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Azle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)Close to Home: Home by Another way (Matthew 2:1-12)The Magi set out on an incredible journey, following a star all the to Jesus. In a dream, they’re warned to go home another way. Sometimes our encounters with Christ lead us to change direction, to go down an unfamiliar path in order to find our way home. How might our encounter with Christ change our direction today?
Find us on social media: Facebook and Instagram. Or, contact us through our website: www.azlechristianchurch.org. To contribute financially to the ongoing ministry of Azle Christian Church, you can give on our website or find us on Ve...2023-01-1214 minAzle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)Chosen Home (Luke 2:41-52)In this sermon, ACC's Minister to Youth and Children, Emerson Braun, preaches on what it means to have a chosen home - a place of authentic belonging. How do we make space for and uphold the wisdom of our young people?
Find us on social media: Facebook and Instagram. Or, contact us through our website: www.azlechristianchurch.org. To contribute financially to the ongoing ministry of Azle Christian Church, you can give on our website or find us on Venmo (@Azle-ChristianChurch).2023-01-0216 minAzle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)Close to Home: Seeking Sanctuary (Luke 1:39-55)Don’t let the growing belly fool you! Mary, Mother of God, means business with her song. Her lullaby is anything but quaint, and we know this because the things she sings about are the very things that Jesus will talk about and live out when he is born. And the question for us is how we will receive her song?
Find us on social media: Facebook and Instagram. Or, contact us through our website: www.azlechristianchurch.org. To contribute financially to the ongoing ministry of Azle Christian Church, you can give on our website or find us...2022-12-2019 minAzle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)Close to Home: A Home for All (Luke 3:1-18)When you think of John the Baptist, what do you picture? Perhaps, you see a wilderness-dwelling, locust-eating weirdo with a penchant for religious rants. This text from Luke certainly does not help with that image. But allegedly, John is preaching the gospel—he is preaching good news. How do we, religious folks, receive what he has to say to the religious folks of his day, as good news for all? And what do we do when good news doesn’t feel, well, good?
Find us on social media: Facebook and Instagram. Or, contact us through our website: www...2022-12-1219 minAzle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)Close to Home: Laying the Foundation (Luke 1:57-80)With the birth of their son, Elizabeth and Zechariah imagine the world that John (the Baptist) will grow into. Their hopes are the hopes of many parents: peace, justice, worship of God. But just as they knew then, we know that our world is not one of peace and justice, where all are free to worship the Holy One in their own way. How do we reconcile this dream of peace with the world we live in now?
Find us on social media: Facebook and Instagram. Or, contact us through our website: www.azlechristianchurch.org. To contribute...2022-12-0515 minAzle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)Close to Home: Homesick (Luke 21:25-36)Before we get to sweet baby Jesus, we have to deal with apocalyptic Jesus. Even as we put up our Christmas trees and turn on Frank Sinatra, Advent won’t let us get away with skipping right to the merry and bright. No, we are reminded—urged—to bear witness to the way that Christ coming into the world completely upends it.
Find us on social media: Facebook and Instagram. Or, contact us through our website: www.azlechristianchurch.org. To contribute financially to the ongoing ministry of Azle Christian Church, you can give on our website or find u...2022-11-2819 minAzle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)Goodbye, Hello: Last Sunday of Ordinary Time (Ecclesiastes 3:1-15)It’s the last Sunday of Ordinary Time! Ecclesiastes may seem like a weird place to end Ordinary Time, but as the writer says, “For everything there is a season.” This text helps us to discern what our role is in making meaning of the time we are in now, as the world changes every day, as we change every day. How will we let the stories and songs that are so familiar to us speak something fresh to us in the coming months?
Find us on social media: Facebook and Instagram. Or, contact us through our websit...2022-11-2216 minAzle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)A Future With Hope: What Happens When We Return (Luke 9:10-17)The feeding of the five thousand is one of the more familiar stories of scripture. We know the details—the disciples have just returned from their mission and are faced with a big hungry crowd. They only have a few loaves and fishes, and somehow it becomes more than enough. But perhaps the details we don’t have can inform how we approach stewardship. What did the disciples do on their mission specifically? And what does it mean that there are leftovers, that giving away seems to multiply rather than subtract, in the reign of God? We get to answ...2022-11-1511 minAzle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)Lectio Divina (Luke 12:13-21)On the first Monday of each month, we will be offering a Lectio Divina podcast.
Lectio Divina is a practice of reading scripture not for learning something practical or theological, but rather to allow the Living Spirit of Christ to speak to us through a word, a phrase, a pause. It lets the text be the text as it speaks to our own hearts.
You’ll hear the same scripture from a couple of different voices. We invite you to close your eyes or find a quiet place to listen. During each reading, consider what Go...2022-11-0705 minAzle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)A Future With Hope - Jeremiah 29:1-14We began our stewardship series, A Future with Hope, on Sunday! We’re drawing from the story of exile in Jeremiah, the promise of return, and the call to root down right where we are in hope.
Find us on social media: Facebook and Instagram. Or, contact us through our website: www.azlechristianchurch.org. To contribute financially to the ongoing ministry of Azle Christian Church, you can give on our website or find us on Venmo (@Azle-ChristianChurch).2022-10-3119 minAzle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)Let Me Tell You a Story...about Two Prayers (Luke 18:9-14)Be careful that you don’t fall into the trap laid for you in this parable! If we walk away from this parable praying, “Thank God, I’m not like the Pharisee!” then we have indeed fallen into the trap. To understand the landslide of grace in this parable, we have to understand our characters as they were to Jesus’s audience and resist making caricatures of them.
Find us on social media: Facebook and Instagram. Or, contact us through our website: www.azlechristianchurch.org. To contribute financially to the ongoing ministry of Azle Christian Church, you can give o...2022-10-2419 minAzle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)Let Me Tell You a Story...about a Widow (Luke 18:1-8)Parables are meant to disturb and unsettle, and this one surely does. What should we make of a widow who pounds on a door and a judge who couldn’t care less until he does? And how is this parable about prayer?
Find us on social media: Facebook and Instagram. Or, contact us through our website: www.azlechristianchurch.org. To contribute financially to the ongoing ministry of Azle Christian Church, you can give on our website or find us on Venmo (@Azle-ChristianChurch).2022-10-1720 minAzle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)Let Me Tell You a Story...about Ten Lepers (Luke 17:11-19)The story of the ten lepers seems like a simple lesson in gratitude. Didn’t our grandmothers always tell us to say thank you? But there’s something more going on here—especially if we consider that the one who turns back is not your typical religious person.
