Forefront Podcast

Prayer Changes | Language, Embodied

Benny frames prayer through the mystery of language, interrogates the power of language, and surrenders that language is actually nothing! Weaving together Old and New Testament stories, he rethinks the story of the Tower of Babel and shares about the new language his brother and he are creating.

Prayer Changes | The Atmosphere

Our Prayer Changes Sermon Series continues with a focus on The Atmosphere. Rev. Venida invites us to reflect on how prayer can change not just us, or our path, but it can also change the atmosphere. She will offer ways our presence can transform the environment around us to create spaces of edification, fulfillment and healing.

Prayer Changes | Our Path

In this second week of the Prayer Changes Sermon Series, Rev. Venida shares statistics and examples related to the spiritual discipline of prayer. She invites us to consider the expansiveness of prayer, something that opens us up to more of God’s greatness, beauty, and love where it changes the path that we think we are on, to a shift in perspective and purpose giving us renewed hope.

Prayer Changes | Week 2

In the second week of our series on Prayer, Rev. Josh proposes that prayer changes us! He does this by asking questions like, what’s the purpose of prayer? Can we change God’s mind or convince God to do something? Or is prayer the tool God uses to change our mind or hearts? How can we reconstruct a new vision of prayer in our reconstruction process?

Prayer Changes | My Prayer Changes Where I Walk

Thinking leads to action, so prayer will not only change my thinking but my living. But how do I face where my heart has turned to stone, the truth of harm I have participated in? The surprising, overwhelming mercy of God literally forgets what we have done, freeing us to risk praying anew, and seeking repair.

11th Anniversary Celebration | Making Friends As Adults

Remember the all-church survey? Well, 60% of you said that when choosing a church to connect with that community was the most important thing to you! I talk to Forefronters all the time who say they were struggling to find community in the city, so they darkened our doors in search! Making friends as an adult is so challenging and maintaining friendships in the city only adds to the challenge. This Sunday, Rev. Josh will introduce some conventional and theological wisdom on how to build and maintain friendships.

Sacraments of the Church | Communion

In the last week of our sacraments series, Rev. Josh will share about the evolution of communion and diversity of how its observed in different traditions. But more than that, he paints a picture of Communion being a historically subversive act that transcends time. Sometimes the most radical act of Christian obedience is to share a meal with someone new or different than us and this is what is at the heart of this practice.

Sacraments of the Church | Confession

In this 6th message of the Sacraments of the Church sermon series, Rev. Venida preaches on the sacrament of Confession including its origin, how it is embraced today, and how a practice that has been used as a tactic to exert power and harm others has also been used to share one’s truth and connect more authentically with God, self and others. All this and more…

Forefront Conversations with Poor People’s Campaign

"Defend the weak and the fatherless; uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed."
“Whoever oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God.”
"But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.’"

These are just three of the roughly 2000 verses about the poor, a topic that the Bible covers more than any other. Pastors preach about them from the pulpit and politicians vow to be allies, but there are still 140 million poor and low-income citizens in the country, so who is actually speaking up for the poor? In 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. called for a "revolution of values" in America and what was born from those words was the Poor People's Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival. Arelis Figueroa and Kelly Smith, two longtime volunteers from the PPC, join the Forefront Podcast to talk about the history and work of this important movement, the political challenges and hangups of people who claim to support the poor while profiting off of them, and why there is reason to hope and be inspired by this nationwide network of support.

 

ABOUT POOR PEOPLE'S CAMPAIGN
To learn more about the Poor People's Campaign, head over to their website where you can read more about their principals, their demands, and to learn more about how you can take action in your own state or region. 

Sacraments of the Church | Confirmation

Did you grow up in a tradition where you went through confirmation? If not, what sort of initiation or religious educational process did your tradition embody? Rev. Josh shares about the sacrament of confirmation, where an adolescent or adult, confirms their baptismal vows and publicly affirms their faith after having gone through confirmation classes where they learn about Christian history, beliefs, and traditions. How might we too benefit from the Spirit of this sacrament and how might it aid us in reconciling with and reforming our faith?