Hope Downtown Minneapolis Podcast

Why does it feel so good to point out what’s wrong? In Mark 7, the Pharisees find fault while standing in front of a miracle. Jesus responds with unsettling clarity. The real problem is not out there but in here. Beneath our criticism lies a craving to be right, and beneath that, a heart that cannot fix itself. This week we will see why self-improvement cannot save us and how only the cross can wake us up and set us free from the exhausting cycle of accusation. Series: The Gospel of Mark Speaker: Davis Johnson Hope Community Church - Downtown Minneapolis Download Message Slides For more resources or to learn more about Hope Downtown, visit hopecc.com/downtown.

What do you do when you’re certain you can handle it on your own—only to have that certainty upended? The disciples were in such a spot. Then Jesus showed up and said, “Do not be afraid, I will carry you through.” When overwhelmed by life’s storms, are you prone toward self-reliance like the disciples? If so, this message will point you back to Jesus who is faithful to carry you through. Series: The Gospel of Mark Speaker: Cor Chmieleski Hope Community Church - Downtown Minneapolis Download Message Slides For more resources or to learn more about Hope Downtown, visit hopecc.com/downtown.

It’s easy to glaze over the feeding of the five thousand. But in Mark 6, Jesus is showing us what his kingdom is like. He meets real need, confronts our instinct to control, and invites us to keep coming back with empty hands to the only one who can truly satisfy. Series: The Gospel of Mark Speaker: Davis Johnson Hope Community Church - Downtown Minneapolis Download Message Slides For more resources or to learn more about Hope Downtown, visit hopecc.com/downtown.

Here in our city, these are some of the most trying times in the last 50 years. Does Jesus have a word for us as we are so burdened by all that is going on? This week we look at how a very hard day in the ministry of Jesus can actually minister to us as well. Series: The Gospel of Mark Speaker: Steve Treichler Hope Community Church - Downtown Minneapolis Download Message Slides For more resources or to learn more about Hope Downtown, visit hopecc.com/downtown.

Jesus returns home but doesn’t experience the type of homecoming one might expect. It could be said the townspeople are out of joint. Those we’d expect to greet him with adulation instead take offense at him. But it’s not just them who is out of joint—so are we and so is our city. Oh, how we need the Lord to draw near us in this time. Series: The Gospel of Mark Speaker: Cor Chmieleski Hope Community Church - Downtown Minneapolis Download Message Slides For more resources or to learn more about Hope Downtown, visit hopecc.com/downtown.

In Mark 5, everything people are afraid of actually happens... and Jesus is still there. He slows the story down, treats death like something temporary, and refuses to let fear have the final word. What if the good news isn’t that fear goes away, but that it no longer gets to be in charge? Series: The Gospel of Mark Speaker: Davis Johnson Hope Community Church - Downtown Minneapolis Download Message Slides For more resources or to learn more about Hope Downtown, visit hopecc.com/downtown.

Mark chapter 5 has been named “The St. Jude chapter” as he is the patron saints of lost causes. In Mark 5 we meet 3 people who are at the very end of their rope. In this week’s message, we’ll take a dive into how Jesus bring amazing order out of utter chaos. Series: The Gospel of Mark Speaker: Steve Treichler Hope Community Church - Downtown Minneapolis Download Message Slides For more resources or to learn more about Hope Downtown, visit hopecc.com/downtown.

The mission of Hope Downtown is “Unburdening ordinary people by pointing each other to an extraordinary Savior.” That’s what we’re all about! But where did that phrase come from and why does it matter for our community? That’s what this message will explain. Series: Vision 2026 Speaker: Cor Chmieleski Hope Community Church - Downtown Minneapolis Download Message Slides For more resources or to learn more about Hope Downtown, visit hopecc.com/downtown.

With New Years around the corner, the world starts whispering to us: January is coming, now is the time to fix yourself. Be better, Do more. But what if, while our world keeps chasing productivity, our souls are actually craving rest. In this Christmas carol, we consider the history, theology, and Jesus’s invitation to give rest to weary people. Series: Christmas 2025 Speaker: Logan Moorse Hope Community Church - Downtown Minneapolis Download Message Slides For more resources or to learn more about Hope Downtown, visit hopecc.com/downtown.

The Bible from Genesis to Revelation is filled with God’s unfolding story of his continual giving to his creation, culminating in the best gift ever, Jesus Christ. Don’t miss it this Christmas! Series: Songs of the Season Speaker: Steve Treichler Hope Community Church - Downtown Minneapolis Download Message Slides For more resources or to learn more about Hope Downtown, visit hopecc.com/downtown.

