Spiritual Formation: Confession and the Practice of Truth
Ann Arbor Community Church Sermon Podcast
Release Date: 08/18/2025
The Parables of Jesus - The Bags of Gold
Ann Arbor Community Church Sermon Podcast
The Parables of Jesus: The Bags of Gold - Pastor Hannah Witte - . Like us on or watch our livestream Sundays @ 11:00am - Summary: In this week’s message from Ann Arbor Community Church, Pastor Hannah invites listeners to enter into Jesus’ parable of the bags of gold from Matthew 25:14-30 with fresh eyes. Pastor Hannah helps listeners see that the story isn’t primarily about productivity or comparison, but about faithfulness and trust in the character of the master—who represents Jesus. She explains that each servant received what they could handle, revealing a master who knows,...
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The Parables of Jesus: Awake and Waiting
Ann Arbor Community Church Sermon Podcast
The Parables of Jesus: Awake and Waiting (Matthew 25:1–13) - Pastor Donnell Wyche - . Like us on or watch our livestream Sundays @ 11:00am - Summary: In this sermon, Pastor Donnell Wyche explores Jesus’ parable of the ten young women waiting for the bridegroom, highlighting how it invites us to live with spiritual readiness, not fear. He reminds listeners that the parable isn’t about purity or moral worth, but about preparation — about having “oil” that lasts through the long night. The wise and foolish alike had lamps and fell asleep, but only those who brought extra oil...
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All Souls: A Liturgy for Our Losses
Ann Arbor Community Church Sermon Podcast
All Souls: A Liturgy for Our Losses (Matthew 5:4) - Pastor Donnell Wyche - . Like us on or watch our livestream Sundays @ 11:00am - Summary: In this All Souls Day message, Pastor Donnell Wyche pauses the church’s Parables of Jesus series to offer a space for grief, reflection, and healing. He begins by expanding the meaning of All Souls Day beyond remembrance of those who have died to include all the losses that shape our lives—dreams unfulfilled, relationships broken, jobs lost, health struggles, and even disillusionment with the church itself. Through humor and compassion,...
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The Parables of Jesus: The Parable of the Weeds
Ann Arbor Community Church Sermon Podcast
The Parables of Jesus: The Parable of the Weeds - Jonathan Hurshman - . Like us on or watch our livestream Sundays @ 11:00am - Summary: Jonathan Hurshman brings us an honest, heartfelt sermon examining Matthew 13:24-30. He explores cultural context of the hearers and the world that Jesus was speaking to brilliantly, and invites us to be people who take Jesus at his word, trusting that Jesus is far more brilliant than we are. At the core of his sermon, Jonathan uncovers the question of the parable, how will we live as people of the kingdom of God, in a world where evil grows...
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The Parables of Jesus: Justice as Restored Dignity
Ann Arbor Community Church Sermon Podcast
The Parables of Jesus: Justice as Restored Dignity (Matthew 20:1-16) - Pastor Donnell T. Wyche - . Like us on or watch our livestream Sundays @ 11:00am - Summary: In this message on Matthew 20:1–16, Pastor Donnell revisits the workers-in-the-vineyard parable with fresh eyes. Rather than reading it through an hourly-wage fairness lens, he reframes the story around God’s justice as mercy, compassion, and restored dignity. The landowner’s repeated trips—at dawn, 9 a.m., noon, 3 p.m., and even 5 p.m.—are not about efficiency but about refusing to leave anyone unseen, unchosen, or...
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The Parables of Jesus: The Parable of the Pharisee and Tax Collector
Ann Arbor Community Church Sermon Podcast
The Parables of Jesus: The Parable of the Pharisee and Tax Collector - Pastor Hannah Witte - . Like us on or watch our livestream Sundays @ 11:00am - Summary: Pastor Hannah continues our fall journey through Jesus’ harder parables by inviting the church to “rest our whole weight on God” and to take Jesus at his word. Teaching from Luke 18:9–14, she frames the parable for a mixed crowd—newcomers and long-timers alike—reminding us that we are becoming a people transformed by Jesus, learning to belong across differences with joy, freedom, and boundless generosity. In this...
