Overflow - The Christ Sees You Podcast

Angela Duckworth's book titled Grit has a lot of takeaways for Christians trying to make an impact in their communities.

Luis works for FCA here in Des Moines, IA, and God is using him to make an impact for his Kingdom in so many ways!

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Interviewing Buop provided a real-time example of cultures clashing and how you deal with them. We had a good laugh talking about code-switching, but its a great example of what people do to survive in different cultures.

Health and fitness is usually something we think God does not care about. In our culture, it can easily become an idol, but I am learning that there is a need to help people see that the body is a temple and should be treated with care. In the same way that the intersection of sports and Christianity is a great place to do ministry, the same is true with fitness.

Abbey is a hairdresser by trade, and while working with clients and having tough conversations, she has been put in a position to speak the truth into people's lives. God put it on her heart that she needed to do more in engaging our world and the church with tough conversations people tend to avoid having.

The church is a set apart community of people after God's heart, but no group is better equipped to go and be with outsiders. Being is already a hard thing to do in our culture. People rarely want to be. Instead, we favor doing. Being means you are not looking to change or adjust anything. Being means you are ready to sit and listen for a while.

Sara Zika walks through how God has used community, confession, and repentance to get her through hard times. The episode continually points to our reliance on Christ in everything we do.

The Great Commission challenges us to make disciples of ALL NATIONS. When we do this well, an implication is that churches in urban context will become more diverse. Not because diversity is mandatory to be a follower of Christ, but because you begin to see how all people groups can play a role in God's kingdom because of his amazing grace.

Joseph Johnson of Change course has a powerful story. God is using him and his story to change lives of men coming out of prison looking for work. Website Email - joseph@change-course.org

I wanted to take some time to break down some important things God taught me at this moment regarding community engagement.

Wendy opens up about losing her child and how much there is a need for community amongst people who have lost children to the system.

I will take a sabbatical from everything work-related for a few weeks. I will be back in August with some more HEAT! This episode is all about what I learned starting this podcast and some quick announcements.

Ashley Caycedo is a member of Cottage Grove from Miami, FL who has done ministry in so many different contexts around the world. God gave her the heart to go when she was young and she has remained faithful to that call God. She has done everything from fellowship in India to running an orphanage in Sierra Leone.

In the month of May, I preached on how the 10 Commandments introduce us to this new Kingdom Culture God wants to establish. I wanted to take some time to remind and build on those ideas.

This episode will just wow you and put life in perspective. Roger is from Tanzania and has endured much living as a person with albinism. But he has continued to trust in the Lord through it all though! He currently serves the Lord by editing this podcast for me.

The Bible calls us to love our neighbor, but the American church tends to focus on the knowledge of God vs. loving those people who are around us. When churches are in urban contexts, it's easy to think of the walls of the church as protection to keep the "others" out vs an inviting place that is welcome for all to hear the truth of the Gospel.

Pastor Ekram leads the Sudanese congregation with whom Cottage Grove Church shares a building. I have enjoyed getting to know Ekram personally. God is using their church to reach the Arabic community here in Des Moines.

Individualism has taken the WE and US out of our lives. Maybe it's time to return to the beauty of doing things together and helping each other again.

This is the second time having Roger Tapia on the podcast. In this episode, he opens up about some deep and painful things that helped him see that he needed Christ in his life. If you have not listened to his first episode, click here. Viewer Discretion is advised - This is not a great episode for little kids!

We usually release episodes on Friday, but we wanted to get this out before our member meeting to talk about Overflow.

Tutku was born in Turkey, but he moved to Canada when he was young and then to the midwest. He did not grow up in church culture, so aspects of church still feel weird to him. Regardless of all of these things, it was community and deciding to learn about who Jesus was that helped him take a step forward to follow Jesus and get baptized.

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In this episode, we talk with Emily Robinson about abortion. Emily dazzles with her approach and perspective and how she has used pain to be a light to many women.

Poverty of being is an uncomfortable topic to approach because it forces you to look in the mirror. You have to see yourself for who you are and know that you use things of this world to make up for areas where you do not believe in the truths of God.

Dani is from the Philippines, and she talks about her transition to Des Moines and some of the cultural differences she noticed in the church. She is on a mission to help get Christians in the City to open up about their genuine need for Jesus.

When people think of poverty, the focus tends to be on material poverty but we forget about how many of us are STARVED for community.

