Friending

Many of us don’t realize the importance of the people we choose to surround ourselves with. Our friends determine the quality and direction of our lives. In "Friending," learn how good friends (and bad friends) can impact your feelings, your relationship with God, and your future.

Join Damascus Road, as we will learn how to create a strong foundation for new, Godly friendships, how to relate well to our existing friends, and how to be a friend marked by love.

Loaf + Linen

The Bible uses many metaphors to help us understand the nature of God. He is described as a King or a Shepherd or a good Father. But these common images of God are not the only way the Bible chooses to describe him -- he is also called Fire, Bread, a twisting Vine, and a Woman in the throes of labor. If we only look at some of the metaphors the Bible uses to help us understand God, we miss out on the depth and breadth of who he is and what he’s like. What then can we learn about a God likened to a loaf of bread, a pregnant lady, or a fine tweed jacket?

Join Damascus Road as we explore some of the overlooked images of God.

Liturgy of the Ordinary

In the overlooked moments and routines of our day, we can become aware of God's presence in surprising ways. How do we embrace the sacred in the ordinary and the ordinary in the sacred? Framed around one ordinary day, we will explore daily life through the lens of liturgy, small practices, and habits that form us. Each week looks at something―waking up, brushing our teeth, losing our keys―that we all do every day.

Join Damascus Road for Liturgy of the Ordinary as we look at faith in small moments, spiritual formation in its daily, molecular form, because the only way we are formed and changed into the likeness of Christ is day by day... So what we do in this one, ordinary day matters.

IF

A lot hinges on the little word if. What if things were different? What if I could change? If only I hadn't done that. If only things were the way they used to be. If I had x, then I could do y. If she hadn't said that, then I wouldn't have done this. What does it mean to live as if what God says about me is true?

Join us as we dive into this small word and explore the if's of regret, excuses, purpose, and identity through people in the Bible who brought their big and little if's to God.

Attachment Disorder

In psychology, there's this thing called "attachment" -- it's how we develop a sense of trust and stability in the world by connecting to our parents as children. When applied to God, "attachment" is called "faith." But just like our earthly attachments aren't always secure, our divine attachments are often shaky as well. Why is faith hard? Why do we experience insecurity in our relationship with God? How can we help heal our disordered attachments and experience the peace of deep faith in our Heavenly Father?

Join Damascus Road as we dive into our own disorder, and explore how we can root our faith in God.

American/Christian

We are pulled between two identities - our American and Christian identities. From bumper stickers and Facebook posts asking for “God Bless America” to the idea of “One Nation Under God” these identities appear pretty compatible. However, as politics divide us and friends and family fight while the Church struggles to bring people together, we need to step back and reconsider. What does it mean to be a Christian in America? What are we called to by Christ? Affluence, autonomy, safety, and power are core American values and key to the American Dream. But are they compatible with Jesus' command to love our neighbor as ourselves?

Join Damascus Road as consider the ways these American values shape our own choices and the ways those choices affect our neighbors. Where did these values come from? How have they failed those on the edges of our society? And how can we disentangle ourselves from our culture's headlong pursuit of these values and live faithful lives of service to God and our neighbors? Can our American Dream be replaced by a God-centered, neighbor-loving Christian Dream?.

Joy & Mourning

The range of human experience includes both the peaks -- the times of delight and exuberance and joy and feasting -- and also the troughs -- the times of emptiness and sorrow and disappointment and mourning. Oftentimes, we slant towards one extreme or the other, either choosing to view our life through a lens of negativity or ignoring anything bad and numbing with pleasure. But in order to embrace our humanity and the complicated messy lives that God has blessed us with, we need to learn how to be comfortable with both the peaks and the troughs. How do we celebrate well? How do we grieve well? How do we practice and choose joy? How do we practice and choose to mourn?

Join Damascus Road as we learn how to lean into intimacy with God and each other as we grow in our ability to laugh and cry together.

The Gift

Join Damascus Road for this Christmas season as throughout our series The Gift, our attention will be drawn back to the true meaning of the holiday season. By highlighting the significance of the gifts the wise men brought to Jesus (gold, frankincense, and myrrh), we will connect the symbolism within the story of Christ’s birth to our relationship with Jesus. We will seek new insight on the birth of Jesus to gain a deeper understanding of who He is.