Downtown Community Church

Looking at almost every religion, they have rules. Generally, they're a means to an end, such as "if you ___ then you may ___." But Jesus just wants us to be His children. Join Pastor Ben Kaempfer in John 8:1-11 to examine why we can't obey and the decision Jesus made to pay the price for our disobedience.

In thinking of the woman who poured her jar of alabaster on Jesus' feet, we think of the event as an extravagant form of worship. But what led her, a prostitute with great sin (leading to greater forgiveness), to do this for Jesus? Join Pastor Ben Kaempfer in Luke 7:36-50 to examine this story from Jesus' perfect perspective of grace and truth, especially in the presence of the self-righteous Pharisees.This week, we want to ask you: who is the person in the room that you mentally belittle because you somehow think they're more unworthy of Jesus' affection than you are? Are we in the right heart posture to be in the room with Jesus? How would you react if Jesus walked into the room?

In tough situations, we tend to favor either giving grace to others or giving truth to others. However, it's important that we balance both because they are equally important. Jesus, who is full of both grace AND truth, provides a blueprint for how to live. If we're going to look like Jesus, we need the Gospel to fully penetrate our hearts. Join Pastor Ben Kaempfer in Luke 6:43-44 and John 1:14-17 to  study why grace and truth should be the overflow of our hearts.

If you don't have a God that's big enough for your questions, then you don't have a God. Jesus didn't have to roll the stone away to leave the tomb, but He did as an invitation to investigate. Faith is more than critical thinking, but it is not less than it! Join Pastor Ben Kaempfer in both John 20:1-17 and the book of Acts to examine the Resurrection story.

At the end of our By Faith series, we want to challenge you to run the race that is set before you with endurance.  However, it's completely inefficient to run a marathon with a weight on your shoulders. You either take the weight off, or you stop running. Join Pastor Ben Kaempfer as we dive into Hebrews 11:37-12:2 to reflect on what it is that hold you back from running the race that God has called you to. 

The Bible teaches that God provides time and time again, but times do change. However, God provides in different ways for different times. Join Dylan Nielander in our study of 1 Kings 17:1-8; 1 Kings 16:28; and John 10:27-28 to examine how the Lord our Shepherd leads his sheep, and what that means for us in our faith walks.

How can Christians speak with spiritual authority into culture? Join our guest Pastor Derrick Hayes from Engage Church as he unpacks the backstory of Moses and how it affected his spiritual authority. We are continuing through Old Testament character studies from Hebrews 11 and this week in Hebrews 11:24-26 (NLT).

So often, we wait to BECOME “that” person, when we should always BE “that” person. And you know who “that” person you're thinking of is. David and Goliath is a popular Bible story that is often portrayed as a testament of God making the impossible possible. But what if we thought about it as an encouragement to be faithful to God in the here and now? Join Pastor Ben Kaempfer in 1 Samuel 17:1-51 to dive into how David wouldn’t have been able to defeat Goliath had he not been faithful in his time as a shepherd, and what that means for us now.

When our image of ourselves is different than what God has in store for us, there is a tension that we feel that almost always reveals an idol. That idol could be the sport you play, the club you're in, or in both Gideon's context and in many of our contexts, our comfort. Join Pastor Ben Kaempfer in our study of Judges 6-7:2 to examine the way that God used Gideon's context and calling to reveal the idols in his life. What is your idol that's keeping you from your calling?

Sometimes we have to make decisions that make no sense to the world, but we know that it's what God has called us to. Moses is no stranger to this. When he left the comfort of living in Pharoah's palace that he grew up in, he was commissioned by God to be a shepherd for 40 years. Sounding crazy already? It gets crazier. We all know Moses as the man who parted the Red Sea, but it all started with him leaning into God's calling. Join Pastor William Colle in both Exodus 5:22-23; 7:1-6 and Hebrews 11: 23-30 as we dive into faith as obedience to God's word in spite of circumstances and consequences.

