LNBC Students

After a big break, Tucker and Taylor continue to explore the Gospel accounts considering what it means to follow Jesus. This week they look at what it means to follow Jesus' famous sermon on the mount in Matthew 5-7.

Continuing the series, Tucker and Taylor begin to explore the Gospel accounts considering what it means to follow Jesus. This week they look at what it means to follow Jesus in Matthew 1-4.

Tucker and Taylor sit down again to discuss their definition of a 'disciple,' unpack it a little, and then as to reinforce last week, they discuss how an understanding of the gospel informs how one becomes a disciple and makes disciples.

Tucker and Taylor sit down to discuss what they have been working-on over the past few weeks, months regarding being a disciple and making disciples. This is an introductory episode. They talk about the term disciple, what discipleship was like at the time of Jesus, how discipleship fits into the framework of the biblical story, and how we will be exploring this topic in upcoming episodes.

It is a special episode! The LNBC student ministry is welcoming Tucker Furr as the new Student Ministry Associate. Taylor and Carson sit down with him to hear his bio and have him answer some questions.

Jesus' high priestly prayer is one of the greatest examples of prayer in scripture. As we read this passage, notice the things for which Jesus prayed. In general, Jesus was praying for the equipping of the church to continue the work of the covenant, which is to bring the renewal of all things through the lordship of Jesus. Our prayers should seek the same thing and likewise recognize this reality by praying in the name of Jesus. You can find a helpful guide for how to pray scripture on our resource website at this link, "Praying Scripture Guide."

All prayers are designed to end in praise. The book of Psalms is a prayer book, and the very design of the book emphasizes that prayer ends in praise. Psalms is divided into five books, and each of those books intentionally end with a praising benediction. At the end of the fifth book, there are five hallelujah psalms that culminate in the final psalm, Psalm 150. It is a resounding call to praise God. You can learn more on how to pray scripture at this link.

Prayer is inherently tied up in the fact that God's kingdom is still ‘not yet.' In other words, prayer is only a practice for the ‘in-between' when God's promises are not yet a full reality. In this sense, prayer is a practice of suffering. As we look forward with hope, the Spirit of God ministers to us in our suffering by helping us to pray. You can find a helpful guide for how to pray scripture on our resource website at this link, "Praying Scripture Guide." Listen to the Tim Keller sermon: https://youtu.be/DxOWWWVDGD0

Prayer is also a practice for confession. In this passage Rich, Carson, and Taylor discuss how confession is not only a personal prayer practice, but it is also a corporate prayer practice. We can confess our wrongdoings and the wrongdoings our community. Importantly, as we see in Daniel 9, all of this confession is connected to the covenant. You can find a helpful guide for how to pray scripture on our resource website at this link, "Praying Scripture Guide."

Prayer is also a practice that the people of God utilize to seek provision. Rich, Carson, and Taylor discuss that in praying for what we need, it is good to remind ourselves that we have the greatest provision in Christ. You can find a helpful guide for how to pray scripture on our resource website at this link, "Praying Scripture Guide."

Rich, Carson, and Taylor discuss the tension of prayer in light of Exodus 32:7-14. You can find a helpful guide for how to pray scripture on our resource website at this link, "Praying Scripture Guide."

In the second episode of this series on prayer, Rich, Carson, and Taylor have a short discussion on God-centered prayer in light of 1 Samuel 2:1-10. You can find a helpful guide for how to pray scripture on our resource website at this link, "Praying Scripture Guide."

In the first episode of this new series for our MDWK groups, Rich, Carson, and Taylor define Prayer, have a short discussion on the significance of the Lord's Prayer to our understanding and practice of prayer, and they also give some basic instructions for praying scripture. You can find a helpful guide for how to pray scripture on our resource website at this link, "Praying Scripture Guide."

Now that the state of NC is beginning to open up, Carson, Rich, Taylor, and (special guest) Ethan sit down six-feet-apart to reflect on their time in quarantine.

Continuing thoughts on how we relate to others during quarantine, Taylor talks about how our isolated environment can conform us into people of less compassion. Read this article on the examen prayer practice. Music: "Holy Love" by Citizens

Taylor gives a short update on the Student Ministry as the state of NC begins to open up from the COVID-19 quarantine.

