Downtown Community Church

Welcome to Asking For A Friend, a podcast where we answer your questions about marriage, dating, parenting and everything in between from a Christian perspective! We're William & Jul Colle. We've been married for almost 15 years, have 3 boys and juggle two careers as a pastor (William) and nurse (Jul,) while Jul is back in in school. We're passionate about having a Godly marriage and raising kids that grow up to love Jesus. We've learned from a lot of mistakes and have had some great examples over the years. Our prayer for this podcast is it encourages you, just like so many have encouraged us! Have a question? Text it in to 94000! Don't worry, it's anonymous:)This week:1. What are wise ways to prepare your marriage for parenthood? 2. How do you keep intimacy in your marriage after becoming parents?3. Can you support your spouse who is in school full time and take care of kids? We're planning kids and are nervous we will too busy with my spouse in school for 7+ years4. W

The word 'love' is thrown around lot in out culture. We use the same word to say we 'love' the fall and we say that we 'love' our spouse. We often don't think about the true depth behind this word. More specifically, what the Bible calls sacrificial love. Join Pastor Shannon Butler in our study of 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 as he explains the different words used to define love in the Bible and what it looks like to live out sacrificial love.Send us a textSupport the show

In our first sermon of this series, we want to address why marriage exists in the first place. Jesus didn't die for a church that was worth dying for. He didn't die for us because we were precious or clean... we were still sinners. God created marriage with the Gospel in mind. Does your picture of marriage look like the Gospel? Join Pastor Ben Kampfer in Genesis 2:21-24, Ephesians 5:21-33, and Revelation 19:6-9 to examine God's outline for marriage.Send us a textSupport the show

As we examine the last part of our Fundamentals series, our aim to Make Disciples, we must be earnestly following Jesus to do so. What is the next step that God is calling you to? Join Pastor Ben Kaempfer in Matthew 28:16-20 to learn what Jesus actually meant by "make disciples" through a deep dive into the context of those words.Send us a textSupport the show

At some point, every one of us has been the one that Jesus willingly and lovingly left the 99 to rescue. This should convict us to be ambassadors of Christ, searching for others who have not been saved yet because Jesus has commissioned us to make disciples. Join Pastor Ben Kaempfer in Luke 15:1-24 to study the story of the prodigal son and the radical grace and mercy he experienced.Send us a textSupport the show

God commands us to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. Generally, many Christians would be able to tell you that we are commanded to do so-- but who is our neighbor? How do we love them in the way that God commands us to? Join Pastor Ben Kaempfer in Luke 10:25-37 to examine Jesus’ conversation with a Jewish religious leader about how to love those around you-- and the unfortunate fault in the man’s thinking.Send us a textSupport the show

A fundamental of Christianity is that God tells us to love Him with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength. But how many of us truly do that? Is our performance conditional to the amount of acceptance we believe we will receive from God? Join Pastor Ben Kaempfer in our study of 1 John 4:19, 9-10 to unpack how perfect love casts out all fear and what that means for us in our faith walks.Send us a textSupport the show

Jesus died for YOU, regardless of your status as a Jew or as a Gentile. We are united under the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which is for everyone. However, in the early church, tensions arose when the Gentiles were serving God in a different framework than the Jews were used to. Join Pastor Ben Kaempfer in Acts 15:9-16:3 to study the simple Gospel and how it unites brothers and sisters in Christ.Send us a textSupport the show

The Bible tells us over and over again that we are saved by grace through faith; it is not our own doing, but the Lord's. So why do we keep feeling like we have to do good things to be loved by God? If the Gospel feels like shackles to you, you may not fully understand it. Join Pastor Ben Kaempfer in our study of Acts 15:1-20 to examine the fact that God loves us for us, and what that means for our faith walks.Send us a textSupport the show

Where in your life do you need to speak the Gospel? Encouragement is vital to our community and spiritual walk but it starts when we, as believers, model it. Join Pastor William Colle in our study of Acts 14:19-26 to study how Paul and Barnabas encouraged the early church, and how we can set the standard of encouragement.Send us a textSupport the show

What are the areas in your life that you need to be unashamed of the Gospel in? How do you respond when people don't respond well to you? Join Pastor Shannon Butler in Acts 14:1-18 and the book of Romans to study Paul and Barnabas and the power of the Gospel. We are always desperately searching for meaning and purpose, but the Gospel will always be and will only be the provision we need for the thing that we're most desperate for.Send us a textSupport the show

When the Gentiles were told about the message of Jesus, they worshiped and rejoiced. To the Jews, the message of Jesus was a threat to their kingdom. Join Pastor Ben Kaempfer in Acts 13:13-52 to examine how the greatest threat to our sanctification is that we push Jesus out when we feel that the kingdom we've built with our lives is threatened.Send us a textSupport the show

Why do followers of Christ obey God? Why do we practice spiritual disciplines? The Gospel, lived out, is attractive and intriguing enough for onlookers to want to know why those sharing it are different. Join Pastor Shannon Butler in Acts 13:1-13 to examine the never-failing mission of God and our opportunity to carry it out.Send us a textSupport the show

Many followers of Christ have lots of questions about the Holy Spirit, such as how the Holy Spirit speaks or His purpose. At His core, the Holy Spirit convicts us of sin, comforts us, guides us, gives us spiritual gifts and a desire to obey God, and enables us to pray and to understand God's word. Join Dylan Nielander in Acts 13:1-4 to study the Holy Spirit and how the church interacts with Him.Send us a textSupport the show

Last week, we established that we want to partner with God as He moves. But how do we achieve that partnership? Join Pastor Ben Kaempfer in Acts 12 to study how partnering with God begins with praying to God. What are you praying for? Are you praying prayers so bold that you may not even believe it when your prayer is answered? We hope that as you consider these questions, you will be encouraged to pursue intimacy with God through prayer.Send us a textSupport the show

Evangelism is the spreading of the Christian gospel by public preaching or personal witness. How did the early church share the good news of Jesus after He left Earth? How should we think about evangelism in our culture today? Join Dylan Nielander as he opens Acts 11:19-30 and teaches on evangelism and encouragement. Send us a textSupport the show

Throughout the Old Testament, Scripture tells a story of one God for one people - God's chosen people, the Jews. So when He encountered a Gentile one day, it wrecked the Jewish theology. Join Pastor Ben Kaempfer as he teaches through Acts 10:1-11:18 and the first encounter of the Holy Spirit to the Gentiles. How can we practice showing God's love to those who don't look like us?Send us a textSupport the show

To begin our new series Church History, its imperative that we know what is church?  What did Jesus teach us about how the "church" should operate before He left Earth? Join Pastor Ben Kaempfer as he teaches on Matthew 16:13-18 and the fascinating truth about how Jesus never used the word "church" as a building but an "ekklesia."Send us a textSupport the show

How do we think about grace and truth in terms of ourselves? We need to never forget our need for forgiveness. Join Dylan Nielander in John 1:14-18, the Book of 1 John, and Luke 18:11-14 to study God's faithfulness to forgive and what that means for us in our walks with the Lord.Send us a textSupport the show

Eternal life in Christ Jesus is the free gift of God. Period. And yet, so often we try to earn our salvation, as if it's at all possible for us to do that on our own. But with God, all things are possible. What is God prompting you to let go of? What does He want you to release control of? Join Pastor Shannon Butler in our study of Mark 10:17-28 to examine the story of Jesus‘ confrontation with a rich man and how to practically apply the principles of these verses to our lives.Send us a textSupport the show