Podcast
Ann Arbor Community Church Sermon Podcast
Hosted by Ann Arbor Community Church · EN
Ann Arbor Community Church is a multi-ethnic, multi-generational Christian community rooted in a centered-set approach to faith. We blend the vibrant faith of the historic Christian creeds with a thoughtful, engaged response to today’s culture. Whether you are filled with faith, full of questions, or somewhere in between, you belong here. https://a2communitychurch.org
17episodes
Episodes
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Migrant Journeys: Hagar
6d ago00:30:13Tap to summarizeMigrant Journeys: Hagar - Pastor Hannah Witte - a2cc.org. Watch our livestream Sundays @ 11:00am - vimeo.com/annarborcommunitychurch Summary: In week two of our Migrant Journeys series, we sit with Hagar—a woman whose story is marked by displacement, exploitation, and loss. Stripped even of the name her mother gave her, Hagar flees into the wilderness where she encounters El Roi, the God Who Sees. God pulls up a chair, listens to her story, and reminds her that she is more than the labels others have placed on her. Hagar's story invites us to remember that every person is an image bearer with immeasurable worth. What if we became people who see as God sees? This sermon invites us to trust that the God who saw Hagar sees us too—in our grief, our longing, and our wilderness seasons. And as we experience being fully seen and fully loved by God, we may find ourselves transformed into people who pull up a chair, truly care about honoring others' dignity, and help cultivate belonging wherever we go.
Transcribe →Migrant Journeys: Abraham and Sarah
2w ago00:39:37Tap to summarizeMigrant Journeys: Abraham and Sarah - Pastor Donnell T. Wyche - a2cc.org. Watch our livestream Sundays @ 11:00am - vimeo.com/annarborcommunitychurch Summary: This sermon reads Genesis 12 as a migration story, following Abraham and Sarah from the inside as displaced people rather than as tidy heroes of faith. It traces their uprooting from the safety of clan and homeland, their flight to Egypt driven by famine, and the cost of their vulnerability there, where a frightened Abram hands Sarai over to Pharaoh to save himself. The turn comes in God’s quiet intervention on Sarai’s behalf: even when no human being is advocating for the powerless woman in Pharaoh’s house, God sees her, and that faithfulness does not depend on Abraham getting it right. Reading through the lens of Karen Gonzalez’s The God Who Sees, the message presses the congregation to set down sanitized retellings, recognize God’s persistent attention to the foreigner and the unprotected, and let that same gaze reshape how they see migrants and strangers today.
Transcribe →Anchored: Life at the Center - United
May 1800:38:31Tap to summarizeAnchored: Life at the Center - United - Pastor Donnell T. Wyche - a2cc.org. Watch our livestream Sundays @ 11:00am - vimeo.com/annarborcommunitychurch Summary: In Anchored: Life at the Center – United (1 Corinthians 12:15-31), Paul confronts a Corinthian church fractured by gift rivalry, social hierarchy, and the same individualism that defines our own age, insisting that we are not merely like the body of Christ but actually are it: divinely placed, mutually dependent, and incomplete on our own. He exposes the absurdity of going solo, a foot disowning the body because it is not a hand, and the lie of self-sufficiency, the eye telling the hand, “I don’t need you.” Paul reveals the upside-down economy of God’s kingdom where the seemingly weaker parts are indispensable and the overlooked are given greater honor. Listing “helping” alongside apostleship and miracles, Paul dismantles the spiritual ranking system and points beyond competing gifts to the “most excellent way,” love, where gifts exist to build up the body rather than elevate the self. The invitation, sealed at the communion table, is to surrender our illusion of completeness, embrace honest interdependence, and discover that the life that is truly life is found anchored in Christ and united with one another.
