Presence Church Teachings
by Presence Church
Sermons from Presence Church in Ankeny, Iowa.We exist to witness a Spirit-led disciple making movement in our churches and communities.Seek God's PresenceBecome Like Jesus TogetherBe a Presence in our CityLearn more about us at https://presence.city or join us on Sundays!
Episodes
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Galatians (Week 1) - No Other Gospel
What if the things promising us freedom are actually keeping us enslaved? Pastor Ben begins our new Galatians Series in Galatians 1, where Paul confronts a church that is abandoning the freedom of Christ for a “different gospel.” The Galatians were being told that Jesus was good, but Jesus wasn’t...
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JESUS (Week 5) - Behold Him
What are you becoming as a result of what you behold? To conclude our JESUS Series, Pastor Ben turns to John 1 and the first disciples who move from not recognizing Jesus to seeing Him for who He truly is: the Lamb of God, Messiah, Son of God, and King of Israel. Their transformation begins with…
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JESUS (Week 4) - The Lamb of God
What do you do with the parts of your life you wish you could undo? In our JESUS Series, Jared Nassiff teaches from John 1:29, where John the Baptist sees Jesus and declares, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” That one title opens up three powerful pictures of Jesus…
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JESUS (Week 3) - Discovering Our Truest Identity
What is the truest thing about you? We build our identity on performance, relationships, appearance, success, and the opinions of others, but none of those things can carry the weight of who we are. In our JESUS series, Pastor Patrick returns to Matthew 3:13–17 and Jesus’ baptism, where the…
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JESUS (Week 2) - The Baptism of Jesus
What does baptism have to do with rescue? In Matthew 3, John the Baptist calls Israel to repentance, Jesus steps into the Jordan, and heaven opens over him: “This is my Son, whom I love.” Pastor Ben traces a biblical pattern of God bringing his people through the waters, from Noah to the Red Sea…
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JESUS (Week 1) - Who is Jesus?
Who is Jesus, really? Few people have shaped history more deeply, but Jesus did not present himself merely as a teacher, moral reformer, or religious leader. In the first message of JESUS: Volume I — The Arrival, Pastor Ben begins with the historical Jesus and then turns to the claims Jesus and…
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Welcome Home Sunday
Why does Presence Church exist, and where is God leading us next? On Welcome Home Sunday, Pastors Ben Mueller and Patrick look back on Presence Church’s first year and return to the convictions that started it all: God’s presence, Jesus’ Great Commission, and a Spirit-led vision for making...
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Church in the District 2026
What is actually worth building your life around? At Church in the District, Pastor Parker McGoldrick teaches from Matthew 13:44–46 as Presence Church and Ankeny Gospel Church gather together around Jesus. We spend our lives chasing compelling visions of happiness, security, success, and…
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Daniel (Week 7) - One Like a Son of Man
Why does human history seem stuck in the same cycle of power, violence, and destruction? In the final message of our Daniel series, Pastor Ben Mueller teaches from Daniel 7 and its strange apocalyptic vision of beasts rising out of the sea. These beasts represent the violent, oppressive kingdoms…
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Daniel (Week 6) - Just as He Had Done Before
How do we live in our host culture without compromising to our host culture? In this message from Daniel 6, Pastor Patrick walks through the familiar story of Daniel in the lions’ den with fresh attention to Daniel’s faithfulness, perspective, and prayer. Daniel did not serve Babylon or Persia by...
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Daniel (Week 5) - You Have Been Weighed
What does your life weigh? In this message from Daniel 5, Pastor Ben Mueller walks through the story of Belshazzar’s feast and the writing on the wall. On the very night Babylon was about to fall, Belshazzar gathered his nobles, wives, wine, and sacred temple vessels for one final act of defiant...
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Daniel (Week 4) - Those Who Walk in Pride He is Able to Humble
What happens when pride distorts our view of ourselves, others, and God? In this message from Daniel 4, Pastor Ben Mueller walks through the humbling of King Nebuchadnezzar. At the height of his power, Nebuchadnezzar looked over Babylon and credited its greatness to his own strength, glory, and...