Find us on social media: Facebook and Instagram. Or, contact us through our website: www.azlechristianchurch.org. To contribute financially to the ongoing ministry of Azle Christian Church, you can give on our website or find us on Venmo (@Azle-ChristianChurch).2022-10-1119 minAzle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)Let Me Tell You a Story...about a Mustard Seed (Luke 17:5-10)We join back up with Jesus in the gospel of Luke for our new series: Let Me Tell You a Story: Jesus Stories from Luke. In today’s text, we wonder what it means that Jesus responds to a request for more faith with a metaphor and a terrible parable.
Find us on social media: Facebook and Instagram. Or, contact us through our website: www.azlechristianchurch.org. To contribute financially to the ongoing ministry of Azle Christian Church, you can give on our website or find us on Venmo (@Azle-ChristianChurch).2022-10-0418 minAzle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)Lectio Divina (Luke 14:1, 7-14)On the first Monday of each month, we will be offering a Lectio Divina podcast.
Lectio Divina is a practice of reading scripture not for learning something practical or theological, but rather to allow the Living Spirit of Christ to speak to us through a word, a phrase, a pause. It lets the text be the text as it speaks to our own hearts.
You’ll hear the same scripture from a couple of different voices. We invite you to close your eyes or find a quiet place to listen. During each reading, consider what Go...2022-10-0307 minAzle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)Study Hall: Roll Call (Colossians 4:2-18)Colossians wraps up with a long list of church people. Who are these people anyway? We know a few from other letters, but we don’t know much, and it’s easy to skip over this section. But this is perhaps the most important part!
Find us on social media: Facebook and Instagram. Or, contact us through our website: www.azlechristianchurch.org. To contribute financially to the ongoing ministry of Azle Christian Church, you can give on our website or find us on Venmo (@Azle-ChristianChurch).2022-09-2620 minAzle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)Study Hall: School Supplies (Colossians 3:1-24)What do we do with this part of the letter? The writer begins by talking about a resurrection ethic: “Since you have been raised with Christ…” The vision is beautiful, the instructions are clear. And then they lay out some imperial, patriarchal household codes that seem to contradict everything they just said! How do we reconcile these two? I promise it’s not what you think.
Find us on social media: Facebook and Instagram. Or, contact us through our website: www.azlechristianchurch.org. To contribute financially to the ongoing ministry of Azle Christian Church, you can give on our w...2022-09-2026 minAzle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)Study Hall: Debate Team (Colossians 2:6-23)The writer to the Colossians is very concerned about some teachings that have infiltrated the church: namely, that faith is merely spiritual and that the body has nothing to tell us of God. But that couldn’t be farther from the truth! What if our bodies are spiritual, too? What if the embodiment of the Divine in Jesus has something to say about our own embodiment being conduits of Divine love?
Find us on social media: Facebook and Instagram. Or, contact us through our website: www.azlechristianchurch.org. To contribute financially to the ongoing ministry of Azle Ch...2022-09-1217 minAzle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)Study Hall: Group Projects (Colossians 1:24-2:5)The writer to the Colossians has some news, some very good news for the people of God: the good news is for the Gentiles! And the way to spiritual maturity for the Colossians is to let this news change them.
Find us on social media: Facebook and Instagram. Or, contact us through our website: www.azlechristianchurch.org. To contribute financially to the ongoing ministry of Azle Christian Church, you can give on our website or find us on Venmo (@Azle-ChristianChurch).2022-09-0719 minAzle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)Lectio Divina (Luke 15:1-10)On the first Monday of each month, we will be offering a Lectio Divina podcast.
Lectio Divina is a practice of reading scripture not for learning something practical or theological, but rather to allow the Living Spirit of Christ to speak to us through a word, a phrase, a pause. It lets the text be the text as it speaks to our own hearts.
You’ll hear the same scripture from a couple of different voices. We invite you to close your eyes or find a quiet place to listen. During each reading, consider what Go...2022-09-0506 minAzle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)Study Hall: First Day (Colossians 1:1-23)In true First Day fashion, we do an overview of our subject and test. Who are the Colossians? How do we read somebody’s mail from thousands of years ago responsibly and imaginatively? This is our assignment for the next few weeks.
Find us on social media: Facebook and Instagram. Or, contact us through our website: www.azlechristianchurch.org. To contribute financially to the ongoing ministry of Azle Christian Church, you can give on our website or find us on Venmo (@Azle-ChristianChurch).2022-08-2919 minAzle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)One Thing to Tell You: The Kingdom of Heaven is Like... (Matthew 13:31-35; 44-50)Today, we engage in a lectio divina practice with the scripture from Matthew 13:31-35; 44-50. You will hear from a few of our congregants as well as the congregation itself in this guided spiritual meditation. Our orienting question for this practice is: “What is the one thing God is telling you?”
Find us on social media: Facebook and Instagram. Or, contact us through our website: www.azlechristianchurch.org. To contribute financially to the ongoing ministry of Azle Christian Church, you can give on our website or find us on Venmo (@Azle-ChristianChurch).2022-08-2216 minAzle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)One Thing to Tell You: Find Us Faithful (Hebrews 11-12:3)Guest preacher Sally Gary.
Sally Gary is founder and director of CenterPeace, a 501(c)(3) non-profit ministry dedicated to creating space for conversation about faith and sexuality. CenterPeace hosts workshops and retreats for church leaders and their congregations to better understand and welcome the LGBTQ+ community. CenterPeace also hosts retreats for parents of LGBTQ+ individuals and spiritual formation retreats for LGBTQ+ Christians.
Sally holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in communication from Abilene Christian University and a Doctor of Jurisprudence degree from Texas Tech University School of Law. A former high school speech and debate coac...2022-08-1529 minAzle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)One Thing to Tell You: God Is in Your Dreams (Genesis 28:10-19)We tag along with Jacob in this sermon as he is on the run from a mess he has made. And though his story has been full of action up until this point, it comes to a screeching halt. He needs to rest. And when he closes his eyes, he finds that God has something to say that can only be said when he stops hustling, stops running, and truly rests.
Find us on social media: Facebook and Instagram. Or, contact us through our website: www.azlechristianchurch.org. To contribute financially to the ongoing ministry of Azle...2022-08-0219 minAzle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)Dear Church: To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in AzleThroughout the series, the members of Azle Christian Church have been writing a letter to itself. An epistle, if you will. Today, we read that letter together!
Find us on social media: Facebook and Instagram. Or, contact us through our website: www.azlechristianchurch.org. To contribute financially to the ongoing ministry of Azle Christian Church, you can give on our website or find us on Venmo (@Azle-ChristianChurch).2022-07-2512 minAzle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)Dear Church: Keep on doing the things you have learned (Philippians 4:1-23)The end of Paul’s letter to the church in Philippi may seem like a collection of odds and ends, but they all have the same thread running through them—they are like concentric circles of mutuality. In places of radical sharing—within a congregation, among churches, and even among faiths, we can see God’s movement.
