The Ascent Podcast

Do you ever find it hard to believe that grand passionate gestures are real? Our culture loves creating music, movies, and stories around big gestures, yet when it comes to our own life and our relationship with God, it can be hard to accept the greatest passionate love gesture of all: that God sent His Son to earth in order to be closer to us. When it comes to the passionate love of God, however, it isn't just this huge gesture that is important, but all the little daily moments where God is actively loving us.    Find more resources at riverwood.cc/theascent

The third week of our series, Wild, explores God as a victorious warrior. While often we want to take control of the battles we face, we need to accept that not all battles are ours to fight and possibly God wants His battle back.   Find more resources at riverwood.cc/theascent

God is not silent. In fact, all throughout Scripture we find that He is loud, active, and advocates on our behalf. His advocacy is so loud it is like a lion's roar. By exploring three passages in Scripture today we will find that God roars for justice, He roars for our desires, and He roars for our freedom.   Find more resources at riverwood.cc/theascent

God's character cannot be limited, yet often we sanitize God to become a product of our culture's imagination. As a community, however, we want to rediscover who God really is and look at the attributes that can often confuse us. This week we're starting off by exploring how God is wild and what it means to fear Him.   Find more resources at riverwood.cc/theascent

We often think that what we say are the most important things in our lives is an accurate representation of what we spend our time on, but in reality, what we spend our time on is a way more accurate representation of what we think is important. When the Jewish people in Haggai were having trouble prioritizing, God tells them to “think it over”. The message is the same for us today: Think over what is most important to you and how you are spending your time. In this message, we look at three really practical ways of killing “busy” and prioritizing what is actually important.   Find more resources at riverwood.cc/theascent

Relationships are a huge part of our lives in our 20s, but at times we can put so much pressure on ourselves and our relationships that they end up breaking. There may not be a set formula for relationships, however, there are three questions that we can ask ourselves as we are making decisions that can help us navigate singleness, dating, and marriage.

As young adults, talking about money can make us uncomfortable, stressed, and anxious, yet it is something that impacts everything that we do throughout our lives. In this message, we explore why God cares about money, how to dream for our finances, and how to create a healthy attitude for our money now.   Find more resources at riverwood.cc/theascent

Each decade of our lives is unique, but our 20s and early 30s is especially unique as we navigate big life decisions and continue to develop who we will become. With those opportunities can also be disappointments as our pictures and dreams of what our lives would become meet reality. So sometimes all we can do is follow in Abraham's footsteps and recognize that it is what it is, but possibly it's not what it seems.

We are all called to run the race, keeping our eyes on the finish line. However, we were never meant to run alone. Join us as we explore what it looks like to run the race together and be challenged about being intentional with our community in this season. 

Our mental health is so important, yet there are still so many misconceptions, especially in the church, surrounding depression, anxiety, and the support needed to stay mentally healthy. In this conversation, Jen Gill helps to clarify some of those misconceptions and bring to light how God is calling us to take care of our own health as well as support others with theirs.   Continue to connect with us here: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theascentwpg/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheAscentWPG/ Website: riverwood.cc/theascent

One of the greatest stressors for young adults is finances. What makes it worse is that many of us don't have the tools to handle it well. In this episode, Brendan Peters, Independent Insurance Broker and Money Coach, helps to shift our perspective on how we use our money and gives us practical suggestions to be set up for success.   Continue to connect with us here: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theascentwpg/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheAscentWPG/ Website: riverwood.cc/theascent

At some point in our lives, most of us are bitten by the love bug. But whether we are currently in a relationship or not there are many unique challenges to singleness, dating, and marriage that those in the generations before us never experienced. In this episode Pastor Todd and Pastor Carolyn address some of those challenges and how we can best overcome them.   Continue to connect with us here: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theascentwpg/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheAscentWPG/ Website: riverwood.cc/theascent

The past few months, and especially the past couple weeks, have exposed a lot about who we are and how we react in a crisis. For some, it has exposed the compassion and generosity of humanity. Yet for most of us, it has exposed our own privilege and places where we have failed to act out the love and mercy of Jesus. In today's conversation, Jon Courtney, Community Pastor at Riverwood Church, helps us acknowledge our privilege and challenges us to keep fighting for others. For additional resources visit our website, riverwood.cc/theascent. Continue to connect with us here: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theascentwpg/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheAscentWPG/ Website: riverwood.cc/theascent

During Covid-19 we don't get to worship in a community setting and it can feel discouraging as we try to learn how to worship on our own. Alexander Grant, the Worship Director of Bread We Break, gives us such an encouraging word as he challenges us to take a deeper look at cultivating lives of worship.   Continue to connect with us here: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theascentwpg/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheAscentWPG/ Website: riverwood.cc/theascent

Join us for our first episode of Conversations with Brittany Petkau and Emilio Abiusi as they explore how God is present during difficult seasons, what to do when your emotions and knowledge of God don't line up, and how the Holy Spirit wants to work in our lives. To watch the episode visit YouTube or @theascentwpg IGTV.

Launching the series, Rebels With A Cause, Brittany looks at the first cultural trend that God is calling us to be defiant against: Speak Your Truth. In this message we look at why speaking our own truth is flawed and how to turn our lives the right side up by building a foundation of God's truth. 

There are millions of songs revolving around love and relationships, but how often are they actually teaching us powerful truths? In this message, we dive into what some of the red flags are when it comes to romantic relationships and if needed how do we handle breakups well?

There are millions of songs revolving around love and relationships, but how often are they actually teaching us powerful truths? In this message, we interviewed two couples who are going to get raw with us and challenge us to take an ancient but unpopular view of sex and intimacy. 

There are millions of songs revolving around love and relationships, but how often are they actually teaching us powerful truths? In this message, Jordan & Lauren Michalski discuss how to build a strong foundation for your relationships by knowing God deeply, cultivating a friendship, and focusing on the present.

There are millions of songs revolving around love and relationships, but how often are they actually teaching us powerful truths? In this conversation, we talk about some of the lies surrounding relationships, get raw about the emotions of singleness and about how to discern how God is at work in this area of our lives. 

It's not always easy to hear God's voice, know what He is trying to tell us or how He is wanting to work in our lives. In this message, Heather Boersma breaks it down and helps guide us in listening to God's voice and finding our secret place where we can grow our relationship with Him.

Sign up for Crash Course on Leadership and/or Crash Course on Preaching now! www.riverwood.cc/theascent

Sign up for Crash Course on Leadership and/or Crash Course on Preaching now! www.riverwood.cc/theascent

Instagram: @theascentwpg

Instagram: @theascentwpg

Instagram: @theascentwpg

Thank you to Pastor Todd, Pastor Carolyn, Marie, Kevin and Erika for sharing with us as we concluded our Sex With The Lights On series.