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Daniel (Week 3) - No Other God Can Save in This Way
How do we remain faithful to God in an unfaithful time? In this message from Daniel 3, Pastor Ben Mueller walks through the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego as they are pressured to bow before Nebuchadnezzar’s golden image. Surrounded by the power, music, politics, religion, and fear of...
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Daniel (Week 2) - A Life Available to God
How can followers of Jesus influence the culture around them without becoming captive to it? In week two of our Daniel series, Pastor Patrick teaches from Daniel 2 and the story of Nebuchadnezzar’s troubling dream. When Babylon’s wise men could not give the king an answer, Daniel did not panic,...
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Daniel (Week 1) - Daniel Resolved not to Defile Himself
How do we live faithfully to Jesus in a culture that is often indifferent, and sometimes hostile, toward God? In the opening message of our Daniel series, Pastor Ben Mueller walks through Daniel 1 and the story of four young men carried into exile in Babylon. Taken from home, taught a new…
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Prayer: The Shining One
What if prayer was never meant to feel dry, boring, or burdensome? In this special message, guest pastor Mark McGovern of EXP.church in San Francisco invites us to rediscover prayer as joyful communion with Jesus, the one who is always praying for us. Mark shares how encountering the radiant joy…
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Community (Week 4) - Radical Generosity
True Christian community cannot exist without the Holy Spirit. In the final week of our Community series, Jared Nassiff teaches from Acts 4 and the radical generosity of the early church. The first Christian community was marked by one heart and mind, bold witness to the resurrection, and a...
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Community (Week 3) - Covenantal Love
Christian community is not built on convenience. It is built on covenant love. In week three of our Community series, Pastor Ben explores Jesus’ command in John 13: “Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” This kind of love is not sentimental, shallow, or easy to...
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Community (Week 2) - Hospitality
Hospitality Is Not Entertaining. It Is Making Room. In a lonely and divided world, Jesus practiced a surprisingly ordinary form of ministry: He ate with people. In week two of our Community series, Pastor Patrick walks through Luke 5 and Luke 19 to show how Jesus used the table to welcome...
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Community (Week 1) - A Spirit-Formed Family
Community Is Hard. So Why Do We Need It? Most of us long for deep relationships, but the reality of community is often messier than the version we imagine. We want the friendship, belonging, and support. We just do not always want the inconvenience, vulnerability, and sacrifice that come with it....
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Disciple Making Sunday
Most people want the life of Jesus. Fewer people want the lifestyle of Jesus. In this special Disciple Making Sunday message, Pastor Ben and Pastor Patrick explore Jesus' invitation to "Follow me" and challenge the idea that Christianity is merely about believing the right things. What if…
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Ephesians: The Good Church (Week 7) - Put on the Full Armor of God
What if spiritual warfare is less about dramatic encounters with evil… and more about the quiet lies shaping your everyday life? In the final message of our Ephesians series, Pastor Patrick explores Paul’s teaching on the Armor of God and why the deepest spiritual battles are often fought in the...
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Ephesians: The Good Church (Week 6) - Children, Parents, Slaves, and Masters
Social media tells parents to protect their child’s emotions at all costs. Other voices say children simply need stricter discipline. The workplace rewards power, status, and control. Culture swings between permissiveness and domination, while families quietly wonder: How are we actually supposed...
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Ephesians: The Good Church (Week 5) - Wives, Husbands, Submit to One Another
In a world caught between #TradWives on one side and the #Manosphere on the other, how should Christians think about marriage, gender roles, and leadership in the home? With cultural controversy all around us, Pastor Ben unpacks the often-misunderstood passage about submission in marriage…
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Ephesians: The Good Church (Week 4) - Sexual Immorality, Greed, and Foolish Talk
What you’re exposed to changes you. In Ephesians 5, Paul draws a hard line between darkness and light. He contrasts the self-indulgent lifestyle of your former life with the self-sacrificial example of Jesus. Pastor Ben unpacks how sexual immorality, greed, and careless speech aren’t random sins,...
