Gospel Audio Podcast

What a time of celebration this season has been! Today, as Christmastime comes to an end, we will conclude our series by meditating on the abundant life found in Christ. May we listen for His voice, following His leading, and live a life of gratitude for all the gifts He so graciously gives us.

Are you weary and restless? So often we live our lives bombarded by business and avoiding our anxious thoughts. Today, come and let us celebrate the gift of rest that Jesus offers us in Himself. This rest is not merely physical restoration but spiritual renewal offered at the feet of Jesus. So, let us pause and be with Him today.

We are co-heirs with Christ! The promise of our eternal inheritance is such an incredible gift. Today, let us take time to reflect on the unfading hope we have through Christ and the richness of our citizenship in heaven. For this world will fade along with its treasure yet, our inheritance is awaiting us in God's coming glory. Let us celebrate the hope we have in this truth today.

Discipline rarely feels like a gift yet, scripture reminds us that the Lord disciplines those He loves. As children of God, we are offered the gift of God's fatherly instruction and enduring correction for our good. Today, let us look back to the Word of God and reflect on the discipline of our loving Father, His healing power, and the fruit of righteousness that it produces in our lives. Thank God that He does not leave us in our struggles and sin but desires to transform our weary souls.

"Am I enough?" This question is one that often creates uneasiness within us. From the time we are young, we are fed questions that promote the notion that what we do defines us. The pressure to pursue success in life often brings us to the startling reality that we may never measure up. Maybe this is the breaking point for a new and freeing perspective. In light of the matchless grace of God, Jesus Himself has become our sufficiency.

What is my purpose? This question is one that often prompts significant introspection. Today, on Day-7 of our Christmastime series, let us take time to reflect on the gift of purpose found through Christ. For scripture states that we have been created for "good works" and called to sing of the praises of our Heavenly Father. In these truths, we can find meaning and value in whatever we do, knowing that our mission is founded in bringing glory to God. So, let's celebrate the many ways God has gifted us to make His name great!

Before Jesus returned to heaven, He reminded his disciples that they would not be left alone but given a helper, the Holy Spirit. This gift was not just for them but all who place their faith in Christ. For the Holy Spirit, given by God, lives within us and acts on our behalf. This gift is a precious promise of our salvation and enables us to experience the power of God's presence in and through our lives. So, let us take time to celebrate the many ways the Holy Spirit works in our hearts as we seek to rely on Him daily.

We all desire peace, yet, so often, disagreements and division have a way of dislocating us from our relationships. Despite the brokenness displayed throughout our world today, we have access to the redemptive gift of reconciliation. So, today let us reflect on our relocation in Christ and praise God for the gift of His love towards us. For through the gift of Christ's shed blood, we are brought into a loving union with a Holy God.

"Do good or else..." Have you ever said this to yourself? Today, on day 4 of our Christmastime series, we are taking time to reflect on the incredible gift of Christ's righteousness. So often we can feel as though we are striving to win God's favor rather than resting in the arms of Christ, our Savior. So, what does it mean for us today to live in the light of Christ's goodness and grace? Let us meditate on the magnitude of Christ's mercy and celebrate the freedom found in the grace that has been gifted to us every new day.

The feeling of belonging is powerful. To know that we are valued and deeply loved is vital to our sense of security and identity. So, today, we are taking time to celebrate the gift of adoption through Christ. Although many of us have wounds from rejection and abandonment of this world, Christ offers us a belonging, rooted in deep familial love, as a child of God. What love the Father has lavished on us to be called His children. This gift offered to each longing heart welcomes us into the family of God and bestows on us the security and certainty of His love for us. Let us praise our heavenly Father, who first loved us.

It's Day Two of our 12-day Christmastime Series! Join us in celebrating the gift of salvation and the hope of healing that comes to us through Jesus Christ. What does this gift of Christ mean for us today? How often do we take time to think about our Salvation stories and Thank God for the gift He so graciously gave? May we ponder the purpose of this precious and costly offering of love and celebrate its healing power in and through our lives each day.

Merry Christmas! Today kicks off our 12-day Christmastime Series to set aside time to celebrate the gift of Jesus Christ! Have you ever felt unsatisfied by something you thought would bring you joy? This very day we anticipate the joy of giving and receiving yet, how long do such moments last and what will eventually be brought back? It is so easy to misplace the meaning of Christmas and quickly forget the gift that God offers us in His Son. So today, let's pause and take time to reflect on the good news of our Savior's birth as we begin this season of celebration and praise.

Christmas is just around the corner, and so is Season Two of the Gospel Audio Podcast. We are so excited to take time this holiday season to come together, whether near or far, to celebrate the gift of our Savior, Jesus Christ. So, don't forget to mark your calendar and join us for this special 12-day Christmastime series as we make our way into the New Year. To access additional spiritual formation resources and learn more about Gospel Community Church, please visit our website at https://www.gospelcc.org.