Find us on social media: Facebook and Instagram. Or, contact us through our website: www.azlechristianchurch.org. To contribute financially to the ongoing ministry of Azle Christian Church, you can give on our website or find us on Venmo (@Azle-ChristianChurch).2022-07-1924 minAzle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)Dear Church: I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection (Philippians 3:4-21)Though we don’t know the full extent of what Paul was contending with in his letter, we do know that Paul was caught in the in-between—counting what he had left behind and looking forward to what was ahead. It’s not hard for us to imagine that we, too, live in an ever-changing world. What does Paul have to say about living in a world whose ground is shifting underneath our feet?
Find us on social media: Facebook and Instagram. Or, contact us through our website: www.azlechristianchurch.org. To contribute financially to the ongoing minist...2022-07-1218 minAzle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)Dear Church: It is God who is at work in you (Philippians 2:1-13)Paul addresses a cultural phenomenon with the church in Philippi by sharing a hymn with them. As we participate in our own liturgy, we are reminded that these pieces speak to us in a different way than mere words. Sharing songs, communion, prayers, and doxologies remind us of the cruciform life we are called on a deep, visceral level.
Find us on social media: Facebook and Instagram. Or, contact us through our website: www.azlechristianchurch.org. To contribute financially to the ongoing ministry of Azle Christian Church, you can give on our website or find us on...2022-07-0615 min
Azle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)Music Monday - Camp Edition!Do you have a special place in your heart for the CCM world of the 90s and early aughts? Are you raptured by nostalgia at the mention of Steven Curtis Chapman, Nicole C. Mullin, DC Talk, Avalon, Sixpence, and David Crowder? This Music Monday episode is for you! Listen as ACC's Rev. Ashley Dargai, worship minister Nicole Hendley, and special guest Emily Harden host July’s Music Monday podcast.
"Youth Group Bops" Playlist on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0aRNwhzgZqi4ooCDVaBrxl?si=b6b60b9a97f0400b
Find us on social media: Facebook an...2022-07-0451 min
Azle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)Dear Church: I am hard pressed (Philippians 1:12-26)Paul gets real about his time in prison and his mental state under Roman guard. But his vulnerability gives us insight to how to live in Christ, and how to die.
Find us on social media: Facebook and Instagram. Or, contact us through our website: www.azlechristianchurch.org. To contribute financially to the ongoing ministry of Azle Christian Church, you can give on our website or find us on Venmo (@Azle-ChristianChurch).2022-06-2718 minAzle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)Dear Church: To All the Saints in Christ Jesus Who Are in Philippi (Philippians 1:1-11)We begin our new worship series on Philippians with the salutations and introduction. This may seem like an innocuous piece of the letter, but it actually tells us a lot about who Paul is, who the church is to Paul, and what their shared concerns are. As we consider our own context, we plunge ourselves into a different world for a love-filled, liberating vision.
Find us on social media: Facebook and Instagram. Or, contact us through our website: www.azlechristianchurch.org. To contribute financially to the ongoing ministry of Azle Christian Church, you can give on our...2022-06-2220 minAzle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)Trinity Sunday Communion MeditationTrinity Sunday Communion Meditation - Rev. Ashley Dargai
"My daughter Annie is a dual citizen of the United States and Hungary. Even though she has never been to Hungary, she has a Hungarian passport and birth certificate. She speaks Hungarian. She sings songs that I don’t understand.
My husband, JD, and I will sometimes make Hungarian dishes, but we’re always substituting spices or vegetables. While he grew up in Hungary, he didn’t grow up making dinner, and while I’m a more seasoned cook, some of the meals I make, I have never ha...2022-06-1306 minAzle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)We Call Ourselves Disciples: Ecclesia (Acts 2:1-21)Here’s the story of the beginning of the church: The Holy Spirit blows in and everything gets turned upside down. And wouldn’t you know it, it’s still the story of the church today.
Find us on social media: Facebook and Instagram. Or, contact us through our website: www.azlechristianchurch.org. To contribute financially to the ongoing ministry of Azle Christian Church, you can give on our website or find us on Venmo (@Azle-ChristianChurch).2022-06-0720 minAzle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)We Call Ourselves Disciples: Communion (John 21:1-19)Guest preacher - Rev. Diane Clark
Find us on social media: Facebook and Instagram. Or, contact us through our website: www.azlechristianchurch.org. To contribute financially to the ongoing ministry of Azle Christian Church, you can give on our website or find us on Venmo (@Azle-ChristianChurch).2022-05-3116 min
Azle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)MUSIC MONDAY - June 2022ACC's June Music Monday podcast is available a week early! We are releasing this episode now to prepare you for Pentecost this Sunday, June 5th. On this episode, Pastor Ashley and Nicole talk about their Pentecost playlist by walking through the story verse by verse.
Pentecost Playlist on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4O3iv5gy3gxiiquaQGZF6Y?si=01cff6600aaf496f
Pastor Ashleys 5/31/2020 Sermon: https://www.azlechristianchurch.org/sunday-liturgy/8kw3nzppabrmllhb4gtb77xczcse5k
Urban Doxology: http://www.urbandoxology.com/#urban-doxology
Find us on social media: Facebook and Instagram...2022-05-301h 01Azle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)We Call Ourselves Disciples: Baptism (Acts 16:9-15)We remember our baptism this week with this story of Lydia’s baptism by the river. How do unexpected events reveal the Spirit’s work? What do our convictions about baptism as Disciples have to say about how Jesus is and how God moves among us?
Find us on social media: Facebook and Instagram. Or, contact us through our website: www.azlechristianchurch.org. To contribute financially to the ongoing ministry of Azle Christian Church, you can give on our website or find us on Venmo (@Azle-ChristianChurch).2022-05-2317 minAzle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)We Call Ourselves Disciples: Jesus (John 10:1-30)What a gift it was to have Remi Shores preach at Azle Christian Church again! Remi is pursuing their Masters of Divinity at Brite Divinity School as they move through the ordination process. They also serve as the Apprentice Evangelist at Galileo Church where they are on the frontier of online worship and community building through Galileo’s Inside Out ministry.
Find us on social media: Facebook and Instagram. Or, contact us through our website: www.azlechristianchurch.org. To contribute financially to the ongoing ministry of Azle Christian Church, you can give on our website or find us...2022-05-1619 minAzle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)We Call Ourselves Disciples: Charity (John 13:31-35)“In all things, charity.” What does it mean that we called to love one another as Christ loves us? Jesus gives his disciples this charge right after washing their feet and breaking bread with his betrayer, and this literary detail gives us a lot of context for what that love is asking of us.