When I came to faith in Christ at age 19, I found it remarkable that many of the Christmas songs I had sung in my childhood spoke of Jesus. I knew of a silent night and a holy night...but I couldn’t tell you of their significance. Though prominent in so many songs of the season, the birth of Christ was lost on me. In this Christmas carol, we consider the history, theology, and glory of the Incarnation – that God became a man – which is good news of great joy for all people! Series: Christmas 2025 Speaker: Cor Chmieleski Hope Community Church - Downtown Minneapolis Download Message Slides For more resources or to learn more about Hope Downtown, visit hopecc.com/downtown.

Most of what we call “faith” turns out to be little more than vague sentiment once life actually hits us. At the end of Mark 4, we find a violent storm, seasoned sailors unraveling, and Jesus… asleep. But what first looks like indifference becomes a doorway into who God really is as He meets the storm around us, the storm within us, and the ultimate storm that brings us home. Series: The Gospel of Mark Speaker: Davis Johnson Hope Community Church - Downtown Minneapolis Download Message Slides For more resources or to learn more about Hope Downtown, visit hopecc.com/downtown.

Jesus described the kingdom of God by comparing it with common agricultural realities. While the illustrations are clear, it’s not immediately obvious how such things illustrate the kingdom of God. And it’s those opaque pieces which are intended to draw us in, induce more questions, and encourage us to seek the meaning of such things. Series: The Gospel of Mark Speaker: Cor Chmieleski Hope Community Church - Downtown Minneapolis Download Message Slides For more resources or to learn more about Hope Downtown, visit hopecc.com/downtown.

Whenever you hear an inside joke that you don’t get, how does that make you feel? Isolated, alone and dumb? For sure! How about when you are in on it? Feels like you are included, knowledgeable and smart, huh? Discover today about the greatest inside joke ever told, and how we can always be on the inside of it!! Series: The Gospel of Mark Speaker: Steve Treichler Hope Community Church - Downtown Minneapolis Download Message Slides For more resources or to learn more about Hope Downtown, visit hopecc.com/downtown.

In our study of Mark so far, we have seen a variety of responses to Jesus and his teaching. This week in the Parable of the Soils, we’ll see Jesus unpack what is actually going on behind the scenes of this different reactions to him. Series: The Gospel of Mark Speaker: Steve Treichler Hope Community Church - Downtown Minneapolis Download Message Slides For more resources or to learn more about Hope Downtown, visit hopecc.com/downtown.

In this passage Jesus engages with both his family and the religious leaders. The differences between those two groups are stark. But they are paired together through story due to a similarity. What is that commonality and why might we struggle in the same way? That’s the key to understanding what it means to be a part of God’s family. Series: The Gospel of Mark Speaker: Cor Chmieleski Hope Community Church - Downtown Minneapolis Download Message Slides For more resources or to learn more about Hope Downtown, visit hopecc.com/downtown.

The twelve disciples are a unique group of individuals. In this sermon, we look at what Jesus called the twelve to, and the ragamuffin group that they were that become a united team for Christ. Series: The Gospel of Mark Speaker: Steve Treichler Hope Community Church - Downtown Minneapolis Download Message Slides For more resources or to learn more about Hope Downtown, visit hopecc.com/downtown.

Jesus heals a man. That should be the end of the story but it’s not. The religious leaders take offense that he did so on the Sabbath. That breaks the rules. Well, that breaks their rules. How does the rest of the account go? That’s what we explore in this message. Series: The Gospel of Mark Speaker: Cor Chmieleski Hope Community Church - Downtown Minneapolis Download Message Slides For more resources or to learn more about Hope Downtown, visit hopecc.com/downtown.

Jesus Christ is a surprising Savior to many who were looking for a different kind of king. He is the just as surprising today. How we respond to this Jesus, who cannot be put in a box of our own making, is what it is all about. We see this in four ways in this week’s passage. Series: The Gospel of Mark Speaker: Steve Treichler Hope Community Church - Downtown Minneapolis Download Message Slides For more resources or to learn more about Hope Downtown, visit hopecc.com/downtown.

We live like the world is our movie and wonder why we are exhausted. In Mark 2:1–12, Jesus goes beneath the surface and heals the real injury; he forgives before he fixes, proves it in public, and pays at the cross as the scarred Lamb who went down so we could rise. This is not another self improvement strategy; it is the end of auditioning. Discover how to trade your "main character energy" for God's invitation to come home. Series: The Gospel of Mark Speaker: Davis Johnson Hope Community Church - Downtown Minneapolis Download Message Slides For more resources or to learn more about Hope Downtown, visit hopecc.com/downtown.