Join us today for prayer and meditation on Isaiah 58 as we fast and seek God's heart for racial reconciliation in our generation.

Delighting in God is an essential practice for sabbath rest. In the Bible, delight and joy are both fruit of the Spirit and a choice or a practice we are commanded to have. Today, let Psalm 16 guide us deeper into sabbath delight.

This episode is an excerpt from the new book, The Inquisitive Christ, written by Cara L..T. Murphy, and read by the author. Buy the book here: https://amzn.to/37kbLtg

Rugged individualism runs through the veins of American life and culture. But the Lord in His mercy invites us out of the exhausting futility of pulling ourselves up by our own boot straps and into a courage and strength found in the His presence.

Behold the majesty of God, and make the space to notice the presence of God in this very moment. Let's reflect on Psalm 99 together.

Today we revel in the now-power of the gospel, not just the future-oriented promises of life with God forever but also the life with God in the Spirit now.

Today we are crying out to the Lord through prayer and fasting, seeking God's heart for racial reconciliation. And every move of God is accompanied by radical prayer, including confession and repent. Psalm 32 tells of the joys and freedom of acknowledging sin and it's effects in our lives.

Mediation on Psalm 77.

Slowing down to hear God's voice and receive God's Spirit.

We are made to work. But our work can either work for or against us. With an awareness of the presence of God in the middle of each of our working moments, our work can be powerfully formative. And work detached from a need to identify with it can be lovingly and worshipfully carried out. Listen to the Psalmist and to the minister of Henri Nouwen invite us into a renewed way to work today

What does it mean for endurance to have its full effect? For it to be endurance, we have to want to quit first. In following Jesus, and walking faithfully with him, have we wanted to quit? So again we ask, What does it mean for endurance to have its full effect?

In this song of Ascent, one of the songs of the people of God as they made there way to worship on the Mountain of God in Jerusalem, we stare into the face of the God who promises to protect us as we're on the path of obedience.

Today, let us hear the invitation from God through the prophet Isaiah: “Come, everyone who is thirsty, drink, and be satisfied.” Right now, let's go the well of God, and learn to drink deeply from his endless supply.

Each sabbath day requires that we stop working, as an act of total surrender. This can expose our deep desires to control our lives, to provide for our needs, and to be productive. Is there something keeping us from fully leaning on and trusting in the good hand of God to care for us as we embrace Sabbath rest today? Is there some inner drive, like some sort of task-master, governing our decisions and days? What might it look like to surrender that inner drive in favor of trust in the kind heart of King Jesus?

When Jesus teaches us to pray, he shows us that the way of Jesus is meant to be lived day by day. Twenty-four hours at a time with Jesus - that's the goal. We aren't taught to pray, "Give us this day our five-year plan," but rather, "Give us this day our daily bread." Today, let the presence of God with us and guiding us, one day at a time, be enough. May we know him more clearly, love him more dearly, and follow him more nearly, day by day.

The narrative of the Bible reveals to us women and men who learned to fight for joy in God in the face of great difficulty. Often times this fight look like passionate praise, serious worship, and deliberate gratitude. Let this meditation on Philippians 4 and Psalm 69:29-33 guide us into this fight for joy today.

Psalm 33 invites us to consider how to use our words - what the Bible calls the "tongue" - whether we are in a time of plenty or want. When things are hard, it can be so easy to use our words to complain, to wound others, or to just fill up the space so that we don't have to feel the effects of hard things. On the other hand, when things are going well, we can be tempted to aim our words in the direction of ingratitude, entitlement, or arrogance. Today, let 's use Psalm 33 to guide our words in a direction that brings life to us and those around us.

In this Psalm, we have the merging of the metaphorical and the real - the Psalmist is in a dry place, thirsty, and without drink. This mirrors the inner condition of the Psalmist who feels dry and weary on the inside as well. What is the instruction for those who would drink deeply and be refreshed? The Psalmist invites us to come, feast joyfully and drink deeply, at the table of God's love, which is better than life.

Hard things come and go in our lives all of the time. Sometimes, they come and stay. And most of the hard things in our lives we would never wish for or wish on others. But, what if in the hard things happening to us, God was doing something in us? What if our trials were transforming us from entitled to grateful people? Could this be why the Scriptures teach us to rejoice, even in the midst of our various trials?

Pete Scazzero gives us four actions that make up the practice of Sabbath Rest: for one, 24-hour period of time we cease all forms of work - both paid and non-paid - in order to 1. Stop 2. Rest 3. Delight and 4. Contemplate. All of this is centered in the person and presence of God. Today, what might it look like to actively practice resting in God alone, who himself is our rest?