Transcribe →Anchored: Resting in Prayer
May 1100:30:09Tap to summarizeAnchored: Resting in Prayer - Pastor Hannah Witte - a2cc.org. Watch our livestream Sundays @ 11:00am - vimeo.com/annarborcommunitychurch Summary: In this week’s Anchored series, Pastor Hannah invites us to rethink prayer—not primarily as asking God for things, but as cultivating an ongoing, loving relationship with God. Drawing from Psalm 73, she explores how prayer becomes a space where trust, intimacy, and awareness of God’s presence are formed over time. Through the example of Asaph’s honest wrestling with injustice and his ultimate declaration that “God’s presence is all I need,” Pastor Hannah reminds us that prayer is where we learn to rest in God, even when life feels uncertain or overwhelming. Through personal stories and practical invitation, Pastor Hannah reflects on how deep trust is built slowly through consistent presence, much like any meaningful relationship. She challenges us to consider what kind of relationship with God we hope to have years from now and whether our daily choices are leading us there. Telling a story of her unfortunate flat tire, she illustrates how prayer empowers us to carry the weight of life with strength and stability that comes from God rather than sheer willpower. Pastor Hannah teaches us the Welcoming Prayer and gives an invitation to step more intentionally into prayer practices that help us slow down, surrender control, and experience the sustaining presence and power of God.
Transcribe →Anchored: Generous Witnesses
May 400:43:27Tap to summarizeAnchored: Generous Witnesses - David Paladino - a2cc.org. Watch our livestream Sundays @ 11:00am - vimeo.com/annarborcommunitychurch
Transcribe →Anchored: Becoming Like Christ
Apr 2700:39:03Tap to summarizeAnchored: Becoming Like Christ - Jonathan Hurshman - a2cc.org. Watch our livestream Sundays @ 11:00am - vimeo.com/annarborcommunitychurch Summary: Jonathan sets the stage by showing that a centered-set mindset only works if we have clear language for who and what is at the center—Jesus and his ways. He compellingly highlights our need for Christlikeness, reminding us that it is the whole point of the Christian life. The term itself means “little Christs”—people who imitate and resemble Jesus. Yet one of the failures of the Western Church, he notes, is that few of our coworkers and neighbors associate being “Christian” with becoming like Jesus. What if that were different? He then offers a thoughtful exposition of Philippians 2:5–11, grounding it in the Greco-Roman world, where status and achievement were everything—often gained at the expense of others. Against that backdrop, we see again and again that the way of Jesus is humility: a willing lowering of oneself for the good of others. Jonathan calls us to embrace this humble way as we seek to become like Christ in all things.
Transcribe →Anchored: Steeped in Scripture
Apr 2000:45:09Tap to summarizeAnchored: Steeped in Scripture - Pastor Donnell T. Wyche - a2cc.org. Watch our livestream Sundays @ 11:00am - vimeo.com/annarborcommunitychurch Summary: In this sermon from the Anchored series, Pastor Donnell names a tension many feel but struggle to articulate: we are surrounded by more information than ever, yet feel increasingly anxious, disconnected, and unsteady. Turning to Book of Romans (15:4–7), he reframes the problem. What we lack is not access to answers, but a deeper kind of formation—one that shapes who we are, not just what we know. Drawing on Paul’s language, the sermon presents Scripture as a training ground for endurance and hope. This endurance is not passive survival, but an active, resilient strength formed over time through daily, often quiet practices. Rather than offering quick fixes, Scripture works on us slowly—comforting, correcting, and challenging the false binaries that divide us. In this way, it forms a people oriented toward Christ, what Paul describes as homothumadon: not agreement on everything, but a shared direction of life. The sermon then moves from inward formation to outward expression. Paul’s call to “welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you” becomes the defining mark of a formed community. This welcome is rooted in grace, extended not when people have it all together, but precisely when they do not. Pastor Donnell invites the congregation to see that being anchored is not about rigid certainty, but about being rooted in the living Christ, whose ancient words continue to shape a people of endurance, unity, and radical welcome.
