afterWord with Pastor Kent

Pastor Kent Dresdow, with Executive Pastor Matt Rehrer and Pastor Jeremy Pray, continues the conversation on the public and private ministry of the Word, now asking how they complement each other and what goes wrong when a church neglects either one. They talk about how the preached Word lifts a suffering believer's eyes beyond a private crisis to what God is doing through the whole church (Ephesians 2-3), and how the private ministry of the Word picks up the person that a sermon alone cannot reach. Then they turn to the dangers: a church strong in small groups but weak in the pulpit drifts toward individualistic, consumer Christianity, while a church built around a gifted preacher produces what they call "church à la carte," hearers who love the sermon but are known by no one. A healthy church, they argue from 1 Corinthians 12, needs both, because the body is fed together and its members minister the Word to one another.

Do you come to the preached Word each week prepared to apply it, or just to hear it? When life gets hard, do you let believers in your own church open Scripture with you, or would you rather no one there know? Are you truly known at your church, or are you assembling church à la carte from sermons, podcasts, and the few people you've chosen? Who is discipling you, and who are you discipling?

Pastor Kent Dresdow, with Executive Pastor Matt Rehrer and Pastor Jeremy Pray, opens season two with a conversation about the two great expressions of the Word in the life of a church: the public ministry, from the pulpit down through classes and small groups, and the private ministry, from informal discipleship to formal biblical counseling. Following Paul's pattern in Acts 20:20 of teaching "in public and from house to house," they define each one, consider how the same Word addresses a whole congregation and a single soul, and look at how Jesus himself modeled both, preaching to crowds and sitting with Nicodemus and the woman at the well. The episode sets up part two, where the conversation turns to what happens when a church emphasizes one at the expense of the other.

Which of these two ministries of the Word are you actually engaged in? When was the last time you opened Scripture one-on-one with another believer, whether giving help or receiving it? Do you think of discipleship and counseling as a pastor's job, or as part of your own life in the body? What would it look like this year to be served by both, and to serve through both?

In this short wrap-up from Pastor Kent Dresdow, the afterWord podcast closes out its first year of conversations and announces a summer break. Lord willing, a new season is planned to return in late summer or early fall. Kent looks back with gratitude over 52 episodes recorded with Executive Pastor Matt Rehrer and Executive Pastor Jeremy Pray, alongside staff interviews from across NorthCreek's ministries and visits from guests like Kevin Carson, Andrew Rogers, Brad Bigney, and Greg Gifford. If you haven't subscribed yet, now is a great time to do so, and the break is a fitting chance to revisit past episodes. Kent closes with a clear pastoral charge: a break from the podcast is not a break from Christ. Don't take a vacation from the Word, the church, or your walk with the Lord this summer.

How will you keep feeding on God's Word in seasons when the routine slows down? When your schedule loosens this summer, will your walk with Christ loosen with it? Are you committed to your local church even when travel and rest pull at your calendar? Is there a past afterWord episode you could revisit to strengthen what God is doing in you?Welcome to NorthCreek Church!In glad reliance on the Holy Spirit and Scripture, we exist for the glory of Christ, to make disciples who worship God, walk in love, and witness to the world.Connect With Us:Sunday Services: 9:00AM & 10:45AM Address: 2303 Ygnacio Valley Road, Walnut Creek, CA 94598Online Resources:Main Website: https://www.northcreek.org/ NorthCreek Academy (TK-8): https://ncapschool.org/ Sermon Archive: https://northcreek.churchcenter.com/channels/19901 Church App: Download the Church Center App and search for "NorthCreek Church"

Pastor Kent Dresdow and Executive Pastor Matt Rehrer continue their conversation on singleness in the Christian life, picking up where Part 1 left off. They address the remaining listener questions head-on: why singleness rarely surfaces explicitly in expository preaching (and why that's not a slight), whether contentment means surrendering the desire to be married, and how to hold unmet longing without despair. Rooted in Philippians 4 and 1 Corinthians 12, they make the case that contentment is not a status — it's a learned posture in Christ. They close with a perspective that reframes the whole conversation: in eternity, marriage gives way to something greater, and every believer arrives at the same destination.Do you find yourself conflating contentment with resignation — as if accepting your circumstances means abandoning your desires? When an unmet longing surfaces, are you taking it to Christ, or are you looking for something else to fill it? If you're married, when did you last stop to seriously consider the unique gifts and struggles of the single brothers and sisters in your church?Welcome to NorthCreek Church!In glad reliance on the Holy Spirit and Scripture, we exist for the glory of Christ, to make disciples who worship God, walk in love, and witness to the world.Connect With Us:Sunday Services: 9:00AM & 10:45AM Address: 2303 Ygnacio Valley Road, Walnut Creek, CA 94598Online Resources:Main Website: https://www.northcreek.org/ NorthCreek Academy (TK-8): https://ncapschool.org/ Sermon Archive: https://northcreek.churchcenter.com/channels/19901 Church App: Download the Church Center App and search for "NorthCreek Church"

Pastor Kent Dresdow and Executive Pastor Matt Rehrer take up a listener question submitted at NorthCreek's Great Family Gathering — a layered, honest inquiry about the place of single adults in the church. Drawing from 1 Corinthians 7, they address whether singleness is treated as a holding pattern until marriage, how the church attempts to create genuine community for singles across all life stages, and why the vast majority of Scripture speaks to the Christian life in ways that apply regardless of marital status. The conversation is pastoral and candid, including honest reflection on where the church can do better and encouragement for those who feel unseen in a church culture that talks a lot about marriage.

Are you finding genuine community at your church, or does it feel like the programming is built around someone else's life stage? When you hear the word "singleness," do you instinctively frame it as a problem to be solved? Have you considered the ways Paul's commendation of singleness in 1 Corinthians 7 might reframe how you see your own season of life?Welcome to NorthCreek Church!In glad reliance on the Holy Spirit and Scripture, we exist for the glory of Christ, to make disciples who worship God, walk in love, and witness to the world.Connect With Us:Sunday Services: 9:00AM & 10:45AM Address: 2303 Ygnacio Valley Road, Walnut Creek, CA 94598Online Resources:Main Website: https://www.northcreek.org/ NorthCreek Academy (TK-8): https://ncapschool.org/ Sermon Archive: https://northcreek.churchcenter.com/channels/19901 Church App: Download the Church Center App and search for "NorthCreek Church"