Foundrycast

Do you ever get frustrated with things just not going the way they should be? What about a skill you just can't get done, no matter how easy it seems to others? I often find myself trying to figure out what a silver bullet would be…you know, that one part of the puzzle that should put it all together? Paul, one of the first Christian leaders, writes to a group of people to encourage them to finish things out well. In fact, the whole book of Colossians is him helping them take things to the next level. This month, Foundry is looking at his suggestions, helps and encouragement. He starts his letter to this young church by simply telling them how he is praying for them. It's amazing how much prayer can help us when we feel like we are stalled or even stopped. Paul breaks into an early pattern of movement for the church. It starts with having great hope, letting that then overflow into faith and love for others. But the baseline is prayer. Prayer Pours the Foundation for the Christian Life. Listen to these words;

Friendship gets complicated. It’s a fact of life. No matter at what stage of life we are in or where our friends actually live, friendship takes intentionality. The internet and social media complicate it even further. People often complain that Facebook, Instagram and other forms of social media hurt friendship. This week we are talking about how the boundaries of true friendship transcend how we actually communicate with those we care about. Paul wrote a letter to his good friends in a town called Phillipi. He was in prison and they were learning what it means to be a Christian community living in the margins of culture. Friendship is all about contact and love. True Life Needs True Contact. He wrote this to them; 3 Every time I think of you, I give thanks to my God. 4 Whenever I pray, I make my requests for all of you with joy, 5 for you have been my partners in spreading the Good News about Christ from the time you first heard it until now. 6 And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you,

We’ve all seen the post on Facebook. The normal reaction is “did they seriously just say/share that?” It happens all the time. Social media has radically changed the way we communicate. It has changed the way we live our whole life (Mashable shares 5 ways right here). While preparing for our #statusupdate series I asked folks about the behaviors they found frustrating on social media. Here is just a sample of the most common issues many people have with how others communicate. Frustration about the content of sharing. Stirring up the pot vague booking (yep. I learned that word) Airing dirty laundry in public baiting people for arguments being passive/aggressive Our words are pretty powerful. In fact, little words can cause big reactions. We’ve all seen it happen. Someone says something and an instant verbal war starts. But words have always been powerful things. This week we are going to look at James 3:1-12. It’s an ancient argument for realizing the power of our words and the ability our words have to do

It's Easter at Foundry (and all over the world).  Chad shares from John 20:19-23, when the disciples encountered Jesus after he rose from the dead. In the conversation Jesus had with them that night, we can learn this lesson.  It is IMPOSSIBLE to encounter a risen LORD without responding and going.  Jesus offers peace, breathes on his followers (yeah..that's kinda weird) and finally sends them out in mission. We only understand Jesus when we let him fully change us and we fully become part of his mission on earth. 

There are some things that shouldn't be contained.  Chad shares about the vision of Foundry and the 4 assumptions of Jesus Foundry lives by.  1. Jesus is Here 2. Jesus is doing something 3. Jesus wants us to be part of what he is doing 4. Our greatest fulfillment in life will be found by participating in what Jesus is doing.  So we pull apart John 1:14 and talk about what glory is, what glory does and why glory should not be contained. 

Have you taken a #selfie before? They are pretty popular. So popular, the word selfie was the word of the year in 2013. But what is the motivation behind taking a selfie? The whole idea is pretty wild. When we put that camera in front of us (in JUST the right place), we are creating the perfect frame to share our life with everyone else...and let's be honest. We are all looking for a little validation when we share a selfie.  But the false self isn't the true self. This week, Chad opens up Colossians chapter 3 and talks about the real life Jesus gives us, and how it is in contrast to our own attempts to create and share real life. 

