through his own life and the life of Levi the tax collector. 

In our final Sunday Gathering for this season, Donny offers a vision casting message on why we gather in smaller communities during the scattered season. Then, Matt wraps things up with some comments about the scattered season and a benediction prayer!

In this message, Christy models how to be a faithful reader as she engages the book of Genesis. She uses the illustration of Geology to invite us to see the way Narratives function while you are still living in them. She zooms out on the whole book of Genesis to gain some narrative and literary context, then zooms in on the story of Joseph and his family. She gives some guiding principles for engaging narratives and concludes by inviting us to re-envision our own lives within the context of God's long history of engaging with the lives of real people.

In this message, Justin models how to be a faithful reader as he engages the book of Amos. He gives some context for the role and function of the Prophets and provides some broader context for Israel's history. Then uses chapter 5 to highlight God's displeasure with religious behavior that neglects those in our midst who are poor, oppressed, and suffering. He then shares parts of his own story to embody for us the place of the prophet for the corporate body of the church today.

In this message, Dave tries to model how to be a faithful reader as he engages the book of Ecclesiastes. In the first half, he observes and overviews the basics of the text, genre, history, and culture that surrounds the book. Then he expands upon the meaning of the book within the broader narrative of Scripture and his own life through some personal stories. Ultimately, he urges us to see the way Jesus' resurrection answers the problem posed by the book of Ecclesiastes.