Spring of Life Church Podcast

Jeremiah, Abigail, and Caleb are three characters in the Old Testament that were called by God to do mighty things in the Lord’s name. There is nothing particularly special about these people that God selected. However, they are essential because they committed their lives to the way of the Lord and remained faithful despite their circumstances. Jeremiah was obedient to God’s call, even though he did not feel talented. Abigail wasted no time to follow the Lord and was confident in her identity. Caleb held onto a promise from God for 40 years during war. Along with these biblical characters, we can believe God for big things.

Jeremiah, Abigail, and Caleb are three characters in the Old Testament that were called by God to do mighty things in the Lord’s name. There is nothing particularly special about these people that God selected. However, they are essential because they committed their lives to the way of the Lord and remained faithful despite their circumstances. Jeremiah was obedient to God’s call, even though he did not feel talented. Abigail wasted no time to follow the Lord and was confident in her identity. Caleb held onto a promise from God for 40 years during war. Along with these biblical characters, we can believe God for big things.

When we find a life of freedom in Christ, it does not lead us to become more self-indulgent. True freedom means that we can surrender everything to Christ because we do not need anything from this world to makes us whole. We become a people who boast in the cross of Jesus, and if we do not boast in this, we will boast in something else. We revel at the work of grace and humble ourselves enough to help people when they fall and give generously to those in need. Seek to be a person of selfless freedom, as a servant of Christ, and by extension, all people.

What desire, no matter how much you get of it, never seems to satisfy? What things do you place in your path that always restrict life? Even if you try to tame and keep on a leash the desires that are much more like monsters, they will still devour you in the end. Christ, however, wants to lead you into an obedience of freedom that results in a new power for your life. All the rules that were once demanded of you are fulfilled in Christ, and he has redeemed you from the things that always leave you empty.

Religion can often feel like a long list of expectations, and we are unable to complete the expectations no matter how hard we try. We live in a paradoxical world where our abilities always fall short of our desires. However, this curse that rests on all of humanity has been shattered by Jesus. We do not have to fight or earn our way to God. Jesus came and brought with him a spirit of adoption that defies the demands of rules and expectations. Jesus created a new life of freedom that is defined by our inclusion into a family and not our ability to perform.

The idea of grace is not man-made. Every day, our culture teaches us that we have to earn our way to good things. If we want a relationship with God, then we have to follow all the rules and have an outstanding moral character. However, Christ came to bring us the gift of grace, undeserved goodness. The idea that we don’t have to earn our way to God is easy to forget. We want memorization and behavior modification, but Jesus Christ shows us that it is a story of freedom found in God’s presence.

We often have hopes and dreams of where we could be. While covered in blankets during the Colorado winter we may dream of the sunny, sandy beaches of southern California. We long for a promise and blessing of something better. These desires are what the people of Israel felt while in exile in Babylon. However, they found that if they lived everyday lives in everyday rhythms, they could thrive in exile and not just live. The people of Israel could seek the good of a place that saw no good in them. What does it look like to see the hope of a place that we are in when we feel like we should be somewhere else?

The question, “what am I going to do with my life?” echoes in the mind of people. For some, they choose to ignore the problem, and others take the question and run, building worlds of dreams and visions for their lives. We want to know because we have so closely tied the answer to our worth and identity. However, it is not our job to define our future. It is more likely that our plans are getting in the way of what God is doing. The Lord just asks for our faithfulness, so let's explore what God has for our future.

We were made to thrive in a family. This thought seems counterintuitive when our families look so broken. However, from the very beginning, God intended for us to build families and create communities of people formed in the image of God. This effort takes work, but family does not have to end at our flesh and blood, which is the greatest gift of all. For all those who surrender to Christ are adopted as children of God and become members of the household of God. Don’t run from family, but embrace it as God intended—intimacy with Him in relationship with others.

The necessity of friendship is scientifically proven. The better our relationships, the better our quality of life. In many cases, it improves the longevity of our lives. However, relationships don’t come easy, they take work. We must make a promise to another. We must be bound to something greater than ourselves. Relationships mean that we must show up. The God of the universe came to live in our midst, and our aim should be the same with others. Step into the goodness of Christ-centered relationships.

People desire to live a full life. We go on groping, digging away at the things of the world to try and find deeper meaning; however, this striving only proves futile. The Resurrection of Jesus changes everything. It provides the purpose for our even existing. The fact that Jesus rose from the grave rearranges the past, present, and future. Jesus gives us what the world never could. He invites us to believe in a better story, a better truth. He leads us into a great joy that is defined by the power of the resurrection, a power that gives us a solid foundation, which stands far stronger than the crumbling bricks of this world.