Markee has been serving the city of Des Moines through teammates from day 1 when Cottage Grove first partnered with them. Him and Ian talk a lot about its impact and why its more needed than many people realize. *NOTE - This episode had some audio glitches.

Its time we expand our minds and begin looking at poverty from a different perspective! When we do, we will be able to realize that we all need Jesus. We can easily convince ourselves that the rich don't need Jesus as much as the poor do.

Colby Grabill has one of those stories that you have to just stop and be in awe of who God is and what he is doing in the lives of his people. Note - Towards the end of this episode we experienced some glitches in the audio due to memory card malfunction. We apologize in advance.

The assumption people often make is that if someones life does not look like your own, then there is no way they know Jesus.

Jjuan Hakeem has led out in meeting people in his community. Doing the simple things to get to know people and love on them in anyway possible! He started feeding people in the Drake neighborhood and he uses his podcast to build connections with other people making a difference in the community. Check out His Podcast Here

1 Corinthian 12 beautifully lays out a picture of how we need each other as Christians. No one is meant to go at this alone and grow into maturity in Christ without others. We all have our role to play in building the Body of Christ.

The Drake Neighborhood is filled with people from different African and Asian countries. Part of learning to love our neighbors is understanding the cultural gap that they face when they come here. Rutendo helps us to understand that gap a bit more in this podcast.

When most people think of serving their neighbors, it can be overwhelming. How can something so fundamental to the Gospel become this way? It's because we get our priorities wrong. In response, we need to cut idols out of our lives in order to focus on what does matter.

Fabian shows up for people in the neighborhood, no matter what his own circumstances are. He gets up and sacrifices so much of himself for the great good of others.

How did Jesus love you? He gave everything up for you so that you could have a relationship with God. 1 John 4 tells us that God is love itself and he laid out a template for how we show our love for others.

I have had the opportunity to serve with Matt Bole as a youth leader for a few years now. His story has always been one that has blown my mind because it shows that Jesus can and will change any heart he chooses. Matt has not lived an easy life, and though he has messed up, the Grace of Jesus has continued to find him and bring him back into the light.

For this episode we will be in Galatians 5 talking about the Fruit of the Spirit. To serve the communiy well we need love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.

Robbie Baker is the guest on the Christ Sees You Podcast this week. He talks a lot about feeling rougher around the edges and being rejected from the church because of it.

Des Moines is changing, and the kids in this city need help. They don't have the structure, role models, opportunities, and the biblical foundation they need. Those things can only be provided by having relationships with more kids and more families. If you're interested in mentoring a kid here in Des Moines, email me at iwarner@cottagegrovedsm.com

This week the podcast features Amara Sama. Make sure to follow on him Instagram if you love Caribbean food. On the podcast he talks about social media and the role it's playing in the lives of the kids he is working with. You can't engage in the lives of children without also thinking about the family dynamics a child comes from. He also provides some insight to what makes someone want to go to a church and come back week after week.

The wall between the church and communities is a feeling that people in the church think they are perfect. Often people are not convinced that Christians believe we all need the saving grace of Jesus just as much.

In this episode of the podcast John talks about his experiences working with the youth closely during a summer camp. His experiences can apply to any Christian working with the youth in many different urban contexts.

...But the Lord weights the heart. You can serve and do all the right things on the outside, but we have to remember that the Lord knows the real reason we are doing things. It's easy to fall into serving to look good or to bring yourself glory, instead of giving all of the glory to God!

Ep.10 of the Christ Sees You Podcast features Barb Carlston. We talk about how the Lord specifically commands us to care for widows. Barb provides a perspective that can be so easy for us all to forget.

We are taking this episode to the fall of man in Genesis 3. There is a lot that can be learned from the text. When it comes to community engagement, we are focusing on moving away from our own desires and moving towards what God desires!

Travis Pierce provides some practical advice on how to start sharing the Gospel more. His encouragement is to get used to having spiritual conversations and building relationships.

Today we will be in Proverbs 16:19 and looking at our hearts that often need to be humbled. To be used by God to build His Kingdom, you must come with a humble heart.

Ep.6 of the Christ Sees You Podcast features Josh Carmenatte. Josh has a heart for more churches having the eyes to see the people around them and letting go of things they are used to for the sake of The Gospel.

Sometimes what stops churches from being more welcoming is our way of thinking. People need to be able to come as they are, with all their problems and sin included, so that the finished work of Jesus Christ can cleanse them. Whether you believe it or not, that is what happened to you; the Lord found you, caught you, and then cleaned you.