Find us on social media: Facebook and Instagram. Or, contact us through our website: www.azlechristianchurch.org. To contribute financially to the ongoing ministry of Azle Christian Church, you can give on our website or find us on Venmo (@Azle-ChristianChurch).2022-05-1016 minAzle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)We Call Ourselves Disciples: Unity (John 17:20-26)Unity seems like an easy word, but it’s a tough call. In John 17, Jesus prays for his followers to be one as a witness to the love of God in the world. As we continue to work together to realize this unity, we discover the deep love that we are baptized into.
Find us on social media: Facebook and Instagram. Or, contact us through our website: www.azlechristianchurch.org. To contribute financially to the ongoing ministry of Azle Christian Church, you can give on our website or find us on Venmo (@Azle-ChristianChurch).2022-05-0317 min
Azle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)MUSIC MONDAY - May 2022On the first Monday of each month, listen to ACC's Worship Minister, Nicole Hendley, and Senior Minister, Reverend Ashley Dargai, talk about the intersection of music and theology at Azle Christian Church. On this episode, Ashley and Nicole talk about their dream celebrity worship service! A prelude by Jon Batiste and Stay Human? Communion meditation by Adele? An Encanto sermon? Listen to what might be the most creative Music Monday to date!
Episode playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/32bd1ceIhN48dxPELK5x43?si=Ef9c7NlDSnqP0kO-ZLDh4w
Find us on social media: Facebook a...2022-05-0236 minAzle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)We Call Ourselves Disciples: Liberty (John 20:19-31)In the presence of the Crucified Christ, there’s room for a whole spectrum of belief. Thomas needed a minute before he could decide that it really was Jesus, and Jesus was happy to oblige by offering the most important evidence of all: his broken body. Today, we look at one of the contours of our denomination: liberty in belief.
Find us on social media: Facebook and Instagram. Or, contact us through our website: www.azlechristianchurch.org. To contribute financially to the ongoing ministry of Azle Christian Church, you can give on our website or find us on...2022-04-2519 minAzle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)Full to the Brim: An Expansive Life (Luke 24:1-12)If you’re not quite ready to run to the empty tomb in amazement, this is a resurrection story for you. There’s a place for many responses: grief, disbelief, fear, and perhaps, hope.
Find us on social media: Facebook and Instagram. Or, contact us through our website: www.azlechristianchurch.org. To contribute financially to the ongoing ministry of Azle Christian Church, you can give on our website or find us on Venmo (@Azle-ChristianChurch).2022-04-1914 minAzle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)Full to the Brim: Even the Stones Cry Out (Luke 19:28-40)Jesus assures the religious leaders that even if the people quieted down on that parade into Jerusalem, the rocks would cry out. What in the world do rocks have to do with Holy Week? With the journey Jesus is making to the cross? Might this absurd claim by Jesus be inviting us into the great paradox of our faith?
Find us on social media: Facebook and Instagram. Or, contact us through our website: www.azlechristianchurch.org. To contribute financially to the ongoing ministry of Azle Christian Church, you can give on our website or find us on...2022-04-1216 minAzle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)Full to the Brim: Brazen Acts of Beauty (John 12:1-8)If we take away the fact that it’s Judas making his point, we can see that he DOES make a good point. Is it so bad to be practical? To be useful? Perhaps not. But Mary offers another wisdom to consider: an embodied, visceral wisdom.
Find us on social media: Facebook and Instagram. Or, contact us through our website: www.azlechristianchurch.org. To contribute financially to the ongoing ministry of Azle Christian Church, you can give on our website or find us on Venmo (@Azle-ChristianChurch).2022-04-0519 minAzle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)Full to the Brim: Prodigal Grace (Luke 15:1-3; 11-32)We know the story of the prodigal son well. Is there anything new to be said on a story so well-worn? Maybe it’s not a new word we need, but a fresh one for us today: grace.
Find us on social media: Facebook and Instagram. Or, contact us through our website: www.azlechristianchurch.org. To contribute financially to the ongoing ministry of Azle Christian Church, you can give on our website or find us on Venmo (@Azle-ChristianChurch).2022-03-2913 minAzle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)Full to the Brim: You Are Worthy (Luke 13:1-9)Why do bad things happen? We’ve been asking this question for a really long time, and it doesn’t seem like we’ve gotten any closer to an answer. But what we do get is a story from Jesus about tender care, and that might be what we need most.
Find us on social media: Facebook and Instagram. Or, contact us through our website: www.azlechristianchurch.org. To contribute financially to the ongoing ministry of Azle Christian Church, you can give on our website or find us on Venmo (@Azle-ChristianChurch).2022-03-2117 minAzle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)Full to the Brim: Under God's Wing (Luke 13:31-35)On the surface, this text seems so sad. Jesus, a bereft mother hen, wishing he could protect his little chicks but unable to, resolves to continue on to Jerusalem, where he knows he will die. And yet, there is a love and a promise that runs deeper than even death.
Find us on social media: Facebook and Instagram. Or, contact us through our website: www.azlechristianchurch.org. To contribute financially to the ongoing ministry of Azle Christian Church, you can give on our website or find us on Venmo (@Azle-ChristianChurch).2022-03-1416 minAzle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)Full to the Brim: Even in the Desert (Luke 4:1-13)Look, the devil makes a lot of good points out in the desert. How is anyone supposed to make a life out here anyway? But what if our wilderness journey is not about getting out of the wilderness as swiftly as possible? What if we are called to figure out how to make a home here?
Find us on social media: Facebook and Instagram. Or, contact us through our website: www.azlechristianchurch.org. To contribute financially to the ongoing ministry of Azle Christian Church, you can give on our website or find us on Venmo (@Azle-ChristianChurch).2022-03-0919 min
Azle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)MUSIC MONDAY - March 2022On the first Monday of each month, listen to ACC's Worship Minister, Nicole Hendley, and Senior Minister, Reverend Ashley Dargai, talk about the intersection of music and theology at Azle Christian Church. On this episode, we’re talking about all things Lent! Click HERE to listen to the songs we mention. Thank you for supporting our podcast!
Find us on social media: Facebook and Instagram. Or, contact us through our website: www.azlechristianchurch.org. To contribute financially to the ongoing ministry of Azle Christian Church, you can give on our website or find us on Venmo (@Azle-ChristianChurch).2022-03-0739 minAzle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)Holy, Wholly, Holey - Behold: The Holy! (Luke 9:28-36)With all the people in this story of transfiguration, it’s only right to hear some of them out. Everyone knows interviewing multiple eyewitnesses can be tricky—it’s like they’re all telling a different version of what happened. But maybe if we cobble together a few different accounts, we might get a fuller picture of what happened up on that mountain with Jesus.