Transcribe →Anchored: Rooted In Grace
Apr 1300:32:11Tap to summarizeAnchored: Rooted In Grace - Pastor Hannah Witte - a2cc.org. Watch our livestream Sundays @ 11:00am - vimeo.com/annarborcommunitychurch Summary: Pastor Hannah invites us to anchor our lives in the person and grace of Jesus in a world marked by anxiety, injustice, and constant pressure to prove ourselves. Drawing from Titus 3:3–7, Pastor Hannah reminds us that left to ourselves we fall into broken patterns that harm our relationships, but God, in kindness and love, comes to us through Christ—not because of anything we’ve done, but because of mercy—to bring renewal, reconciliation, and life. In contrast to a culture of self-justification through performance, status, or moral superiority, the gospel offers a different way: we are made right by grace alone and invited to live as people rooted in that grace. As recipients of God’s mercy and heirs of eternal life, we are freed to tell the truth about ourselves, break cycles of hurt, and become people of presence, justice, love, and hope in the world.
Transcribe →Jesus' Enduring Questions - Simon, Son of John, Do You Love Me?
Apr 600:42:08Tap to summarizeJesus' Enduring Questions - Simon, Son of John, Do You Love Me? - Pastor Donnell T. Wyche - a2cc.org. Watch our livestream Sundays @ 11:00am - vimeo.com/annarborcommunitychurch Summary: In this Easter message, “Jesus’ Enduring Questions: Do you love me?” (John 21:15–19), Pastor Donnell invites us into the quiet, powerful moment on the shoreline where the risen Jesus meets his disciples after the resurrection. While the resurrection has already stunned and surprised them, the disciples are still trying to make sense of it all—returning to what is familiar, carrying grief, confusion, and unfinished stories in their hearts. It is in this ordinary space that Jesus appears, not with spectacle, but with presence, preparing breakfast and creating space for a deeply personal encounter. Focusing on Jesus’ threefold question to Peter, Pastor Donnell explores the weight of failure, regret, and the longing to make things right. Rather than offering quick forgiveness, Jesus lovingly leads Peter through a process of honest reflection that mirrors his earlier denial. In doing so, we see that Jesus is not only restoring Peter but also inviting him to confront his fear, release his self-reliance, and rediscover what it means to truly love and trust Christ. This exchange reveals a Savior who understands betrayal and hurt, yet still chooses restoration and relationship. This sermon reminds us that the resurrected Jesus meets us exactly where we are—not where we wish we were—and calls us into a renewed life marked by courage, hope, and love. No matter our past or our failures, we are not beyond the reach of grace. Instead, we are invited to respond to Jesus’ enduring question in our own lives and to step forward into a calling to care for others, live with bold hope, and participate in God’s ongoing work of renewal in the world.
Transcribe →Jesus' Enduring Questions - What Shall I Say?
Mar 3000:32:40Tap to summarizeJesus' Enduring Questions - What Shall I Say? - Pastor Hannah Witte - a2cc.org. Watch our livestream Sundays @ 11:00am - vimeo.com/annarborcommunitychurch Summary: Pastor Hannah invites the church this Palm Sunday to enter into the story of Jesus’ arrival in Jerusalem and to see for themselves what kind of king he is. By imagining the scene through the eyes of the crowd, the sermon highlights the tension and excitement surrounding Jesus—hailed as king after performing miracles like raising Lazarus, yet arriving not with power or violence, but humbly on a donkey. Jesus is a radically different kind of king: one who brings peace instead of war, humility instead of status, and true freedom instead of political domination. In contrast to worldly power, Jesus demonstrates a kingdom rooted in self-giving love, fulfilling prophecy and inviting people into a new kind of deliverance from sin and death. Pastor Hannah invites us to consider our response to this king—especially when following him costs us something. Through Jesus’ own words as he approaches his death, we see his honest struggle yet unwavering obedience, choosing love and sacrifice over comfort. This becomes both a challenge and a source of healing: while we often resist costly obedience or seek recognition, Jesus fully gives himself for others without self-interest. Jesus' actions, especially on the cross, prove the depth of his love—offering both transformation for our sin and healing for our wounds. Ultimately, Pastor Hannah's invitation is to let Jesus’ self-giving love reshape our lives during Holy Week, trusting that his way of humble, sacrificial love leads to true life.
Transcribe →