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Ephesians: The Good Church (Week 3) - When You Heard Christ
You can know everything about Jesus and still not actually know Him. In Ephesians 4, Paul describes a kind of transformation that goes far deeper than information. It is not behavior modification. It is not learning more facts. It is becoming an entirely new person. Guest speaker Pastor Phil...
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Ephesians: The Good Church (Week 2) - As Each Part Does Its Work
What if the problem with the modern church isn’t a lack of gifting… but a lack of equipping? In this message, Pastor Ben walks through Ephesians 4 and reframes what the church is actually meant to be. Not a cruise ship where people consume. Not a battleship where a few lead and everyone else...
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Ephesians: The Good Church (Week 1) - Keep the Unity
What actually makes a church good? Not production. Not size. Not preferences. In Ephesians 4, the apostle Paul points somewhere deeper. A good church is marked by humility, gentleness, patience, and a fierce commitment to unity. In this opening message of our new series Ephesians: The Good…
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Easter Sunday 2026 - Come and See
What do you do when something doesn’t make sense? Most of us ignore it. Move on. Assume there’s a normal explanation. But what if there’s a moment in history you can’t explain away? This message explores the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus—not as blind belief, but as something worth...
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Wisdom in the Desert (Week 7): Palm Sunday - From Fickle to Faithful
Why does faith feel strong one moment… and shaky the next? In Matthew 21, the same crowd that shouts “Hosanna” for Jesus will soon cry “Crucify Him.” What changed? In this Palm Sunday message, Pastor Ben Mueller walks through the Triumphal Entry and exposes a hard truth: we often follow Jesus as...
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Wisdom in the Desert (Week 6): Humility - The Way Up is Down
Why is humility so hard and why does it matter so much? In Week 6 of Wisdom in the Desert, Pastor Ben walks through Philippians 2:5–11 and shows how the way of Jesus flips our definition of greatness upside down. In a world built on self-promotion and proving yourself, Jesus shows a better way.…
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Wisdom in the Desert (Week 5): The "Foolishness" of Wisdom
What would you do if the fate of the world rested on your decision? In Week 5 of Wisdom in the Desert, Pastor Ben explores what it really means to live with wisdom in a world full of noise, opinions, and competing voices. Through a powerful Cold War story and the teaching of James 3, this message...
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Wisdom in the Desert (Week 4): Treasures in Heaven
Do you own your stuff, or does your stuff own you? In this sermon, Pastor Ben Mueller opens Matthew 6:19–24 and confronts the pull of consumerism, materialism, and mammon in a culture always pushing the next upgrade, the next purchase, and the next promise of security. Jesus warns that earthly...
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Wisdom in the Desert (Week 3): Loving Silence and Solitude
In this message from our Wisdom in the Desert series, Pastor Ben explores Elijah’s wilderness moment in 1 Kings 19. After experiencing one of the greatest victories in Scripture on Mount Carmel, Elijah collapses into fear, exhaustion, and despair. Yet it is in that wilderness, far from the noise…
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Wisdom in the Desert (Week 2): A Hunger for Holiness
Most people will travel thousands of miles to taste great food. But how far will we go to taste the presence of God? In Week 2 of Wisdom in the Desert, Pastor Darren Waite explores Psalm 84 and the deep spiritual longing described as “My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the Lord.” From...
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Wisdom in the Desert (Week 1): Invitation to the Wilderness
What if the loudest thing in your life is keeping you from hearing God? In Week 1 of Wisdom in the Desert, Pastor Ben invites us into the “wilderness," a place of intentional separation where God humbles, tests, and reshapes His people. From Israel’s 40-year journey (Deuteronomy 8) to Jesus’ 40...
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Beatitudes - Those Who Are Persecuted
What does it look like to live boldly for Jesus when you face opposition, even if that opposition is social, not physical? In the final week of our Beatitudes series, Pastor Ben Mueller explores Jesus’ words: “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness…” (Matthew 5:10–12) and...
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Beatitudes - The Peacemakers
Pastor Ben Mueller confronts a hard question for our moment: how should Christians respond to an increasingly violent world? Starting with a troubling trend in a late-2025 poll, Ben traces the “birthplace of violence” in Scripture, from Cain and Abel to Lamech’s escalating revenge, and shows how...
