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Did Christ Really Descend into Hell? Over the years, I’ve been asked this question a lot. If you grew up in a good Catholic or Lutheran church, chances are you were forced to memorize the Apostles Creed, which says: “[Christ] was crucified, died and was buried,” followed by the statement: “he descended into hell.” Now,…

Last year revealed all sorts of silliness:  We all imagined our hearts to be full of faith instead of fear. We all imagined that we trusted in prayer more than politics; yet, circumstances always reveal what we actually trust in (eg., money, politics, health-care, job-security). As Jesus puts it, “Out of the abundance of the heart, the…

The end of the year is always fun at Substance! And after a year like 2020… we could all use it! For starters: Late-October means Vision Season: We always unveil the soon coming upgrades followed by a Heart for the House leadership night (This Sunday Oct 25th). And then, come December, Christmas at Substance is…

Honor seems to be a lost virtue in our culture right now. It’s all over in politics, news, social media…you name it. And oftentimes, dishonor is treated as some sort of noble act of truth-telling…some people are even under the impression that if you don’t dishonor someone, they’ll dishonor you! But, here’s the thing- the Bible constantly links honoring…

How does Digital Church work at Substance? After COVID hit our country, we made a simple decision: “We are no longer a physical church with digital options; rather, we are a digital church with physical locations.”  To borrow a phrase from Amazon, “It takes clicks to get bricks.” But how are we reinventing ourselves? Well,…

After 14 weeks of digital church, we are officially relaunching LIVE worship & preaching at Substance (June 21st!) Sadly, we are not yet able to open our West Side campus (as we do not control that building); but, rest assured, all of these inconveniences are temporary! Last week, we did a live worship and prayer gathering…

Our city is literally on fire. And the time for talk is done. Here is our battle plan. And how you can help. As you already know, the destruction over the past few days has primarily affected minority families and businesses. Thousands have lost their jobs and homes. So, Substance has been helping people find…

Just how dangerous is attending church, really? I mean, if a person infected with COVID-19 sat next to you in church, exactly how long would it take for you to get infected? I’ve been talking to a lot of experts and the answer may surprise you. Every week, the media warns us about the “dangers…

Whenever history changes due to a single event, people often call it a Black Swan Event. A Black Swan isn’t merely a historical event. It’s an event that fundamentally shifts both our behaviors and views of reality – think 9-11; or when Europe discovered North America. Now, the reason I’m explaining this is because, the…

After watching the video of Ahmaud Arbery being ruthlessly gunned down, I feel numb. I feel outraged. I feel embarrassed that I live in a nation where people pretend that racism isn’t an issue anymore. And if you don’t know what I’m talking about, a video was just released showing a vigilante group of white…