The suffering of the times can make us feel small and alone, but it should have the reverse effect. When we suffer we should find solidarity with all of creation and all people. It then equips us to love others. Music: "See the Love" by The Brilliance.

In the seventh episode of House Calls, Taylor, Sam, and Steph have some more conversations with students during the COVID-19 quarantine. Find more resources at this webpage.

This week's episode will be the first of several where we consider how to relate to others at this time of quarantine. The first exhortation is to lean into the relationships that are closest to you. Music in this episode: "gorge" by quickly, quickly "Together, Again" by On Earth, Michael Gungor "The Love of God" by Ascend the Hill

It is a special episode in our House Calls series! Students Jackson, Levi, Jordan, and Kylie take the mic and record some conversations with our student ministry leaders to see how they are doing during the COVID-19 quarantine.

Our quarantine series "Confined Contemplation" continues. One way for us to redeem this time is to settle into God's gift of rest and slowing down. Psalm 23 is a great psalm to contemplate as we consider what it means to rest in God. Featured Music: "Rest" by John Mark Pantana.

We are still on quarantine, and that means another episode of House Calls. Taylor, Sam, and Steph talk with students to see how they are doing throughout the COVID-19 quarantine. Find more resources at the resource webpage.  Subscribe to Garrett Kayser's YouTube Channel and follow him on TikTok. 

After some special episodes for Holy Week, the Confined Contemplation series returns. Now that we are on the other side of Resurrection Sunday in the church calendar, we take a bit of a pivot and highlight some "positive dispositions" for such a time as this. Featured Music: "Ludwig's Dream" and "Valte's Dream" and "Lily's Dream" from The Brilliance; "TrusT" by Half-Alive.

After a few special Holy Week episodes, House Calls returns. On the fourth episode, Taylor, Sam, and Stephanie Facetime a few students to see how they are doing with the Covid-19 quarantine. You can find more information on our virtual small groups and bible studies here: https://establishedlnbc.squarespace.com/.

We take another pause from our normally scheduled posts during the COVID-19 quarantine and Taylor shares some short thoughts on Resurrection Sunday.

Since we are in Holy Week under Covid-19 quarantine, I wanted to share some thoughts on this important day for Jesus followers. Why is "Good Friday" a day of significance?

We continue our short Sunday-morning series contemplating a Psalm. This week we look at Psalm 42 and how it speaks to our sadness. If you are struggling through disappointment in this season, I encourage you to take a few minutes to listen through this episode. Music: Spiegel im Spiegel by Arvo Part I Won't Let You Go Feat. Lauren Daigle (Live) by Switchfoot

More house calls are here! Taylor, Sam, and Stephanie Facetime a few students to see how they are doing with the Covid-19 quarantine. You can find more information on our virtual small groups and bible studies here: https://establishedlnbc.squarespace.com/.

We continue our short Sunday-morning series contemplating a Psalm. This week we look at Psalm 3 and how it speaks to our fears and anxieties. Much of this was inspired by Tim Keller and his teaching on prayer and the Psalms. You can listen to Tim Keller's sermon, Praying Our Fears from his teaching series "Psalms - The Songs of Jesus." Here are some other resources that could help with you praying the Psalms. Answering God: The Psalms as Tools for Prayer by Eugene Peterson Praying the Bible by Donald S. Whitney Psalms: The Prayer Book of the Bible by Dietrich Bonhoeffer

The house calls continue. As the COVID-19 quarantine persists, Taylor makes a few calls to students to see how they are doing in this season of life. As a special guest, Stephanie joins to have conversations with Jordan and Cadee.

Doubt can be overwhelming, but God has given us a prayer book to pray our emotions back to Him. In the process, God turns our doubts to praise.

At such a time where people are confined to their house, Taylor and Sam take a few minutes to Facetime people and check-in on them. It is like a good old-fashioned pastor's house call with a modern technological twist.

One of the purposes of the practice of silence & solitude is to quiet the noise in order to hear the voice of God. What does it mean to hear God's voice? Many simplify this to mean simply reading scripture. Others expand it to include some mystical experience. Carson, Rich, Cam, and Taylor sit down to discuss the topic, attempt to strike a balance, and give practical ways to hear God's voice today.

