The Friendship Crisis in Christianity

You are invite to engage in the sacred practice of Lectio Divina- an ancient practice that can help us slowly and prayerfully attend to and respond to Scripture. Check out the podcast to be guided in four postures of Lectio Divina with Ephesians 6:1-10, MSG.

Join guest Anthony Betters Jr. for a conversation on Reconciliation, Neighborhood Development, & Worship.Anthony is a Sales Specialist at American Family Insurance, aspiring to obtain his own agency one day. A proud Baylor University alum, that holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Corporate Communications, achieving this while balancing the demands of being a student-athlete football walk-on.Originally from Waco, Texas, Anthony made the move to Cedar Rapids to start a senior in-home healthcare franchise. His dedication and impact in the community have been recognized with the Corridor Business Journal’s Forty Under 40 accolade. He is also a part of the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., that is focused on developing leaders, promoting brotherhood and academic excellence, while providing service and advocacy for our communities.Beyond his professional role, Anthony actively engages with the community. He serves as the PTA Vice President at Washington High School, Vice President of the African American Museum of Iowa (AAMI) Board of Directors, and Treasurer and Chaplin of the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. He has also created a community initiative called GoodFellas, that helps bring black men together to network, and collaborate in a safe space environment.In his personal life, Anthony, alongside his fiancée Cynthia, embraces the role of being a dad to four kids: Amora, Brylee, Mariah, and Jacob. He considers it a privilege to pursue his passion for community service, while providing representation for youth who look up to him.

During his time as a minister overseeing small group leaders, Pastor Keeyon sat down for lunch with one leader who had been faithfully serving the church since its beginning. He and his wife had led over a dozen groups, often with 20 or more people gathering in their home. From the outside, it looked like a life filled with connection. But when Pastor Keeyon asked him about friendship, his answer was unforgettable: “I don’t have any friends.”In this episode, Pastor Keeyon explores The Friendship Crisis in Christianity.

On this podcast episode you will be guided through an imagination activity, to imagine, to hope, to dream what it looks like to embody all that we have learned throughout the Immerse sermon series.

This epsiode is a reflective guide to the our collective experiences of the Derecho.

We believe that baptism is a gift from God. It is something God gives to us. St. Peter says that it is the mark of a good conscience toward God—that we are saved through the resurrection of Jesus. So when we are unsure, when we feel far from God and our conscience is a wreck, we can remember our baptism in Christ and what He promised through our faith in Him.Baptism isn’t something we do for God, but something God has given to us as an assurance that we are marked as His through baptism.God saves.The water doesn’t save—but God does.It is not the water, indeed, that does these things,but the Word of God that is in and with the water,and faith which trusts such Word of God in the water.For without the Word of God, the water is simple water and no baptism.But with the Word of God, it is a baptism—that is, a gracious water of life and a washing of regeneration in the Holy Ghost.As Saint Paul says in Titus, chapter 3:“By the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost,which He shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior;that, being justified by His grace,we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”This is a faithful saying.

This Summer during Sunday Service we are offering space to reimagine and apply the key components of life and ministry within a framework of Christian Community Development. These Sunday gatherings will offer space for worship, conversation, insight and practical skills for engaging in the renewal of all things.This Sunday we will be leaning into the key component of embodying a prophetic presence.As CCD practitioners we often find it necessary to raise awareness and raise our voices for reform or systemic change. We are called to dismantle lies, greed, broken structures, and unjust laws. It is time to intentionally practice prophetic presence as CCD practitioners. But what does it mean to be a prophetic presence in your community? In the broadest sense, prophetic presence is publicly standing up to harmful policies or practices that damage an individual or group’s human dignity and quality of life. Being a prophetic presence signals to others that you are not only calling out an injustice, but are committed to taking the necessary actions to see that change takes place.For CCD, prophetic presence responds to the age-old question, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” God shows considerable concern for breaking the strongholds of injustice and false frameworks that operate in this world by correcting, redeeming, and restoring all that has been lost, broken, distorted, or unfairly gained.Visit CCDA.org to become a member and take the full immerse course.

This Summer during Sunday Service we are offering space to reimagine and apply the key components of life and ministry within a framework of Christian Community Development. These Sunday gatherings will offer space for worship, conversation, insight and practical skills for engaging in the renewal of all things.This Sunday we will be leaning into the key component of being church-basedChurch-Based Definition - StephanieBeing church-based means that CCD bases its philosophy and practice on the belief that the community of faith in any neighborhood is a natural sustainable entity to contribute towards the redemptive and restorative purposes of God for the benefit of everyone in that local vicinity, neighboring communities, nearby cities, and beyond.A nurturing community of faith is “the gas, the guts, the glue” that hold the community development principles together. The gas provides the energy, the guts provides the core purpose and the glue keeps everyone on track, moving in the same direction.Flourishing Neighborhood Index Video

This Summer, during Sunday Service, we are offering space to reimagine and apply the key components of life and ministry within a framework of Christian Community Development. These Sunday gatherings will offer space for worship, conversation, insight, and practical skills for engaging in the renewal of all things. This Sunday, we will be leaning into the key component of Leadership Development.For CCD, the goal of leadership development has historically been to embolden and develop local leaders where CCD practitioners are present and working with residents to build a thriving community.Our role as CCD practitioners is to create a safe space for people to be inspired, reach their full potential, and recognize their God-given purposes. The point is to identify and encourage existing leaders. We must also find potential leaders who might need guidance or resources to build their capacity and confidence. CCD emphasizes the importance of building into budding leaders, especially youth. Leadership development in CCD is not about a hierarchy of power. It is not about title, position, or credit. It is about building up those around us and letting others build into us as we all seek to become who God created us to be. Developing leaders and being developed as a leader are not short-term programs, but built on long-term mutual relationships.

This Summer series of Embodiment Sundays is inspired by Richard Foster who wrote in his book ‘Celebration of Discipline’: “Superficiality is the curse of our age. The doctrine of instant satisfaction is a primary spiritual problem. The desperate need today is not for a greater number of intelligent people, or gifted people, but for deep people.”This series will provide guides to grow deeper with God in the ordinariness of our lives in connection with the Immerse Series during Sunday Service where are offer space to reimagine and apply the key components of life and ministry within a framework of Christian Community Development.As we paying attention to the movements of God in the ordinariness of our lives, the more and more we are able to recognize God’s movements in all things. On this Embodiment Sunday, you will be (re)introduced to a habit worth cultivating at the end of the day as a of reflecting and remembering our experience of life. This reflective practice is loosely based off of the Examen Prayer and guides us to end the day with the grace, gratitude and awareness of God’s movements in the ordinary of our lives.