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Beatitudes - Those Who Mourn
In this message from our Beatitudes series, Pastor Ben Mueller addresses one of Jesus’ most surprising promises: “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted” (Matthew 5:4). Speaking honestly about grief, loss, and mourning, Ben explores how Jesus does not rush past pain, but meets it...
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Beatitudes - Poor in Spirit
In this message, Jared Nassiff opens the Beatitudes by reframing what “blessed” actually means and who Jesus declares as truly fortunate in the Kingdom of Heaven. Teaching from Matthew 5:1–12, Jared traces the language behind makarios and its Old Testament background (ashrei), showing how Jesus...
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Beatitudes - The Upside Down Kingdom
Jesus did not arrive announcing comfort, success, or religious prestige, He proclaimed a kingdom that turns expectations upside down. In this message, Pastor Ben introduces the Beatitudes by exploring Jesus’ proclamation of the Kingdom of God, how that kingdom breaks into the world, and who it is...
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The Mission - Fish for People
Jesus’ invitation to “Come, follow me” was not a call to self-improvement, religious performance, or instant success, it was a call to reorient life around becoming his disciple. In this message, Pastor Ben examines the calling of Peter and Andrew to show how first-century discipleship reshapes...
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Light of the World - Christmas Eve Service
On this Christmas Eve message, Pastor Ben invites us to reflect on a simple but profound question: What is it about light that captivates us? From childhood wonder to the vast darkness of the universe, Scripture shows that God has always used light to reveal His presence, His promises, and His…
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Made His Dwelling - Make our Home with Them
Christmas awakens a deep longing for home, but Scripture tells a bigger story about where that longing comes from and how God meets it. In this message from the Made His Dwelling series, Pastor Ben traces the biblical theme of “home” from Eden, to the tabernacle, to Jesus himself. Drawing from…
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Made His Dwelling - We Have Seen His Glory
In this Advent message from the Made His Dwelling series, guest teacher Jared Nassiff explores John’s striking Christmas proclamation: “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.” Rather than beginning with shepherds or a manger, John anchors the incarnation in eternity—revealing Jesus...
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Made His Dwelling - The Word Became Flesh
Pastor Darren launches our Advent series Made His Dwelling by exploring the staggering claim at the center of Christianity: the eternal Word who spoke creation into being took on flesh and lived among us. John’s gospel links Jesus directly to Genesis, revealing a Christ who is not merely a...
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Ephesians: The Good Story (Week 6) - Strengthen the Inner Being
Drawing from the long-running Harvard Study of Adult Development, Pastor Ben shows how decades of data uncovered an unexpected conclusion: what determines human flourishing isn’t intellect, class, or achievement, but love. Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 3 mirrors this discovery as he intercedes for…
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Ephesians: The Good Story (Week 5) - The Multifaceted Church
Pastor Ben explores Paul’s announcement of “the mystery of Christ”—that Gentiles are now full co-heirs with Israel and participants in God’s expanding family. Through the story of abolitionist Orange Scott and Paul’s own suffering for the sake of the Gentiles, this sermon traces how the gospel...
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Ephesians: The Good Story (Week 4) - The Wall of Hostility
Many people know the ache of feeling left out—socially, nationally, or even spiritually. In this sermon from Ephesians 2:11–22, Pastor Ben traces how Paul describes Gentiles as former outsiders to God’s covenant story: separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship, without hope and without God…
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Ephesians: The Good Story (Week 3) - From Dead to Alive
Before Jesus, humanity wasn’t just struggling—it was spiritually dead in transgressions, swept along by the world, the flesh, and the devil. In this message from Ephesians 2:1–10, Pastor Ben unpacks our desperate condition, the stunning “but God” of the gospel, and what it means to be saved by...
About this show
Sermons from Presence Church in Ankeny, Iowa.We exist to witness a Spirit-led disciple making movement in our churches and communities.Seek God's PresenceBecome Like Jesus TogetherBe a Presence in our CityLearn more about us at https://presence.city or join us on Sundays!
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