Why do we need to worship God? What does it mean to adore and delight in the name of Jesus? At the heart of it, humans are people that worship things. We fall in love with the mountains, a place, or a person. We are overcome with the feelings of delight. But in all of our adoration for the things around us, we always recognize that something is not quite right. We come to find that the worship of God is a necessity because if we do not worship him, we will worship something else. We may even begin to praise ourselves, which is wasting away.

The book of Jonah is an infamous story of a man who ran from the call of God and found himself in the stomach of a whale. We often speak much about Jonah’s disobedience and his repentance, but if we take a closer look at the story, we find that is less about a man running from God and more about God running after a man. In the book of Jonah, we really see a God who is relentless in getting His people back and leading them into a life that is marked by the glory of God.

This week, the antagonists found in Jude’s letter continue to push the limit of authority. They continue to dilute the power of the gospel, and focus this power away from God and redirect to the individual person. The antagonists claim that the ability to rule our lives lies within us. However, Jude claims that ultimate authority, the true King, is Jesus. This authority is not burdensome, but shelter from the brokenness of the world. This authority is an invitation to trust in the power and heart of God.

This week, we continue to follow Jude as he takes a stand against those who are diluting the faith. Jude helps us realize just how high the stakes are for those who do not walk in the way of Jesus. We learn about how seriously God takes sin, that it has an oppressive nature and a lofty price in the end. In response, God does not change the rules of this life, but stands as the winner of it all and invites us to choose what authority we will rest under.

Before Jude wrote his letter, he wanted it to be full of rejoicing; however, he quickly realized that there was a problem that could not be ignored. Jude had to face the fight, he had to contend for the faith that was becoming diluted by those who were denying God’s grace and Christ’s lordship. Followers of Jesus must learn to fight for the faith with the power of Christ, learn from Jude this week as he does just that.

Jude, the brother of Jesus and James, had every reason to boast within the faith community because of his standing. However, he begins his letter by calling himself a “servant of Jesus Christ.” Humility is often not an everyday disposition that we have but a choice that we make. Jude recognizes that humility begins and ends with Jesus, and when a person is situated in this reality, they can successfully count others more significant than themselves.

One of Jesus’s closest followers, Peter, denied Jesus three times on the night of his arrest and crucifixion. Today, if someone denied another in such a way, it would mean the end of a relationship and a heart of resentment. However, after Jesus rose from the grave, he met Peter on a beach and asked a question of restoration three times, “Do you love me?” Each time, Peter said that he loved Jesus, and Jesus would follow his answer with a command, “feed my sheep.” The mission of God to care, shepherd, and tend to the broken is the product of restoration, where our identity is founded in Jesus and the things that he loves.

As followers of Jesus, we are called to be missionaries where we work, live, and play. We get to be ambassadors for Christ in every interaction. God has chosen to love other people through us. When we walk out the door and into the marketplace, we are invited to take part in God’s grand mission of bringing all people to himself. “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Vision: The Mission | Aaron Bennett

Every day is filled with possibilities, a chance to seize the dreams that we have. However, we are quick to ask for the power of God for our plan instead of seeking God will all of our heart for his plan. When we come to a place where Jesus is enough, every failed or completed dream pales in comparison. In 2019, Spring of Life Church has a vision of adventure—trying new things, and becoming more in step with the will of God. Join us as we empower more leaders, gain more momentum, and make more disciples.

The Bible is filled with promises. Jesus Christ is one of those promises, a future Messiah who would come to redeem all people. The Old Testament continually points to this redeemer. Shortly after the birth of Jesus, a man named Simeon met him at the Temple. It was revealed earlier to Simeon that he would not taste death until he saw the Christ. He took the child into his arms and exclaimed, “For my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared for all peoples.” Not only was Jesus the promise of God from the beginning of time, but he is also the Hope for the future. The work, words, and future coming of Jesus is a reality we can count on, it means that God is faithful to do what he has promised.

Joseph, often passed over in scripture, should hold a valuable place in the minds of all Bible readers. He was engaged to Mary when she gave birth to Jesus the Messiah, and despite the social ridicule that would come, he stuck with her to protect her from shame. He would go on to raise Jesus as well as James and Jude, who were also disciples to Jesus. We hear little of Joseph, and he is not found beyond the first few chapters of the Gospels. Although, in the life of Joseph, we see that God is not so concerned with our credentials, and we may be called to a task that lacks praise, but when we seek God’s glory in what we are called to we will ultimately find God.