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The Parables of Jesus: The Rich Fool
Ann Arbor Community Church Sermon Podcast
The Parables of Jesus: The Rich Fool - Pastor Hannah Wyche - . Like us on or watch our livestream Sundays @ 11:00am - Summary: Pastor Hannah continues our fall series on Jesus’ harder parables by welcoming newcomers into a community learning to live in God’s unfolding story—transformed by Jesus and belonging across differences with freedom, joy, and boundless generosity. Setting the scene in Luke 12:13–21, she notes how a man interrupts Jesus to demand a fairer inheritance, revealing a heart preoccupied with money. Jesus’ warning—“Be on your guard against all kinds of...
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The Parables of Jesus: Love and Liberation
Ann Arbor Community Church Sermon Podcast
The Parables of Jesus: Love and Liberation (Luke 16 & Mark 10) - Pastor Donnell Wyche - . Like us on or watch our livestream Sundays @ 11:00am - Summary: In this sermon, The Parables of Jesus: Love and Liberation, Pastor Donnell Wyche explores two passages—Luke 16’s parable of the unjust steward and Mark 10’s encounter with the rich young ruler—to reveal a God who prioritizes mercy, freedom, and love over judgment and accounting. Pastor Donnell begins by reimagining the parable of the unjust steward, challenging traditional interpretations focused on fairness or stewardship....
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The Parable of the Unjust Steward
Ann Arbor Community Church Sermon Podcast
The Parable of the Unjust Steward (Luke 16:1–9) - Pastor Donnell Wyche - . Like us on or watch our livestream Sundays @ 11:00am - Summary: In this week’s message, Pastor Donnell Wyche launches our new series on The Parables of Jesus with one of the most perplexing stories—The Parable of the Unjust Steward (Luke 16:1–9). On the surface, Jesus seems to commend a dishonest manager who manipulates accounts for his own survival. This shocking twist unsettles our assumptions about morality, fairness, and what God expects of us. But Pastor Donnell reminds us that Jesus...
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Spiritual Formation: Solitude
Ann Arbor Community Church Sermon Podcast
Spiritual Formation: Solitude - Pastor Hannah Witte - . Like us on or watch our livestream Sundays @ 11:00am - Summary: Spiritual Formation series, Pastor Hannah Witte reflects on the practice of solitude. Drawing from Mark 6:30–31, where Jesus invites his disciples to step away from the swirl of activity and find rest, Hannah reminds us that Jesus values not our productivity but the condition of our souls. Solitude, she explains, is a spiritual discipline that slows us down, helping us step away from busyness, noise, and distraction so we can encounter God’s loving presence....
info_outlineSpiritual Formation: Confession and the Practice of Truth - Jonathan Hurshman - a2vc.org. Like us on fb.com/vineyardannarboror watch our livestream Sundays @ 11:00am - vimeo.com/annarborvineyard
Summary:
In this week’s message, Jonathan Hurshman continued our series on spiritual formation by exploring the practice of self-examination and confession. Drawing from 1 John 1:5–10, he reminded us that spiritual disciplines are not ends in themselves but training that prepares us for life in God’s kingdom. Just as scales prepare a musician or physical training equips a hiker, confession opens us to the transforming work of the Spirit not as a mere transaction for forgiveness, but as a way of walking in light and truth with God and one another.
Jonathan showed how confession is about “saying the same thing” as God agreeing with the truth of who we are, both in our brokenness and in our belovedness. He contrasted cultural distortions of truth, whether ignoring, weaponizing, or redefining it with the biblical call to authenticity before God. Confession, then, becomes a practice of freedom: it strips away pretense, unmasks the false self, and creates space for healing and growth in Christ. And when shared in trusted community, confession not only releases shame but also allows us to receive God’s forgiveness through the words of another believer.
The sermon closed with practical invitations into this rhythm of truth-telling: breath prayers like “Search me, O God,” the Anglican prayer of confession, the daily examen, and courageous honesty when tempted to hide. As we practice self-examination and confession, we are trained to embrace the truth rather than fear it, to live as our real selves before God, and to become a community marked by mercy, honesty, and grace.