Find us on social media: Facebook and Instagram. Or, contact us through our website: www.azlechristianchurch.org. To contribute financially to the ongoing ministry of Azle Christian Church, you can give on our webs...2022-02-2817 minAzle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)Holy, Wholly, Holey - Wholly Calling (Luke 6:27-38)We participated in a spiritual practice of lectio divina this week in worship, reading Luke 6:27-38 multiple times in different translations as a form of meditation.
Find us on social media: Facebook and Instagram. Or, contact us through our website: www.azlechristianchurch.org. To contribute financially to the ongoing ministry of Azle Christian Church, you can give on our website or find us on Venmo (@Azle-ChristianChurch).2022-02-2110 minAzle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)Holy, Wholly, Holey - Holy God (Luke 6:17-26)Luke does what he can to communicate the gospel of Jesus in a palatable manner to the powers that be, but Jesus has other ideas. Always one to slip out of our grasp of him, Jesus finds a way to set the gospel free.
Find us on social media: Facebook and Instagram. Or, contact us through our website: www.azlechristianchurch.org. To contribute financially to the ongoing ministry of Azle Christian Church, you can give on our website or find us on Venmo (@Azle-ChristianChurch).2022-02-1517 minAzle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)Holy, Wholly, Holey - Holey Calling (Luke 5:1-11)What happens when Simon Peter looks up from a weary night and sees Jesus on the horizon? What does it mean to cast our nets one more time, this time in the deep water? What will we find in these depths?
Find us on social media: Facebook and Instagram. Or, contact us through our website: www.azlechristianchurch.org. To contribute financially to the ongoing ministry of Azle Christian Church, you can give on our website or find us on Venmo (@Azle-ChristianChurch).2022-02-0813 minAzle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)Holy, Wholly, Holey - ...Wholly His Own (Luke 4:21-30)Previously, on Days of our Epiphany…Long-lost beloved, Jesus, returns home after making a name for himself out on the open road. Was this the Jesus they remembered? Or had he become an enigma, a miracle worker and prophetic teacher? After a dramatic reading in the synagogue, he had the whole room captivated. Could the town be revived again with the hometown hero’s return? Or are things not as they seem? Will his return be full of emotional twists and turns, severing familial ties and resulting in his death? Will this story end on a cliffhanger? Find out on t...2022-01-3115 minAzle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)Holy, Wholly, Holey - Wholly Ours... (Luke 4:14-21)When Jesus returns home to Nazareth, he reads from old words to imagine his ministry. He takes this ancient vision for God’s world and makes it his own. How will we make it our own today?
Find us on social media: Facebook and Instagram. Or, contact us through our website: www.azlechristianchurch.org. To contribute financially to the ongoing ministry of Azle Christian Church, you can give on our website or find us on Venmo (@Azle-ChristianChurch).2022-01-2419 minAzle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)Holy, Wholly, Holey - Wholly God (John 2:1-12)To be sure, Jesus’ first miracle, turning water into wine at the wedding in Cana, is a sign of abundance and God’s commitment to celebration. But it’s also a sign of naming when there is a need and acting to fill it, even when we don’t feel ready. As we reflect on the life of Martin Luther King, Jr., we consider how this miracle of Christ’s coincides with our commitment to justice.
Find us on social media: Facebook and Instagram. Or, contact us through our website: www.azlechristianchurch.org. To contribute financially to the ongoin...2022-01-1717 minAzle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)Holy, Wholly, Holey - Holy God (Luke 3:15-17, 21-22)Why does it matter to us that Jesus was baptized? It seems strange, doesn’t it? John the Baptizer preached a baptism of repentance and renewal, but what did Jesus need that for? But it seems that there is more going on here about the belovedness of all God’s children than we realized.
Find us on social media: Facebook and Instagram. Or, contact us through our website: www.azlechristianchurch.org. To contribute financially to the ongoing ministry of Azle Christian Church, you can give on our website or find us on Venmo (@Azle-ChristianChurch).2022-01-1013 minAzle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)Healing in the New Year (Mark 2:23-3:6)In the midst of a religious squabble, Jesus engages in the truth of Sabbath: that we are God’s alone. Healing work is worthy work that we are called to in this difficult season—to administer and to receive.
Azle Christian Church is a Disciples of Christ church community in Azle, Texas. We invite everyone to be who you are with us: the doubting, the believing, the wondering, and everything in between. On this podcast you will hear our pastor — Reverend Ashley Dargai — preach on how the expansive and generative love of God is seen through Jesus, the prop...2022-01-0415 min
Azle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)MUSIC MONDAY - January 2022On the first Monday of each month, listen to ACC's Worship Minister, Nicole Hendley, and Senior Minister, Reverend Ashley Dargai, talk about the intersection of music and theology at Azle Christian Church. On this episode, Nicole and Ashley make a playlist for 2022! To listen to this collection of songs for the New Year, click HERE. Ranging from Nina Simone to Josh Garrels to Hall & Oates, these songs inspire joy and remind us of our commitment to goodness, to faith, to play and to rest. Thanks for listening!
To learn more about Azle Christian Church, visit our website...2022-01-0357 minAzle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)I Am Who I Am (Exodus 2:23-3:15)Guest Preacher Remi Shores
Remi (pronouns: they/them/theirs) is a graduate from TCU (B.A., Religion) and working on their Masters of Divinity at Brite Divinity School. Galileo Church is sponsoring them on a track towards ordination for ministry with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). Called to Next Church ministry, they are excited to be on the frontier of online worship and community building through Galileo’s Inside Out ministry. Their passions for justice, kindness, and beauty are all rooted in what they have learned in relationship with others.
Find Azle Christian Church on...2021-12-2821 minAzle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)Less is More: Leveled Love (Luke 1:39-55)Mary’s song is probably so familiar that we forget how revolutionary it is. Her lullaby is a song about God changing the world: the absurd and dangerous event of God’s reign coming to earth through her tiny little baby boy. It is dangerous, but we needn’t be afraid.
Find us on social media: Facebook and Instagram. Or, contact us through our website: www.azlechristianchurch.org. To contribute financially to the ongoing ministry of Azle Christian Church, you can give on our website or find us on Venmo (@Azle-ChristianChurch).2021-12-2014 minAzle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)Less is More: Winnowed Joy (Luke 3:7-18)John the Baptist is an abrasive, affronting presence, but his words of judgment are not mere condemnation. John actually has the gift of seeing clearly, and he asks us, “What is worth preserving?” The answer might just fill us with joy.