2000 years ago a child was born. This child was the long-awaited Messiah for the people of Israel. Eagerness, anticipation, and fear traveled throughout the community after a group of wise men received the revelation in the stars. King Herod quickly sent them after the child. The wise men were overcome with excitement as they traveled to meet this wonder. When they came upon the child they soon realized that they were not looking at the face of a baby but the face of Jesus, the King. This would be a disruption of the establishment, and all who followed Jesus must be radical in their attempt. A challenge that the wise men happily accepted.

Gratitude is more than just some mere feeling, it is a choice that we make when we look at we have in our lives. Gratitude is a yearning and thankfulness for what God has divinely appointed. It is more than the things we receive because true gratitude leads us into the heart of God before we accept his hand in anything. When we grow in our gratitude, we will begin to more perfectly align ourselves with God. We find ourselves in a joy that is not determined by circumstances but by the promises of God, who will never leave us nor forsake us. Gratitude is resting in God's continuous protection.

Jesus faced excruciating pain when he was crucified on the cross, and he knew that this trouble will follow his disciples. Jesus even said, “In this world, you will have trouble.” However, it didn’t end there—he finishes with, “but take heart. I have overcome the world.” We get so confused when we face trial, but a comfortable and safe life was not something that Jesus promised, but he did say we have a choice. We are able to take heart and choose joy in the face of pain. This joy does not come from our own strength but from the very fact that Jesus has overcome the world. This is a promise that we will one day overcome the world through the work of Christ.

From a young age, we are taught fairness. We are quick to justify our actions towards someone else because “well…they did it first!” In the Old Testament, it was an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. People get what they deserve. Jesus, however, has a different idea of what it means to respond to those who have wronged us. When Jesus was crucified on the cross, he cried out, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” He set a new precedent for how we respond. A precedent where God is the judge, and where we are called to love and give grace to all people while serving them faithfully and generously. Retaliation is no longer found in the pain we inflict on someone but the grace we give to them.

The words that we use play a powerful part in our lives. They can be used console, convict, control, and manipulate. However, they are used too often to deceive. This is seen in the Jewish community during the time of Jesus when people would scale their words so that their promises would not be as binding. Jesus would not stand for this. He rids of the oath because honesty and faithfulness should be found in the life of the believer and not a programmatic statement, which is often just a vessel to hide our lies in. When we do not faithfully live out the truth that we believe in and continue to break our promises we will continue to break ourselves and other people.

People love to find loop-holes. When we see a loop-hole, it is like we get to have our cake and eat it too. Unfortunately, the Jewish people during the time of Jesus had found loop-holes in their marriage. Betrayal and divorce were characteristic of the people at this time. However, Jesus stands against this despicable act. He shows that betrayal happens in the heart before it ever becomes an outward act. Jesus leads us into a Kingdom ethic were love and faithfulness rule. A way that was seen clearly in the life of Jesus, who was able to love and forgive those who even betrayed him as he died on a cross.

The anger we feel towards someone, or something often seems so organic, and it looks like we can justify it because we continue to toss the anger around in our own minds. We continuously think about how they deserve our anger, or that the problem will just pass away, so we never honestly deal with it. This anger that we let build inside is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die--we feel so justified in our anger, but it is silently killing us from the inside out. Jesus came to reveal that the anger we feel reaches deep into the heart and causes worse damage then murder itself, and he leads us into a greater understanding of what it means to be unified and walk in grace.

We face difficulties every day when we walk out the door. However, the most significant challenges we often face are not found in lousy customer service, finances, or hurt relationships, but in our spiritual life. All of those things are painful, but the root goes much deeper than we think. In a realm that we cannot see darkness is laying siege upon this world, and through Jesus Christ, the light has already won. Our most celebrated victories in life are also found in the spiritual life, through the experience of Christ. What is your pattern for fighting the daily battles? The answer, way, and power are found in Jesus Christ.

There are 613 commandments found in the Old Testament, and the people found in the Scripture rebelled against all of them. It had such a polarizing effect that people became severe liberals or overbearing legalists, which is not much different than the world we have today. People have become afraid of the rules because they lead to judgment and retribution. However, those commandments were never meant to have the final say—Jesus did. Every commandment pointed to our need of Jesus, who came to fulfill our need for perfection, identity, fulfillment, and ultimate need to be good.

Religion will often demand obligation, but Jesus lives out of a relationship of invitation. Jesus invites us into a new identity freely given by grace, while religion claims we have to earn our way to God. We often try to attend all of the church activities or do all the right things so that we are seen as more spiritual, but Jesus asks us to operate from a place of complete reliance on him. Jesus calls us salt of the earth and light of the world not for our own gain but to the glory of God. It’s not about us, and what we have to do, it was always about Christ and what he does through us.