Our days are filled with a thousand potential irritations and stressors. What if the remedy for these stresses and anxieties was found in our proximity to beauty? To combat out sense of worry, anxiety, irritation, and stress, we re invited to slow down and embrace the practice of paying attention. Psalm 19 is our prayer of invitation that guides us into this practice today.

There is a connection between the root system that gives life to trees and the rootedness of our own hearts in Christ. The decisions, habits, mindsets, and postures we embrace throughout our days constitute the source of our life, the direction of our roots. Where do I go to find life? Colossians 2v2-7 invites us to choose to be rooted and strengthened in Christ.

If I accomplish my to-do list but do not have love, what have I truly accomplish that will last? If I gain knowledge but do not grow in love, what have I really gained? What if our days were aimed at giving and receiving love from God and others, to become more patient, kind, and humble? To become less irritable, distrusting, and self-serving? What if today, right now, we slowed down and let the Spirit of God fill our hearts with the love of God?

Many are the plans in a person's heart. But the Lord, in the end, He's the one who directs our steps. Our plans and desires are connected. The more we plan on, count on something, the more we begin to desire it. With the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting stay-at-home order, our plans were fundamentally disrupted. So, our desires have been left unfulfilled. The Proverb gently teaches us that God holds our plans in his hands. So instead of setting our hearts on our plans, what if we walked in a posture of surrender, and set our hearts on God, who holds all things together? Let us respond to this invitation today - to make our home in the spacious and perfect sovereignty of God.

Rejoicing, thanksgiving, testifying, and expressing praise to God is a spiritual discipline. It's a decision that takes practice, and deeply affects us. Choosing to praise, to name the ways God has been good to us, and expressing gratitude, even in the darkest valleys and most difficult days, lifting our voices in song as we express praise to God lifts our spirits and changes the posture of our hearts. In this way, joy is not merely circumstantial or a feeling. It is the fruit of the Spirit that is born when, through praise, we abide in Christ.

Sabbath rest comes when we stop, pay attention, and be fully present to God, our place in the world, and the time we're in. It's so easy to have this sense that we're supposed to be somewhere else - that there's something more important, more significant somewhere else. Today, the invitation is to rest, delight, and be with God throughout the moments of this day of Sabbath rest. It may not be your formal Sabbath day. That's okay. Let Isaiah 43 bring comfort and rest to your heart and soul today.

Imitations are rarely ever as good as the real thing. They can be helpful, up to a point. But they can't deliver on the promises of the original. God identifies as the shepherd of his people, the one who is close, speaks to them, and lovingly guides them to a place of peace and restoration. There are others who promise the same thing. Our hearts run to substitutes all the time - work, entertainment, pleasure, food or drink, etc. But there is only one Good Shepherd who knows, loves, and cares for his sheep - and his name is Jesus. Will we spend this day walking with him, listening for his voice, and abiding in his presence?

"How long, O Lord?" "I will wait for you, Lord." Both of these sentiments match the reality of the one who is deeply rooted in the presence of God - we are free to ask God our deepest, most painful questions and wait for him to answer in gentleness and compassion. We must only make the time to slow down, speak to God, and listen to his voice. How might we need to cry out to the Lord, to open our hearts and pour them out to him, and to wait for him to speak? Join us today as we anchor ourselves in Psalm 13.

Psalm 27 is a rich and profound prayer, with piercing relevance for us in these days. Through this song-prayer, we're invited to face and name our fears, bring them to God who is good, kind, and compassionate and want us to come to him in worship just as we are. Responding to the invitation from God Almighty requires us only to wait - to slow down, take several deep breaths, and listen for the Spirit to apply the Word of God to the depths of our hearts. Listen as we read and reflect on Psalm 27.

Day two of 30 days focused on abiding with Jesus through scripture and prayer. Today, we meditate on Psalm 23 and practice slowing down, and breathing in and out, and letting the Spirit of God take the Word of God more deeply into our hearts.

This is the first episode of a 30-day, daily spiritual formation podcast to guide us through the official end of the stay-at-home order due to the novel Coronavirus and COVID-19 in the state of Virginia. Each day from Monday-Saturday (taking off Sundays) will have a short, less than ten-minute episode, focused on scripture and prayer. Episode 01 is an invitation to embrace rhythms of renewal, so that we might be rooted deep in Christ, like a tree planted next to a stream of living water.

What is this podcast? Why does it exist? In short, this isn't about the content, so much as the experience. Our great hope is that each episode, released daily for six out of seven days in the week, would help us to abide in Jesus. Welcome to the Gospel Audio Podcast.