Find us on social media: Facebook and Instagram. Or, contact us through our website: www.azlechristianchurch.org. To contribute financially to the ongoing ministry of Azle Christian Church, you can give on our website or find us on Venmo (@Azle-ChristianChurch).2021-12-1320 minAzle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)Less is More: Refined Peace (Malachi 3:1-4)Malachi has some tough questions for us. Who can endure the day of God’s messenger coming? It will be like a refining fire! This feels like a jarring question considering the Second Sunday of Advent is supposed to be about peace. What does a refining fire have to do with peace on earth and goodwill toward humankind?
Find us on social media: Facebook and Instagram. Or, contact us through our website: www.azlechristianchurch.org. To contribute financially to the ongoing ministry of Azle Christian Church, you can give on our website or find us on Venmo (@Az...2021-12-0717 minAzle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)MUSIC MONDAY - December 2021It’s the Christmas episode of Music Monday! Listen to ACC's Worship Minister, Nicole Hendley, and Senior Minister, Reverend Ashley Dargai, talk about Christmas songs ranging from classic carols to Joni Mitchell to the Beatles. In this episode, they discuss the coziest to the cringiest of Christmas songs. Interested?! Let's dig in!
Special thanks to Wendy Child for giving us permission to use her recording of "O Holy Night" for this episode! Listen to more of Wendy and her Sleep My Darling lullabies HERE.
Find us on social media: Facebook and Instagram. Or, contact us th...2021-12-0641 minAzle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)Less is More: Focused Hope (Luke 21:25-36)Advent always begins in this strange way: the end of Jesus’ life, where he is seemingly talking about the end of the world. Even though we want to rush on ahead to the baby Jesus of Christmas with his squishy cheeks and innocent eyes, we have to deal with apocalypse Jesus first. Why do we begin the new liturgical year with Jesus talking about the tumult of creation? What does he call us to attention?
Find us on social media: Facebook and Instagram. Or, contact us through our website: www.azlechristianchurch.org. To contribute financially to the on...2021-11-3017 minAzle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)Wishin', Hopin', Prayin' - Praying Without Words (Exodus 1:18-24; 2:23-25)Everyone knows the Exodus story! But maybe we haven’t pain enough attention to the impetus for the deliverance: the cry of the Hebrew people, a vague, collective prayer to no one. What does this prayer tell us of the Holy One? Of ourselves? Of the coming Christ whom we will welcome again in a few weeks?
How do we pray when our whole body aches for deliverance? How do we hope when tragedy strikes? How do we learn to want what God wants? In this worship series, we examine moments of longing in scripture: from the ea...2021-11-2318 minAzle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)Wishin', Hopin', Prayin' - Hope for a People (1 Samuel 8:1-9)1 Samuel 8 is messy! The plight of Israel at this moment in the story is messy. They want a king to fight their battles, to be like the other nations, to replace corrupt priests, but will a king make them lose their distinctiveness as God’s chosen people?
How do we pray when our whole body aches for deliverance? How do we hope when tragedy strikes? How do we learn to want what God wants? In this worship series, we examine moments of longing in scripture: from the earliest days of the Hebrew people to the last book in...2021-11-1619 minAzle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)Wishin', Hopin', Prayin' - Wishing for a Miracle (John 11:17-37)When their brother dies, Mary and Martha have lots of questions for Jesus. And they’ve got good reason to question him. And with Jesus weeping at the tomb of his friend, a flurry of grief descends upon this story from John. How does a miracle take place in such a painful place?
How do we pray when our whole body aches for deliverance? How do we hope when tragedy strikes? How do we learn to want what God wants? In this worship series, we examine moments of longing in scripture: from the earliest days of the He...2021-11-0916 minAzle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)Wishin', Hopin', Prayin' - Prayers of the Saints (Revelation 5)Revelation is not for the faint of heart! But also, it is. In the dramatic imagery and arresting language of the apocalyptic, we can encounter the love of God just as meaningfully as other Bible stories. In this case, what do the prayers of the saints have to tell us about this love of God?
How do we pray when our whole body aches for deliverance? How do we hope when tragedy strikes? How do we learn to want what God wants? In this worship series, we examine moments of longing in scripture: from the earliest days...2021-11-0321 min
Azle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)MUSIC MONDAY - November 2021On the first Monday of each month, listen to ACC's Worship Minister, Nicole Hendley, and Senior Minister, Reverend Ashley Dargai, talk about the intersection of music and theology at Azle Christian Church.
In the spirit of Thanksgiving, Nicole and Ashley are talking about artists they are grateful for on this episode of Music Monday.
Find us on social media: Facebook and Instagram. Or, contact us through our website: www.azlechristianchurch.org. To contribute financially to the ongoing ministry of Azle Christian Church, you can give on our website or find us on Venmo (@Azle-ChristianChurch).2021-11-0125 minAzle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)Wishin', Hopin', Prayin' - Hoping for a Song (Psalm 137)Can you say that to God? Can you say THAT to God? Turns out, you can! Psalm 137 is a great example of an arresting prayer that offers us the permission to say the unsayable to God in hopes that God will take it seriously.
How do we pray when our whole body aches for deliverance? How do we hope when tragedy strikes? How do we learn to want what God wants? In this worship series, we examine moments of longing in scripture: from the earliest days of the Hebrew people to the last book in the Bible...2021-10-1818 minAzle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)Wishin', Hopin', Prayin' - The Longing of Creation (Romans 8:18-27)In this Romans text, everybody is groaning—even the Holy Spirit! Is this groaning a collective venting session or does it point to something more? And what is our response to such deep-seated longing? How in the world does hope play into the pain we are feeling now?
How do we pray when our whole body aches for deliverance? How do we hope when tragedy strikes? How do we learn to want what God wants? In this worship series, we examine moments of longing in scripture: from the earliest days of the Hebrew people to the last bo...2021-10-1318 min
Azle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)MUSIC MONDAY - October 2021On the first Monday of each month, listen to ACC's Worship Minister, Nicole Hendley, and Senior Minister, Reverend Ashley Dargai, talk about the intersection of music and theology at Azle Christian Church.
On this Music Monday episode, Nicole and Ashley discuss song choices for All Saints Day. All Saints Day grew out of the early church’s practice of remembering the martyrs of the church. Today we hold services on November 1st to remember those who have died, particularly in the lives of the congregation. The song choices might surprise you - they include picks from Mumford an...2021-10-0439 minAzle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)Homecoming: Love Will Bring You Home (Psalm 84)As Azle Christian Church dedicates its renovated building to the work of the gospel, we turn to Psalm 84, a song of praise for the house of God. What does the house of God look like? Can it look like a living room? An outdoor space by the road? A creaky old chapel? We discover that the answer to all of those possibilities is a resounding yes.