Have you ever just wanted to be alone? I’m sure. It’s something we all go through. We need time to be my ourselves and in our thoughts. It’s restful and relaxing. But it isn’t a permanent state.  When we begin to isolate ourselves too much we get into situations we simply aren’t made for. There is no way we can isolate ourselves that is healthy. By isolating, we are divorcing ourselves from the larger purposes of what God has for us as individuals and as the local church. But isolation is still out there. We can all fall into it. The Fear of Isolation is real It’s real and it’s dangerous. This week, in the final conversation in our Bump In The Night series, we are going to talk about isolation. While our conversations have previously been around the emotions at the beginning of our fears, this week we are talking about the behavior of isolation. Chad is sharing about the biblical idea of being along, what it means (and doesn’t mean) and why there is tremendous importance to being part of something larger than

This is our second week in #bumpinthenight, a series on the reality of fear in our lives and our world. As we talked about the first week in our series, the matter of fear is a rather intense one and one that seems “to be all up in our business.” This week we will tackle the fear of the unknown. The unknown is something we all face, like let’s be honest do you really know what’s for dinner tonight? But, it seems to be the case that when we come to points of transition, the places where we are getting ready to cross from the here to there, that the unknown and fear meet. This week our scripture will drop us down right into the middle of one of those places of transition, to a time when the people of Israel were standing in the realm of the known but being faced with a big unknown as they prepared to cross into the promised land. In Deuteronomy 31:1-8 we will explore how Moses address the fears of the people by reminding them that it is about the known not the unknown and then talk about what it means to have c

The fear of failure can totally stop us in our tracks. It’s the beginning point for many issues that plague us personally and organizationally. This week, kicking off our Bump In The Night series, Chad shares about what a biblical view of fear looks like. It leads us to think of fear not as a single event, but as part of a spectrum emotions covering a wide range of human emotions. At it’s basic, fear can manifest itself in two major emotions. Absolute Terror and absolute worship. This means we can either live in a spectrum of anxiety or trust. It’s about following, not failing Chad opens up the beginning of the story of Jeremiah, a young priest called by God to do some pretty major work. And Jeremiah is scared and making excuses. Inside of this story, we discover the secret weapon to conquering fear is following. What we find trust in is the fact we are known by God, we are called by God and we are set apart by God. The answer to the fear of failing that Jeremiah dealt with was not running away from what he f

Chad and Allison sit down to begin a conversation about Fear and what the Bible says about fear.    We talk about What our silly fears are Allison starts quoting H.P. Lovecraft (what???!!!) Chad shares about the usage of fear and worship How fear isn’t self-dependent and it has to be part of a larger story How fear is the extent of anxiety and worship is the extent of hope.    Make sure to join us for our Bump in the Night series as we talk about the fears we face in life and how Jesus rescues us out of fear. 

As Foundry leads up to our FIRST baptisms this Sunday, Chad and Allison sit down to have a conversation about baptism. In this conversation we talk about; What Baptism Is (and Isn't) What A Sacrament Is Why we have a BIG definition of baptism What it means to baptize infants AND adults How God is working in baptism. Why baptism is a community event.  For more information on baptism at Foundry, check out wearefoundry.com/baptism  

So you are telling me folks put ashes on their forehead? On this episode of FOUNDRYcast, Chad and Allison sit down and have a conversation about the history of Ash Wednesday, what the practice means and how Foundry is celebrating this ancient holiday of the church.  For more information on our Ash Wednesday service, check out wearefoundry.com/ashwednesday

It is 2016, we a dependent on our devices. I heard someone the other day say “ how did anyone get anywhere before GPS?” But the thing about our electronic devices, our cell phones, our internet routers etc. is that they must be within range of the appropriate emitted signals in order to be of any use. To put it another way, while signals are being emitted all around us, they don’t do us any good unless we utilize the proper receivers. This week we are going to look at a story about the young prophet Samuel (you can read this story right here). In this story we will see how Samuel hears from God but doesn’t recognize the voice of the one he serves, doesn’t receive the signal if you will. We will see how a shift in what Samuel expects changes everything for him and will ask ourselves what it is we expect. This story like most in the Bible clues us into who God is, and in this case the story comes right out and says it: God is a God who comes and God is a God who calls. God comes to and calls out to Samuel, unt