Restoration Community Church

"How Can You Take the Bible Literally?"

Pastor Chris Ansell of Restoration Community Church continues a sermon series around difficult questions of the faith. The next question is "How Can You Take the Bible Literally?" Pastor Chris discusses the need for nuance as top when to take the Bible literally verses metaphorically.

An additional note: we had some technical difficulties, so there are parts of the feed where the sound seems to go in and out, we will try to address this for next week.

Passages: John 3:4; John 2:19-21; Isaiah 55:12; Mark 8:22-25; Luke 5:1-11

"Doesn't Religion Cause Violence?"

Pastor Chris Ansell of Restoration Community Church continues a sermon series around difficult questions of the faith. The next question is "Doesn't Religion Cause Violence?" Is religion more likely to cause violence than secular humanism ideologies? What did Jesus have to say about violence in his teaching?

Passages: Matthew 25:41-46; 1 John 1:8; Matthew 5:38-39, 44; Matthew 18:21-22; Luke 9:23; Romans 12:21

"Doesn't Religion Hinder Morality?"

Pastor Chris Ansell of Restoration Community Church continues a sermon series around difficult questions of the faith. The next question is "Doesn't Religion Hinder Morality?" Many atheists like to propose that religion causes people to act in immoral manners, but is that a fair critique of faith systems?

Passages: Romans 2:13-15; Galatians 5:22-23

"How Can You Say There's Only One True Faith?"

Pastor Chris Ansell of Restoration Community Church continues a sermon series around difficult questions of the faith. The next question is "How Can You Say There's Only One True Faith?" Are different religions mutually exclusive? Why or why not? If we advocate for the truth of Christianity, how does that direct our interactions with those who might be different from us?

Passages: Genesis 2:9; 1 Corinthians 15:12-19; Matthew 28:18-20

"Doesn't Christianity Crush Diversity?"

Resident Preacher, Michael Thornhill, of Restoration Community Church continues a sermon series around difficult questions of the faith. The second question is "Doesn't Christianity Crush Diversity?" What does the Bible have to say about this topic? How has diversity been supported and/or destroyed in the life of the church?

Passages: Revelation 7:9-11; Acts 6:1-6; Galatians 2:11-16

”Aren’t We Better Off Without Religion?”

Pastor Chris Ansell of Restoration Community Church kicks off a new sermon series around difficult questions of the faith. The first question is "Aren't We Better Off Without Religion?" Is religion toxic like proponents of the new atheism profess? Or is religion beneficial for us and our world?

Passages: John 15:18-19; Acts 20:35; Philippians 4:12-13; 1 Thessalonians 5:16; Matthew 7:14

Craving Justice

Pastor Chris Ansell of Restoration Community Church concludes an Advent series for us. This week we looked at our craving for justice. Soon after the birth of the promised Messiah, King Herod attempts to strike out against this threat to his job security by slaughtering infants in the town of Bethlehem. The wait for true justice is not yet over.

Passages: Matthew 2:13-18; Jeremiah 31:16-17; 2 Peter 3:9

Craving Love

Pastor Chris Ansell of Restoration Community Church continues an Advent series for us. This week we looked at our craving for love. Dr. Larry Crabb says that in our relationships we look for two elements, security and significance. We examined how human relationships ultimately fall short of this need and only God can truly fulfill us.

Passages: 1 John 4:7-8; Psalm 36:5; Zephaniah 3:17; Isaiah 54:10; Romans 5:6-8; John 4:10; Galatians 4:4-5

Craving Joy

Michael Thornhill of Restoration Community Church continues an Advent series for us. This week we looked at our craving for joy. Is it possible to experience the joy of the Lord in the midst of our struggles? Much like "walking and chewing gum" at the same time?

Craving Peace

Pastor Chris Ansell of Restoration Community Church continues an Advent series for us. This week we looked at our craving for peace in the world. It doesn't take long to look around and find places of strife, violence, and disorder. As we wait in the season of Advent, we wait for Jesus to return to give us peace, not just the absence of violence, but true shalom.

Passages: Psalm 120:6-7; Isaiah 9:6-7; Romans 5:1; Ephesians 2:14-16; John 14:27; John 16:32-33; Matthew 5:9; Isaiah 2:4; Romans 12:17-18