Our worship series for this fall is called Homecoming: Stories of Return. We’re looking at all sorts of stories of return in Scripture: parables, history, Jesus stories, church stories, and po...2021-09-2914 minAzle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)Homecoming: Fix You (Genesis 32 & 33)Jacob has schemed his whole life, but it’s time to come home. He warily approaches his family home, wondering what fate awaits him with his brother Esau. But in a stunning turn of events, Jacob not only meets his brother, he also sees the face of God, which perhaps, is the same thing. As we return warily, with our questions and our hopes and fears, may we trust that the Holy God of old is waiting for us, in places we may not expect.
Our worship series for this fall is called Homecoming: Stories of Return. We...2021-09-2119 minAzle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)Homecoming: Wherever is Your Heart (1 Samuel 1)This is the story about a nation told through a family—upheaval, change, transformation—all held in the hope of a tiny little baby and big, big devotion. What does Hannah’s story with all of its complexity tell us about returning? Does it mean we get everything we want? Or does it point us to the gospel: that one day God will get everything God wants?
Our worship series for this fall is called Homecoming: Stories of Return. We’re looking at all sorts of stories of return in Scripture: parables, history, Jesus stories, church stories, and poet...2021-09-1423 minAzle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)Homecoming: Home (Ruth 1)Ruth and Naomi reckon with their futures after a devastating loss. For Naomi, her only option is to return home to Judah. For Ruth, things seem more complicated. But ultimately, Ruth decides to turn away from any narrative that says these two women don’t owe each other anything, and forges ahead, believing that the future is something they can build together. As we return in our own way, how do we build something together?
Our worship series for this fall is called Homecoming: Stories of Return. We’re looking at all sorts of stories of return in S...2021-09-0719 min
Azle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)MUSIC MONDAY - September 2021On the first Monday of each month, listen to ACC's Worship Minister, Nicole Hendley, and Senior Minister, Reverend Ashley Dargai, talk about the intersection of music and theology at Azle Christian Church.
In this episode, we talk about the remaining songs we have chosen for our current worship series “Homecoming: Stories of Return.” Throughout the past few weeks, what has become more and more clear is that return is complex. Even when it’s joyous, there’s grief in the process. How do we make meaningful movements back? Knowing that our only direction is forward? The songs we’ve ch...2021-09-0622 minAzle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)Homecoming: River (Luke 17:11-19)So far in this series, we’ve been talking about returning home. But what if return runs even deeper? What if return completely turns our world upside down? This is the case with the story of the ten people with leprosy healed. What does it mean it to be a Samaritan who returns—someone who never had a home in Jesus’ circles in the first place?
Our worship series for this fall is called Homecoming: Stories of Return. We’re looking at all sorts of stories of return in Scripture: parables, history, Jesus stories, church stories, and poetry...2021-08-3019 minAzle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)Homecoming: Take Me Home, Country Roads (Ezra 1)The Israelites have moved back to Jerusalem after decades of exile, and things are complicated. They have a commission to rebuild, but how does one rebuild when there is so much grief? When those we left with did not return with us? When some of us have never been to the place called “home” before? Maybe a religious ritual will help.
Our worship series for this fall is called Homecoming: Stories of Return. We’re looking at all sorts of stories of return in Scripture: parables, history, Jesus stories, church stories, and poetry. What does it mean to ret...2021-08-2518 minAzle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)Homecoming: Crowded Table (Acts 16:6-15)Paul goes looking for a synagogue, and instead finds a group of women worshiping by the river. Lydia holds church like she does every week by the river and ends up hosting an evangelist in her home. This story of return is a return to our promises as a church. What do we owe each other?
Our worship series for this fall is called Homecoming: Stories of Return. We’re looking at all sorts of stories of return in Scripture: parables, history, Jesus stories, church stories, and poetry. What does it mean to return home? We’ll be l...2021-08-1916 minAzle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)Homecoming: Wayfaring Stranger (Luke 4:14-30)Things seem to be going well in Nazareth when Jesus returns home, but something flips the switch: namely the claim of ownership of Jesus by his hometown supporters. Sometimes returning home means not looking back on the past or holding out for the future, but instead, noticing what God is doing today in our midst.
Our worship series for this fall is called Homecoming: Stories of Return. We’re looking at all sorts of stories of return in Scripture: parables, history, Jesus stories, church stories, and poetry. What does it mean to return home? We’ll be look...2021-08-0920 min
Azle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)MUSIC MONDAY - August 2021On the first Monday of each month, listen to ACC's Worship Minister, Nicole Hendley, and Senior Minister, Reverend Ashley Dargai, talk about the intersection of music and theology at Azle Christian Church. In this first episode, we talk about anthem selections for our upcoming worship series "Homecoming: Stories of Return." What do Jesus and Johnny Cash have to do with one another? Did John Denver unknowingly sing the songs of Israel? Have we sparked your curiosity? GOOD. Let's dig in!
Find us on social media: Facebook and Instagram. Or, contact us through our website: www.azlechristianchurch.org...2021-08-0225 minAzle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)Homecoming: Hard Way Home (Luke 15:11-32)The Parable of the Prodigal Son is a well-worn story of return, of being found, of being loved. But what if this story is not finished speaking to us? As we peel back the layers of this parable, using other Bible stories to help us, we might see that what we knew about this story is all wrong. And this subversion of the story might be how find it anew.
Our worship series for this fall is called Homecoming: Stories of Return. We’re looking at all sorts of stories of return in Scripture: parables, history, Jesus st...2021-08-0220 minAzle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)Jesus' Greatest Hits: Living Into the Kingdom (Matthew 7:7-27)Jesus ends his sermon with calls for empathy, attention, and persistence. Many of the teachings in this section are familiar to those who don’t regularly attend church because of their absorption into mainstream culture. But this final bit of the sermon, about building our house on a rock, seems to call us to action after what we’ve heard. What will we do with the words of Jesus?
This summer we’re hunkering down in the most iconic sermon of all time: Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. It’s his longest sustained exploration of the upside down kingd...2021-07-2616 minAzle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)Jesus' Greatest Hits: Spending Your Energy (Matthew 6:25-7:6)While this text can feel very Mary Oliver-esque with its admonishment to consider the lilies, it’s hard to read Jesus telling us not to worry in a world that feels as though it’s on fire…in more ways than one. Like, read the room, Jesus! But maybe looking at the birds and the flowers is about more than getting our mind off things. Perhaps we might see a deeper truth of our place in God’s care.