When we read stories in Scripture about people God used, we can put them on a pedestal or think of them as magical storybook characters. But if we think of them as unattainable it actually leaves us discouraged.   Join us as Pastor Ben demystifies these characters, to instead be attainable role models of not perfect faith but resilient faith. This will change the way we read the Bible to instead be encouraged by our incredible God!God only has broken people to choose from. So, of course God wants to use you everyday despite your brokenness and dysfunction.

The story of Jacob and Esau fulfills the prophecy of “the older will serve the younger” because in his hungry desperation, Esau sold his inheritance to Jacob, his younger brother, for a bowl of lentils. He had a temporary appetite that needed to be satiated immediately, and we can definitely relate to this idea in that we constantly are going to temporary satisfaction found on our phones or in our relationships instead of going to God. Join Pastor Ben Kaempfer in Genesis 25:20-34 and Hebrews 12:15-17 as we examine the weakness that our appetites give us and what that means in our fight for Heaven.

Do you BELIEVE God, or do you just believe in Him? The Bible tells us that God is worthy of our trust because nothing is out of His control. He has planned everything intentionally for His glory, and has kept every single promise. Join Pastor Ben Kaempfer as we dive into Genesis 12:2-3; 15:1-20, and Jeremiah 34:18 to examine the history of the covenant God made with Abraham and Sarah and what that means for us today.

Any relationship has its ebbs and flows, typically based on the assumptions that we bring to the table. We all have assumptions in every relationship, and we tend to assume we’re right. In the book of Genesis, both Cain and Abel made a sacrifice to God, but Abel’s sacrifice had more reverence to God so He preferred it. Cain was angered by this because he had an assumption that if he did good, God owed him. This situation is not much different from the conflict that we experience while serving God, but we need to check our heart posture and our assumptions about God. Join Pastor Ben Kaempfer in Genesis 4:1-16 and Hebrews 11:1-4 as we examine what needs to change on our end in order to serve God well.

Lots of believers talk about faith but often don't really know what it means to have faith.  Scripture tells us that faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance in what we do not see.  But what Scripture also tells us is that faith as small as a mustard seed can move mountains. We might not have much faith, but we can use inductive reasoning to come to a spiritual conclusion. Join Pastor Ben Kaempfer in both Hebrews 10:32-39 and Hebrews 11:1-7 as we dive into how we ought to walk in faith.

As we enter into the new year, it’s important that we are all on the same page about the mission and vision of Downtown Community Church. We all have an internal tension growing in this life because we know what’s to come in the next life, but we don’t want to waste the opportunity God has given us to live by faith, not by sight! Join Pastor Ben Kaempfer as we dive into 2 Corinthians 5:1-15 to examine how we need to rely on Christ’s love to compel us to live differently in the lives God has placed us in.

The reality is that we all have a tendency to prefer the certainty of slavery over the uncertainty of faithfully trusting in God. It’s easy to look back with a positive slant on how things used to be, even when the past is as extreme as slavery to a nation. This may play out in our lives through waiting on a right romantic relationship or living with generosity. Each of these circumstances require faith that God will provide for our needs. The temptation in either situation is to seek what is certain, regardless of the parameters God sets up for how our relationships and financial dealings should be.The message Moses gives to the people of Israel when they are in their most hopeless situation is, “The LORD will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.” We have the option to choose the uncertainty of faith over the certainty of slavery. And, all along, the truth is that faith towards God  never puts us in a place of uncertainty. 

The books of the Bible are intricately intertwined, both validating the Bible's trustworthiness and showing us the Lord's dominion. Throughout His life on earth, Jesus fulfilled so many prophecies about the Messiah found in the Book of Isaiah. Join Pastor William Colle as we jump between Isaiah 61:1-3 and Luke 4:16-21 to understand how Jesus fulfilled the first half of the prophecy in Isaiah and how we're living in the comma of Isaiah 61:2.