We thought it was really important for students to see how people implement the practice of silence and solitude in their everyday life, so we invited a few people from different backgrounds and in different life situations to share why and how they practice silence and solitude. We are super grateful for Erica, Elizabeth, and Cam sitting down to field some questions from Taylor. Hopefully the recording is bearable!

Of the many purposes of silence and solitude, identifying our feelings and then healthily expressing our emotions to God is one of the hidden gems. In a culture of anxiety where the coping mechanism is often emotional suppression, this is an important practice for our emotional, spiritual health. You can read the teaching transcript here.

Carson, Rich, and Taylor sit down for part-two in their discussion on the practice of silence and solitude. They define the practice, discuss its purposes, and give a few pointers for fighting distraction and persisting in the practice.  You can read Taylor's teaching on silence and solitude here. 

Carson, Rich, and Taylor sit down to discuss the practice of silence and solitude. This is the first part of a two-part discussion on silence and solitude. Read Taylor's teaching on silence and solitude here.

Richard Foster wrote, “Distraction is the primary spiritual problem in contemporary culture.” If we are going to practice the presence, we need to begin by destroying distraction. Read the teaching at the resource page.

As we look at the life of Jesus, we see that he often prioritized 'practicing the presence' - communion with the Father, solitude, prayer, fasting, etc. AS followers of Jesus, we should imitate Jesus in this practice. We also look at Matthew 4:1-11 to identify some purposes for the practice. Read the teaching at the resource page.

In this sermon, Taylor explores the Gospel of Matthew and how it presents what it means to follow Jesus. In short, followers of Jesus are filled with the life of Jesus to become more like Jesus and therefore imitate the life of Jesus.

In the first session of this new series, we have some discussion and teaching around the question, "Who is Jesus?"

As a quasi wrap-up to the "In the Beginning" series, we review one of the probing questions from Genesis 3: why is nakedness so central to the story? Carson, Taylor, and Cam sit down to discuss (after about 15 minutes talking about their favorite movies and books of 2019).

Rich finishes up this series with a sermon on 3:14-24.

Over the break for Christmas and New Years, Taylor gave a short teaching on what he has been learning about 'becoming present' and how it fights worry and anxiety in our busy lives. Here are some of the books he mentioned: Making All Things New: An Invitation to the Spiritual Life by Henri Nouwen The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry by John Mark Comer

The man and the woman have disobeyed, and now they have an encounter with the LORD God in the Garden. In one of the last sermons in this series, we see a God who leads his people to confess their sin, but who is also slow to anger and rich in love, mercy, and grace.

In this bonus episode discussion with Cameron, Carson, and Taylor, we look at how the serpent of Genesis 3 has been popularly attributed to Satan. There is much more to delve into with this topic, so we mentioned some good resources if you would like to study further: SUPERNATURAL by Michael Heiser - https://www.amazon.com/Supernatural-Bible-Teaches-Unseen-Matters/dp/1577995589 BIBLE PROJECT SERIES on Spiritual Beings - https://thebibleproject.com/all-videos/spiritual-beings/

Naked people, talking snakes, deception, desire, toxic trees - what is this story all about? In this sermon, we look at Genesis 3:1-7 to see what the first few pages of the Bible teach us about human disobedience and sin.

As a follow-up to the latest sermon "A Suitable Helper" on Genesis 2:18-25, Carson, Cameron, and Taylor discuss the archetypal significance in the formation accounts in the bonus content episode.

In the next sermon in our "In the Beginning" series, we look at the formation of woman and the meaning of marriage in Genesis 2:18-25.

We have another bonus episode of content discussing some content from the previous sermon in our "In the Beginning" series regarding the Garden as sacred space. Carson, Cameron, and Taylor talk about the theme of God dwelling with man throughout scripture.

The sermon series on the first pages of Genesis continues. We look at the beginning of a 'second creation account' and take note of the emphasis on the Garden of Eden as sacred space and the man's role as priest. What does it look like for us to expand Eden and cultivate culture, turning the Garden into a Garden-City?