This summer we’re hunkering down in the most iconic sermon of all time: Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. It’s...2021-07-1919 minAzle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)Jesus' Greatest Hits: Finding Your Treasure (Matthew 6:16-24)In this text, Jesus us tells us not to store up treasures for ourself on earth because they don’t last forever. No offense to Jesus, but there’s no way he could have predicted something like plastic that will outlive us all. Sure, material goods don’t last forever, but these days, they do last a very long time. If something like plastic is representative of our modern world, what then does Jesus have to say about money, our human condition, and our neighbor in light of this brave new world?
This summer we’re hunkering down in...2021-07-1427 minAzle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)Jesus' Greatest Hits: Praying like Jesus (Matthew 6:7-15)The Lord’s Prayer is one of the most familiar pieces of scripture ever. But what does it mean to pray it together? Is it just a template for our own personal prayers? Is it a magic talisman that makes things go our way? Or is there something deeper going on when we say it together as a church each week?
This summer we’re hunkering down in the most iconic sermon of all time: Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. It’s his longest sustained exploration of the upside down kingdom of God, and while it’s only three...2021-07-0618 minAzle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)Jesus' Greatest Hits: Practicing Piety (Matthew 5:13-15, 6:1-6)In this section of the Sermon on the Mount, we explore the well-known metaphors of salt, light, and a city on a hill. These are lines the church knows well--in fact, these metaphors are better preached by the work of the church than any long diatribe someone can offer. And though it seems like everything has changed, and that indeed the only dependable reality is change, our call is the same: be salt, light, and a city on a hill. We'll figure out what that looks like together.
This summer we’re hunkering down in the most ic...2021-06-2816 minAzle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)Jesus' Greatest Hits: Building a Fence (Matthew 5:33-48)If it seems like Jesus is changing the rules of the game, maybe he is changing the game altogether. With great love for the Torah and an awareness of the tricky situation of being a Jewish person in Rome, Jesus considers what it means to follow God whole-heartedly. What if deviating from the script of empire and religion offers a new way of being?
This summer we’re hunkering down in the most iconic sermon of all time: Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. It’s his longest sustained exploration of the upside down kingdom of God, and while...2021-06-2122 minAzle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)Jesus' Greatest Hits: Children of the Light (Matthew 5:17-32)Listen to Jenna Worrell Stewart, our guest preacher, discuss Matthew 5:17-32. Jenna has a deep passion for telling the stories of Jesus and walking alongside people as they walk with God. Recently she completed her Campus Ministry Apprenticeship at Arizona State University, and she is currently a student at the Renovare Institute for Christian Spiritual Formation. She lives in Austin with her husband Ben and their dearly loved dog Charlie.
This summer we’re hunkering down in the most iconic sermon of all time: Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. It’s his longest sustained exploration of the upside...2021-06-1424 minAzle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)Jesus' Greatest Hits: Being Blessed (Matthew 5:1-12)We’ve heard this song before: blessed are the meek, blessed are the poor in spirit, blessed are those who mourn. For they will gain an ethereal, intangible reward someday. Isn’t that how the song goes? Maybe we need to listen more closely and hear the promise of not a world coming one day, but of a world already here and happening now. Once we hear it, we might be compelled to sing the song, too.
This summer we’re hunkering down in the most iconic sermon of all time: Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. It’s his long...2021-06-0718 minAzle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)Re: Membering (Baptism)We arrive at the final marker of our membership series: baptism. While there’s no baptism in the text we read, we believe that the Holy Spirit is given to us in baptism, and that we, like the church, is always being born anew. Baptism is a continuous rebirth—not as a fixed moment in time, but as a way of life, and Pentecost reminds us that new ways of living are always possible.
During the Re: Membering series, we're looking at the markers of membership--discipleship markers that apply not just to ACC members, but also to our...2021-05-2417 minAzle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)Re: Membering (Discipleship)The word “discipleship” conjures up visions of checklists and discipline. But while being a disciple is not easy, it a life that is rooted in the boundless love of Christ. In this sermon, we settle ourselves into a prayer of Jesus for his disciples, finding tenderness and grace as the source of our lives of discipleship.
During the Re: Membering series, we're looking at the markers of membership--discipleship markers that apply not just to ACC members, but also to our broader Christian community. How does Easter change who we are as a church?
Find us on s...2021-05-1711 minAzle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)Re: Membering (Evangelism)This week we’re talking about our church’s commitment to evangelism, but don’t worry! We’re not trying to convert anyone. Instead, we’re thinking about good news even means. What is “good” about it? And what do we mean by “news” anyway? Jesus continues his vine and branch metaphor, and offers us some very good news for the people of God.
During the Re: Membering series, we're looking at the markers of membership--discipleship markers that apply not just to ACC members, but also to our broader Christian community. How does Easter change who we are as a church?2021-05-1019 minAzle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)Re: Membering (Outreach)The thing about vines is that they’re all tangled up in one another, and yet the branches cannot bear fruit unless they stick close to the vine. Jesus offers this metaphor of himself and his disciples to show that our work of love is an outgrowth of God’s love, and that love is communal. As we explore the marker of outreach in our Re: Membering series, we consider how the vine informs the way we think about our work in the community and the world.
During the Re: Membering series, we're looking at the markers of m...2021-05-0313 minAzle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)Re: Membering (Stewardship)Most of us have no real life interaction with sheep, yet we believe Jesus when he says he’s the Good Shepherd. But what does that mean exactly? Can we truly understand the fullness of what Jesus was saying when he said, “I am the good shepherd and I lay down my life” in our 21st century Western world? Probably not, but maybe we can roughly translate his meaning into a way of life in our highly specific context. How does a shepherding ethic transform the way we interact with our community—specifically how we share our resources? And what in...2021-04-2623 minAzle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)Re: Membering (Communion)Things don’t become real for the disciples until they see Jesus eating in Luke’s testimony of the resurrection. Today, we orient our worship around the table of Christ, eating bread and drinking wine as a proclamation of the Lord’s death and God’s great welcome to all, because there are things we can only know through embodied practices. As we gather around the table, we commit to keep coming around the table, eating together, arguing together, and discerning what resurrection life means…together.
During the Re: Membering series, we're looking at the markers of membership...2021-04-1918 minAzle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)Re: Membering (Gathering)"These things were written so that you may come to believe," the gospel writer tells us in John, and we're sure glad he wrote about Thomas. Thomas has some serious doubts about the story going around that Jesus is alive, and he's not ashamed to ask them. But the best part is that he can bring his questions and doubt to his faith community. When they gather together, Jesus shows up, unafraid to show his wounds to Thomas. We can't offer one another easy answers or solutions, but we can offer our presence and trust that Christ will, too.
2021-04-1217 minAzle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)Who We Are: Introducing Azle Christian ChurchAzle Christian Church — a congregation of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) — is a church community in Azle, Texas. On this episode, our pastor — Rev. Ashley Dargai — introduces listeners to ACC.2021-04-0603 min