Forefront Podcast

We Will Not Be Silent | BIPOC

Keli discusses how the influence of white supremacy on interpreting the Bible has caused BIPOC communities to forsake their cultural practices. We explore three key practices: ancestor veneration, meditation, and cleansing rituals, which have been marginalized despite being used by and for Jesus. Decolonizing our faith involves embracing inclusivity, listening to BIPOC voices, reclaiming and celebrating cultural practices, and championing justice to dismantle oppressive systems. Our faith should reflect the diversity of God's creation. As we decolonize our faith, we move closer to reconciliation and unity, honoring the cultural practices of our BIPOC siblings and embracing God's all-encompassing love.

We Will Not Be Silent | Ableism

In this sermon on Ableism, Pastor Mak Gomez (she/they) explores what Jesus shows us on how we are to interact with disabled people. She shares her personal experience with coming to terms with being disabled, what internalized ableism they’ve had to interrogate, and how Christians can be better advocates for the disabled community. Spoiler alert: saying “I’ll pray for you” is not enough.

We Will Not Be Silent | Women Who Use Their Voice

Rev. Venida opens up Forefront’s new sermon series with a spotlight on women - women who are courageous and unyielding - women who persevere and refuse to be silent. Women who have for centuries, and will continue to, used their voices and God-given gifting to help transform and liberate lives. Rev. Venida encourages us to learn from their stories and use our voices as well.

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.