Every day, people are searching for joy, whether it is with family, friends, a job, or a moment of uncontrollable laughter. But why? What is this joy that we hunger after? Jesus claims that it is found in the reality of His Kingdom, and not in the world's twisted, broken kingdom, which will always lead to misery if we base our standard of happiness on it. Jesus brought a kingdom where the broken could be restored, and the mourning could be comforted. In the beatitudes, Jesus taught that those who didn't have it all together could be happy, and find peace in the reality of Jesus himself.

For thousands of years, people have asked the question, why Jesus? It is a valid question, and the answer changes everything. When we come face to face with Jesus, we realize he believed in a better kingdom than the one the world has to offer, and when we step into the story, we begin to access his power. Jesus was a man that could not be shaken because he believed in an unshakable kingdom. This kingdom is a place of healing and purpose. Jesus came and turned the world upside down.

Jacob, a man who lived a messy life, wrestled with God to see a blessing come to pass, and just like him, we should hold tightly to God in prayer. We must be bold enough to believe that God is who he says he is and that God will do what he has promised. We must not have a fragile faith when we are faced with moments of desperation; instead, we must have the faith to admit that we are fragile and lean on the power of God. When we wrestle with God, we see that things can be changed by the mighty hand of God.

The pursuit of prayer truly understood is the pursuit of God. When we come asking, seeking, and knocking at the door, we must become quick to kneel. True prayer causes us to be enamored with the presence of God. We become far less concerned with the gifts we could receive and more consumed with the Giver. We begin to trust that God will give out his goodness that which will sustain us and always point us back to His glory.

Prayer is merely a conversation with God. It is where the natural and supernatural collide. God does not expect you to have all the right words, or that your life is cleaned up. He only wants you to be radically honest before him. God sees all of your baggage and loves you just the same. Whatever you bring to him he understands, because he has been tempted in every way just as you have. Approach boldly to the throne of grace and mercy to receive what you need in every moment. 

"The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever." - Psalm 23

"Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and inscrutable his ways! 'For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor? Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?' For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen." - Romans 11:33-36.

"That according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith - that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have the strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God." - Ephesians 3:16-19.

If you feel that God must care about the brokenness and pain in the world, you are right. That is why Christ came to proclaim justice and bring liberty to the oppressed. God never intended to get caught up into vain religiosity, God always intended set wrong things right. God values the action of His people beyond their attempts of a ceremony. Followers of Christ were rescued so that they could join the ministry of rescue. The grand narrative of Scripture speaks to a God who is in the business of bringing justice to an unjust world, and to see the Kingdom of God come.

The claims of Jesus are explicit and provocative. They challenge all who hear to make a decision, and your view of the truth will determine that decision, and your choice will determine your destiny. If Christ is the truth, then it will be intimate and personal. The truth can change you. Jesus wants to do more than make you good, he wants to give you God. Jesus will release the bondage of sin, shame, and fear, and you must merely accept that he is the way, the truth, and the life.

Christ came to do more than remove your brokenness; He came to restore you to what God always intended you to be. Restoration equals a return to fullness. The brokenness that you may feel is a weapon of the enemy, and God is willing and able to work out the darkness within you. God knows your pain, hates your pain, and ultimately absorbed your pain. The return to fullness begins with a trust in Jesus and a hope that one day God will bring all healing and life to completion at the end of time.

God is a God of action. He became flesh and walked on earth so that He could die for the sins of the world. This work of God became the greatest piece of action known to humanity. It was the moment that dead things came alive. This life is now working in all those who believe in His son, Jesus Christ. This is the source from which our action radiates. We do not act because we think we're supposed to, but instead, in response to the goodness of God.

From Genesis to Revelation we can see that God always wanted the multitudes to be in His presence. God desires that all come to Him, and that none should be left out. God wants to reconcile the world back to Himself, and we are included in this process. We get to partner with God in His vision of making disciples. By becoming disciples we can make more disciples, so that all people can be found in relationship with God and to be eternally in his presence.

Jesus never talked about people becoming Christians. He was not concerned with more religious people. Religion says behave, but Jesus says grow. If we are in Christ then we are truly alive, and it is once we are alive that we begin to grow. We become wrapped up in obedience to Christ. We commit to working for the Gospel by following, telling, growing, and multiplying. We constantly grow in maturity as we seek to live our life in a manner that resembles Jesus.

I’m Not Religious | Aaron Bennett

I’m Not Religious | Aaron Bennett

How Contagious is Your Faith | Andy Martin

Defining Christianity | Aaron Bennett